Playing up 10u-12u

[elopez81]

My daughter is currently playing 10u and is 9 years old. She is still working hard on becoming a good pitcher. She can technically play another year of 10u or move up with the rest of her team to 12u. She is the youngest on the team. What are the pros/ cons of moving her up? Should she stay at 10u so she can improve her skills. Just thinking if bigger ball/ farther distance will hurt her.

 

[chinamigarden]

Play her at the age where she will get the most circle time. At her age she needs competitive reps more then anything else.

 

[NJZoo]

Unless your daughter is blowing people away as a pitcher at 10U, there is only downside to moving her up to 12U (different size ball, different distance). In my opinion, it's always better to play at a higher level of competition than a higher age group. This is the age where play on the field REALLY becomes stratified as girls get bigger, stronger, and faster.

 

[elopez81]

Play her at the age where she will get the most circle time. At her age she needs competitive reps more then anything else.

She will get equal amount of circle time and get to stay with her current teamates if she moves up

 

[elopez81]

Unless your daughter is blowing people away as a pitcher at 10U, there is only downside to moving her up to 12U (different size ball, different distance). In my opinion, it's always better to play at a higher level of competition than a higher age group. This is the age where play on the field REALLY becomes stratified as girls get bigger, stronger, and faster.

She currently plays travel (1st year)

 

[softball dad 6]

It depends on your dd, where she stands on the team talent wise, and her position.
Success will not be as easy for her as it would be at 10u. Depending on how important success vs failure is for her at this juncture of her softball journey is something you will have to think about. Development will be better at the older age group as long as she is not over matched and practice is good.
If she is at or near the bottom of the team talent wise she needs to stay down. The older girls will be developing physically faster than her and this spread will be even greater by the end of next summer.
Position also matters. Pitchers of course see the most changes but catchers have to face real base stealers, ball are hit harder to infielders and outfielders are starting to get more and tougher chances.
You also have the family choices of costs, other team options etc to take into account.
9 year olds are not able to look at all of these and other factors. You should include her but in the end you will have to guide her to what you believe is the right decision.
At the end of the day you just have to make the best decision you can and be prepared to change course if you were wrong.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[tomorrow]

For Pitchers, I believe staying down is the best choice in most situations.
Pitchers get compared to other pitchers on the same team and in their age group. For the growth of your daughter, she should only be compared to the person in the mirror, that is hard to do this when playing against older age groups. The way the 2-year divisions work in fastpitch there could be a huge difference in size/development. The main focus at this level should be: having fun, working on better pitching fundamentals, and circle time.

 

[NJZoo]

She currently plays travel (1st year)

Does she only play league games? Tournaments only? What level (A,B,C)? Regional team, National? There's a lot of wiggle room in "travel". The time goes by fast, let them be kids and play with girls their own age. If you are unhappy with the level of play of the current team or the coaching, I'm sure there are a ton of higher level teams in your area that you can look into. Good luck!

 

[_MIA_]

If you are happy with her PT, the coaching, competition level, etc with the team she is currently on, keep her with them. While not a pitcher, my kid has played up ever since she started TB.

 

[Cagman]

What age group and team do you feel she have the most fun at?