Not necessarily. While all those positions are highly trained pitching is almost like another sport. If you lose your best SS you can get by with a lesser player and have a chance. But if you have a stud pitcher that gets hurt then your chances of winning go way down. Last year my DD high school...
So many of these type events are money grabs. I’ve been told that volunteer assistants come to these and get a portion of the money so the promoter can claim xyz schools will be in attendance. This is how the volunteer assistants make money for coaching.
I’m sure there have been some players...
For years we drove to most everything except Colorado and California. Now I’m getting to anything over 5-6 hours and I’m looking to fly. Most of the time due to work and everything for these 3-4 day showcases we need to get there quickly and back home quick.
There are 2 types of allstar/ showcase games at the sparkler. One you pay to participate and one is invited only and I believe free. The one you pay is basically anyone can pay and play. The other is coaches nominate one or two players from power pool only teams. The allstar game was fun but...
Two things I would add from my experience through this crazy journey.
Once read somewhere that a pitcher should be on a team that half the team can hit her and the other half cant. This will give a good balance between a team having run support and decent defense. If they can all hit her then...
I’m a firm believer that there is a place for everyone that wants to play in college. But I know there are many factors that contribute to what level they achieve and what they are willing to trade/sacrifice for it. I have seen naia players that play because they love the game. And for them it’s...
We had to do virtual lessons back during Covid days. Some tips that made it work better for us was having a tv near pitching area. Then used a hmdi phone adapter along with 25 ft hdmi cable. Also had a tripod for the phone. With long cord we could move camera 360 degrees around her for different...
Congratulations. I use to train and show horses and get a kick out of people talking about the expense of a bat or glove. It’s all in perspective I guess.
Might have missed someone mention it but we always have an Apple AirTag in gear bag.
We use one of the demarini special ops bags someone mentioned earlier. It’s a great bag for traveling. I actually added one more thing of electric conduct in the bat sleeves then the bats inside the plastic...
Interesting thread to hear everyone’s thoughts on slapping. It seems to me the game has evolved and changed over the years. Several brought up the rule changes that effected slapping and for several years that has had an impact. But I feel with new rule changes the younger players get trained...
I volunteered to help with middle school last year. We had a few A class players and several that had never played before. It was tough trying to help the different skill levels engaged and learning. We used the advanced girls to help coach and teach the inexperienced players. While we would...
It depends on the level of the 14u team the kid was on. If your playing the top National tournaments then staying with your age to me is beneficial especially for recruiting. That is what my DD did but did go and play some 18u games. But the recruiting is different at older groups so to me with...
My DD for the most part keeps them and puts them in her pitching ball bucket. Some significant ones she keeps and a few she gives to people. Her principal was at one home game against a top team in our area and she hit a 2 run and we won 2-1. She gave it to him after the game. Last night she...
Been watching the weather and we are flying in to Tampa tonight hopefully. Weather sounds good for the weekend if people can get there. Safe travels to everyone trying to get there.
At the sparkler if in the power pool you are put in a box bracket the first day. If you win two games you are in the TV bracket. Or power pool championship bracket. That’s basically the #1 seeds.
These post are always interesting to me and when my daughter was young it was something I read to learn all I could. I’m sure the speed/spin/accuracy debate has been going on since the beginning of Fastpitch and will continue forever. In my opinion if you want to be elite you better have all 3...
I’ve been watching a lot of college softball the last couple of weeks. And I’ve been seeing more pitchers just throwing bullet spin. And people wonder why we see so many more homeruns. These commentators are a joke for the most part. It’s always one side is curve other is screwball. High is a...
It really depends on what her goals and aspirations are as to time off. Every kid is different and only they know what is most important to them. There are so many different situations in school ball and types of players on the team. Within a few miles I know of teams that literally will take...
There are actually several college coaches teaching this method. This is taught to the highest level athletes not 10u players. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m going to roll with Murphy when it comes to this game. He has had a little success at it.