Should DD Take Fall Off?

[Turn&burn]

My DD’s 12u season just ended on the first week of August. Since the conclusion of the season, I’ve stopped taking her to pitching and hitting lessons in hopes of giving her some time off. SHe must move up 14u this coming season and so I’ve been keeping an eye on ads. My plan is to have her attend between 3 – 4 tryouts in hopes of finding a good fit for both parties. We even attended 2 tryouts this past week, but it seemed that my DD didn’t look fresh and was missing that edge in her play. I think or know she needs a little time off from softball, but the problem is this weekend appears to be big for tryouts. The two teams she tried out for has plans to immediately start 3 practices a week with no break.

I’m now thinking of foregoing tryouts and shutting her down for 2 -3 weeks if not longer. I’m even considering playing Fall Ball with a rec league (one game a week) and focus on hitting and pitching lessons. Once Fall Ball ends sometime in January, we would then hit tryouts for teams. Would this hurt or limit our chances of finding a good team after the Fall season? What should we do?

[1prouddad]

I’m now thinking of foregoing tryouts and shutting her down for 2 -3 weeks if not longer. I’m even considering playing Fall Ball with a rec league (one game a week) and focus on hitting and pitching lessons. Once Fall Ball ends sometime in January, we would then hit tryouts for teams. Would this hurt or limit our chances of finding a good team after the Fall season? What should we do?

IMO, that's not a bad idea - Sometimes it's good to take a step back and let them recover a bit - when the spring season starts, she'll most likely be healthy, fresh, and ready to go with no effects of burnout.

[ontheblack]

With very few exceptions, the rosters of teams in the fall will not be anything like the spring roster. For those teams that will have little movement, for instance PS96 last fall, the odds of making that quality of a team as are pretty low. On the flip side, the player that could make that team last fall could probably play on any team.

The bigger issue is what does your DD want to do? Time off isnt a bad thing, and lessons can continue in the fall. There will be many teams looking for players all season long, and if she is a decent pitcher, there will always be a demand.

[EzOut.EzOut]

If it seems like she needs a break...she needs a break. If you think she doesn't look fresh and is missing that "edge", what do you think her prospective coaches would be seeing? Fall ball doesn't seem like a bad alternative. After she's done, she'll probably decide for herself whether she'd like to step the competition level back up and return to travel. Especially, being a pitcher, she really needs to want to be in that circle.

[hit4power]

At that age, mine took the fall off, went to a January tryout for the team she really wanted to play with and made it. We just relaxed, and did one hitting lesson and one pitching lesson per week, plus one other workout during the fall. It was good for both of us and she had a great spring that year with both her TB team and the middle school team. Like someone else said, if you think she needs a break, she probably does.

[watchtonsofsoftball]

Ok, I will say it. Its a terrible idea to sit out the fall. As a coach, I have seen this time and time again, ESPECIALLY at the 12U level. She will be behind come spring time, I can guarantee you it. In a alot of cases, it usually ends up the player becomes an average player or goes back to rec. NOT always, but quite a bit, I have seen this happen. You have to remember that everyone she played with is playing all fall long , getting lots of field time, and getting better while your kid is off. My daughter tried this exact thing when she was 12 and going into 14s and I FORCED her to play. Yes she was pissed at me, especially when practices were going on 2 times a week for the first 2 weeks before our tournament. Guess what, when tournaments started she was back into it, and loving it all over again. I think the motivation isnt there because of the long spring/summer season and the idea of practicing and going at it again is a bit much for them. Trust me on this, you will be sorry you sat her for the season. Going from 12s to 14s is the BIGGEST jump IMO your daughter will go through. I say that because the physical strength and size changes the most during this jump. When she is an 8th grader playing against high school girls, you will see the difference in size and how far these girls can now hit it. My advice is push her a bit and let her know once the games start, she'll be ok. I told my daughter all the time, when your not playing, someone else is, and they're coming for your spot. You can't expect your daugther to take that much time off and expect to come back the same or better. NOTHING replaces actual field and game time. Fall IMO is great because most rosters aren't full and there is lots of field time available along with time to teach.

[watchtonsofsoftball]

Before I decided to stop being lazy and sign up as a member here , I read this site quite often, and agreed with a lot of your posts spaz, so dont be offended. Just reading into your post so maybe I'm off base here. You said your daughter was a bit behind but pitched ok at Nationals. First off from January to Nationals is 8 months. Just exactly my point that it takes quite a bit to get back to where you were, nevermind getting better than you were. Pitched ok tells me you werent overly impressed with how she did and probably felt she could have done better? Do you think overall it hurt her season by not playing in fall, and maybe could have done better had she played fall? Possibly could have worked on certain things, instead of playing catch up? Again, not trying to offend you just wondering what you think, since you took it off as a parent. Like I said before, I think once the games start, it gets fun again for them. I look at it like my job...a couple of times a year I want to quit and do something else, but then I think about what I would do if I werent doing this and Im like, this isn't so bad and I continue on doing what I love. Just sometimes you feel like its too much, but is never as bad as you make it seem.

[lookingIN]

Yes she should. You should not burn her out because than you might lose her for good. What happens if you force her to play and than she ends up hating the game. Just a diffrent view.

[hotwheels]

Ok, I will say it. Its a terrible idea to sit out the fall. As a coach, I have seen this time and time again, ESPECIALLY at the 12U level. She will be behind come spring time, I can guarantee you it. In a alot of cases, it usually ends up the player becomes an average player or goes back to rec. NOT always, but quite a bit, I have seen this happen. You have to remember that everyone she played with is playing all fall long , getting lots of field time, and getting better while your kid is off. My daughter tried this exact thing when she was 12 and going into 14s and I FORCED her to play. Yes she was pissed at me, especially when practices were going on 2 times a week for the first 2 weeks before our tournament. Guess what, when tournaments started she was back into it, and loving it all over again. I think the motivation isnt there because of the long spring/summer season and the idea of practicing and going at it again is a bit much for them. Trust me on this, you will be sorry you sat her for the season. Going from 12s to 14s is the BIGGEST jump IMO your daughter will go through. I say that because the physical strength and size changes the most during this jump. When she is an 8th grader playing against high school girls, you will see the difference in size and how far these girls can now hit it. My advice is push her a bit and let her know once the games start, she'll be ok. I told my daughter all the time, when your not playing, someone else is, and they're coming for your spot. You can't expect your daugther to take that much time off and expect to come back the same or better. NOTHING replaces actual field and game time. Fall IMO is great because most rosters aren't full and there is lots of field time available along with time to teach.

If she is not fresh she needs to take a break...period...I've seen this time and time again...This game is not for parents with egos...It is for the kids...If us as parents see this issue we should give them the time off...Nobody gives a crap about the Fall season record...If she falls a bit behind she will catch up...And probably be stronger than ever...But I guess then you would feel out of the softball loop for a few months...

[ontheblack]

Amen, Hotwheels!