How much is to much???

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Mar 23, 2010
14
0
Reading Cindy Barstows article on the things she learned at NCFA got me to thinking.

You read lots of things on the internet about the fact girls are playing to much softball, that they are getting injuried, burn out, lose the desire to play the game.

So what are your thoughts on how much is to much to be playing.

Is 50 games a summer to much at 10 at 12 what do you think?
 
Jan 15, 2009
689
18
Midwest
Reading Cindy Barstows article on the things she learned at NCFA got me to thinking.

You read lots of things on the internet about the fact girls are playing to much softball, that they are getting injuried, burn out, lose the desire to play the game.

So what are your thoughts on how much is to much to be playing.

Is 50 games a summer to much at 10 at 12 what do you think?

It's not so much the summer games, it is the thinking that you must play/practice 12 months a year.
 
Mar 23, 2010
14
0
So then how much time do the girls require off from softball. Is ''fall ball'' that important to their success and or failure?

Is a two month time frame off from all things softball enough?

What about pitchers, how much time do they require off from all things pitching? Then again how much can they afford to take off and still progress as pitchers?

Just looking for others thoughts here.
 
3

3sDad

Guest
We go pretty much year around... HS ball from 1 FEB till May ...then competitive softball TB...which runs till late November...then light practices and conditioning...it doesnt ever *stop*...as long my DD wants to go...we'll be going...
To steal a phrase..."How bad you got it"
 
Jul 1, 2010
171
16
I have the same questions and concerns for my 11 year old. I'm mandating a couple of months of down? time where we do pitching lessons to keep good mechanics and let her play another sport along with calisthenics for physical fitness. No batting, fielding or pitching practice during that time. Although she would prefer to keep it going, my hope is to reduce physical and mental burnout.

Although we all know our kids best, I'm curious what others think. If you could, it would be helpful to include DD age because I think the intensity ratchets up as they get older and more competitive.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
DD is 10 and plays other sports besides softball, though softball is first on her list. Going into last year I did not want to play fall ball but she missed ½ the spring season so she did. Would rather her played volleyball, oh well.

Like you mentioned she still practices softball during the off season, only sport she practices. Everything else she just shows up when she is suppose to. Only 4 ½ months to the 1st game, she is pitching better than ever and is ready for the season to start. :)

Everyone is different. I know some players that only do softball and others like DD that do 50 different things. As long as the kid is not sitting around watching TV all day I do not care what she does.
 
Apr 1, 2010
1,675
0
My DD is 11 and has tried many sports over the years (soccer, gymnastics, swimming, TaeKwonDo, volleyball, basketball, tennis...). She decided last year that she wanted to drop the rest of her other sports and focus on softball.

I would consider her to be heavily scheduled right now. She has a two hour team practice on Wednesday evening and a 1 1/2 hour team batting practice on Saturday morning, both an hour drive southwest. She has a two hour general skills clinic on Monday evenings (which is awesome), 45 min-1 hour drive southeast. Her normal batting lessons are a half-hour on Thursdays, 5 min drive (Yay!). We try to work in a half-hour catching lesson when we can (around an hour drive). This last weekend, she went to catch for several of her team's pitchers for a couple of hours Sunday evening at a regular pitching practice session that's offered in a small town an hour and a quarter drive to the west. She had a blast and now wants to go back every week. Plus she has girl scouts every other Tuesday evening.

So if I'm seeing it right, she's free every Friday night and every other Tuesday evening...

There were two local college softball clinics in our area last weekend, one Saturday and one Sunday. She decided she didn't want to go to either one and that was fine.
 
Oct 13, 2010
666
0
Georgia
DD is 15 and her schedule this year is... 2hr winter workouts on 3 saturdays in Dec., 3 in Jan, and 2 in Feb. Team hitting once a month on Sun. for 2 hrs. same 3 months. Mid to late Feb will start outdoor practice for 4hrs on Sunday afternoons. When tournaments start she will practice on Wed evenings when tournaments are on back to back weekends, and 4hrs on sundays on off weekends. This will last untill after ASA Nationals around the first week of August when school starts. HS starts summer workouts in July 2-3 times a week during the morning/afternoon. HS season starts 1st day of school (second week of Aug) and practices every day after school for 2hrs. HS season ends around the last week of Oct. then it's time for TB tryouts in late Oct and early Nov.

This is all "team" schedule and any individual lessons or workouts are in addition. I actually thought it sounded like a light schedule this year, untill I just wrote it out.
 
Mar 31, 2011
93
6
It is all too much, but 12 yo DD wants to be as good/better as teammates, so we practice. She gave up soccer (fall and Spring) and volleyball, but still plays BB (for fun).

total for year is 2.5 months of downtime. Per week: Jan-mar practice 2x2hrs team, 3x30min pitch, 2x1hr hit. Apr-jul play and practice, 65 games 2 teams, some weeks was all 7 days, some twice a day. Jul-Aug 4 weeks, NO softball at all. Aug-oct fall ball, 2x2hr team, 1x30min pitch. Oct-nov down 4 weeks, went to PC once to evaluate where she was and what needed to be worked on. Nov-dec, BB 2x2hr, SB team 1x2.5hrs, 3x30min pitch, 1x1hr hitting, 2x2hr core training. From the Dec 20- Jan 8 I will shut her down on SB, still has BB.

Try to make it fun, thats all I can do. She wants to go. Truth is for her no matter what, she will be playing sports year round. It is just a matter of which ones.

Would have loved for her play all 4 sports till Jr. High just for fun. But, if she wants to play, she has to keep up with the others. She worries if she does not practice she will fall behind.
 
May 7, 2008
468
0
Morris County, NJ
DD is a HS freshman - 14 y/o. In the fall she played for the HS field hockey team who practiced/played 6 days per week from mid-August thru mid November. Her club softball team are are all 2nd year 14U - all HS freshman. In the fall, HS sports take priority over softball, thus girls would miss a weekend practice or a game on the weekend if their HS Fall sport had a game or competing practice.

Winter hitting just began last week - 1x week until winter workouts begin after the new year. Winter workouts will be 1x week for 2-3 hours to do hitting, fielding and pitching.

DD is a pitcher so she pitches 2x week - her leeson and an additional night with me. Pitching will increase to 3x/week after the new year to prep for the HS season beginning March 1. HS practice/games are Monday-Saturday thru Memorial day weekend. Club ball is quiet during the HS season.

After Memorial dat club ball practice will be 2x week with tournaments every weekend thru Nationals the beginning of August.
 

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