Minimum Innings in order for a pitcher to progress

[AnotherSoftballDad]

Couple thoughts. first softball is supposed to be fun. Is she having fun? Or does the lack of time make it frustrating not fun? No fun = quit.

5-6 inning every 2 tournaments makes no sense to me if she is #2. say you play just the 4 game min x 2 weekends = 8 games. if #1 gets 4 games, #2 2 games, #3 2 games, or 3,3, 2 or 4,3,1 thats twice what you report. If the coach is carrying more than 3 pitchers there will be ( IMO) unhappy players and parents soon. Its tough to feed 3 pitchers unless you are playing 6+ games a weekend ( going deep sunday every weekend). After 20 years of coaching I always found a solid 1-2 pair and a #3 who is willing but not disappointed to not pitch is the best bet. BEST BET for overall team and player camaraderie and enjoyment; maybe not the best for the coach who wants a 5 deep bullpen. But what is the game about anyhow coach's record or the players????????

She loves softball and always has fun. I love watching her progress as a pitcher.

We play every other weekend tournaments. Say 4 innings per game. 5 games per tournament. That is 20 innings. My DD is getting about 5-6 innings. Usually about 3-5 pool innings and 2-3 bracket innings.

We have 5 pitchers on the team and when you look at total innings for the season I feel the # of innings is a direct representation of their pitching ability. Very fairly distributed.

Last few tournaments from most recent to oldest. Just added these up. I guess she is getting a few more innings then my original estimate. Her pitching has actually improved quite a bit over the season.
1) 5 innings
2) 5 innings
3) 7 innings
4) 7 innings
5) 9 innings
6) 17 innings (#1 pitcher missed tournament)

To be clear I'm not complaining about the coaches decisions or playing time. Just wondering if the number of innings in the circle is detrimental to her progressing.