Pitching and Pitchers Discussion To pitch or not?

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Call me the counterpoint here. While everyone is giving sound advice, I propose that there is a chance that the "Elite" coach may have a point.

If he/she is a successful coach, then they must know a thing or two about pitching. Just because you really want to pitch, and you devote a lot of time to practice/lessons, it doesn't mean that you automatically become a good pitcher eventually. Some players resist any words from people saying that "I think you'll do better at position B instead of your position A".

It's possible that a player could waste precious years of their softball career insisting on being a pitcher, when, in reality, they could be excelling at another position.

'Just saying...

None of us have a crystal ball to see the future. The Elite coach is probably right in his assessment that the girl is not the pitcher for him at this time. But who knows, she could develop into a great pitcher, a mediocre pitcher, or a lousy pitcher. When will it happen? No one knows. It could be next year, 2 years, 5 years, or never. But if she doesn't pursue the desire, she will never know.

So, sign-on at a second position and continue to work on the pitching desire.

And remember Rule #1 to coaching girls, they are allowed to change their minds at any time and for any reason.

 

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My wife has a 13U team.

Right now she has 10 girls committed.
2 are catchers. One is a 3rd basemen (our daughter) one is a 1st basemen. And the other 6 have been or are pitchers. All 6 can throw above 50......even the couple who do not plan on pitching. It is comical. They all just love playing ball.

The best athletes tend to pitch and catch at the younger ages. And to have a good team you need a bunch of great athletes. So you are going to have pitchers changing jobs as you move up the age groups and on to better teams.

 

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It is hard for major league baseball to pick winners from 20 year old experienced players. Look at how many they draft compared to how many make the major.

No one can look into a crystal ball and tell you where your dd will be in 6 years. There are so many variables , some of which are controllable and some are not. How hard will she work? How good is her pitching coach(es) what opportunities will come her way? Will the top pitcher in her high school come down with Mono or shut her hand in a car door.

She only pitched a single season and is just finding out what pitching means. Heck she just found the catchers mitt last year and is still struggling to get her leg out of the way of her arm. I would be loath to give that up so easily. Good pitchers will always have more opportunity than great short-stops even in fast-pitch. Even a few innings a weekend will help keep her interest up and perhaps she will turn in to that elite pitcher. All of us can remember some 12U can't miss star that became a bench player by the time she was 18; distracted by boys, work or just burnt-out.

If she can't do both on that elite team then tryout for another, she must be good enough to find a team that would allow her to grow into the player that she can become. Good Luck.

 

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The best athletes tend to pitch

I totally disagree. Pitchers that start pitching at a young age tend to be just that......pitchers. They never develope themselves as ball players. I don't know how many pitchers I've seen that can't even throw a ball overhand to 1st base with any hint of athletesism.

 

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I agree wtih Spartansd. When they are young and just starting in rec ball, the best players are usually the ones that are turned into pitchers. They have the best arms and the best chance of throwing the ball over the plate. Once they hit travel ball, most of the players who are not really pitchers are changed to position players while the ones who actually have pitching talent continue pitching.

 

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And I agree with Buckncm.

The best athletes aren't necessarily pitchers. A pitcher needs a certain mind-set, not athletic ability. (If you have both, that makes you an even better pitcher.) We've all seen pitchers who weren't the fastest runners, or the best hitters, or the best fielders, who were lights-out in the circle.

 

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If you have two equal kids at 12 throwing the ball; the one that buckles down and practices after everyone else has gone home, puts in time on the weekends, takes the lessons, pitches the extra games, pays the price, she will become that talented overnight sensation and the other will not.

If the fielders and hitters would work even half as hard as your average pitcher the level of softball in the area will soar. (If you have a position player that is working that hard then truly treasure them as they are a gift from the softball gods) I am talking about 3 days a week and a lesson 'IN THE OFF SEASON'. Who else does that? Just most of your average high school pitchers, that's who.

I truely believe that hard work and desire will overcome lazy talent as far as pitching goes. A hard working talented player, now you have something. If the kid WANTS to pitch then get her onto a team where she can pitch. It is that simple. If Dad wants her to pitch and she doesn't want to pay the piper, then you need to reset your priorities.

 

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Once a player is past 12U generally they start to specialize a bit more. For instance, in 10U and 12U a talented player might pitch and play 1st base. But, once you hit 14U you kind of have to chose between the two. If you're a talented pitcher, which every team needs, you become a pitcher and 1st base may slide away. There are other aspects to this choice. 1) Are you good? Be realistic!!!! 2) Would you like being just a pitcher? 3) Do you want to spend the extra time and money to stay good?

 

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12U DD who just turned 13 had a nice tryout with an elite team. As expected, they want her as a position player, but they made it abundantly clear that she probably would not get to pitch.

So the dilemma is - play infield or outfield on an elite team or pitch for an above average team. Last year DD pitched half the games and played SS the other half. It was her first year as a pitcher and she made tremendous progress. Tough for her to give that up, but then again, I think even she would admit that if she's going to make it as a college player one day, it probably won't be as a pitcher.

Curious if anyone else has been in this situation and how your daughters handled it?? DD has made it pretty clear that she wants to be on the elite team (although she's also made it clear that she still wants to practice pitching all winter and compete for a spot in the rotation nonetheless). I find my heart breaking a little over the prospect of not watching her pitch anymore.

Had same scenario a couple years ago. DD love pitching and would do it for fun but with a glimpse of hope she would develop into an elite pitcher. All that time SHOULD have been spent on hitting. This game for 10 out of 12 players per team is ALL ABOUT HITTING. Let her work it out, but don't lose hitting time for pitching time.

Also, my DD had great fun in fall/winter ball subbing for teams when available that needed pitchers to satisfy that urge until she resolved it internally.

 

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I think it's hard for a truly dedicated pitcher to work on both hitting and playing other defensive positions. It's not that they couldn't be a very good player at another position ... it's literally that they run out of time to do everything. You can't be a quality pitcher without putting in 3-5 days a week at it. While I would agree that most (certainly not all) pitchers aren't studs at other positions, many are very good hitters and that takes time to work on as well.

There are no doubt some girls and families who stay with the pitching too long ... and it's hard as a coach to tell someone that they aren't going to make it to the college level as a pitcher, especially if they're a good high school pitcher.

 

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The argument that the best athletes are not pitchers is silly in the extreme.

It is like saying that just because you can't throw a ball at 60mph through the strike zone under-handed that you stink at short. You need both skill-sets for a competitive team and they both can serious athletes. The pitchers tend to use the a hedge-hog theory. They are very, very good at one thing. Yet they can also hold down other positions when not on the rubber and some even bat.

Your short stop is can play volleyball and basketball and may not pick up a bat and glove for months at a time, but her athleticism allows her to do that. A pitcher that tries the same technique is soon on the bench. So she works and works and makes certain that that doesn't happen.

When you witness some kid throwing 20 innings on a Sunday next summer - try to tell me that the short stop is a better athlete and keep a straight face!

 

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If I had to do it all over again, I would have begged/pleaded/insisted for my DD to play any position BUT pitcher. It's a roller coaster emotionally (for the parents & player) and sometimes physically. After it was all said & done, I don't know if it was worth the drama...she had a much more pleasant, relaxed year her Senior year playing 1B. Not to mention, when she didn't pitch, she was allowed to hit & run and that really made her happy.

 

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had same situation where DD is a pitcher/1st/3rd/RF and moved to a stronger team now sharing a #1 spot and not playing if not pitching, neither does he other #1.

 

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Thanks so much to everyone for responding. It was somewhat difficult reading all of the responses because i found myself agreeing with every post, even when the answers were diametrically opposed to each other.

My daughter accepted the offer from the elite team. This is an organization that had two teams finish in the top 25 at the 14U ASA/USA A nationals in midland (a '96 team and a '97 team). The head coach is a division 2 pitching/hitting coach for a local university and DD will get valuable 1 on 1 hitting/fielding instruction throughout the winter. I've seen this coach in action and he's incredible. We played against his team this past season and my jaw dropped as I saw them go through their pre-game warmup routine, and then after they killed us, my jaw dropped even more when i saw them go through their post-game stretching routine. It was amazing. And we have gone to this coach for hitting lessons and the level of sophistication regarding video analysis, well, it's something we've never been exposed to before. The only negative is that the coach can only coach 13 year olds in this organization (must be an NCAA rule), so my DD will only have him for 1 year, but all of the coaches in the organization are impressive, and none of them have daughters on any of the teams.

As for the ptiching, we are hoping that school ball will satisfy that itch. DD is not ready to abandon that dream quite yet, but she's going to have to be extremely self motivated and practice on her own. The truth is, though, that out of 12 players on her new team, 6 are pitchers. That was a real shock. And let's just say that DD is not in the top 5 on the current depth chart. That's just reality. DD has taken a philosophical perspective - instead of dwelling on the pitching aspect, she is flattered that the coaches love her middle infield play and her hitting.

And so our first tournament with the new team starts on saturday in Des Moines. This is a first year team and none of the girls have ever payed with each other before. Should be interesting.

Sorry for the novel but so many took the time to give me a thoughtful response that I wanted to give a thorough update. Please wish us luck this wekeend in des moines. PM me if you want to know how it went. I'm excited to see these girls who beat out my DD in the pitching rotation!!!

 

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Sometimes it is good to go with your gut...
Best of luck to you and your daughter!

 

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The argument that the best athletes are not pitchers is silly in the extreme.

It is like saying that just because you can't throw a ball at 60mph through the strike zone under-handed that you stink at short. You need both skill-sets for a competitive team and they both can serious athletes. The pitchers tend to use the a hedge-hog theory. They are very, very good at one thing. Yet they can also hold down other positions when not on the rubber and some even bat.

Your short stop is can play volleyball and basketball and may not pick up a bat and glove for months at a time, but her athleticism allows her to do that. A pitcher that tries the same technique is soon on the bench. So she works and works and makes certain that that doesn't happen.

When you witness some kid throwing 20 innings on a Sunday next summer - try to tell me that the short stop is a better athlete and keep a straight face!

I don't see what your point is?????? You say that The argument that pitchers aren't the best athletes is silly and estreme. Then go on to say that a short stops altheticism allows her to put her glove down for months and not skip a beat when she finally picks it up again and if a pitcher does the same they'll end up on the bench. So aren't you pretty much saying that pitchers aren't the best athletes? "They are very, very good at one thing."

AAAANNNDDD if there's a coach out there pitching one pitcher every game on Sunday....20 innings-ish he/she needs to be band from coaching! That's an over use stress fracture waiting to happen.....or worse.

 

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29dad,

Thanks for the post. Got a lot of different opinions and nice reading with all the tryouts being posted! Haha. Best of luck this season.

 

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Once a player is past 12U generally they start to specialize a bit more. For instance, in 10U and 12U a talented player might pitch and play 1st base. But, once you hit 14U you kind of have to chose between the two. If you're a talented pitcher, which every team needs, you become a pitcher and 1st base may slide away. There are other aspects to this choice. 1) Are you good? Be realistic!!!! 2) Would you like being just a pitcher? 3) Do you want to spend the extra time and money to stay good?

I disagree! Jenny Finch pitched AND played first base! Oh, and she was usually part of the batting line up!!

My dd puts in many, many, extra hours...between pitching lessons, and hitting lessons, and practicing with her team, and practicing on her own. She can play any position on the field (with the exception of catcher). To me that makes her an asset to most teams. Girls with athletic ability, determination, and willingness to give up their social agenda can do and be whatever they want on the field!! imo ;&

 

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My dd puts in many, many, extra hours...between pitching lessons, and hitting lessons, and practicing with her team, and practicing on her own. She can play any position on the field (with the exception of catcher). To me that makes her an asset to most teams. Girls with athletic ability, determination, and willingness to give up their social agenda can do and be whatever they want on the field!! imo ;&

Your exactly right. My dd has missed birthday parties, swimming events, etc. to get to that next level. I have to admire her for that, a much harder worker than me. Same as your dd, many extra hours.

 

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There are one-dimensional pitchers who only pitch and do not bat or play other positions, but they are the exception and not the rule. Until college, most pitchers do A LOT more than pitch. Most are in the top 4 or 5 for batting average on hs and travel teams.