DD wants to play

[tfresh]

I have a 12 u DD that is new to travel , but has played rec for years . I also have a step DD that has never played softball before . After going to nationals and a couple of other tourneys now wants to play also . She is a lefty naturally ,runs well goes to redlands high . born
6-26-94 .I have just started to work with her my self and thats not saying much I only now the basics . Any suggestions out there . She is ready to play low level travle or winter rec . I would prefer travel . really good kid.

[artomatic]

You're referring to the '94 right, regarding wanting to play?
just remember that there is a place for her to play somewhere.
Although it is a little late in the game, you never know how fast she can improve, if she has the drive.
Not sure about rec winterball in your area, but you might be able to get her in for the rest of the season. In my opinion, that would be a good place to get her feet wet, as it is most likely a lower level of play, and not as intense.
Around our area (OC), the rec winter ball season started with a Labor Day tournament, and ends with a Thanksgiving tournament, so it is about a month in, with about 7 weeks left.

If you want her to start travel now, try to find a team with goals of triple crown, USSSA, AFA, etc. That type of team would be more likely not playing the top ASA level teams.
See if she can join a team's practices/workouts with no strings attached.
Good luck and don't let people tell you/her that she is too old to start, there is a place somewhere that she can play.
Art

[tfresh]

Thak you so much . That was the kind of reply is was looking for .If you have any info on new start teams at that age , if there is even such a thing please let know . Also her bdate is
6-26-94 would that make her 14u or 16s

[artomatic]

she can play 14's until January 1st, then has to play 16's.
also, does her high school have two teams (jv's, varsity?).
if there are two teams, she might be able to make the jv team.
try to find out who you can talk with at her school...

also, is your younger daughter on a team, and if so, would her coach allow your '94 to practice with them?

the california announcements boards on eteamz have page after page of teams looking for players:
http://www.eteamz.com/fastpitch/announcements/state.cfm/California/

The "looking for players" pages on heybucket also has info on teams looking for players...

[DunninLA]

wow. you really need to count the cost in time, dollars and emotional commitment required to catch up with several years of missing experience.

If you're serious about this, then you need to get a commitment from her to practice for 3-4 hours per week just on fielding/throwing, and the same in net/cage work for hitting.

Step 1: If you get that commitment, then find a baseball pitcher (say a 12-14 yr. old) to teach her to pitch baseball. After 5-10 hours of that, she'll never need help again learning how to throw a softball. More than half of even travel players don't throw the ball correctly. Most have very little torso rotation ... nobody ever taught them when they were 8-10, and they just keep throwing badly their entire careers. All the movements of a baseball pitcher translate to an outfield fastpitch throw. Then it's easy to cut out the bottom loop of the arm swing come straight from catch to ear, and throw. That's an infield throw.

Step 2: Get Howard Kobata's fielding/throwing DVD set... I think it is $50. Do the drills there, and you will be ahead of all rec players and 50% of travel players.

Step 3: Spend at least 5-6 lessons with a hitting instructor to learn the basics of hitting. Find one that agrees that softball hitters and baseball hitters should have the same mechanics. If they hem and haw about that, find a different instructor. Better yet, find out which instructor your local high school baseball players use.

Step 4: Get her on a Recreational softball team, but do NOT let them teach her anything at first... Let the baseball player teach her to throw a ball, let the Kobata DVD teach her fielding/footwoork/throwing drills, and let the hitting instructor give her a proper foundation. Remember it takes 10-50 times as long to UNLEARN bad mechanics than to just start out with correct mechanics. In this, the new player actually has an advantage!

Step 5. Get a tee (I recommend Tanner tees... just google it, call the wife, make the order) $50. Then get a Jugs portable hitting net $120, give or take $10. Have fun trying to fold it up the first time - it's a longstanding prank to have new travel dads be responsible for folding the jugs nets -- after 20 minutes of futile struggling, a 30 second lesson get's the folding down. Then get a dozen softballs ($50). Have her hit into the net daily for 10-15 minutes, building the muscle memory of the mechanics the hitting instructor has taught her.

Step 6. After hitting into a net (tee and soft toss) for a couple of months, give her some live pitching. Find a 12 U pitcher to give her medium speed stuff at a local park. Do not yet use hitting cages... her first timing needs to be learned off a live pitcher. Hitting is 80% timing for beginners .. getting the load and fire synced to the pitcher's motion and the incoming fastball. After this, you can also help by pitching wiffle balls from about 15-20' in the park. This approximates the hitting timing used against a real pitcher from 40'. The LAST resort is batting cages, but a necessary one since live pitchers are hard to come by when you want them, and they cost more than batting cages. Just make sure you use the arm circle of a real pitcher and drop/push the ball into the pitching machine with your left hand so that the timing is close to that of a real pitcher. TIMING IS EVERYTHING once she has the proper mechanics ingrained.

If you're not prepared to do all that, than just let her have fun in recreational softball. There's no point getting on a Travel Team where she is always feeling behind and frustrated.

[artomatic]

slow down big boy...thats all fine and well, IF she wants to become a successful travel ball player.
if she just wants to play and have fun, then she doesn't have to go to the extremes that you are describing here....
plus, not everyone agrees on Kobata's techniques....

[DunninLA]

I agree Arto -- but OP wrote "I would prefer travel".

I think travel is not the right way to go, but the steps I laid out might get her ready for travel after about a year.

[Sftbll4ever]

slow down big boy...thats all fine and well, IF she wants to become a successful travel ball player.
if she just wants to play and have fun, then she doesn't have to go to the extremes that you are describing here....
plus, not everyone agrees on Kobata's techniques....

Seacrest out.....

[sftball1]

OK, you can tell DunninLA is definitely from LA!! I think you first need to determine if she's actually going to LIKE playing the sport before you go the extreme you're mentioning.

Depending on the area you're from, you should be able to find a match for her. Instead of trying to go straight to a team that qualfies for ASA nationals every year, try to find a team that is not quite as competive. A lot of areas have ASA B teams too. Those are good for players just starting out. And even though you want to put her on a team that will challenge her, you also don't want to put her on a team where all of the players are way above her level. This will definitely discourage her and probably cause her more frustration than is necessary.

Good luck and I hope it works out for her!!

[artomatic]

OP is from socal.
in socal, regarding ASA, ALL travel teams, regardless of skill level are classified as "A".
ALL rec leagues are classified as "B" or "C".

Triple Crown does have a "B" classification however.