Boys at the ball park

[NORCALGOLD]

donnie,for evey jennie finch there 100's of girls that practiced every day and are no longer playing ,If you take a mule to a track and practice every day all day it still will never beat a thoroughbred ( I do not mean you or your DD) .Its genetics you first have to have the genes to hone and practice .I think jennie finch would have been jennie finch even if she only practiced a moderate amount growing up.
People at times seem to forget it is a game to be played for fun not as a punishment to be forced on a young girl. As they get older thats when the the most intense training should come into play.You don't want a athlete to peak to young when it doesn't really mean that much.

[DonnieS]

People at times seem to forget it is a game to be played for fun not as a punishment to be forced on a young girl.

NORCALGold, thanks for the reminder - and trust me, I do know. Ask any kid that plays for me as to what this team's first goal is and they will tell you 'To have fun.' And 13 out of 13 would then say 'And there is nothing more fun than winning.'

This dd, my youngest, seems to pitch her best when her bf is in the stands, maybe she is a show off, maybe she doesnt want him to show her up, he is the leading rusher and touchdown scorer at the school that he attends.

I think her biggest problem with pitching practice these days is with her at home pitching partner, she has been pitching with me for going on 8 years, more than enough to be sick of me. And all I am is a pitching partner, I am not a pitching coach, I am her tb coach, so when I see problems (walks, meatballs,etc.) I have to go back to her pitching coach.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Donnie S ... why is your DD's BF not catching her ? If you are just a pitching partner not her Coach ... and he is "handy" ... sounds like you could go take a nap, she could throw, and they could be together if all she needs is a target ... win win win situation ... I'm just sayin' ... And as far as her having to throw on her B-day ... well, that's not my style but she is your DD so you do as you see fit ... but I will offer this analogy ... a few years back I was starting a small biz at the same time as a friend was ... we both worked long hours, Saturdays, Sundays etc. ... at one point he stopped working on Sundays and then cut his Saturdays to half days ... he told me that he got more work done in 51/2 days than he did in 7 ... I didn't believe him but eventually I followed his lead and also reduced the hours per day during the week ... Over the years I have found this philosophy to be effective whether it be related to work, play or workouts in the gym ... I think your DD would have gotten as much, if not more form her workout had let her take a nap when she felt she needed it, or take her and the BF out for an ice cream cone on her B-day instead of throwing, unless of course that's what she wanted to do ...

[DonnieS]

>> Donnie S ... why is your DD's BF not catching her ? <<

I like the idea, the biggest problem with that is the window of pitching time we have now is 4:30 to 5:15, she gets home from school, scarfs down some food, and then we have just that short time before not enough light left. BF lives about 6-7 miles away, and neither drive so good old Dad is the one.

Trust me guys, I am not a hard ass about this stuff, but when she missed the day before, she had Monday off (tournament weekend, rest on monday), so we had tuesday to work, she napped, she could have napped after pitching. So wednesday was a day off from school, as well as her birthday, we pitched. We pitched on Thursday (yes, thanksgiving), and she took off Friday, beach day, Saturday, high school playoffs, and we are off to the beach after church and pitching practice today.

[thedad65]

i agree it should be the parents that handle any outta control boyfriend. and if one slipd by and hung out by the dugout i never had a problem telling him to save for after the game please. if the boy, girl or the parents have a prob with that you dont want them anyway. jsu gotta say im new here and there are some very good and nice answers here. just got tired of e-teamz . play on!!

[softballaddict2]

I have to agree with Donnie. My daughter really does enjoy pitching. But if she’s not practicing, she doesn’t retain her skills . . . and she’s definitely not improving. It really shows during game time and she’s miserable if she hasn’t been working. Sometimes it does take some force to get her off the phone to do some pitching. I know it’s tough because I catch her (not an easy task). Once she does begin gathering her equipment, she’s OK. I know girls who’ve quit, but it’s usually because they aren’t improving as quickly as their teammates. These are the girls who, because of their size at 10 & 12, were the better ball players. But due to their instant success, some never worked to improve their skills. And their parents, thinking they’re just phenoms never gave them the tools they needed for continued success. Now that they’re 14 and 15, the smaller girls who have worked daily to just keep up, have now reached and passed their teammates in size and skill. The aces at 10 and 12 are now mediocre at best. They stop seeing success and no longer enjoy the sport. So they quit. Sure, my daughter’s friends think she works too hard and complain that she doesn’t have enough time for them. But she admits that if she didn’t, she would not enjoy the success and accomplishments that she has so far.

[GIMNEPIWO]

To play devils advocate ... I just watched Michael Phelps on 60 minutes and his Coach says that he trained every day, including Christmas and twice on his B-day ...

[NORCALGOLD]

To play devils advocate ... I just watched Michael Phelps on 60 minutes and his Coach says that he trained every day, including Christmas and twice on his B-day ...

You can't compare what an olympic athletes training schedule is prior to the biggest sports event on earth. To what a 10 to 14yr old softball player should be training for a year of local tournaments ,games and maybe nationals ,

[Tucson]

MIchael Phelps began that routine at age 11, though.

The best of the best have always had rigid training schedules. I think of the Williams sisters (tennis) and TIger Woods.

The time that girls put into tennis and gymnastics doesn't compare to what we do in softball. And they have to move away from home at age 12 to do it.

I don't think that softball phenoms are any different than young musicians or artists. Some kids live and breath it and some kids would never mention softball again, if their mom and dad didn't sign them up.

Locally their is a 12 YO girl that made that swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco. It was cold and her suit filled with water. After she was finished, she couldn't wait until the following year.

Some folks are just different. None of my kids had the love for sport that I do. Softball is never far from my mind.

[blogndogn]

i think no matter what, you must do what everyone else is not doing. and thats working harder going the extra mile,if you always go to the park and look around and there is no one there but you and your dd practicing, and its always like that ,look around wheres all the catchers ,pitchers fielders,hitters and there not there like you are, than keep doing what you are doing, its a competition on every level team, and individual. work hard it will pay off, besides good one on one time as long as your not fighting.