Pitcher & MIF-Time to choose?

[Beeg]

DD (14U) plays SS and pitcher. We've been taking her to pitching, batting, and fielding private lessons. Almost all the lessons are an hour away. 2 team practices a week (when there isn't a tournament) are also about an hour away. Adding in personal practices, and it is difficult to schedule everything in, not to mention taking off work early to get her to these places. (All private lesson must be scheduled a week at a time, as none of the coaches have a set schedule.)

Something got to give. She loves pitching, but she is also great at SS. We are also afraid that HC would prefer her to not play SS so she can focus on pitching. I haven't seen many pitchers who are also MIF, maybe there is a reason for this. She isn't tall, and she pitches at around 52mph right now (still 5' tall), but she can move the ball. Do you think it is time for her to give up pitching? Do college usually prefer pitchers not play IF?

 

[heman1202]

I know plenty of pitchers who are also MI. I know pitchers who are outfielders, corners, and even catchers. Pitchers should have another position, especially athletic pitchers.

Is she a good SS? Drop some of the lessons. Is that weekly? Maybe once per week she does one of those things. Does she really need private fielding lessons? Which position does she want to play? Is pitching lessons a requirement by her coach to pitch?

Just because you drop some lessons off the schedule doesn't mean she can't still pitch. I think it is time to give it up only if that's what she want to do, not because you can't make some lessons.

 

[Orange Socks]

DD (14U) plays SS and pitcher. We've been taking her to pitching, batting, and fielding private lessons. Almost all the lessons are an hour away. 2 team practices a week (when there isn't a tournament) are also about an hour away. Adding in personal practices, and it is difficult to schedule everything in, not to mention taking off work early to get her to these places. (All private lesson must be scheduled a week at a time, as none of the coaches have a set schedule.)

Something got to give. She loves pitching, but she is also great at SS. We are also afraid that HC would prefer her to not play SS so she can focus on pitching. I haven't seen many pitchers who are also MIF, maybe there is a reason for this. She isn't tall, and she pitches at around 52mph right now (still 5' tall), but she can move the ball. Do you think it is time for her to give up pitching? Do college usually prefer pitchers not play IF?

Sounds like she's an athlete. Not likely that she will pitch and play the field. Depends on what she likes to do more. At this age, she is still developing and needs to play as many innings as possible...anywhere that helps the team. How's her hitting? That's what will keep in the lineup. If she is a pitcher and a top 4 hitter, she will hit. If she is a SS that is top 9 hitter, she will hit. If she is okay sitting on the bench waiting her turn to pitcher and not hit, that's up to her. I don't think she needs to choose anything right now but yes the commute to workouts will take a toll. I would reduce the number privates and spread them out. DD never did weekly's for catching and hitting. Pitching is a little different though. Privates are to fine tune what she has been working on on her own or to introduce a new skill/drill.

 

[jdint]

In a very similar situation. Personally if DD enjoys pitching I would stick with it for as long as possible. You could cut out some of the weekly hitting and fielding lessons and takes some reps at home. During club volleyball season we drop down to one or two hitting(or none) lessons a month.

My DD is primarily a pitcher so we generally try not to skip many pitching lessons, but it's not the end of the world if you do. At 14u she probably has a pretty good idea of what she needs to work on.

 

[radness]

DD (14U) plays SS and pitcher. We've been taking her to pitching, batting, and fielding private lessons. Almost all the lessons are an hour away. 2 team practices a week (when there isn't a tournament) are also about an hour away. Adding in personal practices, and it is difficult to schedule everything in, not to mention taking off work early to get her to these places. (All private lesson must be scheduled a week at a time, as none of the coaches have a set schedule.)

Something got to give. She loves pitching, but she is also great at SS. We are also afraid that HC would prefer her to not play SS so she can focus on pitching. I haven't seen many pitchers who are also MIF, maybe there is a reason for this. She isn't tall, and she pitches at around 52mph right now (still 5' tall), but she can move the ball. Do you think it is time for her to give up pitching? Do college usually prefer pitchers not play IF?

Her personal individual goals could be more important then what high school goals for her are. But those are individual choices of how to prioritize.

 

[ang2bmd]

I think its time for a serious discussion with her about what she wants out of softball. Goals of for fun,, HS player, college at any level vs college at high level will have different outcomes of this conversation. Low 50s and 5ft tall isn't outwardly impressive but is she a late bloomer, does her pitching coach think there's a lot more to come. What's her overhand speed. Division 1 college players are typically over 60mph overhand, whats her exit velocity. What's her genetic potential to get bigger? All of these questions need to be asked and answered honestly so your kiddo gets the best experience. Personally there's no way I'd advise a kid thats 5 ft tall in the low 50s to be a pitcher only.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Traps71]

DD (14U) plays SS and pitcher. We've been taking her to pitching, batting, and fielding private lessons. Almost all the lessons are an hour away. 2 team practices a week (when there isn't a tournament) are also about an hour away. Adding in personal practices, and it is difficult to schedule everything in, not to mention taking off work early to get her to these places. (All private lesson must be scheduled a week at a time, as none of the coaches have a set schedule.)

Something got to give. She loves pitching, but she is also great at SS. We are also afraid that HC would prefer her to not play SS so she can focus on pitching. I haven't seen many pitchers who are also MIF, maybe there is a reason for this. She isn't tall, and she pitches at around 52mph right now (still 5' tall), but she can move the ball. Do you think it is time for her to give up pitching? Do college usually prefer pitchers not play IF?

I don't know if your DD started HS this year (or if she is still in 8th grade), but I will tell you that all of these time management and logistical challenges around team practices, lessons, travel tournaments, and personal skill development are going to get a lot harder still when she is dealing with high school classes that count for her GPA/college admission and homework. Oh, and if she is on any sort of college showcase team, you can expect recruitment efforts to suck up a bunch of time too. My DD (first year 16U) is a Sophomore in HS playing on a Regional-level team and the struggle to manage all of it is real. She is primarily a P, but plays corner OF and still wants to hit. I don't really see those latter two endeavors lasting much longer on this team. Just not enough time to do it all and there are girls that can put almost 100% of their focus on hitting. Since leaving the more lenient world of virtual school brought on by the pandemic last year, it has been very difficult to find the time to juggle all of this. On Friday we head to SC for a weekend showcase as soon as she gets out of school...better bring your homework with you.

 

[Mike-Oviatt]

Why so many weekly lessons? Is she practicing what the coach worked with her during the lesson after/between lessons?

Let’s look at hitting lessons only here. If your player sees the hitting coach Tuesday every week is there really time between all those lessons for the player to work on the techniques between lessons and really show improvement? Put that hour+ of travel into work at your local park/field on her own at a teammate and work on the skills the coach is highlighting for the player. You’ll save some money (lesson cost, gas, fast food/beverage, wear and tear on the vehicle and so on) and your player is actually getting in the needed work/practice to get better at the skills the coach wants her to work on

Now to the parent who says we don’t have a net or balls or what ever at home. Why are you throwing money at a coach rather than investing in your player directly? A dozen balls is about $50, likely the cost of one lesson. A screen is $90-200. A tee $50-120. Take a lesson or two off and put those costs into equipment for your player to use at home or local park/field.

Now that you are saving money not driving to weekly lessons I suggest budgeting that money for other future softball expenses. Depending on how long you player players there are going to be gloves and replacement gloves, bats, cleats, team fees, camps/clinics, hotels, gas to tournaments/practice, uniforms and so on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Shiloh]

What does your DD want to do?

 

[Strike2]

We've seen this discussion many times before here. Unless your DD is a lights-out pitcher, it's all she wants to do, and she's not particularly athletic, 14U is way too early to give up on playing other positions. Not only should she still play SS, she should learn the OF...college rosters are littered with former pitchers.

You need the pitching instruction, and hitting will keep her in the lineup. Fielding lessons for the beginner are fine, but team practice should be the place for work on defensive skills. Ditch the fielding lesson. If your HC can't teach defense, find another team. If your HC wants to keep her on the bench when she's not pitching, find another team.