younger siblings

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i have 12u dd i coach and is pretty good player but has had to work pretty hard to get where she is.now younger one gets into softball couple years ago is second grader and could probably play on alot of 10u teams,it just seems to come so much easier for her dont know if she is just better or benefitting from being at diamond every weekend lol.last year slid into home better than some of my 12u girls said where did you learn that sissy she replied and i thought she just hung out at jungle gym.is this the case with others?

 

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This is common. The younger sibling reaps the benefits of the older sibling playing, especially if the younger sibling is anthletic. As a result, they tend to be better than the elder. It's that way in my family, and in fact, my older dd had a coach who would push my younger dd harder than some of the girls he coached on the team. I know of a few families in this area that it had happen to.

I saw a girl recently on a 14U team. Her younger sister was 7 and pitching beautifully. She had the electric tape on the ball and it had the correct spin.

 

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I have 3 and they progressively get better. My youngest is by far the best fundamentally, but I think it is because she has been going to practices, scrimmages, games, and tournaments year round with her sisters since she could walk. She would be 2 years old with a whiffle bat working the tee with the 14 year olds and they would just eat her up and teach her everything they could. She loved it and just soaked it up like a sponge. I definately think the older sibling influence helps tremendously.

 

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Yep.... my 9 year old is already better and faster than my 11 year old, with 96.3% less time put in. I'm really still not sure where she gets it from. Also throws harder.

It was a joke recently between myself and another coach. We need to scour the community in all households that have at least 2 or 3 girls, pick the youngest one, and get her to play, whether she wants to or not. :lmao:

 

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I have had about 35 to 40 pairs of sisters in our organization over the last 7 years. And all but 1 of those cases the youngest sister was by far the better ball player. Its how it works, they know the game earlier in life and start to practice earlier as well.

 

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Ditto here. My younger DD is doing very well since she's always playing with her older sister and teammates. They seem to pick up on everything quick and is nice to get them using proper techniques at an earlier age. Fortunately, my older DD is giving a lot of positive support and not being competitive. I just tell my DD's that there is always room for improvement and just do your best.

 

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yeah when we went to batting cage last week lil one gets in cage throwing 43-45 mind you she is 7 she had 7 tokens which equaled 14o pitches first 20 bunted about 15 out of 20.then started hitting and i bet she missed 5 out of the rest i know older dd gets tired of hearing me brag about lil one but hard because it amazes me.but she is proud of lil sis helped dad coach her coach pitch team last year

 

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This younger sib is a year older now and still working on her game, which includes pitching. Ted and I figure she will be playing 10U when we are done with her older sister's team and she would make a nice anchor for a new 10U team, our health willing.

 

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CGS
nice form on that girl, was that her homerun swing, it sure looks like it. Be proud she has been watching and listing to all your hard work.

 

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I think it has as much to do with the fact that you are a better softball parent on the second and third than you were on the first. You have already found the wrong pitching coach, the wrong team and made a ton of other mistakes. The youngest will benefit from all this accumulated knowledge progress faster and i a straighter line.

PS It doesn't hurt that she'll throw with her siblings earlier and harder than her sisters did.

 

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I agree with you Fairman! As a parent you tend to learn from what you do wrong with the older DD. I'm not so sure my younger DD is better, just able to do more things.

 

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Very common - not only do they get the benefit of watching and playing earlier but more importantly I think they see how their sister and other girls are coached from afar, how they handle good and bad and when they are in those shoes they are more adjusted and take to coaching better.

 

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I completely agree. I often asked myself this same question. How is it that everything seems to come much easier to my younger DD? Basically, I think she sat back, watched and learned a little bit.I now see it in all sports.

 

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My younger DD would sit and "study" the game most of the time and participating if needed. I think being around the older girls and watching them practice mad ethem want to do better. Was nice teh older girls took the younger DD's under their wing as well. Another great point about this sport!

 

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Parma:

We'll have to work on getting that head to stay down and hitting against her front leg, but otherwise she looks good, doesn't she? Seriously, Ted and I have nothing to do with her blooming abilities; all credit for that goes to her family, which as you can see even provides a catcher. One of Ted's favorite stories is about going to Marion to work with the older DD at River Valley while an older son had a game. Somehow Little Sister showed up without her cleats. She of course asked Ted for some tee time/instruction. When he asked if she had brought her cleats and told her that without cleats she shouldn't be hitting, he got the biggest glare he had ever received from a four year old, including his own kids when they were that age.:yahoo:

 

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fairman, I also agree with what you are saying.

DiamondDad- my youngest doesn't believe in sitting and studying. She would rather be involved, make mistakes, and learn from them. She is now like their little sis with them.

 

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This is a very interesting topic to me. I have an 8YO and a 10YO and there is some intense sibling rivalry.

On Martin Luther King day my 8YO's teacher told the class about MLK's "I have a dream" speech. She then gave the class a writing assignment in which each 2nd grader was to write about what his / her own "dream" is. My little one wrote: "my dream is to be better at softball than my older sister". My wife and I about fell over when she brought that home.

 

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7 years diff between the youngest and oldest in our family, the baby used to go to and pratice with 16,s when she was 10, the older kids adopted her and pretty much set the foundation for what has happend thru the years that followed........ I agree 100% we as parents get smarter as we get older, the younger one does reap the goodies, ..........

 

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I don't know if we get any smarter, we just learn what not to do!

 

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fairman, I also agree with what you are saying.

DiamondDad- my youngest doesn't believe in sitting and studying. She would rather be involved, make mistakes, and learn from them. She is now like their little sis with them.

Wasn't clear...my younger DD will sit in the dugout and study the game while the team is playing ball since she's not officially on the team. During practice, however, she participates in practices, makes her share of mistakes, and learns from them. The team is really supportive as well so works out very nice.