8th Grader clocked 66+ at OnDeck camp

[DonnieS]

Hope things are going well with you and your family.

Thanks Sam , my son continues to improve , he was able to coach football this fall, I didn't think he was ready but 15 10 year old boys wanted him on the field. And these rowdy girls are more pumped about the upcoming season than I have seen in their lives.

[CheckWriter]

You see things from your perspective instead of trying to see it from others.

Don't know Sam except from HB. My impression is that he has seen a lot. His own DDs and hundreds (maybe into the thousands?) of others from stepping out of wreck ball and into and after college. He has better epidemiological statistics on the evolution of the game than most of us. For games played in a typical year, for parental over-the-top-ness, and many other aspects of the game. There is medical literature and epidemiological support for the content of his tirades. Delivery style, that can be debated.

Having a college grad DD that has been under the knife thrice and will probably need at least one more for the chronic pain to be tolerable and a Jr in college that has had one diagnostic procedure (fortunately no structural damage) but hasn't really played without pain for a few years now, I sincerely believe Sam is right in his basic goal of informing overzealous parents there might be some ramifications to their glory.

Yep, that's what she told me. One of her big regrets is that she didn't have travel ball earlier so she could have been having fun like my girls did.

Donnie, having already called your DD(s?), complimentarily, freaks of nature, I beg to differ about the idea of using examples of girls that were able to survive what is going on in youth sports these days intact. I am a radiation oncologist and just because there are 90 years olds that have smoked two packs a day for 70 years and didn't have a heart attack or lung cancer, would you condone that behavior?

Anyway, I think it has just evolved to silliness. Will continue to chime in occasionally with some opinions and references to professionals, both medical and athletic, that support the point of view that overuse is a significant problem.

BTW Happy New Year! Wish you and all your DDs a happy, successful and mostly injury free 2014!

[DonnieS]

CW, I try to mention when this subject comes up that what I have seen in my - compared to you socal folks - limited experience, the girls I have seen hurt the most were those who didn't play as much - and one in particular - when she came back, did not train properly to get back in shape. Her dad was what I consider a nutcase - and when she finished vball, he wanted her to get ready for softball - quickly. So he had her play a full tournament with some team and they pitched the hell out of her. Pretty much ruined her chance at a college scholarship in either vball or softball. Wasn't overuse per se, it was stupidity.

What I have had Sam tell me that his , I think, 2nd daughter has gone through , cant raise her right arm over her head, cant brush her own hair, I can relate to. Both my girls are fine on that regard, though I am not. And my injury was definitely over use.

The real caveat with my girls though is that both girls played every high school sport they could , with the exception of basketball and that was because of an asshole for a coach, otherwise, they would have played that too. So according to what I have read, varying the types of muscles in use, in vball, swimming, track and softball (and flag football for 6 years for each girl), was probably most helpful.

[CheckWriter]

Donnie, I think you are a pretty middle of the road voice on here on this particular topic and, and know you don't advocate the kind of schedule that is clearly over the top. Just needed somebody to quote to make my point and yours happened to be a few posts away in this thread.

As Sam noted, TB is fine even at young ages, if it not done 11.5 months out of the year. Have a woman that works in my office that has a daughter in 14U whose team is playing 4 weekends in January and will be playing high school ball. I told her she needs to switch teams. I think she thinks I am kidding and that is what it takes to play in college. Some of these are called "showcases". Time of year and location says there aren't going to be any college coaches anywhere near there.

My daughters, in retrospect, probably did specialize too soon. They did plays soccer, basketball and get black belts, but probably could / should have maybe tried some other sports in high school.

Anyway, I can't comment on how to play the game (my sports were surfing, skiing and tennis) or how to coach (except knowing good from bad after spending some time around them). I do know something about the musculoskeletal system and about what it takes to get in to an "academic" school, so that's mostly what I post about.

[DonnieS]

CW , middle of the road is a good description. I heard people talk about kids missing home coming, prom, family events like weddings, etc because of softball. None of my kids (I mean my two plus my other 12 daughters) ever missed homecoming, prom, livestock show and rodeo (a major social event here in texas). I really didn't want these kids to miss out on the fun of being kids - that all being said, these kids loved to be together and they loved and still love softball.

[3'sDad]

Donnie: HLSR is an all time favorite of ours, especially with the out-laws living in Houston!

DD is off to her club field hockey team practice now, then homework, then HS softball captains practice late this afternoon. She played in a few showcase tournaments in the Fall and had a few looks, but the school field hockey team made a great run so she missed a few softball events as a result. Did that matter for softball, probably not.

She had her pitching lessons weekly (working on her screw & drop) and is now throwing 2x/week. She'll get up,to 3x week shortly but not more than that, too much too quickly results in a very tired arm around July 4 th.

What will tell us quite a bit about play at the next level is the result of her ACT Exam which she took yesterday ( 1 st time - she was snowed out of the regular December test date). If the score is good she'll have lots of interest from the schools that attend the NFCA Academic Recruiting Camp @ Pennsbury. If the scores are mediocre, study harder and prep for the April ACT ( Feb doesn't work since semester finals for school will just be completed & her junior year thesis due the Thursday prior to test date.)

As she is a '15 and not a big candidate for the 50% ride at Big State U, grades and test scores really matter. Softball & field hockey are lots of fun and enjoyable, but neither will play the bills after she graduates.

[Sam]

That's what you come back with? More straw. Come on. You can do better than that. So typical of you. You can't win the argument on its laurels, so you attack the poster. Classic Battle...the Anonymous Sage of Texas. Thank you, yet again, for another uninformed opinion. Can't wait for the next one.

Well I was going to back off but since you're waiting...

Attacking the poster you say? Let me refresh your memory. Your first post to me in this thread...

The Master of the Moronic Strawman hath spoken. All hail Battle.... Knower of Nothing, Icon of Idiocy, and the Prince of Nonsense.

Here is a person so stupid, so blinded by the water cooler mentality, that they would knowingly recommend an approach which has an increasing probality that one's DD will be injured and might possibly lose the ability to play the game.

Nobody ever suffered an overuse injury from taking time off.

I await the next strawman from the Mensa of Mindlessness.

I would love to talk civil to you but you make it impossible. Many here probably feel the same way. Like you, I know that overuse is a problem. Of all the girls that I know with overuse injuries, most of them had breaking ball pitches at too young of an age. IMO that is the root cause because of the number of girls that I personally know. You have been told many times about rec ball in other areas but you choose to ignore it. You see things from your perspective instead of trying to see it from others. That's a problem in many areas when it comes to the condescending way you talk to people. But if you want to proceed with this "strawman" and "water cooler' analogy then, as ridiculous as it is, carry on...

You are correct and I apologize.

[lvtwft]

9ball, what does 40 or 43 feet have to do with it when talking about her speed?

What are the price of eggs in Indonesia?

[Battle]

9ball, what does 40 or 43 feet have to do with it when talking about her speed?

What are the price of eggs in Indonesia?

Maybe this explains it...

http://www.ithacasports.com/speed-sensor-baseball.html

[CheckWriter]

9ball, what does 40 or 43 feet have to do with it when talking about her speed?

What are the price of eggs in Indonesia?

Maybe this explains it...

http://www.ithacasports.com/speed-sensor-baseball.html

I wasn't going to reply, but since Battle did, another possible explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring