Assessing Talent in Pitching

When you are good, pitching is fun. But it takes work, and lots of it. It takes hours and hours outside of practice. It takes mental toughness, a huge amount of self-discipline, and desire and WANT!

There are always a few girls that seem to shine early. Somehow their coordination at 8U or 10U is enough to dominate at a young level. But lets face it, pitching is a hard gig. Not so much for the younger kids, but as you move up in age groups, it gets harder and harder!  Dominating in the circle becomes more difficult.  Mindsets have to change between striking everyone out and knowing when to allow your defense to work behind you. And despite the amazing work that girls put into their season, the off-season is when the real work gets done!

During the transition from 12U to 14U, you see a drastic decline in those that wish to continue pitching. Aside from that, you see an even sharper decline in girls that are successful at it. And even fewer more, who are willing, able, and hard-wired to put in the work, who have the grit, who have the incredible work ethic, and who maintain the mental toughness to keep at it. Not to mention those who work endlessly on improving their game in order to keep up with the competition.　

Not everyone is designed to be a softball pitcher. That is okay! At some point when girls stop developing/improving after dominating at younger levels, it takes a toll on the players motivation, self-confidence and desire to continue playing at all. Pitchers end up on the bench, replaced by the next best thing. The girl who works harder than they do. The girl whose physique gives them an advantage over others. The girl who wants it more. And folks, the reality is, coaches are going with the pitcher who has the best chance of winning the game.　

Mentally and emotionally alone – pitching is not for everyone. Pitching is not for a kid that isn’t willing to fight harder than anyone else around her to rise above and conquer. If she doesn’t have that kind of determination, unfortunately she is not cut from the pitchers cloth. There will always be someone better, someone coming down the pipe trying to replace her, someone competing for her starting position. While there’s nothing more exciting than to watch your daughter in the circle, displaying poise and confidence in the center of it all... it is equally important to be able to accurately assess their skill level as they move up in age groups.  Instead of creating pitchers – let’s create softball players. Let’s encourage these young girls to see their worth all over the field and not just in one position.

If what you truly want for your daughter is for her to love playing the game – then you need to be realistic with YOURSELF and HER. I see it often where parents give their kids a false sense of accomplishment, to the point where they themselves cannot sufficiently assess their talent... even when they have a focus group of the same age right in front of them. As your athlete approaches college recruiting age, the best gift you can give her is an honest evaluation of her skills. We all want our children to succeed, but filling them with an inflated version of how good you "think" they are, isn't always the most helpful in their own self evaluation.  Brutal honesty is a skill many do not possess, and even fewer appreciate, but in the world of sports, it is necessary. Truth be told that in the long run, your daughter will be evaluated by someone other than yourself.