Pitching instructor said... 10%

[RADcatcher]

A pitching instructor who said they have 45 pitching students on their weekly schedule, majority are under 14 years old.
When asked~
How many of the pitching students do pitching workouts on their own.
The instructor replied 10%.
( yes the pitching instructor talks about the importance of doing workouts on their own)

90%
Is this a reflection of parents just throwing money at their kids without parenting guidance or what is this?

 

[Rolling Hard]

No catcher? No excuse!
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[jdint]

A pitching instructor who said they have 45 pitching students on their weekly schedule, majority are under 14 years old.
When asked~
How many of the pitching students do pitching workouts on their own.
The instructor replied 10%.
( yes the pitching instructor talks about the importance of doing workouts on their own)

90%
Is this a reflection of parents just throwing money at their kids without parenting guidance or what is this?

In DD's case it's mostly due to lack of time. I know, I know, if she wanted it bad enough she could find time, but with playing multiple sports and the mountain of school work she has, plus private lessons and weekly team practices, there isn't much free time. She gets up at 6:00 a.m. and rarely goes to bed before 11:00 and is often up til 2 or 3 in the morning finishing schoolwork. So on the rare occasion she has some down time, I don't pressure her to fill it up with more sports practice.

This gets in to the whole 2 or 3 sport argument. My personal opinion is that she would be better off focusing more on pitching and giving up volleyball, but in the end, it's her decision.

 

[marriard]

During tournament weeks, my DD only did one session + one lesson during the week.

- As the go to pitcher on the weekend, she didn't pitch on the day after a tournament; she got plenty of work in games
- Generally Tues/Thurs she did a lesson + pitching session on lesson work/things she wanted to work on before a team practice;
- Some pitching was also built into team practice for some additional reps
- Wednesday in the gym
- Friday light or travel if needed to tournament.
- No tournament weekend, generally she would want to go out once on the weekend to do some work and hit the gym at least once

If she went too far beyond this, then she would fatigue so this was ended up being the right balance for her to be successful.
DD didn't want to just pitch, so she also fielded and hit - and did so into college successfully.

 

[Tango]

My DD has worked 4x a week since she was around 9. That has always been my rule if she wants to play TB. Anytime she pitches it counts as a day. For example, one day tournament is 1 day and 2 day is two days. Of course if she is really sore from a tournament we don't throw just to throw.

I do lessons and have a few that really work hard. Most don't and I tell their parents after awhile that they may need to stop coming because I'm just taking their money.

 

[4Martini]

I think it’s a reflection that the pitching coach relates well to teenage girls. A friend told me she pulled her kid from another sport lessons and put her in therapy- but the lessons were half the cost and more effective than therapy - so she went back to them.

We’re all just trying to get kids through one of the most confusing times in their lives.

My daughter had a disappointment at school yesterday. Cried a little - rallied to her hitting lesson- when we were walking out she said - I feel so much better- this is the best part of my day.

That said she has to pitch 4 days a week (with some week to week flexibility) to get pitching lessons. But the lesson counts, team practice counts, games count. So usually we’re fighting about taking days off - not practice days.

 

[PJR202]

I'd say 10% is accurate, for a few reasons, but ultimately it's up to the parents to get them working. Kids aren't typically ingrained with a desire to work toward a goal. That's your 10%.

The rest of them have to be taught how to prioritize and understand that it's not just a fun thing to do once a week. If my daughter was in control of her pitching schedule it would be once a week for a lackluster 30 minutes or so, then back to her boyfriend and tiktok and napping. And maybe a little painting. And this is while she is FULLY aware that she'll likely be the #1 pitcher on her HS team this season, which she still isn't ready for. It's just part of being a teenager.

If you earn your living teaching, it's just something you gotta accept and cherish that 10%. If it's a hobby/side hustle you can be more selective and more realistic with the parents about wasting money. Lessons ain't cheap. Charging even more would probably keep the more serious students around actually.

 

[lostcreek1]

I would say that is pretty accurate. I would also say young kids under the age of 14 are almost incapable of time management, this has to be done by the parent. Then it is up to the kid to want to work during the time that has been set aside by the parent. I know for us we have to get some of our work in on practice days, so we show up 45 min early for practice and use that for pitching. That is what works for us, if we couldn't make that work it would be difficult.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Parents need to parent 14 year olds. What a concept! The idea "it's up to her" or "its her decision" is lack of parenting. You hold the purse strings. Simply inform your DD that you are not going to pay for lessons unless she commits to throwing bullpens. Pitching is not easy and requires a 3 or 4 times a week commitment. Without that you are lighting your money on fire. There may be some exceptions but very few are going to develope into a college pitcher throwing once a week.

 

[PJR202]

Parents need to parent 14 year olds. What a concept! The idea "it's up to her" or "its her decision" is lack of parenting. You hold the purse strings. Simply inform your DD that you are not going to pay for lessons unless she commits to throwing bullpens. Pitching is not easy and requires a 3 or 4 times a week commitment. Without that you are lighting your money on fire. There may be some exceptions but very few are going to develope into a college pitcher throwing once a week.

Mine will be 16 in March. Been pitching a few years. I hate having to be the "bad guy" and constantly be harping on making sure we get her sessions in. She understands on a surface level why I do it, but I still get the eye roll and grumpy face and "I hate softball" way too much. Last week I flat-out asked her to quit so I could stop stressing about her next season, because I was the only one concerned with it. Told her I was 100% OK with it, but once the season starts there's no quitting. Of course, she doesn't want to. She's just dramatic in the moment.

I think she finally grasps that I hate bugging her about getting her work in, but as a parent I have to save her from herself, in a sense. I told her if she didn't quit, I was "this close" to bailing and letting her learn a life lesson in the circle in March. She's a great kid, a hard worker, and loves pitching MOST of the time.

To be fair, though, she's still a kid and she's not a savage travel-playing softball monster. But we do open practices twice a week, all off-season, she has a hitting lesson once a week, then we work on pitching three times for an hour. So typically, a ball is in her hand 5-6 days a week. To her that sounds awful, but it's literally only 1-2 hours at a time and we live half a mile from the school. She has a hard time grasping how much time she spends napping or playing on her phone, or hanging with her boyfriend.

Sometimes, we just have to be the bad guy.