How would you handle this?

[Amy in AZ.]

Is this just a rubber plate with those big metal "screws?" I would remove it myself.

Maybe, it is something more permanent. But, it generally takes me 30 sec. to put down a rubber - or pull it.

 

[joemcq51]

Tom- I gave thought to the whole not play rec idea. Her TB team does not kick in to high gear until April. She really wanted to play with her friends. I figured pitching to live hitters wouldn't do any harm.

Amy- I have to see if it is a permanent mound or not. It does not look like the kind with spikes. We use that type on the mound in our yard.

I am going to offer to purchase more portable pitching rubbers for the league. I would absolutely be willing to pull the mound myself and reinstall after her games if they let me.

 

[T.J.]

Our rec league just installed an interchangeable rubber system for this upcoming season. There are sets of posts the rubber sits in at the three distances. When you're not using a particular post you put a cap on it, then grade over it with dirt...very much like posts used for bases. Obvioulsy you need to use care to assure dirt doesn't fall in the posts, but it's real nice because there is no measuring, it's quick, easy and safe.

 

[FPMark]

Is this just a rubber plate with those big metal "screws?" I would remove it myself.

Maybe, it is something more permanent. But, it generally takes me 30 sec. to put down a rubber - or pull it.

Amy is correct. remove it whatever kind it is. If it is the kind with spikes on it, it is usually easy to remove. If it is the kind with posts under ground, just be sure you have something to pry in the middle under the rubber. there should be a flat piece of metal against the bottom of the rubber between the 2 posts. They can sometimes be tough to get out if they have been in there a while. You can buy 2 foam plugs to use after removing it to keep dirt from filling them up and to easily locate them when it needs to be used. Also you can buy a digging tool made to fit those posts really cheap. I have 1 I keep in my bucket just for this, less than 5 bucks.

If it is concreted in (doubtful), I would talk to the league about having it done correctly.

In any case I would not put ANY pitcher on the mound with a rubber in front of them. It is a safety issue. (Most umps won't allow it).

 

[jacketsfan]

As a board member during the LL days, I can't tell you how many I've relocated pitching mounds for the different age groups. Similarly, I've had it done for my teams as well. You don't want to stride out and land on that.

It really should be expected that this is done to be age appropriate. I will say, at our league, the baseball side of the board didn't really think it was a big deal. So, they may not want to do it at first, but it really has to be done, for practices or games.

At our LL, I just did it myself for practices, as opposed to bothering the Board members. Same for striping the field, adding kitty later after rain, etc. On the softball side of the league, we pretty much handled everything amongst us coaches.

 

[T.J.]

Moveable Pitching Rubber Set, Official 24"

I don't know if this is the exact model our league has, but it's similar. This gives you the idea though....we have an anchor set at 35, 40 & 43 feet.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

I would talk to the board of your rec league and let them know this is a safety issue and you are even willing to pay for the cost of removable pitching plates, if necessary. However, I would not take it upon myself to physically remove field property (i.e. the 35' pitching plate) without the league's permission.

 

[BB875]

First, I agree with everyone else regarding removing the other mound(s). I never heard of anyone leaving them in.

Here's a different question for you, why even bother playing in a rec league? I understand the point of wanting to play with friends but this will not help her get better, and it might even make her worse. The competition will be less, and she won't face the same pitching while batting. I had a girl on my team, that while the HS players were away, wanted to play rec ball. I strongly discouraged her from doing so especially after 3 months of winter workouts. I see no upside in doing this.

-Tom

Good question, Tom. I agree completely that rec ball can have negative impact. My DD wants to play rec this year & I'm holding out. Good habits are only formed & maintained with good coaching & its easy for them to slip into the level they are playing...In our case, very bad.

 

[starsnuffer]

Every "B" level travel ball player must also play in a rec league, those are the rules. There are a ton of B travel ball teams, so there must be a ton of kids playing both rec and TB. IMHO, investing in an A ball travel team doesn't make sense until 14u or so. The quality of play between A and B teams is not much different but the costs are much different.

That said, we usually have our girls play rec ball up an age group. For instance, I coach a 12u TB team, but 90% of my players play in 14u rec. This helps even things out a bit and keeps them from having to tone down their game in order to have fun.

While there is no problem pitching in rec, the issue comes from hitting. Many bad habits are formed when a good hitter tries to adjust to very slow "throw strikes, honey" pitchers or just get frustrated with the lack of strikes and start swinging at everything. Leaning forward and incorrect weight distributions are real issues to be concerned with.

In addition, you never, ever, ever, want to tell a girl to "throw slower". If your daughter is being ostracized because some parent thinks she's dangerous because she has a cannon and fires it at 1b frequently, it's time to move her up an age group.

-W

 

[rowdy]

We have several players who are starting HS this year so we have a team now comprised of girls from several teams. Once the HS season is over each of the girls will go back to their respective teams. We wanted to make sure our younger girls still had competition so that was our solution. I would never let your daughter play in rec especially if she is a pitcher. She will regress for a couple reasons the most obvious will be her catcher won't be able to handle her best stuff. Find a temporary competitive situation if you can.