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working my butt off and once practice is finished girls go to rec and I come back and have to start over. Anyone else have this prob? I COACH TO TAKE DD TO NEXT LEVEL. Guess what? Not successful! What do u think? 12-u
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I don't allow it. It's in our contract.
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I was told by someone one day when my dd was in 10u that "If her travel coach won't let her play rec, he or she doesnt care about your dd?" I do NOT agree with that statement at all! There are some rec coaches who need to be educated about certain aspects of some mechanics and things. But my dd had the same rec coach since 10u, he is great. Mechanics, mental aspect, base running..... he teaches all of it the same way her travel coaches do. She's not playing rec this yr. No time, gives her knee a break at catcher as well. Anyway there are some very knowledgeable coaches out there for rec who can help girls, but there are some "know it alls" who really don't know sh**. Same goes for travel as well. Not knocking rec, my dd enjoyed it when she played. But travel will prepare her for the next level better. IMO.
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My dd in 10u will play rec and travel; she is taught properfundamentals in both and will get well needed pitching reps in both. I've seenmany blogs on here bashing rec and don't understand if your dd is gettingsomething out of rec why not use it as a tool to allow them to grow. If youfeel the rec coach isn't teaching properly get her on another team or then keepher out of rec. But as a dad trying to grow a young 9 y/o I feel she needsboth. I had a couple discussions with coaches she tried out for this travelsession who didn't have my same views so we stayed away from theirorganizations. Just doing what I feel is best for her.
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When DD was 10u and just learning to pitch, rec was great for her. It gave her more time in the circle to allow her to develop some confidence and we had another good pitcher, so she learned a lot without being too stressed. She got plenty of reps in TB that year also, simply by virtue of being the only pitcher on her team who could get it over the plate...lol. First year 12u, she played both and by the end of her rec season, begged us not to let her play rec ball again. She had a difficult time with the lack of commitment and the level of play.
I think the biggest issue is that, if you do both, you need to make it clear from the beginning to everyone involved, which team takes priority in the event of a conflict. However, I think that if you are playing at a "high" level, you need to drop rec. That's just my opinion, YMMV.
I think the biggest issue is that, if you do both, you need to make it clear from the beginning to everyone involved, which team takes priority in the event of a conflict. However, I think that if you are playing at a "high" level, you need to drop rec. That's just my opinion, YMMV.
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It is a good opportunity to get some rep's in but be cautious the level of competition and skill level of team mates can very greatly from the typical travel teams and that can be a cause of frustration (hers and yours).
Also keep an eye out, often times player will play down to her teammates level plus the inconsistent pitching can cause some seriously bad batting habbits.
That being said; like High school ball it is a great opportunity for the girls to play with their school and neighborhood friends and represent their area. Plus... get some reps and gain some confidence.
But Always make it clear before signing up that Travel team will take president over rec activities so it is understood by your Rec coach, and the other parents DD will not be a full time player so there are no hard feelings. (Good luck with that)
Also keep an eye out, often times player will play down to her teammates level plus the inconsistent pitching can cause some seriously bad batting habbits.
That being said; like High school ball it is a great opportunity for the girls to play with their school and neighborhood friends and represent their area. Plus... get some reps and gain some confidence.
But Always make it clear before signing up that Travel team will take president over rec activities so it is understood by your Rec coach, and the other parents DD will not be a full time player so there are no hard feelings. (Good luck with that)
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I really don't think it is fair to the rec. girls to do both. There is always hard feelings when the travel ball girls start missing stuff because of travel ball and then show up and get to play over the rec. ball girl that has been at all the stuff. It is not good for the community. It will always cause hard feelings.
Sometimes I think the parents want to show everyone in there city how good Suzy is getting.
Sometimes I think the parents want to show everyone in there city how good Suzy is getting.
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I have mixed feelings ... DD did some rec ball when she was younger and enjoyed it, but agree with what Warren and others have said about possibly causing hard feelings, not to mention the huge adjustment for girls to hit off of rec pitching in the middle of the week, and then off travel pitching on the weekend ...
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It hardly ever works out and even less so beyond 10u. Most parents say it is to get extra reps in the batters box or pitching time in the circle but with the difference in level of skill from rec to travel, it isn't always a good thing to get more of those reps. More reps are good, as long as you are facing quality pitchers and hitters. Like everyone else, we tried it as well.....by the end of the year, my dd was more miserable than us and said she was NEVER doing that again. I agree with Warren, most do it so they can show the local folks how good their dd has gotten, not necessarily for the reps. JMHO
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I would have to question your ability and influence over your players if they are "ruined" by a rec coach in a practice or two.
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I think this is not so black and white, there are so many factors involved and each situation is different. Each player, coach and parent needs to be very carefull and pay attention to the dynamics involved.
My opinions as both a travel and rec coach and daughters in both or one or another:
1) Great for pitchers to get extra mound time.
2) Bad for pitchers if all the pressure is on them to win in rec and they miss for their travel committments, especially rec state tournaments etc. Not fair to the player and causes many hard feelings around her friends and "townies", even if it was communicated from the
beginning. My daughter saw this first hand last year, everyone was wonderfull to her, but she had so much pressure on her that she broke down on the mound in the state tournament from all the pressure she had on her, in travel she never feels like that and knows
her teammates have her back and are at her level. Not fair for a 10-11yr old, she does not want to play rec anymore because of it. Now, she is playing part time on her older daughters 14u rec team, to play with her big sis, but knows their are no expectations or
pressure as an 11yr old on a 14u team and is excited to just play a few extra games with big sis.
3) Bad for batting, almost universally, unless you have a very competetive rec league with good pitching and umps that call the correct zone. This is one case that coaches need to be wary of if letting players play rec.
4) Bad for mechanics if rec coach, like so many, teach baseball mechanics vs Fastpitch such as Kobota.
5) Can be good if a player can work on another position that they do not get to do in travel, but may be good at or just wants to try. Pitching, catching, infield, whatever. Again, as long as coaching is good and consistent.
6) Great to build community pride and to see the better players make the other rec kids better by bringing what they learn from travel to the local teams.
7) It's one thing for a kid to win a travel tournament, that they have many a year almost every weekend and another to win the "State Championship" with their friends and represent their community. A State Championship win will create memories that is hard to
compare to travel ball wins. This is why as a travel coach, I am very leary, but do not want to keep the kids from this possible experience if at all possible.
In my opinion, I would not let my daughter play for many rec coaches. I was my daughters rec and travel coach last year, so I knew that it would be consistent and could monitor batting, etc. I also could schedule my rec practices and such to limit conflicts. However, had her team won 1 more game in rec we would have missed the State Champioanship weekend for our last travel tournament and that would have caused a ton of hard feelings by losing a State Championship possiblity. We ended up 12-2, District Champs OGSO, and our Outlaws 10u team won 4 tournamens, 2 second place out of 10, and we ended up only missing the start of 1 game by half an inning. So, it worked out, but very hard to keep up that schedule and honor all commitments fully.
IMHO
Thanks.
Coach TomV
"We have Softball, they can have everything else..."
My opinions as both a travel and rec coach and daughters in both or one or another:
1) Great for pitchers to get extra mound time.
2) Bad for pitchers if all the pressure is on them to win in rec and they miss for their travel committments, especially rec state tournaments etc. Not fair to the player and causes many hard feelings around her friends and "townies", even if it was communicated from the
beginning. My daughter saw this first hand last year, everyone was wonderfull to her, but she had so much pressure on her that she broke down on the mound in the state tournament from all the pressure she had on her, in travel she never feels like that and knows
her teammates have her back and are at her level. Not fair for a 10-11yr old, she does not want to play rec anymore because of it. Now, she is playing part time on her older daughters 14u rec team, to play with her big sis, but knows their are no expectations or
pressure as an 11yr old on a 14u team and is excited to just play a few extra games with big sis.
3) Bad for batting, almost universally, unless you have a very competetive rec league with good pitching and umps that call the correct zone. This is one case that coaches need to be wary of if letting players play rec.
4) Bad for mechanics if rec coach, like so many, teach baseball mechanics vs Fastpitch such as Kobota.
5) Can be good if a player can work on another position that they do not get to do in travel, but may be good at or just wants to try. Pitching, catching, infield, whatever. Again, as long as coaching is good and consistent.
6) Great to build community pride and to see the better players make the other rec kids better by bringing what they learn from travel to the local teams.
7) It's one thing for a kid to win a travel tournament, that they have many a year almost every weekend and another to win the "State Championship" with their friends and represent their community. A State Championship win will create memories that is hard to
compare to travel ball wins. This is why as a travel coach, I am very leary, but do not want to keep the kids from this possible experience if at all possible.
In my opinion, I would not let my daughter play for many rec coaches. I was my daughters rec and travel coach last year, so I knew that it would be consistent and could monitor batting, etc. I also could schedule my rec practices and such to limit conflicts. However, had her team won 1 more game in rec we would have missed the State Champioanship weekend for our last travel tournament and that would have caused a ton of hard feelings by losing a State Championship possiblity. We ended up 12-2, District Champs OGSO, and our Outlaws 10u team won 4 tournamens, 2 second place out of 10, and we ended up only missing the start of 1 game by half an inning. So, it worked out, but very hard to keep up that schedule and honor all commitments fully.
IMHO
Thanks.
Coach TomV
"We have Softball, they can have everything else..."
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Bottom line for me was most of DD friends are on "rec" team (actually an Emerald Necklace team) and she has fun with that group. We weigh all conflicts towads tournament team, but she is very happy to get some time with life-long friends and they welcome her when she is there. I couldn't see taking that away from her because it's "better" for her. When it's all said and done I believe she will have enjoyed the ride and may even thank me some day.
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DD's played because they had fun with their friends. Didn't worry if I was teaching them baseball or softball mechanics at age 10 or 12 because I didn't know any better. Yes they were better than most kids in rec. but so what? THey excelled in
s o c c er rec but I didn't stop them from playing that sport while playing travel s o c c er, same with b a sketball.
If they are having fun in rec let them play, if they are not having fun then stop.
s o c c er rec but I didn't stop them from playing that sport while playing travel s o c c er, same with b a sketball.
If they are having fun in rec let them play, if they are not having fun then stop.
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I think that as the true travel players get older, they've learned to respectfully ignore coaching from non-skill-specific coaches that doesn't match what their pitching coach or hitting coach is having them work on. Tournament coaches are probably more aware of the presence of skill-specific-coaching and more accepting of difference than many rec coaches. Is it possbile to get involved at some level with the rec program and make sure they are teaching the same skills in the same ways? Maybe a "coaches clinic" for the rec coaches to come learn the latest and greatest from the local tournament coaches? Just a thought.
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My DD really wanted to also play rec this year so she could be with friends. We were going to let her, but after speaking with the perosn running our rec program (OGSO) and her travel coach we decided it would be best to choose just one. It was going to come up her having to miss most of th practices and even a lot of the games and that just would not be fair to her rec team.
Unless you are in a situation like Tom where you can control the schedules so both teams are not praticing the same evenings most the time I think it is just to hard logisticaly.
lucky she has come to really love her travel teammates, all the girls are nice and they get along great. No real divas or bad attitude girls so she has gone from being upset about not playing rec to saying she will stay with travel only until she gets to high school. She is adiment about playing for her school.
Unless you are in a situation like Tom where you can control the schedules so both teams are not praticing the same evenings most the time I think it is just to hard logisticaly.
lucky she has come to really love her travel teammates, all the girls are nice and they get along great. No real divas or bad attitude girls so she has gone from being upset about not playing rec to saying she will stay with travel only until she gets to high school. She is adiment about playing for her school.
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I think it depends on the situation. There are some good rec coaches out there and some good rec teams and girls who practice/play with these teams at the younger ages will grow as players. I think this is especially true for pitchers to get more circle time and also for players who want to work on a position that they would not play at for their travel ball teams (ex. catcher, ss, of). Not all kids benefit from doing both- sometimes the practice schedules conflict, instruction conflicts and kids can just get burnt out (remember the majority of 8-12 year olds want a summer too with pool time and sleep overs). I'd say that you just have to assess the situation individually.
If you have a kid that is doing both and you believe that their hitting (for example) is suffering from seeing the slower pitching in rec, then by all means talk with the parent and share your concerns without being a dictator... if her hitting is suffering, then bat her where she belongs etc... this isn't rocket science.
If you have a kid that is doing both and you believe that their hitting (for example) is suffering from seeing the slower pitching in rec, then by all means talk with the parent and share your concerns without being a dictator... if her hitting is suffering, then bat her where she belongs etc... this isn't rocket science.
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We were going to play rec and TB this year but we decided that giving her arm rest in between weekday practices and fri/sat/sun tournaments was more important than daily pitching at a 10u level. We did not want to get into that area where people use that dreaded term 'overuse'. Maybe if they were to put some pitching regulations on the girls going forward it would be a different scenario where she was not pitching 12-18 inning on a weekend. In our area, rec 10u plays Mon/Fri and we practice Tue/Wed/Thu. 7 days of pitching each week would be a little excessive IMO! I want to enjoy watching her pitch in high school rather than wishing we did not over do it by blowing her arm out at 12 or 14u....
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There are some solid rec. teams that have no business playing rec. and there are some bad select teams that should still be playing rec. I can see the benefit of playing both if you are a new pitcher still learning control. Aside from that, play at your skill level. I personally believe it's unfair and unsafe for a stud player to play both. For example, how would you feel if your DD's coach finally let her play infield and Suzie stud smokes a ball off her noggin? Or your DD has been working hard at every practice, but sits the bench in games while Suzie stud is having fun with her friends? It's not fair to steal game time and reps from those who don't yet have the talent to play up. JMO
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I am not a big fan of trying to do both for several reasons.
1. Softball has evolved different levels for a reason. Those players/parents who choose rec ball have certain expectations. Those that choose different levels of travel have their expectations. They usually don't mix.
2. As far as pitching time goes, I think that a pitcher should be working on fundamentals and skills during the week. Yes you need to pitch in games, but I think too many young pitchers only want to pitch games, not do the workouts that will allow them to get to the highest levels. Games are fun the workouts are not as fun which is why so few pitchers reach their full potential.
3. As many have said, hitting is a problem.
4. No matter how much it is discussed up front there WILL be bad feelings from the full time rec players/parents when a player is skipping games to go play with another team and then playing a lot when they return. And be honest travel parents you will not be happy watching your daughter sit in rec games even though she may have missed practices and games.
For these reasons I believe it is only right to choose one or the other.
1. Softball has evolved different levels for a reason. Those players/parents who choose rec ball have certain expectations. Those that choose different levels of travel have their expectations. They usually don't mix.
2. As far as pitching time goes, I think that a pitcher should be working on fundamentals and skills during the week. Yes you need to pitch in games, but I think too many young pitchers only want to pitch games, not do the workouts that will allow them to get to the highest levels. Games are fun the workouts are not as fun which is why so few pitchers reach their full potential.
3. As many have said, hitting is a problem.
4. No matter how much it is discussed up front there WILL be bad feelings from the full time rec players/parents when a player is skipping games to go play with another team and then playing a lot when they return. And be honest travel parents you will not be happy watching your daughter sit in rec games even though she may have missed practices and games.
For these reasons I believe it is only right to choose one or the other.
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Did both rec and travel when my oldest dd was in 10u. Talked to the rec coaches that travel is a priority and that we may miss some practices or games a/c of travel. Everything was good till the playoffs came and the possibility of us missing some rec games. Parents and coaches were not very pleased. Fortunately due to travel ball players on other teams, the playoffs were held during the week and did not conflict with our travel ball practices. In the end it did work out but have not played rec all since then. At the time I thought it would be good development for my dd but she wasn't into it as the season went on. She didn't want to play rec anymore and my other two DD's didn't want to play rec only travel so it worked out in the end. Rather than play rec we go out and work on travel ball drills.
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