I have a 11yr old daughter who has played softball for a few years now. Last year our team ( I'm the head coach) was just pathetic. We won one game and my daughter shared to pitching duties with one other girl. ( no other girls could even throw it that far)
My daughter got absolutely hammered every time she pitched. I think she only sturck out like 8-10 girls all year but the walks were more than plenty. She would hear the other team with their girlie chants about the pitcher being bad, you know the usual banter.. She was not happy about failing at this so badly. SHe could have given up and decided to never pitch again . To be honest I wouldn't have blamed her. lets just say she was lost on the mound and I didn't know enough about pitching underhand to help her.
SO, once the season was over we hooked up with an OUTSTANDING pitching coach and he worked with her for 8 straight months 3 times a week in the gym. She worked her tail off in that gym to get better. SO this year I ran her out there on the mound for our first game. None of us were really sure exactly were she was in her development but we quickly found out. She looked like a totally different girl. She was miles from where she was last year. She ended up throwing a no hitter. with 18 k and only 3 walks. I was super proud of her and felt that she needed to see the fruits of her labor, that is why I didn't pull her after getting a lead. I also only have one other pitcher and she was a no show. SO, putting in the only other girl that has ever pitched ( and that was just 2 innings last yr.) was not a real good option.
I posted this on a fastpitch softball forum and I got absolutely hammered for not pulling her from the game. I heard everything from i am a bad sport to I am stroking my own ego though my childs success. I just wanted her to see that dedication and hard work does pay off. She was estatic when she came off the field and the first person she called was her pitching coach to thank him.
Am I really in the wrong here?
We can also steal, and the only other pitcher I have ( that showed up to the game) was also my catcher who only pitched a few innings last yr. So if I was to put her in , i woul dhave lost a very valuable player behind the plate.
Well, here's my perspective from a dad who's daughters are not playing softball anymore, and who sat in the stands and complained alot, then was forced to umpire due to my comments, got a different perspective, umped several years and coached my kids and other kids a few years... so take it for what its worth... about two cents! :2cents: :laughing:
Neither of my daughters were outstanding softball players. However, both were very good utility players. The older one could play any position but pitcher and favored catcher, where she did quite well. She was also good at short and 2nd and any outfield position, was always aware of where the next play was and who to get the ball to without thinking. Younger one was outfield, short and 2nd, better at 2nd than short.
Anyhow, I've seen a lot of young girls pitching. Some very good and some had no business being up there. If your daughter is interested in pitching, and she was struggling, and you are no pitching coach (I am not either), you did the right thing sending her to a pitching coach. The coach will teach her proper pitching mechanics, which will do a few things....
1. The most important, it will save her arm and shoulder. Incorrect pitching mechanics will ruin a kids arm before you know it.
2. It teaches them proper defense against a sharply hit ball, not to duck from it but to attack it with the mit. That can actually save their life at some point in their career.
3. It teaches them confidence, how to work the box, how not to be intimidated by the batter and how to treat the chants of the other team the same as birds singing. What a nice day it is, the sun's out, I'm on a ball field and the birds are singing. Life is good. :laughing:
Once a kid gets confidence in their abilities, off they go.
One thing I would caution though, is don't over pitch them. I've seen a lot of good little league or school ball pitchers whose parents get caught up in it, sign the kids up for travel league and play 3-5 games a weekend, pitching the kids way more often than they should. Several things can happen.... either the kid excels and goes on to a great high school career, the kid gets burned out and quits, shocking the parent, or... the kids arm gets trashed and surgery is required on a 14-15 year old. So take that advice, again, for what its worth.
As for coaching....
I once had a team with 19 girls.... and 40-50 parents, grandparents, etc... most of whom had some kind of blood-lust and wanted to see their kid playing the tough positions like pitcher, catcher and infield. My job as a coach was to first, protect the girls, second to develop their skills and confidence. If a girl could not defend herself from a hard hit liner, I would never put her in the infield, plain and simple. That is rule #1.
Also,
a lot of little league parents do not know the rules of their league! Its your job to make sure they do... or you'll never hear the end of it. So, I suggest a beginning of season sit down with the parents where you hand out the rules and go over it with them.
For example, in our league, everyone on the team had to bat and everyone had to play. So, with 19 girls, you'd be lucky to get up twice in a two-hour four inning minimum game.
You can move a pitcher to another position, and later bring her back in as pitcher again. However, you can't put a pitcher on the bench, then bring her back in as pitcher again later.
So, in my example, I had three pitchers and only two catchers. One of the pitchers was also one of my two catchers.
So I explained to my parents that the pitchers will be staying on the field more often than the other girls out of necessity, not because they were any better or worse than the other girls. If I run out of pitchers in a game, we are screwed and I'd have to put in a girl that can't pitch and defend herself against hard hit shots or forfiet the game. The parents then understood.
Also, with 19 girls and the everyone bats and plays rules, I told them up front this was a learning year, and not to expect a championship, just growth as players.
I made up a diagram of all the positions on the field and put the girls names on it at the positions they would be playing and in what innings. They'd rotate in and out.
I'd use the last week's diagram and whoever got the least playing time last game started the next game.
I kept the batting orger the same, but would take the last three batters and move them to the top of the order every game. That way each parent was assured to see their kid at bat early in the game several games each season.
Once the parents understand the rules and your motivations as a coach, they will have little justification for complaining and they will also become part of the team. It works. Trust me.
As for you keeping your daughter in for the no-hitter.... good for you. It builds her confidence, and therefore, the team's confidence around her. The score was closer than appearances throughout most of the game and you did the right thing. However, I strongly suggest you get more pitchers training and develop catchers that can throw to 2nd as a deterrant. Once a coach sees your catcher can toss kids out at 2nd, the stealing stops quickly and the pitcher relaxes and doesn't worry about a runner on 1st.
And finally, take it easy. They're kids. Keep track of something that every girl does right during a game and focus on that in your after game meeting. Mentioning each one by name and what they did right will really boost their confidence. Keep them focused on the next play, not on what happend two plays ago. And watch what happens. I'd rather have a team of kids with mediocre skills playing fun ball than a team of exceptional players with bad attitudes.
Good luck dad/coach. :thumbsup:
