I freaking hate pitching

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Oct 1, 2014
2,219
113
USA
Wow, I can't even find a good place to jump in. Way to be chill, you fathers are all amazing....I'm impressed.
 
Jan 22, 2011
1,610
113
Second this post!

Post game:
"how did you thing things went today" your job LISTEN
"what did you think of the zone today?" LISTEN
"Is there something you'd like to a do over on?" LISTEN ..."If so what would you do different?" LISTEN
"your mom and I are so proud of you and your work ethic. WE LOVE WATCHING you and your teammates play"

The car ride can be one of the worst parts of a players day. We've found doing a lot of listening is therapeutic for DD and she will talk/share when ready.

During the week we try to remind her of some great advice we were given years ago. As a pitcher, you can control the windup and everything up until the release of the ball. Once you let it go, it’s over, you can’t control what happens next. Work hard on what you can control.

On another note...it's not all about the pitching...the friendships, camaraderie, fun...AND ICECREAM and other team functions are the things that last a lifetime.

Agree. For the last year my conversations with my daughter have gone something like this:

'Were you happy with that at bat'
If yes- good, but she usually mentions something could do better.
If no- ask her to think about what she could do better, but leave it at that
Make sure she knows I'll help her if she wants it or will bring her to a couple hitting lessons.

Pitching I encourage her to practice 3-4 times a week, but at this point she needs to own her in game improvements if she wants to keep pitching. I'm proud of her since going to see Javasource at a clinic she has been at a minimum practicing spins 10-15 minutes a day, 4 to 5 days a week. Yesterday at JH practice she caught BP, but during points the coaches were talking to the batters or defense, asked me for a ball and snuck in 5-8 minutes practicing spins.

At some point I'm going to troll the parent's thread about how my DD only pitched in 8 games between Oct 1st and Aug 5th, only caught 1 out of 5 games during that time period, none the last two months of the summer, and only played 6 garbage innings at 1B during that time period.

Guess what, it was the best 10 months of her life- so far. She made at least 10, if not 11, life long friends. She wound up batting 3rd the last 8 weekends of the summer. Her team came in 5th at Western B Nationals, literally coming one bad bounce away from finishing 3rd or better. Including beating the team that won Western Nationals in pool play.
 
Last edited:
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
Just listen to that Eagles tune and hum "this could be heaven or this could be hell" every time she takes the ball. It's unnerving, frustrating, sometimes the results are terrible, but it's a fun ride and in time you wouldn't want to be anywhere else than in the folding chair watching her do her thing. Mine won't be going to any big time schools either, and it isn't cheap, but it's a fun day watching her have the courage to try to be The Woman when she enters the circle.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,662
83
I love the fact that my DD has the desire to work hard at something. We talk all the time about the type of effort that she needs to put into it or stop pitching. She is amazing with her work ethic. I'm not sure if I want her to play in college or not. Of course if she is good enough it will be her choice. I still can see her first pitch that hit the top square of the backstop while she was blowing a bubble at 8 years old. This was a week after I tried to talk her out of even playing for fear that she would get hurt because she couldn't catch the ball. She is 12 now and a very sold pitcher with a chance to be very good if she can grow.
 
Jan 5, 2018
385
63
PNW
Pitching I encourage her to practice 3-4 times a week, but at this point she needs to own her in game improvements if she wants to keep pitching. I'm proud of her since going to see Javasource at a clinic she has been at a minimum practicing spins 10-15 minutes a day, 4 to 5 days a week. Yesterday at JH practice she caught BP, but during points the coaches were talking to the batters or defense, asked me for a ball and snuck in 5-8 minutes practicing spins.

Dabears17: I think we were parked next to each other for a stint of bucket time. My DD has been doing the same...in fact that, while always motivated, that clinic really motivated her and she's been working even harder and w/o my reminding her.
 
Apr 28, 2016
81
8
It’s hard. When DD told me she wanted to pitch at 10 years old playing rec ball, I tried really really hard to talk her out of it. After watching her pitch her first game, she started lessons. She has always been VERY thin for her age, but she has long arms and legs. She is now 14, 5’ 5” And 115 pounds (all of it muscle). She wears a 0 and is a seriously athletic thin, but she wants to pitch.

She hasn’t wanted to play travel ball, but she takes lessons and practices like she does bc she wants to pitch for her high school team. And she has been the starting pitcher for He last 4 games and has rocked it. She has surprising velocity, but that has been a recent development. Until about a year ago, she was slow and had trouble getting it over the plate.

I say all of this to say, if she wants it, and is willing to work for it, the best you can do is swallow your nerves, support her, and wait for the breakthrough.


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Jan 22, 2011
1,610
113
Dabears17: I think we were parked next to each other for a stint of bucket time. My DD has been doing the same...in fact that, while always motivated, that clinic really motivated her and she's been working even harder and w/o my reminding her.

I believe we were! If Ken hosts something again, or publicizes a clinic with just him and Anna, I'm hoping our schedule allows us to fly up for it! My DD was the lefty who came in 4th for the speed competition.
 
Feb 6, 2017
38
6
That's just it.... She's so Shy, Meek and fragile...... BUT, she loves wearing the uniform, she loves wearing her travel shirt to school...

But, can you even invite Friends and Family to a Travel Game where she's going to get her rear end handed to her?????

You can make 3 Errors at Short Stop and strike out every time and not come close to the feeling of standing on the mound not able to to throw a strike.... And not knowing which of the 40 Steps the Pitching coach told you is an 1/8 of an inch off.....

Tough for me to watch to and not be able to help her....

The kid who is willing to step back into the circle time and time again after experiencing failure, keep working towards some success is the type of kid I want to hire some day. It’s the type of kid who will understand relationships better because she’ll have more patience with people by knowing when others fail how hard it can be. She’s the type of kid who will be able to make her friends, her teammates and her own kids someday, be better by sharing her own struggles and successes.

I’ll take a kid who gets her but kicked, gets up and says, “what else do you got?” over one who says “This is hard. Let’s go home.”

It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t, then everyone would do it.

It’s a lonely place out there. Tell her to try her best and have fun. Those are the only two things that really matter at any level. And focus on the successes. Who cares that she gave up 15 runs. How did she get those four lazy grounders to second? How about those two k’s?

You have a great kid if she’s willing to stick through this and keep working even without success. That’s pretty special.


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