My DD is moving into 14u this fall. She has been playing Softball for 5 years and pitching for the last 3. We have historically tried to split her time equally between pitching, fielding, and hitting lessons/practices. I would say she is about average for her age in all three areas in terms of performance. My concern is that it is becoming harder and harder to find enough time to dedicate to each. My question is, at what age should I decide to focus more on pitching/fielding vs Hitting? I know there are many teams that don't have their pitchers hit. I don't want to completely neglect hitting but at the same time, her primary passion is pitching. At this age, would it be a mistake to focus more on pitching and just work hitting in as secondary if time allows? Like I said, she is not what I would currently call an elite pitcher (about average) but I don't know that she will make the progress she needs to if we keep splitting her time. Thoughts?
Pitching vs Hitting
- Thread starter Vaydoe
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If your DD's passion is pitching, then focus on pitching. Nothing wrong with doing hitting work on her own without going to lessons. If she is average, what does she need to do to get to the next level? I've seen plenty of average pitchers improve and end up pitching in college. Quality pitching is in higher demand than good hitters.
If a pitcher is one of the top 5 hitters on the team, keep hitting in games. She will most likely get AB's if she can handle a bat when she isn't pitching. If she isn't pitching, is she playing in the field?
Again, if she wants to put in the work to pitch, you have to feed that hunger. Let her eat!
If a pitcher is one of the top 5 hitters on the team, keep hitting in games. She will most likely get AB's if she can handle a bat when she isn't pitching. If she isn't pitching, is she playing in the field?
Again, if she wants to put in the work to pitch, you have to feed that hunger. Let her eat!
I guess my answer would depend on if you think she has a future in pitching if she focuses on that.
My DD spends a lot more time on pitching than anything else. She is a first year 16u. She pretty much only bats on Saturdays now and she is good with that. She focuses just on pitching on Sundays. She is a good hitter but not a great one. The reason she still hits on Saturdays is to keep the skill some as she is still one of the top 9 hitters on her high school team.
With limited time at some point you have to focus your efforts at what they do best. There are a few exceptions of girls that can do both at an elite level. But I don’t think my DD will ever be one of those.
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My DD spends a lot more time on pitching than anything else. She is a first year 16u. She pretty much only bats on Saturdays now and she is good with that. She focuses just on pitching on Sundays. She is a good hitter but not a great one. The reason she still hits on Saturdays is to keep the skill some as she is still one of the top 9 hitters on her high school team.
With limited time at some point you have to focus your efforts at what they do best. There are a few exceptions of girls that can do both at an elite level. But I don’t think my DD will ever be one of those.
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First question would be how much time is she putting in on pitching and hitting on her own at this time? That is just a simple gauge of how much time someone can or is willing to dedicate.
Really this is going to be up to what her goals are. My suggestion is for her to consider what her long-term goal is. And ask herself if she stopped doing say hitting would she be fine only being a pitcher. That means she may or may not be the number one pitcher and she might be the third string pitcher on a team where her playing time might be say at best a third of the time.
Aka maybe more time on the bench than what she would like.
Or this option
Post a video of her hitting..
post a video of her fielding.
And post video of her pitching.
Maybe then viewers can give a more accurate response as to what the ability looks like.
And go from there.
Her opinion of what she would like to do is more valuable than the responses people may give but at least you may get a barrage of responses that may help? Don't know just a suggestion
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Focus on hitting and pitching. Hitting takes about 20% of the time it takes to be good at pitching.
If her goal is to be a pitcher and she is only average currently. I would recommend to focus more on pitching or even just solely focus on pitching. The time she is spending on hitting and fielding could be used in other productive ways. The other productive ways would include more pitching depending on how much she is already pitching, and strength and agility workouts. Start training legs and core would be most beneficial.
Moving into 14U is going to be its own challenge/test/ assessment.
Pitching then going to 43 ft.
So...Heads up... greater challenge older divisions because generally players have more experience.
Daughter decides~not parent~ because she has to put the work in. She is the person who will either receive the benefit of putting a dedicated time into a consistent schedule. Or she will bear the result of deciding to take foot off the pedal. Or result of deciding not to work on hitting.
That does happen.
But remember teams generally carry multiple pitchers.
Again your daughter should ask herself how much playing time does she actually want.
Along with that there are different levels of softball that can be played. If she's wanting to be competitive she will be competing with the other pitchers for playing time or being a starter. Vs. Teams that aren't as competitive and don't mind having a below .500 winning average. Which means your daughter might lose more games than she wins. Because the team behind her may not be as competitive.
Sure pending the competition schedule the team she's on is playing possibility she might win win.
But consider if you are on a competitive team with 3 highly dedicated pitchers. How many innings do you think she will play that day? Consider if the other pitchers work on their hitting. Generally someone who's producing as a hitter is valuable in the lineup. Would you put a pitcher only in the lineup or would you like to have a pitcher who's also an asset in the lineup? That is what the competition could be.
imo if she is not a hitter it diminishes her value if she were to want to play a different position then pitcher. Simply, generally the entire defensive team would be working on their hitting and be able to be utilized in more productive ways. The defensive players hitting is part of the reason they might be on the field.
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