Fastpitch softball travel team tryouts season AMA.

[Anonymous]

You mentioned pitch count above—is it appropriate for pitchers to pitch a whole game? Games on consecutive days with no rest days? It’s so different than baseball in that way, but it seems to be the norm that they pitch their best pitcher day after day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do coaches lie to girls and parents?

They are like used car salesmen. They don’t know how to tell the truth.

Parents also have selective hearing when it comes to their kids.

OP here. 95% of parents either don’t see their kids’s weaknesses or flaws or downplay them. Most overestimate their kids’ abilities.

Wherever possible, find a team where the coach doesn’t have a kid on it. But they are hard to find, especially at the younger ages (10, 12)

I want to ask about the having no kid on the team. I’ve seen some of this and the coaches seem to be 45+ and have coached a lot. Now, we are starting to see a slightly different model where these organizations bring in young 20-something women who played in college. Not to refute your advice, but while the former might be better than a parent coach, I don’t think the latter is. These young women don’t seem to have coached before. And I predict will have a lot of turnover. Other sports follow that model of young former college players as coaches and it is rife with issues.

OP here. Your point is valid, but I also think there is tremendous value in having women on the coaching staff in some way. Young college veterans can be great and are more relatable to the girls. But you are correct that just being a young woman who played in college doesn’t make you a good coach. Especially if your own coaches growing up tried to coach girls like boys.

There’s an old saying: Boys feel good after they play well. Girls have to feel good to play well. There’s a fine line between teaching toughness and learning to play hard and shutting them down with excess negativity.

My girls love going to clinics and lessons with those young college veterans. But I think people are seeing them as a solution to daddy ball — and I think just like any coach, it really depends. We had a horrible experience with young college veteran coaching lacrosse. Just pop over to the lax forum and you can read the issues folks have had, including lots of turnover and preference to kids whose parents pay for private lessons on the side. I think some softball organizations are way over selling it and are going to get burned. I think their success rate in terms of kid satisfaction and game outcomes will be no better than with parent coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You mentioned pitch count above—is it appropriate for pitchers to pitch a whole game? Games on consecutive days with no rest days? It’s so different than baseball in that way, but it seems to be the norm that they pitch their best pitcher day after day.

Not OP, but as a baseball parent, I had no idea softball pitchers are able to pitch without rest days. Interesting. What is that rationale for that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You mentioned pitch count above—is it appropriate for pitchers to pitch a whole game? Games on consecutive days with no rest days? It’s so different than baseball in that way, but it seems to be the norm that they pitch their best pitcher day after day.

Depends on age and there are some guidelines now.

See this: http://www.ortho.ufl.edu/sites/ortho.ufl.edu/files/handouts/Softball-Injury-Prevention.pdf

That's pretty conservative, though.

Remember that most travel games are timed -- typically 75 minutes to 90 minutes. So, sure, one girl can pitch a whole game and not hit her pitch count because she's only pitching four or five innings (sometimes only 3!) and not a fully 7.

The coaches you want to avoid are the ones who have one stud pitcher and ride her all day in pool play on Saturday and then in bracket play on Sunday so come Monday she has pitched 7 games and thrown 300-400 pitches. That will destroy a young pitcher's arm over time, no matter how good her mechanics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do coaches lie to girls and parents?

They are like used car salesmen. They don’t know how to tell the truth.

Parents also have selective hearing when it comes to their kids.

OP here. 95% of parents either don’t see their kids’s weaknesses or flaws or downplay them. Most overestimate their kids’ abilities.

Wherever possible, find a team where the coach doesn’t have a kid on it. But they are hard to find, especially at the younger ages (10, 12)

I want to ask about the having no kid on the team. I’ve seen some of this and the coaches seem to be 45+ and have coached a lot. Now, we are starting to see a slightly different model where these organizations bring in young 20-something women who played in college. Not to refute your advice, but while the former might be better than a parent coach, I don’t think the latter is. These young women don’t seem to have coached before. And I predict will have a lot of turnover. Other sports follow that model of young former college players as coaches and it is rife with issues.

OP here. Your point is valid, but I also think there is tremendous value in having women on the coaching staff in some way. Young college veterans can be great and are more relatable to the girls. But you are correct that just being a young woman who played in college doesn’t make you a good coach. Especially if your own coaches growing up tried to coach girls like boys.

There’s an old saying: Boys feel good after they play well. Girls have to feel good to play well. There’s a fine line between teaching toughness and learning to play hard and shutting them down with excess negativity.

My girls love going to clinics and lessons with those young college veterans. But I think people are seeing them as a solution to daddy ball — and I think just like any coach, it really depends. We had a horrible experience with young college veteran coaching lacrosse. Just pop over to the lax forum and you can read the issues folks have had, including lots of turnover and preference to kids whose parents pay for private lessons on the side. I think some softball organizations are way over selling it and are going to get burned. I think their success rate in terms of kid satisfaction and game outcomes will be no better than with parent coaches.

I am not going to give you an argument. I do think veteran players > parent coaches in general because it's the rare parent who knows what they're doing. And it's even rarer still to find a dad who played fastpitch -- and the dads who played baseball often don't grasp the nuances with softball.

The best coaches have had training. And are experienced in COACHING.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You mentioned pitch count above—is it appropriate for pitchers to pitch a whole game? Games on consecutive days with no rest days? It’s so different than baseball in that way, but it seems to be the norm that they pitch their best pitcher day after day.

Not OP, but as a baseball parent, I had no idea softball pitchers are able to pitch without rest days. Interesting. What is that rationale for that?

OP: The justification (because it's not really a rationale) is the underarm motion is more natural and puts less stress on the elbow. But that's not necessarily true -- there are definitely softball players having Tommy John surgery. The other problem is with a lot of inexperienced coaches don't teach proper pitching mechanics, which causes damage to girls who are overpitched. I've seen softball careers ruined by this.

Good mechanics -- girl can pitch a long time with less rest. But I still do pitch counts and rest for my girls. That's because I want them to still be able to play when they are 18-19-20.

[bluedot20]

..the wait for a truly viable softball program in lower Montgomery County and Upper Northwest DC may finally be over.

One of the established softball leagues in our area has decided to team up with two dads who have coached their daughters' softball teams for several years to form a team that will do things the right way for the next year and, hopefully, beyond. The League is seeking 11-year-old girls with some experience to form what they are calling a pre-travel team for the next year, beginning after Labor Day. Practices will be two days a week, the financial commitment on the part of the parents will be limited to paying for catchers gear, splitting among all team members the hiring of a professional pitching coach, and whatever equipment each child needs (helmet, bat, mitt, cleats), There will be no "tryouts" or cuts, and girls will be encouraged not to give up other sports they are playing. The team will play scrimmages against each other and local area teams to get valuable in-game experience.

If all goes well, the team will begin playing in 12U travel tournaments in central Maryland in September 2022. If the coaches -- in conjunction with the parents -- think the girls are ready to play in a travel tournament before then, there will be an additional financial commitment on the part of the parents to enter the tournaments.

Your daughter will need some experience and knowledge of softball to join, but interest and a year-long commitment are more important.

If your daughter is interested, feel free to contact me at bossman_20815atyahoo.com.