I really need parents AND coaches advise badly....new to forum.

[magalee]

Hi,
I found this forum out of the need to speak to other parents and coaches that are willing to give me honest advice. I do hope I dont' make this too long, PLEASE stay with me as I am really trying to condense everything, but give enough info to get advice based what is going on, not just a "mom's" view. Thanks and here we go......

My daughter is 15, a pitcher, has played first, second baseman, some third base and left and center field also. She has been playing since starting League ball in the first grade. She does play on a select team, this is our first year and they practice once a week for now, and their games haven't started yet. She has been pitching since she was 10, but we started with a pitching coach a year and a half ago when she showed so much interest in getting even better. That said, this is what my husband and I are struggling with, not to mention our daughter...... Coach may or may not let her pitch in a game.usually not. We didn't expect her to be the starting pitcher, that's o.k. The games she doesn't pitch in she doesn't set foot on the field in other position.

The problem is coach doesn't let her warm up as a pitcher. The only warm up she ever gets as a pitcher is maybe 5 or 10 minutes, if he puts her in. She is just getting good and warm at the end of her inning. Even with her not warming up as she needs to her innings are short, usually strikes one or two out each time or 3 up, 3 down. So, she DOES do well, but obviously could injure her arm/shoulder, etc. without proper warm up and would do much better if she was warmed up and could reach her peak on the mound. She has an issue with her arm that hasn't affected her pitching that occured while throwing overhand, the orthopedic doctor says is minor after xraying and did not suggest her taking a break from throwing, said she can pitch but needs to warm up properly pitching regardless and to prevent other injuries.

Just not sure this coach is doing what is right for her and wondered what other parents would do and other coachs opinions on rare mound time for second pitcher and minimum warm up. Please no rude remarks, I just want advise and opinions from people that can communicate with manners even if they don't agree with me, not trying to be the target of someone that is mad at parents in general for being concerned about their kids.
Thanks

Thanks

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have known 3 families that moved their kid to a different school, 2 of them had to sell their house and buy a new one to do so. In all 3 cases it worked out well for them.

What does your daughter want to do?

We moved 1500 miles, when my DD (darling daughter) was a freshman. She hadn't been given much of chance in MS basketball, so I thought "Well, maybe she isn't any good." New school. New coach. Large school atmosphere. And she excelled.

So, I am very much for saying "So, long."

The elbow popping concerns me. I think that she needs some time off, anyway.

You have described her so well, that her HS coach may very well find this post. Good luck. And remember HS is for grades. She doesn't need HS ball to play in college, if that is her goal.

 

[wild man]

I will give you what I think she should do from a Coaches point of view. If at all possible have her move down to JV. She should be the best JV pitcher and will get huge ammounts of mound time. Being a pitcher The repitition of pitching will do her much more good than sitting for a whole season.
Also her hitting may get better at JV as well. First of all she will get more at bats and she will face a HUGE diversity of pitching ability.
I am a JV coach and we see pitchers that could easily be Varsity but the Varsity squad doesent have the room for them. On the flip side we see pitchers that have never recieved instruction and throw one strike every 10 or 12 pitches.
And I have found that with a lot of hitters facing a poor pitcher is much harder than than facing a good one. Heres why: Good pitchers throw lots of strikes, When they miss its not by much , Poor pitchers however throw all over the place. A hitter must be disiplined to it off of her.

I had a very good team once and if we faced a poor pitcher we became too eager and did lousy. But if they threw strikes it was always a good game.

Lastly, Playing is better than sitting at any level. Hope this helps.

 

[SoftSocDad]

Now husband wants to put her in another school...

Please don't be mean and say we are those difficult type parents. We are not.

Yeah, you are.

Your first priority should be your daughter's health, not her feelings and certainly not yours. If she's developed tendonitis and you're still trotting her out to play or practice at all, then it's clear your priorities are misplaced. How much time did the ortho advise her to take off? How much time *did* she take off?

Looking ahead to when she's ready to play again, I don't see much value in warming up a non-starter before the game. If I suspect the #1 is coming out, then I'd like to have #2 warming up 15-20 minutes before taking the ball, not an hour beforehand.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

I don't see much value in warming up a non-starter before the game. If I suspect the #1 is coming out, then I'd like to have #2 warming up 15-20 minutes before taking the ball, not an hour beforehand.

That's a pretty good idea - if you want to see your #2 injured. 15-20 minute warm up just isn't enough and a pitcher going into a game with not enough warm up is a recipe for injury. More importantly, if your #1 is hurt and #2 needs to come in immediately, she is cold and the possibility of unjury is multiplied X10.

It is a good idea to warm up all pitchers beforehand that may play in the game. THEN if it looks as though #2 might need to come in, give her a 15-20 minute warm up.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

magalee, SoftSocDad is right about one thing... If your DD has an arm injury, maybe it isn't such a bad idea that she doesn't play much during HS this season. I assume she plays TB and will hopefully play a lot this summer. I would give her this break.

That being said, we had a similar start to HS ball:
Last year my DD pitcher was the only Freshman to make the school Varsity team and for the first part of the season she sat the bench while #1 Senior pitcher controlled the circle. DD's Mom and I told her to work hard at practice and show the coach that you are capable, if he asks you to come in the game, do it, no matter where you'll play. Just before league play started her team had to play in the rain and the #1 didn't feel comfortable pitching in the rain so coach asked DD to enter. She pitched a great game against a great team allowing only 1 hit and no runs. DD ended up pitching all but the last league game for her team because she was patient and when asked to perform, she shined.

The truth is that IT IS ONLY HIGH SCHOOL BALL. Let it be what it will be and try to have a little fun. Travel season is only 3 months away.

 

[magalee]

I have no displaced priorities as we got an appointment soon as we could with a reputable orthopedic sports doctor as soon as they could get her in. Keeping her from injuring herself is obviously what we are trying to prevent, thus the concern over her not warming up. And she didn't warm up for 20 minutes either, not even 15. She has played first before and went into pitch in the middle of the game before on other teams, but she had been throwing during the game and warmed up pitching before the game. I did say we took her to an orthopedic doctor and THE DOCTOR said she could pitch as the problem occurs when she throws overhand but his opinion is that she can continue without problems. We also asked him if she should take a break from throwing PERIOD,and he said he saw no need for that. X-rays showed no damage, his opinion was that the tendon swelling was what caused the discomfort. Said discomfort should improve. The discomfort when pitching is not from the underhand motion, it is from the tendon being aggravated FROM PREVIOUSLY throwing overhand for warm up. Daughter has said if she could throw underhand only it wouldn't hurt at all. This did not happen during pitching. But you seem to think you can diagnose her without seeing her and without being a dr.......hmmmmm.

Your assuming alot and as far as feelings go we just want to "feel" like she is being treated fairly no matter what team she is on, like any other parent. We never expected her to go in and be the starting pitcher, we knew she would have to prove herself. Fair to us is simply treating her like a pitcher as that is her only job on this team, letting her warm up properly, so that when she does pitch she can do her best for the team she pitches for. My daugher is not a little kid that we "trot out to play ball". She is a teen ager that works hard and wouldn't let us "trot her out" if we tried. What a statement when you were aware she has seen a qualified doctor. I guess my daughters health isn't a priority for us since you don't agree with the doctor's evaluation?? We are following the doctors advise over yours, believe it or not.

This is not the first site I have been to and several other parents that had much the same problem had responses from coachs that said "they only reason a coach would't warm up a player properly is if they wanted to lose a game but improper warm up can also cause injury"......and ........."a coach is lucky to have more than one pitcher on a team and should give the second pitcher enough mound time that they will be confident on the mound if and when they had to pitch a full game due to the starting pitcher having injury or missing a game". I came here and posted to get parents responses also. And I am aware coach's opinions vary. I know there are coachs that respond the way you did to any problem parents have about a player, as they see parents as problematic. So you didn't catch me totally off guard with your harsh take on the situation. I'm glad you got to put your 2 cents in as you got to let off some steam and rude remarks via the internet. FYI, if you were truly concerned about my daughers health you could voice that in more respectful way that didn't invite an argument.

 

[magalee]

Thanks Coach-n-Dad, Appreciate your post very much, thanks for understanding the situation and your concern for the "second pitche's" need to warm up as well as the first one. You also stated our concerns also over improper warm up. As her arm problem is a result of throwing over hand and she is fielding, not pitching in practice, a break from pitching really isn't doing much to help. But I do thank you for your encouragement for my daughter and we encourage her also, letting her know her hard work will pay off eventually. We do not expect her to be the "star" of the team, just want her to be treated like a pitcher, no matter if she is the starter or relief pitcher, and not a bench warmer.

 

[nanotech14]

My nepew just had surgery on his elbow,and I understand what your dd is going thru,I as adult had two surgerys on my elbow from playing ball all my life.I don't think your trying to trot her out for your benifit.She I would guess has a passion for the game.My nepews elbow had some thing to do with the cartalidge in the elbow,not enough blood flow ,I guess from what his ortho said It can happen when you throw alot and don't warm up enough. I guess if she takes it easy,than she does some stretchs during the week.She hopefully will improve.I hope the coach can under stand that she needs more time.I would have her try to work her self in at first base.

 

[nanotech14]

Now my dd is 12yro. I have all ways asked her hows your arm,she pitches and I worry about her. I have tried to have her understand the diffrence between soreness and pain. It can be hard at the yougher age for them to tell the difference. I think as parents and coaches we should try to make them understand the difference. She needs 15-20 min. to warm up before the game and a few pitches when she comes in but never on a cold arm.