Work ethic

[Tucson]

The topic about boys at the ball park is drifting all over the place, so i thought I would start a new thread.

I had 3 kids within 5 years. The first male was a very talented in any sport that he took up. We played a lot of catch out in the yard. There really weren't private coaches in central IL at that time, so I was it. He pitched through HS, but was easily out done by larger men.

Youngest DD had all the natural talent in the world. We worked daily together as much as IL weather would allow. By HS she was winning every HS award and her letterman's jacket is loaded with letters. She could have cared less. Well, I don't mean that, but she never cared over wins and losses. She walked away after HS and hasn't played since. She will graduate from cosmetology college in a month.

Middle son, was in love with school and books. He worked hard at baseball. He studied and took up early morning running. He challenged himself. He had a work ethic that wouldn't quit. He was the only one of the 3 kids that made the A team as a 7th grader.

I don't think that you can teach "work ethic" and I don't think that you can make a kid do something. You can encourage them to play a sport "or no car", but you can't make someone over age 12 get up out of bed at 5AM to make a 6AM practice. They have to have the inner drive.

[DonnieS]

A story Doug Finch told me about Jenny is something that I think is important. He said, Jenny, like a lot of our girls, is a very social person and loved school, loved to get to school to hang out with her friends. She would be in such a hurry to get there that she would try to skip the things he wanted her to do in the morning, for example, do her work on the windmill machine. So he told her, you dont leave for school until you do your windmill work. Grew up to be a very focused young lady as we all know, but was also very much a little girl back then and needed his guidance.

[Sam]

Funny.....we apply the term "work ethic" to little girls playing a game....weird....

[DonnieS]

Funny.....we apply the term "work ethic" to little girls playing a game....weird....

s/work ethic/practice discipline/

[3Bsnag]

We have this discussion at my house a lot. Ours is a struggle between drive and procrastination. The problem is that hubby and I are cut from the same mold, while child is not. We may not be the best naturally gifted athletes, but both of us worked our tails off because we were not going to be out done, out played, or lose - at anything. (Makes for interesting fights sometimes).

DD is more laid back and we have a hard time adjusting to that at times. I have to give her some credit though- I have never had to wake her up for school (even for 6:15am athletics) and she freaks out if she has to miss any kind of organized practice. She never fights with hitting, loves to pitch in the backyard (not a pitcher) and field grounders, and always wants to do something softball related during the winter.

However, getting her to do QUALITY catching drills is a chore. I've asked a million times if she wants to change positions. I just don't understand not sleeping, eating, and breathing it until you're the best.

And yes, I was even like this at 13. Just a difference in personalities I guess. Her top career choices after her career test at school were designer, photographer, art director, etc. If I didn't know better, I'd think the artsy kid wasn't mine.

[Thefinalword]

I thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth in. I would guess that our story is similar to a lot of you. DD was introduced to softball at 7 years old and decided she wanted to try pitching at 8. She quickly became very good. She dominated through 12's. Along the way she had a couple of injuries that required surgery. She battled back through those setbacks. She had a good work ethic during those times. By the time she got to 14's ... the work ethic was waning and she questioned why she was doing all the work it took to continue to be a "walk on water" pitcher. She ran into some asshole coach's along the way, which didn't help. She wanted to have a "life" outside of softball, which included the regular social events that girls enjoy. She discovered she liked some other sports better than softball. The end result is she will probably continue to play softball in HS and that will be it.
If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have started her in competitive softball at such a young age. I truly think she just got tired of the whole travel scene.

[Sam]

I thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth in. I would guess that our story is similar to a lot of you. DD was introduced to softball at 7 years old and decided she wanted to try pitching at 8. She quickly became very good. She dominated through 12's. Along the way she had a couple of injuries that required surgery. She battled back through those setbacks. She had a good work ethic during those times. By the time she got to 14's ... the work ethic was waning and she questioned why she was doing all the work it took to continue to be a "walk on water" pitcher. She ran into some asshole coach's along the way, which didn't help. She wanted to have a "life" outside of softball, which included the regular social events that girls enjoy. She discovered she liked some other sports better than softball. The end result is she will probably continue to play softball in HS and that will be it.
If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have started her in competitive softball at such a young age. I truly think she just got tired of the whole travel scene.

If you don't mind me asking....what kind of surgeries did she have?

[Thefinalword]

Sam No problem. Knee and ankle. She has had a sore shoulder more than once, but nothing that required surgery. We have been careful not to let her get over pitched.

[Sam]

Sam No problem. Knee and ankle. She has had a sore shoulder more than once, but nothing that required surgery. We have been careful not to let her get over pitched.

Thanks....I only ask because I think that some kids that do sustain these injuries might not show the "work ethic" we would like to see because it hurts to play....just a thought.

[Thefinalword]

Sam I agree. I think she might have lingering pain from those surgeries, which could translate to lack of work ethic. I think she just might have gotten tired of trying to come back from those injuries ( surgeries ) and other nagging injuries that all athletes get.