Going to lessons~What plan and path did you take?

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radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
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Conversation with another DFP poster brought this topic to consider.

How long do people stay with their instructor?

This discussion has a lot of different directions it can go please take it where ever it may go!

Heres some thoughts~

When deciding to go to lessons what was your goal? Short-term, long-term?
At what age? Why?

is there a certain amount of time that would be reasonable to apply to any new instructor you go to lessons for?...befor bouncing to another instructor?

is it better to go to multiple instructors during the course of growing because you pick up different knowledge or find out different things don't work?

Do people think for hitting that all their travel ball coaches are going to be knowledgeable enough to teach them hitting?
or does that actually screw them up and you'd rather stay with one instructor?

How many people started with an instructor and stayed with them and never went to a different instructor?

At what point did you as a parent, who was instructing/teaching your daughter
find your knowledge ended or was limited and you needed to find your daughter an instructor who could provide more knowledge?

How many parents started early age 9, 10, with a paid instructor?
 
Last edited:
May 3, 2016
55
8
I have taken all my DD’s to instructors at some point. Usually weekly for a few months then will skip a few months.

I started hitting with one at 8. Have been to and caught pitching lessons for my sophomore in college. When this whole journey started we took a 2hr drive to get a lesson from Bill Hillhouse and it was well worth the time.

Sometimes you’ve gotta pay someone to tell them the same things you tell them for it to get through.

I have seen several people stick with the same instructor for years with no success, because they teach others who do have success. I know of one who goes to multiple pitching coaches simultaneously. In my opinion if your not seeing positive results after a few months it’s time to switch it up. Sometimes it’s as simple as wording the same thing differently for it to all click.

I’ve also seen some that have a beautiful swing but couldn’t hit the ball to save their life. Makes me think about the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

The upswing in private coaching around here has been pretty big. You can get private lessons for about anything you want. And there will be another facility opening in the next month or so. Pitching, hitting, catching, fielding you name it they have it. All for a small fee of course.


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May 3, 2016
55
8
Conversation with another DFP poster brought this topic to consider.

At what point did you as a parent, who was instructing/teaching your daughter
find your knowledge ended or was limited and you needed to find your daughter an instructor who could provide more knowledge?

How many parents started early age 9, 10, with a paid instructor?

Hitting. I don’t know if that I ever felt like they exceeded me, but there were definitely times when it needed to come from someone else.

Pitching. All I can say is when you know you know. For my oldest it was like a switch, one day I knew all I could do to help was catch and watch mechanics to make sure she didn’t get way out of line.


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Mar 6, 2016
383
63
To me that's the hard part accepting or hoping will happen...is that even though the private instructor is similar things I am/was and doing similar drills, I gotta fork out $$ to have my daughter listen to them say the same things. LOL :rolleyes:

I've tried a couple with my 2 DD's, both for pitching. One just stood there and watched her do her "bullpens". Not much said at all. I mean literally nothing for 45 minutes. Then, a few "good" "yep, keep working", "Yep, do this drill on your own".

Then the other for my younger lefty DD specifically to eliminate her leaping (illegal pitches began to be called as she went from 8U-10U). I tried everything, every drill, every tip from others and nothing would fix her "jump" off the rubber. So, went to a pitching coach mid way through 10u and stated up front, the main thing I would like concentrated on is the leaping. Because she will be called on it in more and started to be called on it in 10u. So, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks....the SAME damn thing is happening and he is doing the same things I had tried to fix it. No change. But, what did change was her accuracy.

She was very accurate before we went to him, hardly walked many at all... (usually 6-8 K's and 1-2 BBs. Had a few 10u games of 12-13Ks and 0-1 BBs before sessions, but was called for a few IPs) now after 3 weeks, she's all over the place, dirt backstop, wide right, wide left and getting frustrated and losing confidence that she can't throw strikes anymore. She starts to not want to go to the sessions. I try and convince her (and me) that its a process and keep trying. 4 weeks, 5 weeks...$$$$... still leaping and now doesn't want to pitch in games.

I just had to give in and stop going, nothing was improving only getting worse. Who knows, maybe it would have changed, maybe he got in her head too much and she started thinking way too much about it and losing confidence. I thought about seeing different coaches, but she never wanted to do any more again with anyone. Well, she never did lose the "leap" and just slowly started not wanting to pitch anymore. Finally gave it up in later in last part of first year 12u this past short season and is now focused on just catching. It was getting tough doing both anyways . She LOVES it and is much less stressful for me and my wife. LOL Well, except when winning run is on 3rd and the pitcher is throwing everything in dirt....then its REALLY stressful as the Dad of the catcher. 😵

But, I do have times where I wonder if she'd be still pitching if we didn't ever try the sessions. :unsure:
 

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Jul 14, 2018
982
93
DD loves softball, and has loved it since her first 8U rec team. I’ve made her try every other sport, nothing resonates with her.

From the beginning, I’ve tried my best to keep the parent glasses in my back pocket. DD is not particularly big or strong or fast. I’ve known from the beginning that she was going to have to work hard to keep up with the other girls.

I enjoyed coaching her through 12U in rec, but she started taking private hitting lessons at nine because I know my limits. When she started pitching as a second-year 10U, I knew that she would need a coach who knows more than me.

She went through four pitching coaches before we found the right fit when she was 11. She’s been going to the same coach ever since.

Her growth as a pitcher has been incremental, but I have confidence that her coach is maximizing what she is capable of.


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Apr 17, 2019
331
63
If you have a player who's hungry for it and wants to work 3-4 days a week, you need a teacher.
You don't need to go weekly, trust your player (and your eyes) to know when they need a check-in. Maybe it's you. Maybe it's someone else who says the exact same things you'd say, but they're not you.
If it's you, have two hats. 'Parent' hat and 'Coach' hat. Put on Coach hat less often than parent hat. Zip your lips and let her figure it out.
If it's pulling teeth to get them to practice, don't bother with lessons. Exception - If you feel there's talent there at the younger ages. If they truly have talent, you should see them able to pivot on adjustments and internalize quickly, making private coaching worth it. Sometimes If they get good, they start to like it, and they start to want it.
My personal opinion - Shop around, pick an instructor, and stay with them until it starts to feel stale. You'll know; your dd will know. Then shop around again. Good teachers won't take it personally. They know that learning comes from many places. Maybe check back a couple times a year, see if they have something different to say.
 
Feb 3, 2016
502
43
Going on 6 year's with same instructor. (Like most parent/coaches my kid has difficulty following MY instruction) The instructors been at high levels of college baseball, and high-school coaching.

I can tell what's wrong with her swing but she won't listen to me. I tell the instructor he tells her what I'd tell her to correct it...

The problem with most girls aging up is the inability to hit the ball. Chronic swing issues that are almost impossible to correct without year's of the correct oversight & training. If you wait until 14 or 16 you're on borrowed time to correct the mess.

When training involves fielding, throwing, game instruction, she doesn't have an issue with my direction for the most part.
 
Last edited:
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
As a young rec ball pitcher, I started teaching my daughter, but rapidly learned what I didn't know. We started looking for instructors in the area, but had trouble finding one. While attending a college clinic at a local D1, I asked the pitching coach if she knew anyone. She volunteered herself. DD took lessons from her for approximately 8 months and was hooked. Unfortunately (for us...), this coach received a head coaching offer and moved out of the area. We asked her advice on another coach. A friend of hers pitched professionally briefly and highly recommended her pitching coach. DD has been seeing him ever since.

At the beginning, I handled the hitting instruction, but much like many other members, she reached a certain age when dad was automatically wrong. I get it... I found an instructor whose daughter played D1 softball and started taking her to see him. Wonderful experience... In addition to her learning, I spent a lot of time talking to him and realized that many of our beliefs were similar. We talked a lot, and I learned a lot. He eventually moved out of state, and I took over the instruction again. By this time, she started trusting me again.

My personal opinion is that a good hitting instructor is grossly underestimated. At least locally, anyone that held at bat at some point in their lives thinks they can teach hitting. That said, in my view of hitting instruction, mechanics are only one part of the equation. There is a lot more to hitting than just mechanics.
 
May 22, 2015
410
28
Illinois
I took DD to a few hitting instructors over the years. Most of them she really got nothing out of. They did very little and always tried selling you a package of lessons. Then I took her to Cannonball. Totally different. He’s not there to make a living off of hitting lessons. In a few lessons he gives you and your kid the tools you need to be successful. You put in the work you get the results. To me that should be the goal of any kind of lessons. Not saying it’s not worthwhile to back for refreshers or new drills he’s picked up, but paying for year round lessons seems like a waste to me.
 
May 21, 2015
116
43
South
A lot of great replies. A huge issue with private instructors occurs when the private instructor and the team coach are not on the same page. Conflicting instruction from the coach and the private instructor can create a nightmare in a young girls head.
 

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