Alumni player or have to tryout for a spot?

[SSmom83]

Keep your DD's batting stats. Know when she is hitting good. Know when she is off. I always kept her stats myself. Sure I may have been accused of being biased in my score-keeping, but I always knew where she stood relative to other players.

If you hit in the top half of the team, they will move you around and find a position. Hit in the bottom half of the team, and your DD is always on the bubble.

It is when you get to the cream of the crop teams, A-level, gold teams, that being a great hitter may not be enough. Other factors take over, as most all the players can then hit at a high level.

Make sure your DD keeps her weight down. Heavy players at 12U, only get heavier, and wash out. Push yourself away from the dinner table, something rarely mentioned, and has very little to do with effort, or commitment to a coach. This is something that must be done at home.

Parents don't realize how important weight is. Players spend thousands of hours practicing, playing, and miss the core problem area of being too heavy.

We have the opposite problem - if anything we are always told shes so small, not strong enough, her hands dont fit the ball well yet, etc. maybe moving up to 14u she was just small... But not much i can do about that one! Lol

 

[SCDad]

We have the opposite problem - if anything we are always told shes so small, not strong enough, her hands dont fit the ball well yet, etc. maybe moving up to 14u she was just small... But not much i can do about that one! Lol

Folks here are just trying to help. Trying to figure out your circumstance, because what you describe with being on a team and left out is unusual. To get answers the more information, the better.

Having read through your answers, I can deduce your player is smaller in stature. The smaller players should focus on where they may fit, as the beauty of softball is there is a spot for every body type. Smaller players should focus on being in the middle, 2B, SS, CF.

Smaller players should evaluate whether or not trying to switch hit, and go to the left side. If a player does not have the power to hit the ball with authority from the right side, there is really no choice. You should try to go left. On the other hand I have seen short powerful small players hit right, and go deep on a regular basis.

Softball has grown so much in the last 10 years. It is no longer every girls game, like it used to be. Now, so many players are trying to elevate much more, and I mean a lot more than the past, and it come's down to genetics. How good the parents were in athletics. These days, big bodies with speed get the spots. Big sticks, big arms, etc. There is a spot for the smaller player, but they need to realize they are small, and make the adjustment in their training, adjust their attitude to expect to find a team at these small positions, and train accordingly.

It may be best to go to a lower level team, where you get reps at the small positions, 2B, SS, CF, instead of having to try to play the outside positions, 3B, LF, RF that are more suited for the power gals.

Because what I am deducing is the coaches kids are now playing these spots, 2B, SS, CF. Whether the coaches realize it on not, their kids may be too big to play here at the higher levels. They don't really care, for it is best for theirs now. It is so important to understand where the coaches kids play to determine the right fit.