Pitching instructor said... 10%

[Tango]

My DD's old pitching coach told me when she was around 9 to write the time and days of the week down and make that her pitching time. I didn't do that but she does now that she is older because her schedule is pretty full. She normally sits down on Sundays and make her schedule accordingly. Just a thought.

 

[Gambler Bob]

Kind of a related subject. How many elite pitchers had/have a crazy parent along for the ride. It seems it takes a lot of work for someone to take the kid to a lot of lessons and sit on a bucket for the extra work as well. No matter how bad a kid wants it they have to have someone supporting their dreams. And the opposite is true it can’t just be the parent wanting it. I would imagine the best players are motivated kids with crazy parent/parents.


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Very good point. I would think almost all the elite pitchers have very dedicated/crazy parents. I would even say the same for most elite position players.

Just got done taking a break from pitching but normally pitch 3-4 times per week which includes one lesson. DD plays SS as her primary position, so we hit 3-4 times per week. Do fielding work multiple times per week. DD works out 5 times per week on average.

I spend a ton of time training my daughter. Sitting on a bucket for pitching, throwing front toss for hitting, hitting fungos for defense, and of course driving in the car.

 

[Rolling Hard]

She's 9, I think she will be okay at this pace for now. I do agree the pace should ramp up when older if her hitting isn't where it needs to be, though.

You have 3 or 4 years to figure it out. Pitching is hard.

 

[benjey]

My DD is a position player not a pitcher but I had a very simple rule for her when it came to working on softball outside of practice. "I'll never ask but I'll never say no"

Told her when she made the move to an A level team at 11 that she needed to practice to be competitive but I will never ask her to practice and I will never say no if she asks me to practice with her.

Wasn't always easy to hold up my end of that bargain after a long day and she would ask to go to her org's indoor facility to hit at 10pm but from the age of 11 until she left for college she hit around 340 days a year.

 

[quincy]

I was in the hospital unable to catch DD. DW lasted 2 pitches before she gave up. She went next store and grabbed the neighbors kid who was a catcher in BB. She gave him a few dollars but he would have done it for free.

If there is a will there is a way.

I can think of so many ways DD could practice for free on her own so I do not accept a lot of the excuse I hear.

(DD told me she was not even throwing hard to DW trying to see what she could do. God bless DW for trying. )

 

[Hillhouse]

Interesting take. Can you not take lessons unless you want to pitch in college? I take golf lessons and I won't be playing in college, lol... I take lessons to simply get better. To enjoy the game more. Why can't a kid?

Where did he say that? I've re-read it a few times and I don't see where @Rolling Hard says anything about lessons. He spoke about pitching more than once a week, but I don't see what you're seeing.

That said, am I reading this right RAD, this coach says that only 10% of his girls practice away from his presence? As in, during the week she doesn't play catch once, twice, or more per week with mom or dad catching? Maybe I'm just lucky but I think the majority of my kids work on things with mom/dad. However, I don't know how many actually do the physical homework I give them, such as mirror work, working spin of the ball while watching TV, etc. So I'm confused about what the coach says the 10% contains. No pitching at all between lessons or working on the homework the coach gave her?

 

[earlg3]

You have 3 or 4 years to figure it out. Pitching is hard.

If truly maximizing skill training at young ages was the key to high level sports success, professional sports would have very different rosters.

 

[RADcatcher]

That said, am I reading this right RAD, this coach says that only 10% of his girls practice away from presence?

That's correct

Maybe I'm just lucky but I think the majority of my kids work on things with mom/dad. However, I don't know how many actually do the physical homework I give them, such as mirror work, working spin of the ball while watching TV, etc.

Considering in lessons there's something that's being worked on there that could be repeated away from the lesson at another time during the week... Whatever that is and whatever the homework may be.
Instructor commented only 10% are doing something.

There is an amount of parents that are spending the money on their kids because it's their kids. Not necessarily because it's a competitive sport.
( or rather an activity that keeps score)

Much of it could be 'keeping up with the Joneses' if the other kids are going to do lessons, let's send our kid also.
Much of the family's results are the same. In the local community, The level of pitching stays underdeveloped.

 

[PJR202]

Speaking from experience here so take this the right way. I think you're burning her out.

I hear you (and appreciate the input). I've tried to stay cognizant of that possibility the past couple years. I gave her the whole month of June off, including even TALKING about softball, but you kinda just have to understand this kid. I had a much longer post typed up to do just that, but ultimately, we are super low pressure parents and she has a ton of free time. She's just expected to work to improve if she's going to play, and whether she plays or not is entirely up to her, and quitting will NOT be met with any shame or disappointment verbalized on my part.

Her older sister didn't have softball high enough on her priority list and didn't want to put in the work in her also copious amount of free time, so she decided in her junior year offseason to no longer play. And that was fine. She's a high performer in other areas and focuses more on those. We just aren't the parents that will let them take on a sport or other extracurricular and be one of those many kids that doesn't work on it until the first day of official practices.

The lesson younger sister is struggling to accept is that failure to prepare is going to result in a miserable season, and adequate preparation will result in a happy season. She played 4.5 innings of varsity last year and pitched all the JV innings and didn't find the value in those despite it being her only field time. Yet she hated sitting in the dugout and complained constantly about it. Now is her opportunity to keep that from happening again but it WILL happen again, other than when she's out there throwing walk after walk as the #1 varsity pitcher. Or she can put in a whopping 3 hours a week with me and throw strikes.

Seeing the end result of work is tough to do at that age, but she has to learn the value in it. My unfortunate task is to teach her that lesson. The decision to commit has always been up to her, though.

 

[RADcatcher]

I hear you (and appreciate the input). I've tried to stay cognizant of that possibility the past couple years. I gave her the whole month of June off, including even TALKING about softball, but you kinda just have to understand this kid. I had a much longer post typed up to do just that, but ultimately, we are super low pressure parents and she has a ton of free time. She's just expected to work to improve if she's going to play, and whether she plays or not is entirely up to her, and quitting will NOT be met with any shame or disappointment verbalized on my part.

Her older sister didn't have softball high enough on her priority list and didn't want to put in the work in her also copious amount of free time, so she decided in her junior year offseason to no longer play. And that was fine. She's a high performer in other areas and focuses more on those. We just aren't the parents that will let them take on a sport or other extracurricular and be one of those many kids that doesn't work on it until the first day of official practices.

The lesson younger sister is struggling to accept is that failure to prepare is going to result in a miserable season, and adequate preparation will result in a happy season. She played 4.5 innings of varsity last year and pitched all the JV innings and didn't find the value in those despite it being her only field time. Yet she hated sitting in the dugout and complained constantly about it. Now is her opportunity to keep that from happening again but it WILL happen again, other than when she's out there throwing walk after walk as the #1 varsity pitcher. Or she can put in a whopping 3 hours a week with me and throw strikes.

Seeing the end result of work is tough to do at that age, but she has to learn the value in it. My unfortunate task is to teach her that lesson. The decision to commit has always been up to her, though.

There Definitely is value in the story you are sharing. People's personalities and perspectives are different, even for children in the same family, and for that applaud you being a parent that pays attention!