Should I let my daughter start pitching lessons?

[fastpitch]

One thing to think about regarding being the parent of a pitcher is the amount of patience, support and dedication both you need to have for it to be worthwhile and successful. Most girls who are successful practice several times a week plus weekly lessons (yes weekly, not monthly or bi-weekly) for years. In my relatively brief experience with this; for most successful pitchers the pitching lessons never stop; probably until college. It also makes it difficult to perfect other things as it takes valuable time away from hitting and fielding. Pitchers who do everything good are usually those girls who work 3x or 4x as hard as everyone else since they need to work on pitching, hitting and defense compared to other non-pitchers who just have to work on hitting and fielding. I also dont know many non-pitchers who put in the same amount of time at their positions that pitchers do.

Because of the amount of time and money invested you will also likely be converted (at least at the beginning) into a CD or CM (Crazy Daddy or Crazy Mommy) who pace the outfield foul lines or fence; mumbling about how poor the defense is... or how bad the umpire is... you may also start getting delusional about your DDs level of talent and start talking about D1 for your 10yo and things like that. I know it will be hard... but if you recognize it early and control yourself you may still end up being tolerable enough for coaches to still want your DD on their travel/club team despite their crazy parents.

 

[stephanie]

there is that...come to terms with being a crazy parent.

 

[tojo]

Don't be discouraged the first couple of months, she'll probably be all over the place and complain that she cannot do it, etc. As tomzpc suggested, YOU need to educate yourself as much as possible and attend every lesson, take notes, and ask lots of questions. All things being equal, chose a female PC who has actually played the game and who can more easily relate to your DD. Read everything on this site posted by BoardMember about pitching. You sure you are ready to be a "crazy" bucket daddy? Good luck!

Isn't BoardMember a man? I don't believe a female PC can relate any better than a male PC. I know quite a few pitchers that were successful pitchers but had little success teaching others. If you do research on this subject you will find the most successful pitchers were taught by a man. i.e. Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott,Lisa Fernandez,etc.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Isn't BoardMember a man? I don't believe a female PC can relate any better than a male PC. I know quite a few pitchers that were successful pitchers but had little success teaching others. If you do research on this subject you will find the most successful pitchers were taught by a man. i.e. Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Monica Abbott,Lisa Fernandez,etc.

I knew I was opening a can of worms when I wrote that. I said "all things being equal" I would choose a female PC over a male because a) I like a PC who has real game experiences (i.e. no male has ever pitched in a girls fastpitch softball game) b) can relate to being a young, girl pitcher and c) DD might be less intimidated working closely with a female vs male.

I am not going to dwell on it, there are some wonderful male PC's in the world of softball (including people on this site), wasn't my intent to offend anyone.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Sadly, I am already a Crazy Mommy who sits behind home plate to watch my daughter catch. The other day I found myself out-shouting someone who yelled, "Who are you throwing to?" with "That's the way, honey. They go, you throw. They're supposed to be there!" The SS, 2B and outfielders were all just standing around watching the runner steal and the ball bounce over 2nd into the outfield. Argh.

Last night my DD played an inning in the outfield at Right-Center (hadn't been in the OF for a year or two). She came zooming in to back up all the throws to second and ran to back up the other outfielders. That was lucky, because the RF missed a grounder, but DD was able to cut it off and throw to second to hold it to a single. The other outfielders just stood around as usual and watched her though; they didn't seem to feel any need to step up their play at all. Drives me crazy!

I'm not sure I could get much crazier, but if it's a competition... I do love to win.

 

[fastpitch]

Sadly, I am already a Crazy Mommy who sits behind home plate to watch my daughter catch. The other day I found myself out-shouting someone who yelled, "Who are you throwing to?" with "That's the way, honey. They go, you throw. They're supposed to be there!" The SS, 2B and outfielders were all just standing around watching the runner steal and the ball bounce over 2nd into the outfield. Argh.

Last night my DD played an inning in the outfield at Right-Center (hadn't been in the OF for a year or two). She came zooming in to back up all the throws to second and ran to back up the other outfielders. That was lucky, because the RF missed a grounder, but DD was able to cut it off and throw to second to hold it to a single. The other outfielders just stood around as usual and watched her though; they didn't seem to feel any need to step up their play at all. Drives me crazy!

I'm not sure I could get much crazier, but if it's a competition... I do love to win.

Sounds like all you need is a bucket and a pitching coach! good luck!

 

[SoftSocDad]

Sadly, I am already a Crazy Mommy who sits behind home plate to watch my daughter catch. The other day I found myself out-shouting someone who yelled, "Who are you throwing to?" with "That's the way, honey. They go, you throw. They're supposed to be there!" The SS, 2B and outfielders were all just standing around watching the runner steal and the ball bounce over 2nd into the outfield. Argh.

Last night my DD played an inning in the outfield at Right-Center (hadn't been in the OF for a year or two). She came zooming in to back up all the throws to second and ran to back up the other outfielders. That was lucky, because the RF missed a grounder, but DD was able to cut it off and throw to second to hold it to a single. The other outfielders just stood around as usual and watched her though; they didn't seem to feel any need to step up their play at all. Drives me crazy!

I'm not sure I could get much crazier, but if it's a competition... I do love to win.

Nice to see that my wife has found her way to the board. j/k

For me, I really care a lot more about effort than I do about execution and that has nothing to do with softball. If a kid is trying, but just isn't that good, hey, that's what we're all here for.

In soccer, kids go after the ball, no problem. I have no idea why we see kids just standing on softball fields. (actually I do know why it happens around here, but that's a separate thread)

 

[Sweet Pitch 96]

Personally, I would go for it. Once you've had your shins dented a few times, and completed the requisite laps back and forth along the fence, we Crazy Bucket Moms/Dads who have been at this for a while will welcome you to PPA (Pitcher's Parent Anonymous). Maybe someone can come up with a good 12-step program for us.