Pitching Mechanics / Illegal Pitches / Teaching Children Properly From Day 1

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by LoRafter

Those of you that have responded to my simple request for a clarification of a softball rule submitted on a forum called Officiating.com with such a degree of close-headed, sarcastic and rude comments should be ashamed. I didn't ask for your personal judgments or attacks. I asked for assistance clarifying a rule.

You are correct. This is not the right forum for me. A forum consisting of people that actually can answer a question with an answer, not a judgment, would be much more helpful. People who actually care about the children having fun while learning fundamentals and rules, would be more helpful.

My experience with this forum has been disappointing to say the least. I am shocked to learn professionals think a child is better off learning to play the game without the benefit of learning correct mechanics. This confuses me. Those of you officials who set aside the rules, simply do not know them, don't think they matter, or don't think softball at this age is a real sport, IMO are not doing your jobs; rather, you are hurting the children. Should there be leniency with the rules at this level when appropriate, yes; however, awareness should be brought to coaches and children involved. There is a lot for the children to learn and work on. Rules of the game are one them.

In closing, if it makes you feel better to judge people who selflessly devote their own personal time, share their knowledge and give to our communities, than continue on with your insults and conclusions. I am very disappointed that so-called professionals are reacting this way.

Hey, now I'm offended! Unlike these other judgmental self-important arbiters of all that is good and proper in youth sports (), I only addressed the rules part of your questions (except for the one shot about using umpires at 6U...).

[FullCount]

Yes lorafter you should take a chill pill or, like a HS junior told a hyper opposing coach in one of my games the other night "take a breath and eat a donut once in a while."

Some of the responses have bordered on rude but you set the original tone that smacked of anger and stress over what you've seen in games. What you are missing, as has already been said, is you're not the first to come on here trying get "ammunition" to shoot at other parents or players, so we're all a little putoff. And you are also missing the point that many of us coached for many, many years and we had daughters play up through college ball. I still teach pitchers ranging in age from 8 to HS varsity. We've been through the softball wars and we've seen every imaginable style of parent and coaching personality and some are just not pretty. We also have a lot better idea than you may have of what are reasonable expectations for players at different ages. For example- you stated you got to HS pitching wrongly and had to correct. My expectation of HS age is to be pretty sound mechanically and legally with only minor issues to address (yeah I know, not always the case). Should your experience of improper coaching be a reason to try to clamp down so hard on a 7 or 8 year old kid? Lot of difference in ability, maturity and training time between 8 and about 15. As I said earlier, most 6, 7, and 8 year olds struggle to throw something across the plate. For those ages it's reasonable to let them develop a love of the game, enjoy the thrill of pitching, and let them evolve more legally at their pace as they can be worked through it. Why pressure them so young?

My thoughts anyway. So eat a donut and keep reading the board. You may learn something even though you to try to imply you have it all in your hip pocket.