A Question for Baseball Moms..

Around here we don't have T-ball. The kids start out with the coachs pitching at the age of 5. At 6 they are practicing pitching but unless they are pretty good they don't pitch to the other kids. By 7 it is the kids pitching to one another.

My son is 8 and is going to a more competitive league instead of the rec league this year. This will be the first year that it is a modified coach pitch meaning that they will work on some pitching but it will not be 100% coach pitch. His team is mostly 7/8 year olds so second grade.

If he were to go through the rec center this year it would be 100% coach pitch

9 years old our kids start kid pitch. I hate it-it gets so much harder and so much more dangerous!

We don't really have a choice. Our association determines the pitching. In our Association, baseball (not rec league t-ball) starts in the spring of kindergarten with coach pitch. Kid pitch starts in 4th grade and has a lot of limits re number of innings pitched and pitches thrown. I have two baseball players, including a sophomore in HS, and my husband has coached baseball through 6th grade so feel free to PM if you have specific questions.

I can't really imagine starting them with kid pitch much younger than that. In addition to concerns about their arms they throw an awful LOT of walks even in 4th grade. To be honest, those first couple years of kid pitch can be kind of boring and frustrating. However, baseball remains my favorite youth sport.

It wasn't our choice. It depended upon their age.

It started with T-ball, then coach pitch, then machine, and then kid pitch at 5 grade.

Let me just say: I hate coach pitch. Hate it.

In our village the t-ball/coach pitch league runs to 8 years old. The other league in the village starts at 8 yrs with kid pitch, so there is one year that overlaps and the kids have a choice of staying in coach pitch or moving up earlier to kid pitch. We kept our son in coach pitch the extra year as he wasn't the best hitter so we didn't want him to get too frustrated. After 8 years old there are no more leagues that offer coach pitch.

Yep...depends on the age here too, no options. We start off the tee and coach pitch halfway through the season at 5/6. If there is an option, I would determine that by your child's skill level.

ooh my!!! Kid Pitch? 3rd grade....I think it was...we had some great kids!!!

Now my oldest is in the "majors" as he will be 13 this year!!

PLAY BALL!!!

It's dictated by division here, not a choice.
I think it's about 8 when kid pitch starts here.
Even our tball is coach pitch-- the tee is only used after 10 pitches or so.

Updated

It's not really something we get to choose here - the divisions are split by age and each level has a different type of pitching. Kid pitch typically starts at age nine, with some kids being able to start at eight if they demonstrate extra talent.

Here it's coach-pitch and T-ball (if you miss the coach's throws too many times) for 5 and 6 year olds.
Coach-pitch only for 7-8 years old.
Then kid-pitch after age 8.

No choice, it's based on how old they are, because if kids are too young when they try to pitch, they can seriously hurt their arm.

No Choice in softball here. T-ball (baseball with boys & girls) at 5. Coach pitch softball from 6-8 and kid pitch from there on (finally!).

In our league all the 4-6 year olds are in the same division. They start with coach pitch. In the game they get 3 pitches. If they foul off the last one they will get another. If they do not hit one of the pitches they get the tee. They used to start the season with the tee and mid way through go to coach pitch. They changed because if a kid started when they were 4 and then played the next year they would revert backwards back to the tee so it was a set back. This is girls softball and I know boys are different. BTW my little one was too young to play last year but an exception was made because they needed managers and my husband was going to manage and our older daughter could be on the same team. The 4 year old had NO problems hitting that coach pitch after a few weeks. Of course it does depend on how well the coach pitches too!

And when the girls go to the next division up it is 6-8 year olds and the girls pitch. If the girl gets walked the coach pitches. Only up to the number of strikes remaining. So if she walks but already has 2 strikes she only gets 1 coach pitch.

My boys all started the summer after 1st grade.

Our's is determined by age. Different ages are different areas. And kid pitch can be very boring the first season or so ! Lots of walks :)

Oh - and yes - we are so ready for baseball season here also !

We don't have a choice. Kid pitch starts at 7 here. At age 7, there are 2 innings kid pitch, two innings coach pitch. At age 8, it's all kid pitch.