Player responsibility VS. Parents responsibilty

[FP26]

As DD was growing up we definitely had a transition period (several years) where DW and myself started by handling almost everything to gradually DD handling more and more of the responsibility herself. DD's first involvement in sports was CYO basketball and AYSO soccer at the age of 5 (she added tee ball at 6). We handled virtually everything other than playing the game at that point. As she started to grow up, she handled more and more on her own. Between picking the sports she was involved in, what teams' she played for, whether or not she wanted to take private pitching lessons, and even input on who that coach was going to be. We transitioned almost completely when she was in high school, specifically her sophomore year. At that point in time she decided that she was no longer going to play high school basketball. DW and I both agreed with her decision, but stated that she needs to have a private talk with the coach to break the news. Other than driving her to school (she didn't have a license yet), she handled the entire situation herself.

This is likely going to vary from child to child based on their maturity level and other things. But ultimately I think part of the parent's responsibility is making sure their children become confident in those situations.

 

[Vertigo]

My apologies if that’s not what you meant. The way it was worded made it come across that way to me.

 

[BT3100]

My apologies if that’s not what you meant. The way it was worded made it come across that way to me.

No worries!!
Hunter took it different but I can see what you mean. Overall there is an all or nothing tendency to everything. Usually the best approach is somewhere in between

 

[Rick M]

Or leave it all to someone else because their not an expert.

This is where I’m at with DD’s hitting. She has such a great coach, who goes over everything in great detail and makes sure DD knows not just what to do, but why she’s doing it. I hear DD during lessons now articulating flaws in her swing and working through corrections.

She is absolutely more knowledgeable than I about hitting at this point, so I almost never offer an opinion. Kind of like the time I posted something on the Softball Hitting Technical forum and went down in flames


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[Rolling Hard]

Precisely!
Or leave it all to someone else because their not an expert. Just because a parent isn't an expert doesn't mean they can't assist at the correct time!

They can put the ball on the tee and hopefully play catch.

 

[chinamigarden]

At about 14 I let her make all the decisions on when, how and where she practiced. I was merely the volunteer catcher who sometimes had suggestions.

 

[Rolling Hard]

" Yelling out a cue word here or there is fine "
I like "see the ball" or " nobody better" or "stay hot" or "you got this 7." NOTHING mechanical and definitely nothing that includes the word "don't." Like don't drop your back shoulder or don't swing at the high ones or you gotta stay in there, don't step out.
I mean hitting is hard enough. It requires no thinking. Game time is time to breath, relax , see the ball, hit the ball. the closer to unconscious the better.

 

[krazykat]

One of my favorite softball memories was when my daughter asked me to pitch to her and a teammate. This was on her college field during winter break prior to her senior year.

 

[Cannonball]

Please forgive me for reposting stuff so many times. My favorite was a dad who sat behind the backstop calling his dd's pitches in both HS and TB regardless of what the catcher or coach called. It was so obvious that he was doing it that college coaches could not miss it.

 

[CoachJD]

Precisely!
Or leave it all to someone else because their not an expert. Just because a parent isn't an expert doesn't mean they can't assist at the correct time!

Many parents underestimate the value in just...being there. I don't want parents doing a lot of instructing at home unless they talk to me first. But I do want them to sit their butt on a bucket so our pitchers can throw to them. Or to take them to the batting cages once in a while. Or to go to the park to play catch if they're able. Or literally just being there to occasionally say "Hey, have you done your pitching work today?"

None of that requires an in-depth knowledge of the game, and only some of it requires even a basic level of hand-eye coordination (most of our pitchers are not yet at the point where they need a real catcher for safety reasons).