The Grass Isn't Alway Greener

[MsDinosaur]

Do you think that adage applies to all positions or specifically to pitchers? Just curious.

I definitely think it would apply to everyone as a batter. After all, just as it's easy to have a great ERA against mediocre hitting, it's easy to have a great batting average against mediocre pitching. Merely being patient enough not to swing at junk and waiting for the nearly inevitable fat pitch is going to set you up well. But that doesn't prepare you for the pitchers who have nasty stuff and good accuracy, where the fat pitch never comes. IMO if you're going to learn to hit good pitching, you need to see it.

 

[klamath632]

This is almost word for word what my daughter's experience was this past year. After spending a year on a very good 10U team (actually had the highest ASA team rating in the nation last year) as the #3 pitcher, we moved her to a team where she was the #1. She became a much better pitcher with the extra innings, and added 5mph to her fastball. The problem is her other fielding skills suffered. I can give her all the reps she needs at home, but instruction on learning new footwork, angles, etc. was lacking on this team. Expectations among other parents were lower, and the competition was much lower. She's a better pitcher but unfortunately that's all I can really say as a positive for this past year.

 

[MNDad]

Do you think that adage applies to all positions or specifically to pitchers? Just curious.

All positions. Girls improve the most during practice and training so the key is finding great coaching. A good coach will make sure all the girls see the field.

 

[InsidePitch]

"put your dd on the best team she can make"

I thought it was more "put your DD on the best she can play for". Play being the key word. At 10U and I'd say thru 14U your kid really needs to have a second position that they don't suck at. It hurts a lot less if you aren't sitting for two games on Saturday and maybe all games on Sunday. One thing we did was have DD play weekday town travel ball where the competition was good but not as good as TB to get circle innings.

Good luck. It really is hard to navigate these waters the first time through without a chart. This place does help.

 

[dbronstein]

Pitchers' parents are the most difficult people on Earth to get to understand that the thing that really makes softball players better is competition. Working hard and fighting for a #2 spot on a good team that plays against other good teams is going to do far more for your young pitcher than dropping down to a "B" team and getting more circle time.

I find that interesting because it seems that the party line here is "if your DD isn't the #1 or #2, you should find another team because she won't get enough circle time."

 

[shaker1]

Pitcher parents should find the best team their dd can pitch on, regularly, IMHO. If your dd is an "A" pitcher, you need to find her an A team to play on where she can get innings. Play at your level. I think they should always be pushing themselves.

 

[BobInMadison]

The whole travel ball structure is seriously flawed. I've discussed some of the problems a long time ago, and I don't want to get into the issues again.

In the meantime, all we can do is the best we can for our DDs in an imperfect system.

There are always trade offs. One coach suggested I find the best coaching. We only looked at 2 teams this year. Neither was a big name organization, but both teams had excellent coaching. We went with a team with a better pitching rotation. DD may get fewer innings, but the team will go deeper into the tournaments

 

[JAD]

I am a big advocate of putting a pitcher on a team where she is going to get plenty of circle time. In GA we are blessed with a wealth of TB teams with high A, low A, high B, low B, C and REC. IMHO the best situation is where she will be the #1 or #2 pitcher on a team that is going to push themselves to get better by playing against better competition. It sounds like your DD ended up on a team that did not push themselves to get better, so she probably stepped down a level or two too low.

 

[sluggers]

. She became a much better pitcher with the extra innings, and added 5mph to her fastball... She's a better pitcher but unfortunately that's all I can really say as a positive for this past year.

This is the craziest thing I've read in a while. I'm stunned.

a) Pitchers are *NOT* playing the same game as the rest of the team. Some pitchers probably don't even *LIKE* playing a position other than pitching. A kid wants to be a pitcher has to learn how to play the pitching game. Therefore, she has to find a team where her skills *AS A PITCHER* allow her to pitch a lot.
b) If a kid wants to pitch, it doesn't matter how well she drop steps or circles the ball, or how quickly she gets the ball out of her glove on grounder. It doesn't matter if she catches with two hands. It doesn't matter if she hits .750. None of the stuff will get the pitcher one more inning on the mound. Why? Because it doesn't help her do her job. And, if a kid wants to pitch, circle time is *EVERYTHING*.
c) Good pitchers want to pitch. That is what they live for. They don't want to play SS, CF or C...they want to be in the circle striking people out.
d) To learn how to pitch, they have to get circle time.

 

[JJsqueeze]

How about being a pitcher on a team that plays all comers but has no defense? That is how you teach a kid to pitch �� "you want an out? You got three choices, K, weak grounder or a popup- get to it Suzy and remember anything even reasonably well hit is at least a double"