Independent pitcher?

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May 9, 2008
443
16
Hartford, CT
Ang, unpredictable sub travel

Always unpredictable! LOL.
We have three girls, two boys...boys are busy, not nearlt as emotional!

As far as Travel...my (she's LL 11) is still lacking speed for base running (very smart running choices...just slow running) and is having trouble with hitting.
Pitching going well....fielding, throwing. Fly balls, and decision making fine.

I find it bothersome that a coach would intentionally prevent any kid from growing .... these girls are only 9-12 years old.....

We are looking at drills and hopefully a camp or two for the summer ....

A greater concern for the league on my mind .... not sure things are as healthy as our "leaders" seem to think.

If Rec is not so goood, but not ready for Travel....what then?

I will look into part time substituion...may be helpful in a number of ways!
having a hard time finding info on travel and other org's around Hartford!

Thanks!
 
May 7, 2008
235
0
A lot of work in the backyard, good instructional DVDs, watching the pros on TV, private lessons, batting centers on rainy days and reading. My children are blessed that their dad knows what to look at in their mechanics and innovative ideas to correct them. We have a diamond in our back yard with two different rubbers (baseball and softball). In my living room, there is duct tape on the floor where my dd works on her stride. My daughter's spinner is in the dog's toys. Walking through my house tonight...my oldest was watching the Yankees on one TV, College Softball World Series in the living room, and College Baseball in another. Others may think I am crazy, but I believe in the early days, my children learned the theory of the game from Playstation. It helps that this sport is part of our family culture. We went to Disneyworld for the first time a couple years ago over spring break. We tacked on a couple of days in Tampa at Legends Field for preseason baseball. We all walked away agreeing, next time we skip Disney :)

I understand your frustration.

Ang
 
May 9, 2008
443
16
Hartford, CT
Our house!

LOL...Ang...your house sounds like ours!

We have bats of any number of sizes!
Buckets of balls (tennis, wiffle, softies, 11" and 12")....several spinners, tightspin, weighted, 14" ...etc....
...any suggestions for a REALLY good DVD for pitching ....

Softball World series .... they LOVE Montalvo as my 12 (in April) isn't that tall
(5'1")....after pitcher she LOVES 3rd.

Pitching rubber in the back with the shed behind the catcher (me)...you should see the dents on it! Can hardly open the doors on it ...oh well!

Have a tarp on the playscape for hitting into with Tee & soft-toss.

Today we took off the day for softball...blowing off batting practice at 7 pm .... they need some sleep!

...but if we had a TV on our deck...WS would be on !

We will work on more ...

Right now the league can't get enough for a 9/10 All Star team(our current coach is begging and wants to raid the Minors)....no idea about 10/11 but I threw my name in for Manager ....11/12 will have a team.

Today we eat steamers and ribs!
 
May 7, 2008
235
0
DVDs

Five pots...

(Smile) We'll look back on it someday, and the house will be too clean, too quiet, with well-manicured lawns. Then we'll have to get in our cars and go visit our kids who will ask us how we did it :eek:

My husband and dd watch a lot of Ernie Parker's pitching videos. I can't say that they incorporate every single suggestion into her pitching because they look for what works. However, we highly regard Mr. Parker.

Ang
 
May 9, 2008
443
16
Hartford, CT
DeJa Vu Independent Ptcher Better this time

My first post was about a pitcher who "lost" the game by overthrowing and ignoring coaches....went into the 6th ahead by two...ended up losing by one in the 7th even though the 5 batters she faced were very unskilled...walks, pass balls......etc....

Last night same team ...... going into the top of the 6th it was a tie game. same pitcher pitched well the last two innings....a little to cocky....but tolerable (boys hanging out, showing off).
That travel pitcher on other team was pitching inconsistently, overthrowing, pass balls, etc. She was pitching to our pitcher ... E gets a base hit ... steals her way around to home due to errors and wild pitches, throws. Next three batters stike out.
Bottom of the 6th .... our independent pitcher heads to the mound with the exact batting order we had the last time our game was so close.
(we chatted with E about just pitching, not whipping the ball all over).
Out in 4 batters ... we win by one run.

She's growing up a bit .. but her Rep as being difficult prevails with all the league coaches......
......she has so much potentional ... but her attitude (getting mad if someone catches her fly ball, stomping around, not listening to coaches) may be her downfall .....


Kids certainly are interesting!
 
Psychology

Fivepots,

Ah, 11's and 12's, I loved to coach that age, they can be such sponges.

Sounds as if she learned a lesson, hopefully the lesson was do what you do best, with the guidance of her coaching staff, and to trust her team mates to make the plays.

I don't claim to be the best in any area of coaching, I'm a student of the game, learning from the wealth of knowledge that's out there and what I'm learning here. One of the biggest lessons that I've learned is there's a little bit of psychology that goes along with coaching girls. Boy did I ever learn this the hard way going from coaching my son in Football to my daughter in Softball!! Usually, there's a reason for their behavior and demeanor since they are more emotional than boys.

Some of the things that I do when we start the season is to get to know my players and parents. Not so much on a buddy buddy basis, but to get some sort of knowledge about them. A lot of which develops from conversation with the players and parents, as well as observation.

This year during our rec season, I had a new player that had the same demeanor that you're describing with your pitcher. Attitudinal, Sarcastic, not wanting to take direction, seemed like a cancer to the team environment, has sooo much potential etc.... After applying my lessons learned, I came to find out this player came from a broken home, mom and dad divorced when she was young, mom remarried, and now she has twin half-sisters who play in a younger division and are quite good. It seemed to her, the focus was always on her younger sisters. Putting all that together (not alone, a lot of consultation with my wife), made me realize she was crying out for attention, she was looking to be recognized for her own successes. As a coaching staff and not to single her out, we decided we needed to be more aware of each player's successes and make it a point during and after each game to congratulate and recognize each player, no matter how small. We'd carry a notepad during games and take notes on the positives, some of the things we pointed out, the players didn't realize they did. We also took notes on our negatives, but didn't voice those after games, only emphasized them at practices by showing where we made the mistake. This player, as well as the entire team, responded extremely well. So much she was nominated for All-Stars for the first time in her short softball career and was ultimately selected to the team.

Thought I'd share this story with you, maybe it could help your pitcher in some way. After all, if we can help just one child, it makes it all worthwhile.

Coach Jim
Krusherz18U
 
May 7, 2008
235
0
Jim,

I am glad you shared that story with all of us...

The 12-14 age bracket seems to be an essential stage in human development. Bigger decisions must be made that can change the direction of one's life. I am glad you recognize the difference between coaching girls and boys, because it is significant. Others have argued that point with me. I can write a thesis on that alone. I have tried to teach my children that "not everything is as it appears." Bullies at school are usually wounded young people which could be caused by any number of things. I encourage my children to find the best in people and everyone has a bad day now and again (teachers, coaches, etc.). Also, behavior is influenced by life experience. I hope your point of view is contagious among those who can serve as mentors. I would rather have a troubled teen on our team than see them turn to the streets :(

Youth sports is a much bigger entity than competing in athletic events. It is an institution for all of us to grow as individuals. I am not the same person I was when I entered youth sports 7/8 years ago. I know greater frustration and I know greater compassion, it will be interesting to see where life takes me with that.

Thanks,

Ang
 

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