My oldest was a pitcher. Did this ever happen? Yes ~ we had one pitcher go south really quick and the back-up get hurt. It was not a usual experience, so we put it down to a "it happens" situation. I do not agree with it happening several times over the course of the season, however, as appears to be here. One thing that I would suggest (to keep your daughter safe and to grab the bull by the horns, so to speak) is that, before each game, she and the other pitchers ask for the pitching plan. This is a good time for her to learn to check if she needs to be warming up before the game in case she is needed. I realize she is 11, but this is an important tool. By 14U, none of our pitchers waited on the coaches to be told when to warm up, etc. They asked what the plan was, knew to get their throwing/batting warm up done first with their catchers, and then went to warm up for pitching. If they were the #3 for the game, they didn't warm up as much but they made sure they were at least loose in case they needed to go in.
No warmup!!!
- Thread starter southernchopper
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- Jun 24, 2013
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It is only 3 more games, the word survive comes to mind. If you are uncomfortable with how he is handling the pitchers, which I would be, just tell the coach she is done pitching for the year. I am sure she has other positions she enjoys playing.
Oh, dear. You are paying mucho bucks for this guy to coach, then. I taught at Immanuel Lutheran, in Springfield, IL. I would have been dismissed immediately had I even cussed in a joking manner. I do think that you need to contact whomever is this guys superior, not over the coaching incident, but over the cussing.
ConorMacleod
Practice Like You Play
- Jul 30, 2012
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I'm shocked at people saying "she needs to learn to warm up on her own". Besides the fact that she's 11, there is a reason there's a coach. If it's up to the players to decide when to warm up, what to do, and how to do it, then why do you need a coach? As a coach, it is completely incumbent upon me to decide what and for how long, the pregame warm-ups should be. If I send a pitcher out there cold, it is MY fault! It is never the parents fault, and certainly not the 11 year olds fault. And when talking about an 11 year old piticher, she does not need to "suck it up" without a warm-up. The pitcher toting the rubber and the coach need to suck it up until that next pitcher has warmed up.
- Jun 24, 2013
- 1,057
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You are right but …
Where this thread took a twist is when it was mentioned this was school ball. Your choices are pretty much play or don’t play, you don’t get to choose your coach. Sometimes you need to take things into your own hands, you cannot switch Teams to a coach you are more comfortable with.
Where this thread took a twist is when it was mentioned this was school ball. Your choices are pretty much play or don’t play, you don’t get to choose your coach. Sometimes you need to take things into your own hands, you cannot switch Teams to a coach you are more comfortable with.
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DD's HC did this last year with one of our pitchers. BTW I was the AC. The pitcher he brought in had actually come out of a game the night before due to soreness in her pitching arm. After he brought her into the game with ZERO warm up, I told him he was making a huge mistake. After the game I told him, "If you ever do that again, I am taking my DD and we are done. You don't mess with a 12 y/o future just to get through an inning." Sad part was that we had warmed up our #3 pitcher prior to the game.
- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
- 48
I agree that the coach should get the pitchers warmed up before and during the game. With that said, the OP said the coach has sent pitchers out to pitch without warming up in the past so it shouldn't have been a surprise to his DD that she might get put in the circle with little or no warm-up. Most of the pitchers I am familiar with have been pitching regularly since they were 7 and 8 yos and by 12U they have a set routine that they go through before each game and have done this routine countless times for many years. So if the coach isn't going to formally warm-up the pitcher and she thinks she might pitching that game, she needs to take some initiative on her own to warm-up. The HC sounds like a real loser but the lesson learned is that as a pitcher you need to be ready to go on a moments notice.
I may be incorrect here, but I'm assuming you are responding to my post. I do not disagree that the coach should get the pitchers warmed up before the game, nor did I say it was the 11-year-old player's "fault" in any way. There is nothing wrong with using this event, however, as a teaching moment for her and the other pitchers to empower them to know that they can take the lead and the responsibility to check on what the plan is, etc. And I don't believe this is just a softball "thing", either ~ my son's football team (at a younger age) and baseball team had the quarterbacks and pitchers checking on who was "up" and warming up accordingly. Now that we are at an older age (older DD is graduated and second DD is 16U catcher), my DH posts it beforehand and the girls check the board and know what to do.
- May 17, 2012
- 2,805
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I find the whole "warm up" debate perplexing as a coach and as a father of a pitcher.
How long does "warming up" take? If you do it before the game, how long does it last?
If you are playing in bracket play how many pitches do you really want to burn warming up? Aren't you already warmed up from pitching before the game, doing dynamic stretching and currently playing in the game?
Some parents here seem to think it's a crime against children to not let their daughters warm up for 20 minutes prior to pitching. From 12u on up you should be ready at all times to pitch.
I find most of the time parents want to blame bad outings on the coach who didn't let them "warm up properly". Again I still haven't seen a correlation between the quality of the warmup and pitching performance.
Meh.
How long does "warming up" take? If you do it before the game, how long does it last?
If you are playing in bracket play how many pitches do you really want to burn warming up? Aren't you already warmed up from pitching before the game, doing dynamic stretching and currently playing in the game?
Some parents here seem to think it's a crime against children to not let their daughters warm up for 20 minutes prior to pitching. From 12u on up you should be ready at all times to pitch.
I find most of the time parents want to blame bad outings on the coach who didn't let them "warm up properly". Again I still haven't seen a correlation between the quality of the warmup and pitching performance.
Meh.
It lasts about 30 minutes and no longer than 45, if done prior to the game (in the 12U age group.) Then, if she has warmed up before the game, I am guessing that she can get ready in about 10 minutes. But, if she hasn't thrown at all, it takes her however long it takes her. It can't be rushed. And she needs to throw all of her pitches - FB, locations, CU, and what ever else she is working on.
Many of these girls are new to pitching, and they will drop out rapidly, if they are set up to fail.
My biggest complaint is the coach's attitude when approached by the young girl's parent. He is a school teacher there. He needs to be better prepared or ask the parent to please see him at another time.
Many of these girls are new to pitching, and they will drop out rapidly, if they are set up to fail.
My biggest complaint is the coach's attitude when approached by the young girl's parent. He is a school teacher there. He needs to be better prepared or ask the parent to please see him at another time.
