Better to throw batting practice than it is to walk batters. At least she is throwing strikes. That in itself is a major accomplishment at times!! Speed will pick up as she gets more confidence!
Your kid says she wants to quit pitching.....
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Ok that bolded above differs greatly than your original post that said "Torn between "its your life" and "you're doing it because we've invested so much time and effort."I haven't really said anything to her about it. She's very independent so mostly all of my opinions she makes sure to feel the oppositeHer travel ball coach did talk to her about it briefly and said she was a good enough player to stay on the team even if she wasn't pitching, however she would likely still need to throw some innings occasionally and in high school her coach will likely tell her she has to pitch or to hit the road. I posted this looking for input from parents/pitchers who have been there/done that as a way to find to support her and (hopefully) indirectly encourage her to stick with it and not get down on herself or put so much pressure on herself.
My post was a response to a parent who admits his DD has anxiety when performing yet is talking about essentially forcing her to continue because of the $$ they have invested. To be frank, your original post upset me a little, thinking that a young girl's mental health is being ignored because of $$ invested in a damn game.
- Feb 13, 2018
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Poor choice of words I suppose.....I meant it more as "you can do this, you've worked so hard you love it, etc" I'm not the pushy parent. It's her life, it's her journey, and it's her decision ultimately. I've lived my life. I've provided every resource to her and she can do with it as she pleases
in the end I just was hoping to get personal examples of kids/individuals who have pushed through and overcame and I've gotten some great responses so far
We went through this with my dd. Long story short, I could see how much she loved it when it went well so I didn't let her quit when it got tough. She ended up so thankful for that later. The best advice I can give you is to figure out how much she enjoys it when it's going well. If she loves it when things are good then don't let her quit just because things got tough. If it has become something that she just can't ever enjoy then it's probably time for a break from pitching.
My kid once said she can't quit because I've invested so much time and money into her, and I said "that was my choice. If you don't want to play next season that's fine. You've held up your end of the bargain."
She's kinda high strung at times, but her goal the past couple years has been to get the ball in the zone. Strikeouts are a bonus. I've told her from day 1 that there are days she's gonna get beat up and days she's gonna walk a million kids, and just needs to suck it up and keep throwing. So she does. Usually she's just getting beat up as opposed to a bunch of walks, but she's fine with it. Hopefully once she gets to a skill level where she's actually attempting to strike kids out (as opposed to them striking themselves out on her pitches), she'll have developed that thick skin and can handle real adversity.
Also, it doesn't matter at this point if she wants to stop pitching. Coach will throw her regardless. We don't have a stable of pitchers, so if the two primary were unavailable he would put a three day old pizza in the circle if it could get the ball to the glove. There's not much other choice. She may as well keep working.
She's kinda high strung at times, but her goal the past couple years has been to get the ball in the zone. Strikeouts are a bonus. I've told her from day 1 that there are days she's gonna get beat up and days she's gonna walk a million kids, and just needs to suck it up and keep throwing. So she does. Usually she's just getting beat up as opposed to a bunch of walks, but she's fine with it. Hopefully once she gets to a skill level where she's actually attempting to strike kids out (as opposed to them striking themselves out on her pitches), she'll have developed that thick skin and can handle real adversity.
Also, it doesn't matter at this point if she wants to stop pitching. Coach will throw her regardless. We don't have a stable of pitchers, so if the two primary were unavailable he would put a three day old pizza in the circle if it could get the ball to the glove. There's not much other choice. She may as well keep working.
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Had this happen with my 13yo. Wanted to quit and got discouraged after her travel team coach pretty much told her she wouldn't be a pitcher, despite her having better results than others on the team. That and some other rec daddy coaches never giving her opportunities. She was never the dominant one and had things to work out but was never the worst, usually the second best. But you need innings to work out the kinks and no one would give them to her. I tried to talk her into giving it another shot on another team and see how it goes. I didn't want her to give up because bad coaches made her discouraged. Found another town team that she could pitch on and she did pretty good, but said she still wanted to quit. So I said that's fine and we stopped the lessons for a few months. Later on, some of her classmates talked to her and she was said they talked her into giving it another go. Right now, we are very casual about her pitching. She is the second pitcher on her middle school team, but the main pitcher is going to a private school next year so she knows she'll likely have to pitch some in high school. She's staying sharp and had a great weekend last week for her club team, but I'm letting her dictate how much she wants to go for it pitching-wise. Still getting stymied by her local rec team (same coaches as always and there's no other choices that I can find) so there's some frustration there, but it's not our focus anymore.
Went through the same thing. My DD worked hard as a pitcher for 4-5 years. Then she just didn't want to do it any more. Said it was no longer fun for her. I told her that it was her journey not mine and i'd support whatever her decision was. She still pitches in school ball. She's now committed to the school she wanted to go to and having a blast in club. I do miss sitting on the bucket but that's a me problem, not a her problem.
We’re already into the rekindled “interested in pitching again” phase. She learned to pitch, pitched for a couple of seasons, quit pitching for a couple of seasons, wanted to start pitching again, and now has a new pitching coach, and is pitching again. Now she’s old enough to realize “I should have persevered“ and she also realizes she has some catching up to do. I tell her, “well, it’s a perishable skill.” We just go with the flow and support it. The funniest thing is when volunteer dad coaches who can’t Fastpitch try to teach how to Fastpitch - they are everywhere. Good luck! lol
5'3 112 as a Fresman to 5' 10'' 157 HOLY @!*&%#!$#
Feel like most Freshman are about done growing.
Google: "Most will have reached their adult height by the time they are 14 or 15 years old."
That's insane..... SIGN ME UP.....LOL.. I have a 5'4'' 116lb Freshman.
This would solve a lot of issues LMAO
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