putting in the work

[billfalcon]

First off this is a great site glad I found it. I am sure I am not the 1st to ask this but my daughter is lazy. She played little league softball granted I was her coach alk those years. Now she is a freshman getting ready to try out for the high school team. Does not happen for a while but preseason works start in like a month. I know most parents say this but she does have talent if she was willing to put some work in. She goes to her pitching coach and likes it. When I say let's go get some grounders ect, 90% of the time I get I am tied, don't fell like it. She is 14 has a boyfriend now still hard to accept that but... I will say this she loves the game. At this point do I keep pushing and get what I can get or just let her go try out with little work to show it takes hard work and commitment to make a high school team. Kinda stuck..

 

[YOCOACH]

The question you have to ask yourself is who's game is it. As much as we, as parents, want to protect our children from all the hurts and dangers in this crazy world we live in, there are some lessons that need to be learned the hard way. Also, if you keep pushing to practice grounders etc., you might end up pushing her further away from a game she enjoys.

 

[riseball]

She is 14. Shoot the boyfriend and word will spread.

Getting better has to be important to her. If she is a pitcher and has any ability it is doubtful she will get cut from a HS team. However, getting circle time may be another matter.

 

[Cowdogz]

When I say let's go get some grounders ect, 90% of the time I get I am tied, don't fell like it. ......At this point do I keep pushing and get what I can get or just let her go try out with little work

Sounds like the results would be the same either way, no? Don't feel too bad, mine was the same way. Rarely motivated to do extra work. She'll either regret it when she's older, or she won't. Either way there's not much you can do about it right now, so stop driving yourself nuts about it.

 

[JAD]

How strong is the HS team where your DD will attend? If your DD has been half heartily playing REC ball, and the HS team has a bunch of TB players trying out, I am afraid this is not going to be a fairy-tale ending....

 

[CoogansBluff]

You mentioned you thought she had talent. But the most important info to include in your post would've been her goals and excitement level for the HS season. If she's got realistic goals and is looking forward to the season, and she's just naive about the work necessary to get there, then getting her in touch with reality is a parent's job. But if it's trying to get a talented but indifferent player to reach her potential, then it's probably a waste of time.

 

[djcarter1966]

If she really does not want to do the work there is not much you can do about it, I'm in that club. It depends on the HS program, ours had about a dozen returning players and given some politics for a few underclassmen the chances making Varsity (unless you where a super stud transfer into the district) was ZERO

She does not play travel ball...but she played every inning of JV at a bunch of positions catcher included (she is a real utility player) had a couple game winning hits, the team went .500 and she a had a blast with the girls and was named MVP. This season only one senior graduated so the whole varsity team is back, her plans are to have another fun year playing with her friends on JV.

In the end it is their choice to make and not ours.

 

[sluggers]

1) Ask her about *HER* goals for softball. What does she want from the game?
2) If her goal is, "Play in college", then find someone (like a college coach) to tell her what it takes to play in college. If her goal is to be a starter on the HS varsity team, then help her find out what the starters did.

It is important for her to hear this from someone other than you.

 

[bigchad64]

Everyone has different takes, so take this with a grain of salt. Sounds like she's reacting to you, not the game. How much do you pressure her to practice? When you practice with her, do you give constant feedback? Might try instead to pull back on the pressure, and just give opportunities to practice, not mandates.

I cringe when I hear a teenager described as "lazy". Lazy is generally the outworking of some other issue. Getting to the heart of the issue is the key.

 

[billfalcon]

Some good stuff there. I sat down with her last night and we talked about her goals. Her response was to get all a's and play high school softball. I am glad the A's part came 1st. As far as her commitment we will see she states she wants to play college ball as well. I hope the talk we had will help her realize things in life that you really want take hard work. As far as just this year, as it would be cool for her to make the varsity team. I think it would be in her best intrest to be on the freshman or jv. Team just to possibly get more playing time and get used to the speed of the next level.