When do you decide to narrow your focus?

[Dave619]

My DD attended a camp this past weekend and one of the speakers was Rachele Fico. She talked about her experiences pitching at LSU and talked a little about high school, etc. I'm sure at some point she did more than pitch and I wondered at what point did she begin to make her focus just pitching?

Currently, my DD pitches, plays first, and plays RF. We are always trying to get more time in to help her game. Most of the time goes into pitching, lately we have been spending more time working on her running mechanics and speed, next her swing, then fielding. That is a lot of stuff to work on.

At some point I expect that list to narrow, but she is only 12 so who knows as time goes on how she will develop. For those of you with older daughters, how did this fall into place for your DD? If she turned her focus more to the field or to pitching was it her decision, a coaches decision, or the parents decision?

Just curious to see how this played out over time for others and I look forward to hearing your stories.

 

[sluggers]

The "pitching game" is a whole different game than what everyone else on the team plays. So, a kid might love "the pitching game" and dislike "the hitting/fielding" game.

My DD pitched 16U TB when she was 12YOA. She was never nearly as good as the other girls in the field, so she just pitched.

Next year when she was 13YOA, was when she became a pitcher. She was a dominating pitcher in TB. She pitched 95% of her team's games. She usually pitched every game of every tournament. My DD said that when she was 13YOA she realized that she was a better pitcher than almost everyone, even kids 3 or 4 years older than her.

She then focused almost exclusively on pitching. She worked on her hitting and became a very good hitter. She liked hitting, but she loved pitching.

I don't know how to explain it...she loved the whole concept of getting out on the mound and striking out batters. She liked the mental part

 

[RubberBiscuit]

First I will say "it depends" on you DD's goals.

But for the "full-ride" dream:

I personally do not see the goodness in a pitcher that really only pitches. Even if they are the "big-dog" in the HS or TB team.

Because sooner or later they will be shoulder-to-shoulder with equal or better pitchers and they will need to prove other value points to get recognition.

But then there are potential limitations. For my DD it was a full-time existance getting "A's" in school/pitching/batting/first base (in that order of importance with 1st base getting little attention compared to the others.). This did not leave too much social time outside of school/softball. THat can be a variable burden on her mind. Off-season it was the running mechanics (when she was a freshman).

Luckily for me DD was essentially boyfriend-less until Junior year then she started dating the football quarterback where they both have the same work ethic so it ended up being "no-impact". I can't imagine if she "fell" for a non-sporto though.....

So back to your direct question - I would recommend NOT limiting too much and try to make school/pitching/batting the dynamic trio. (assuming she is one of those "naturals" in pitching).

Also - great coaching is worth its weight in gold. I wish I would have found the few individuals that made HUGE leaps of improvement earlier in DD's career. Originally I thought "hey I played baseball and me along with a PC and we got this thing all figured out". WRONG. Learning is so unique and dynamic. When ya find that one coach/trainer that can immediately identify with your DD and relate to her the next level things she has to work on and how,.....it's MAGIC. Ya it's another impact to the pocketbook but then paying for a pitcher through A-level TB is NOT for the timid spender.....

 

[mosftballdad]

My DD 14yo pitches and plays third when not pitching. Her main focus is pitching then hitting and then the field. If she isn't pitching she is at third and rarely see the bench. I think she would rather pitch and hit then play a position. She isn't a lights out pitcher and relies on her D to get the easy ground balls and pop ups. She hasn't made the leap yet to saying she just wants to pitch I feel it's coming. I think it would be a disservice to her to limit her at 12. She needs to develop in all areas at that age because you never know if she will drop the bomb that she doesn't want to pitch any more.

 

[starsnuffer]

Pitching has absolutely nothing to do with softball, other then the fact that the game requires pitching in order to be able to play. Pitching is a closed activity, whereas everything else in softball is open. Pitching also requires aerobic and anaerobic stamina, whereas every other activity in softball requires phosphate or ATP energy. That means that the pitcher must work out and train differently than any other position player.

What is also true is that only one pitcher may play the game at any given time, wheras there are always three outfielders. This means that even if the pitcher is amazing, she will not play every game (*HS nonwithstanding).

It behooves the pitcher to be a good athlete and a good offensive player. This is hard to do, but all the good things worth doing are hard, aren't they.

Now, there will come a time when there are awesome outfielders on your team, and awesome infielders. This means that the pitcher must be the most awesome pitcher in order to keep pitching. Something to remember here is that for every hour the "Awesome" pitcher is pitching, that "awesome" infielder is taking ground balls and making throws. At a certain point, talent becomes equal across the board and only work makes the difference.

Whatever your daughter decides, make sure that she understands that she has to outwork everyone else in order to be successful at her chosen craft. While she may not end up the best softball player in the world, it is a good life lesson to learn early on and take with her whatever she decides.

-W

 

[Greenmonsters]

If you want to play when you don't pitch, focus on hitting. If you are one of the best hitters, there will always be a spot in the line up for you regardless of level (unless you choose a college that doesn't allow P to hit, which is irrelevant because if you want to play when you are not pitching you wouldn't choose that college in the first place). The same doesn't hold true about fielding.

 

[slingnit]

Between Freshman and Soph year is when my daughter focused on pitching only. She had a big stick, about average in the field but excelled in the circle. After her first camp we realized what her bread and butter would be. We focused solely on pitching when it was just me and her. Other than what she got out of school and TB practices she didn't hit much at all. They say there is always a place for hitters but there are only 9 spots on the field and at some point you have to have defensive players as well. So unless you can break the line up on the field as well as hit your chances of getting in the line up are not very high. Pitching isn't much different, a team may have 4 pitchers but 2, possibly 3 see any game time and the latter 2 usually see minimum innings. So depending on what school and what level of play it will vary. But having a big stick, sling it 65+ and being very good defensively should get on the field some how. lol All kidding aside if something comes easily to her use that practice time to work on her weaknesses. The more she can do the better off she will be.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Between Freshman and Soph year is when my daughter focused on pitching only. She had a big stick, about average in the field but excelled in the circle. After her first camp we realized what her bread and butter would be. We focused solely on pitching when it was just me and her. Other than what she got out of school and TB practices she didn't hit much at all. They say there is always a place for hitters but there are only 9 spots on the field and at some point you have to have defensive players as well. So unless you can break the line up on the field as well as hit your chances of getting in the line up are not very high. Pitching isn't much different, a team may have 4 pitchers but 2, possibly 3 see any game time and the latter 2 usually see minimum innings. So depending on what school and what level of play it will vary. But having a big stick, sling it 65+ and being very good defensively should get on the field some how. lol All kidding aside if something comes easily to her use that practice time to work on her weaknesses. The more she can do the better off she will be.

PLUS the DP, which IMO is a great option to DP/Flex the bat that can't field with the great fielder who can't hit (or to let the P focus exclusively in the circle). My DD is a catcher w/ a decent bat. Last year, with a senior catcher, she played CF, 2B, LF, RF, 1B, and DP (the only position where she made no errors).

 

[KBush]

What are your experiences with 12yo pitchers as far as speed and pitches? 50 +/- with a good change up plus one more pitch?