Weather to play competitive vs rec

[Quigs10]

I've seen it happen to a coach I know! It was the last inning of the game, his team was down by one, two outs, bases loaded, his kid (7 years old) was hitting with two strikes on her. And then he hit her with the pitch for strike 3. His little girl was crying, his wife was not happy, it was not a good day for him.

Been there, done THAT!! My DD (6yrs old at the time) didn't cry, she just started yelling at me all the way from the batters box to the dugout in front of everyone. Oh, they ALL thought it was HILARIOUS!!

As soon as it left my hand...I thought.... Ahhh $#^%! Doinked her right in the hip. She tried to swing at it but..... yeah...well it wasn't funny at the time. lol

 

[radness]

I've seen it happen to a coach I know! It was the last inning of the game, his team was down by one, two outs, bases loaded, his kid (7 years old) was hitting with two strikes on her. And then he hit her with the pitch for strike 3. His little girl was crying, his wife was not happy, it was not a good day for him.

How many ice creams does it take to recoop from that

 

[uncdrew]

Actually... back in 8U in our league, coaches would come in to pitch if the pitcher threw 4 balls to a hitter. Instead of a walk, the hitter would then hit off her own coach. BUT, the rule was that whatever the strike count was, stayed intact. So, say a girl got 4 balls but also had 2 strikes on her in that at bat. The coach (Me) would come in and that girl only got ONE pitch to swing at. The coach only got the # of pitches left to reach 3 strikes.

So, if the batter had 0 strikes on her in the count, the coach would get 3 pitches. and the batter has to hit one of those 3.
If she had 1 strike, the coach had 2 pitches
If she had 2 strikes, the coach had ONE pitch to groove for the batter and she had to swing.

Talk about pressure!!! 2 outs, bases loaded and the batter has 2 strikes and 4 balls...here comes coach. Ok, coach you got ONE pitch...make it count!

And we had to be in contact of the pitching rubber too. 30ft for 8u. Let's just say you feel like a total A$$ when you "yip" a pitch 3 ft over her head or into the dirt at the plate and she MUST swing at it. Striking out a 7yr old is not enjoyable. And man oh man, if it's my own kid!!!??? I never heard the end of it at home!

so, YES!! Coaches "warmed up" a bit before the game to practice for their relief pitcher duties coming soon. lol

I struck out a lot of girls in coach pitch. Parents didn't appreciate my fist pumps.

 

[Towny9]

The intensity factor is off the charts for those 'coach pitchers'...cant imagine the facebook puplic shaming that could follow...

And what happens if the coach hits a batter with a pitch, could get ugly real quick

The absolute worst is when you throw one bad pitch out of 10 and the parents yell “wait for a good pitch honey “

 

[_MIA_]

The absolute worst is when you throw one bad pitch out of 10 and the parents yell “wait for a good pitch honey “

Yeah I would have hard time not yelling out “if you think you can do better than by all means get your butt out here”

 

[Quigs10]

Note: Had to add... PLUS..you know how fricken small the damn strike zone is for some girls that are 6,7 and 8!??

And they usually have ONE swing pattern/level. They do NOT adjust, they swing the same dang swing every time. So, what I would do as the season progressed is learn where they swing and try to pitch it at that level. lol

I literally had a "scouting report" note in my clipboard on where each girl liked to swing. (Sad, but true) We would work all season on hitting different pitches on different planes/levels but, man many just never adjusted all season.

But, what I did learn very quickly that many coaches in coach pitch don't realize, was you gotta throw FLAT and at a decent speed/pace. If you try to "lob" the ball in with a big loop thinking that will help, that is the last thing you want to do. Keep the pitch flat as possible from 30ft and with a little speed to it and they would hit it much easier.

Of course, when you do that, sometimes then there is the problem of the 7yr old catcher getting DRILLED in the facemask/helmet because she can't even catch yet. LOL Good times!

 

[radness]

But, what I did learn very quickly that many coaches in coach pitch don't realize, was you gotta throw FLAT and at a decent speed/pace. If you try to "lob" the ball in with a big loop thinking that will help, that is the last thing you want to do. Keep the pitch flat as possible from 30ft and with a little speed to it and they would hit it much easier.

Of course, when you do that, sometimes then there is the problem of the 7yr old catcher getting DRILLED in the facemask/helmet because she can't even catch yet. LOL Good times!

LOL fun stuff where this thread went progressed to pitching instruction for coach pitch...
Fantastic dfp community
Helpful tip's for any occaision!

 

[MNDad]

I'm guessing and hoping that your daughter caught up quickly.

I agree with you second year 12U is a bit late. My younger daughter is in first year 12U and these girls are light years ahead of most rec girls as they've played high-level travel for 2-3 year already. My older daughter joined a 14U travel team last fall and is behind for sure.

She’ll catch up quickly. When DD was 14U travel teams weren’t allowed in my state. By the end of the first season we were very competitive nationally and five of the girls went on to play D1. It’s all about good coaching.

 

[radness]

When DD was 14U travel teams weren’t allowed in my state.

WHAT?
Not allowed? Where Was this?

 

[Bernmoll]

The absolute worst is when you throw one bad pitch out of 10 and the parents yell “wait for a good pitch honey “

This reminds me of my daughters coach pitch team. Whenever one particular coach would come in to pitch, our parents (in particular his wife and parents) would heckle “oh here come coach Jim who is going to pitch a no hitter again!” Even the kids would ask for our their other coach to pitch instead tough crowd.