Girl won't play rec. because pitching is bad.

[dadonachair]

Asked some friends of mine if there 14y/o DD was going to play rec ball this year. They said No. The competition is not good enough. They went on to say that rec ball was messing up there DD. The coaching is no good, the pitchers are not strong enough, the girls can't hit, field, or throw. They think it will mess her up. When I look at this girl I see a girl that is the #4 pitcher on her TB team. She usually bunts cause she can't hit. My 12y/o routinely strikes her out. When she does hit it is a week hit back to the circle.(swings with all upper-body, hardly any lower-body). plays OF and can't track a ball. If she played rec she would get a lot of game time innings pitching. Play the some infield, maybe enough to get good at another position. And hopefully become confident at the plate. I did not get into it with them and just said OK.

Here is the problem. Is rec ball really that bad. I think you get out of it what you put into it. When I go to the softball fields in the summer I can go watch the older girls play and there are some really good players out there. On one team in particular there is three girls that play TB and varsity high school ball. Another has one. My DD plays 12u TB and 12u rec. She has honed her skills by using rec ball games as practice. I see no problems with it at all.

What I am wondering is why would someone think rec ball would mess a kid up. I understand that the coaches have a lot to do with it. But why not play rec and get a lot of confidence?

 

[RubberBiscuit]

My opinion -
There are multiple variables to consider. They are : Intuitive capability/competative mindset/level of play.
If player has the first and second,regardless of the third, then rec ball can be bad. Rec ball has a mindset that can rip out the insides of a competative girl. Girls with just the middle one I personally still think there is a place in TB;examples Pete Rose & Mike Singletary. The most frustrating thing I see is girls with the first and the third and no number two. These girls are usually the TB team soul-killers. These are the girls that get the TB play time because they "play so well", but when it comes down to those bigger moments of the season or the need to pull the team together they are competatively "checked-out".

So where does this girl you refer to fit here?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Rec is soooo bad locally, that I would tell my TB girls not to play. I don't see how they would have time and yes, it can mess up your batting. I would have the girl that you describe spend her extra time at private hitting lessons.

 

[dadonachair]

RubberBiscuit. I agree with you. She seems like she has a lot of try in her, but I would describe her as a girl that was good as a 12y/o, she just didn't seem to get any better. Playing limited innings in TB can't be doing her any good.

Amy. First of all. The video of your granddaughter is great. Do you think she will be windmilling next week? LOL. I agree this girl needs to spend a lot of time with a "good hitting coach." HER WHOLE TEAM DOES! Next. It is almost becoming "trendy" around here for TB coaches to have girls play rec for what I would call game time practice. I coach my DD rec ball team. My DD and two other girls all play on the same TB team. One team that we play against has three of my DD TB teammates coached by her travel ball coaches. On our all star team there was 7 travel ball girls. I would say that 60% of the time the pitchers that the girls face are TB pitchers.

I can understand that if you are a #1 pitcher on a 14u or above TB team not pitching in rec. Some teams don't allow it. But if you are a #4 why not pitch rec to practice. The innings can't hurt. I have coached against teams in rec that are coached by TB coaches and there rec ball team is basically there TB team.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

The experience of pitching innings, would only help a little. If you have bad mechanics, you are only reinforcing those mechanics by doing it over and over.

My students do tell me of waiting on the TB girls to show up for the rec game. They've already played 5 games and then hurry to get to the rec games. They aren't doing it to get more practice and they are taking playing time away from the true rec girl. I think they are doing it to make Allstars.

 

[Quake Softball]

REC Ball (LL) around my area is really bad too. My daughter played LL for the first time last year, just to get more pitching time. It worked wonders for her. So, I think it just depends on the kid. I have two girls that are pretty new at pitching on our TB and I am recommending for them to play LL to get more innings this year.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

This is actually why my DD got involved in TB. The Rec ball around here is just plain awful. No pitching , really bad coaching , non competitive mindset. Just a real waste of time

 

[quincy]

I would think switching back and forth between Rec. and TB would mess up her hitting, even if she played up an age group in Rec.

Not sure how much fielding would help either because she might need to be careful how hard she throws the ball.

Being able to pitch innings is the only upside I see. There should be enough good batters that she will need to work at it a little bit.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Just a real waste of time

I assume that you mean for a travel player. I would agree, except in the case of a pitcher getting innings, or a travel player who doesn't have other options and really enjoys being on the rec team.

A real challenge for fastpitch softball as a sport is that it's hard to do it recreationally because of the requirement that you have decent pitchers for both teams to have fun. It's hard to be even decent without either lessons or putting a lot of practice in. And most people putting in that kinda time are looking for a travel team. Pitching in fastpitch is the single hardest thing to do in recreational youth sports, IMO. Coupled w/ the fact that softball is played with a ball that is thrown and hit in the direction of girls who don't enjoy being hit, it make the sport a hard sell to kids in an era where so there are so many lazy ways to have fun. That's too bad.

 

[YOCOACH]

In my area, rec ball is very competitive and usually well coached. Many TB/HS players play on rec ball teams around here. We also have many older TB/HS players playing slow pitch just to have fun and unwind instead of a full TB season of fastpitch. I guess it's all in the area.