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Oct 4, 2018
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Welcome
Play catch with her. Some of my best times I've had with the daughter and now GD & DS is playing catch. Everything will unfold from there.

I believe it's what her age is as of January 1st depending if she is playing little league rules then it's in August. She is most likely playing 10U.

So true.

Play catch. Make it fun. 10 minutes a day tops. Count how many catches in a row she can make and try to beat your family record each day.

Don't get upset if she throws it over your head. Just smile and try again.

As she gets better after a few weeks, step back a few steps and don't mention that. Slowly she'll throw better and stronger.

Roll her easy ground balls. Throw some pop-ups. Go slow, be gentle.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
If your league has decent pitching, I would stay in rec until after 1st year 12u all-stars. All-Stars are the best of times.

Agreed. All-stars is perhaps my fondest memories of softball. You're with your community, your daughter is with friends, and your daughter is just starting to explore her passion for the game and desire to succeed. It's good stuff.

Group lessons is a great suggestion. If your DD has a good friend or two on the team or in the neighborhood, consider group lessons. Keeps costs down and it's more fun for the girls. Private lessons are like work, quite honestly. Necessary later in her life, for certain.

I learned that most girls under 11 or so simply can't concentrate on a lesson for a full hour. At about the 45 minute mark they zone out, get silly, stop trying, etc. I'd stick with 30 minutes for now.

Travel will find you and your daughter, assuming she's doing well. Your first team might well be a local team started from All-stars, or a coach approaches your family after being at an All-star or rec game. If you want to explore the travel world, find the groups on facebook. Things like "Georgia 12U Travel Softball" and such. Georgia has a half-dozen of them, your state probably does too.
 
Sep 7, 2022
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3
I often see the terms “1st year and 2nd year” used, can you explain exactly what it means? I tried googling but it didn’t help. Thank you in advance
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I often see the terms “1st year and 2nd year” used, can you explain exactly what it means? I tried googling but it didn’t help. Thank you in advance
Age groups are by twos 10U,12U,14U,etc. So a first year team would be a team who is in their first year in an age group. It starts to matter less in 14's and by 16's I doubt you will see that even mentioned...at least by serious teams.
 
Aug 3, 2022
27
3
Hi all, little background, my DD is 8, will be 9 in January and has been in cheer/gymnastics her whole life. She has always mentioned she wanted to try softball due to her older cousins playing for many years. Finally signed her up a few weeks ago in a local Rec league for 8U.

I’ve done my fair share of research on the sport as well as leagues, gear, tutorials etc, but I do have a few questions (and yes I know some are a bit premature due to her only being a few weeks into a new sport) :)

1) I’ve read the many threads on here in regards to rec vs TB and feel I’ve read enough to make a decision if and when the time comes, BUT is it up to the parent to find these tb teams to try out for or do they tend to approach parents are tournaments and such?

2) I want to make sure she starts off on the right foot in regards to mechanics and seeing as how I can already tell that rec ball won’t really help her with a good foundation, I’m open to getting her private lessons. Is an hour lesson every other week good or should I be aiming for an hour a week? I’m sure a lot has to do with my DD retaining the information and practicing on her own.

3) how does the age cut offs work in regards to her being a January child? She will be 9 in January of 23. Seeing as how the spring is the more competitive season, would she be still be in 8U or 9/10U next season?

Thanks In advance, and thank you for all the great reading on

Hi all, little background, my DD is 8, will be 9 in January and has been in cheer/gymnastics her whole life. She has always mentioned she wanted to try softball due to her older cousins playing for many years. Finally signed her up a few weeks ago in a local Rec league for 8U.

I’ve done my fair share of research on the sport as well as leagues, gear, tutorials etc, but I do have a few questions (and yes I know some are a bit premature due to her only being a few weeks into a new sport) :)

1) I’ve read the many threads on here in regards to rec vs TB and feel I’ve read enough to make a decision if and when the time comes, BUT is it up to the parent to find these tb teams to try out for or do they tend to approach parents are tournaments and such?

2) I want to make sure she starts off on the right foot in regards to mechanics and seeing as how I can already tell that rec ball won’t really help her with a good foundation, I’m open to getting her private lessons. Is an hour lesson every other week good or should I be aiming for an hour a week? I’m sure a lot has to do with my DD retaining the information and practicing on her own.

3) how does the age cut offs work in regards to her being a January child? She will be 9 in January of 23. Seeing as how the spring is the more competitive season, would she be still be in 8U or 9/10U next season?

Thanks In advance, and thank you for all the great reading on these forums.
At such a young age, the most important thing is to build love of the sport and a bond between child and parent. Rec ball is perfect for that. They get to play with their friends in a non competitive setting and see how proud the parents are of them.

Any talk of future that includes better competition or mechanics or private lessons is premature unless the child is committed to learning and has a positive partnership with the parents.

I have two girls in softball and one just committed to a D3 school. And after combined 10 years of training, travelling for tournaments, showcases, backyard practices, private lessons, thousands of expensive gear, etc.. I cant help feeling nostalgic about when my girls first started softball and how happy we were to just play catch in the yard.

Every other part of their softball journey would not happened without that.
 
Nov 23, 2021
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SC
our rec it goes by the age they are Jan 1, so she would be able to play 8u next year. our 8u is coach pitch so its actually much better for learning than the 10u player pitch which is a lot of walks and strikeouts and not many balls hit into the field.
 
Jan 25, 2022
880
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our rec it goes by the age they are Jan 1, so she would be able to play 8u next year. our 8u is coach pitch so its actually much better for learning than the 10u player pitch which is a lot of walks and strikeouts and not many balls hit into the field.
We did what I would call Coach Relief. If the player pitcher walks the batter, the coach comes in and pitches until the batter hits or gets three strikes. Maybe that's what coach pitch is for everyone, but it was huge for us. The season before that was half machine and half pitchers, and it was brutal. Those JUGS balls go all over the place for three innings, then it's walk after walk. No one on either side of the ball can learn that way.
 

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