Softball-do kids really do private coaching?

[Anonymous]

12-year-old DD plays on a travel team. Between games and practices she's on the field 4/5 times a week. That seems like a lot of softball for now. Are other kids really going for private hitting/catching/pitching lessons in season? At what age does this become a thing?

[Anonymous]

Yes. My kid plays baseball, but there are a ton of middle school and high school age softball players getting private lessons at the organization where my baseball player trains.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It typically starts when kid pitch starts.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a 12 year old rec pitcher. She has a pitching lesson about every other week. It's what she wants and neither DH nor I know how to teach her a change-up anyway. That said, unlike your kid she's only at the field 2 times a week. But she practices pitching about 3 times beyond regular practices and games (if it's a lesson week twice outside of her lesson).

I don't know any number in-game pitchers in our league's travel program that don't do regular pitching lessons. Several of the catchers do lessons also.

[Anonymous]

Oh yes. For both baseball and softball.

Usually batting lessons, and pitching lessons if they pitch. Frequency can vary.

There are exceptions to this but IME most travel players do private lessons yes.

My sons (one in high school, one in middle school) do weekly batting lessons pretty much year round. No other lessons. Many of their teammates take pitching lessons or have trainers for conditioning or speed and agility work etc.

[Anonymous]

You will find kids doing private lessons in most sports.

[Anonymous]

Yes, and if you don't, you will likely watch your kid's improvement slow down, especially depending on the coach. Mine was a catcher and did both hitting lessons and catching lessons, depending on what was going on. It was just dedicated time to work on their specific issues. If your kid is slumping, it's nice to be able to go to a hitting coach with video and help them figure out what's going on.

[Anonymous]

My DS plays baseball, but didn't do private lessons until he turned 15. We just couldn't justify it for a 12 year old, but my 12yo niece is a softball pitcher and does a lesson once a week.

My 12yo DD doesn't do softball lessons yet.

It depends on what you want. If your goal is that your kid plays softball in college, then weekly lessons are probably important.

[Anonymous]

My 12u DD is a pitcher and doesn't do lessons. I am sure they would help, but that just feels crazy to me. She has done things like pitching clinics/camps.

[Anonymous]

For the young pitchers aren’t you worried about their shoulders in the long term?? This seems so incredibly short sighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the young pitchers aren’t you worried about their shoulders in the long term?? This seems so incredibly short sighted.

Not with softball.

And even with baseball, the conventional thinking is changing to: more throwing, less pitching.

So you can still work on the mechanics of the throw, but at less intensity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will find kids doing private lessons in most sports.

Was just going to say this - basketball has lots of private coaching but you don’t share this info. Carefully held secret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the young pitchers aren’t you worried about their shoulders in the long term?? This seems so incredibly short sighted.

Not with softball.

And even with baseball, the conventional thinking is changing to: more throwing, less pitching.

So you can still work on the mechanics of the throw, but at less intensity.

Pitcher's mom here, and the thoughts on this are changing slowly.

I'd think learning proper mechanics is important here to keep this from being an issue, hence the lessons. We switched our kid from "hello elbow" pitching (learned at a clinic) to "internal rotation" pitching partially because it gets better results but partially for arm care purposes. That took a coach and a ton of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the young pitchers aren’t you worried about their shoulders in the long term?? This seems so incredibly short sighted.

Not with softball.

And even with baseball, the conventional thinking is changing to: more throwing, less pitching.

So you can still work on the mechanics of the throw, but at less intensity.

Pitcher's mom here, and the thoughts on this are changing slowly.

I'd think learning proper mechanics is important here to keep this from being an issue, hence the lessons. We switched our kid from "hello elbow" pitching (learned at a clinic) to "internal rotation" pitching partially because it gets better results but partially for arm care purposes. That took a coach and a ton of work.

Yes this. My 12 year old pitches 4 times per week all year. One of those days is a lesson. In season, she typically has her lesson and one other day where she works on her own and then pitches in tournaments on both Saturday and Sunday most weekends. If she has the weekend off, she will add in practice days to keep it at 4. She rarely pitches during team practice but if she does, she will adjust her schedule. We are very careful not to over-pitch her. If anything, lessons will ensure proper form and reduce the chance of injury.

To answer OP, all of the pitchers on her team take weekly pitching lessons. The catchers do lessons, too. And almost all of the girls do weekly hitting lessons as well

[Anonymous]

What is the end game here? I played in the ACC and outside of a couple of pitchers, no one took private lessons. While I understand things have changed in the past ten years, I still do not believe that doing all of this extra stuff is going to make you stand out. The best athletes stood out, were recruited and played. The majority of student athletes in college played two and three sports growing up. This seems really over the top.