Setting limits on how many pitches/innings a girl can pitch

[a70290]

once your in college its up to the player to say I need a rest, in HS parents should listen to their DD.

[RetiredDI]

Setting limits on how many pitches a girl throws is - A GREAT IDEA. The issue in the travel world we live in today is that girls are beginning to play year 'round travel ball at the ripe age of 10 years old. And from my experience and knowledge some teams make the girls do speed, agility and strength training! Exposing a child whose 10 years old and not even "done growing" to these elements is a recipe for disaster. I understand college scholarships are few and far between (been there done that) but pushing your kids too hard TOO SOON will only harm them.

Too often parents tell their children "suck it up" "play through it" or my favorite "rub some dirt on it". Parents tend to dismiss their kids cries for being a "baby" or being "too soft". PARENTS LISTEN TO YOUR KIDS WHEN THEY TELL YOU SOMETHING HURTS.

We all need to realize pitchers are OVER-WORKED. Between pitching practices, throwing BP for their HS/travel teams, and pitching in tournaments... it's vital your pitchers rest as well as share the mound with someone else.


Parents listen to your daughters.
Daughters listen to your body.
Coaches listen to your players.

[SBradley]

And from my experience and knowledge some teams make the girls do speed, agility and strength training! Exposing a child whose 10 years old and not even "done growing" to these elements is a recipe for disaster.

So, having grown up on a farm, where I was climbing trees, scaring cows out of pasture, chasing pigs (when grandpa wasn't watching), helping dad stack ricks of wood, running barefoot across gravel roads, eating strawberries right off the stem without washing them, snapping beans, etc.. I could go on and on and on and on. Your current day strength and agility training, is me being a 10 year old kid on the farm.

[RetiredDI]

And from my experience and knowledge some teams make the girls do speed, agility and strength training! Exposing a child whose 10 years old and not even "done growing" to these elements is a recipe for disaster.

So, having grown up on a farm, where I was climbing trees, scaring cows out of pasture, chasing pigs (when grandpa wasn't watching), helping dad stack ricks of wood, running barefoot across gravel roads, eating strawberries right off the stem without washing them, snapping beans, etc.. I could go on and on and on and on. Your current day strength and agility training, is me being a 10 year old kid on the farm.

You thinking you can compare what you did to what these athletes do is unbelievable. I to "grew up on a farm", riding horses, being bucked off, chasing the pigs around, climbing up trees - jumping out of those trees, and like you said... I can go on and on. But you can't possible think running barefoot on gravel roads compares to the pain some face with medical issues in their legs, chin splints, sprains, etc. You can't compare snapping beans to throwing hundreds and hundreds of pitches. You can't compare climbing trees to being pushed as a child to do speed and agility training 2x a week + hitting lessons 2x a week + strength training 1x a week + travel ball practices 3x a week + playing on average 7 games in a weekend. I can easily go on and on about how hard I was pushed. How hard many of my teammates were pushed.

Playing D1 softball was the most mentally and physically exhausting thing I ever did. So no, running around on a farm did not prepare me for that. Since that's your idea of speed and agility for children these days.

But this isn't the subject at hand. You pointed out ONE TINY SECTION of what I said that really wasn't even the main subject of what I had written. The subject at hand and the point I was making is that ATHLETES NEED LIMITS. ALL ATHLETES. ALL AGES. ALL POSITIONS. And the fact that in today's world we're pushing our children harder, quicker, sooner, to be the best, to play the game because you'll get a scholarship rather than enforcing the idea that WE PLAY THE GAME BECAUSE WE LOVE IT.