FWIW An Observation

[FP26]

The biggest concern, though, is that we do not know how the girl reacts under the most severe pressure. The girl who will block a ball with her face and still throw the girl out after the ball bounces off of it can be trusted under such pressure.

The girl who does things while protected may not react as well under the most severe pressure. I am not saying she won't, only that we don't know what she'll do.

When you are talking about the top 1%, knowing that the skills are 100% ingrained and natural to the girl becomes something to consider.

LAS,

I am not trying to give you a hard time. I am simply trying to understand your line of thought. Honestly, I have read your posts since I joined here 18 months ago and find many similarities between your views and what I believe. Based on your other posts I have a great deal of respect for you and the program you represent.

If I understand you correctly, your issue is not the mask itself, but the unknown that it represents. Is this player willing to do whatever it takes to make the play in that high pressure situation? No issue here, I understand that. You state that if the fielder is wearing a mask you consider her scouting report "incomplete" because there is some unknown involved. I am curious how much time you spend scouting each of the other girls you are pursuing? If you have an opportunity to watch a game, the shortstop may be involved in 5 or 6 plays (maybe more, maybe less), and it is perfectly conceivable that each play she is involved in is routine. There is no guarantee that she will face a bad hop. In fact, a player could go through an entire weekend without facing a bad hop. Let's hypothetically say that you are watching a shortstop over the course of 6 games in a weekend and that this shortstop does not wear a mask. At the end of the weekend this shortstop made every play that came her way and otherwise had good scores across the board, but never had to field a bad hop. How do you rate her? Even though she doesn't wear a mask, do you consider her grade incomplete because you don't know how she will react in that situation?

 

[parrot]

The pro-mask folks like to think that girls are dropping like flies and getting hurt all the time.

Yeah, if you could just go ahead and not tell us what we think that would be great.

I've seen exactly one 12 year old pitcher taken away in a life-flight helicopter after taking a line drive off her cheek and having her cheek shattered. Statistics be damned, that was enough for me to know my kids will NEVER pitch without a mask. And if you don't want to fairly evaluate my kids because of the mask, your loss.

 

[BobInMadison]

Yeah, if you could just go ahead and not tell us what we think that would be great.

I've seen exactly one 12 year old pitcher taken away in a life-flight helicopter after taking a line drive off her cheek and having her cheek shattered. Statistics be damned, that was enough for me to know my kids will NEVER pitch without a mask. And if you don't want to fairly evaluate my kids because of the mask, your loss.

Sarcasm mode on:

Yeah, but at least she was willing to stop the ball with her face!

 

[YOCOACH]

Sarcasm mode on:

Yeah, but at least she was willing to stop the ball with her face!

Continuing sarcasm mode:

But the real question is how she responded in that extreme situation. Did she get up and make the out before being carted away?

 

[Little Angels Softball]

LAS,

I am not trying to give you a hard time. I am simply trying to understand your line of thought. Honestly, I have read your posts since I joined here 18 months ago and find many similarities between your views and what I believe. Based on your other posts I have a great deal of respect for you and the program you represent.

If I understand you correctly, your issue is not the mask itself, but the unknown that it represents. Is this player willing to do whatever it takes to make the play in that high pressure situation? No issue here, I understand that. You state that if the fielder is wearing a mask you consider her scouting report "incomplete" because there is some unknown involved. I am curious how much time you spend scouting each of the other girls you are pursuing? If you have an opportunity to watch a game, the shortstop may be involved in 5 or 6 plays (maybe more, maybe less), and it is perfectly conceivable that each play she is involved in is routine. There is no guarantee that she will face a bad hop. In fact, a player could go through an entire weekend without facing a bad hop. Let's hypothetically say that you are watching a shortstop over the course of 6 games in a weekend and that this shortstop does not wear a mask. At the end of the weekend this shortstop made every play that came her way and otherwise had good scores across the board, but never had to field a bad hop. How do you rate her? Even though she doesn't wear a mask, do you consider her grade incomplete because you don't know how she will react in that situation?

Good question. I am not sure I have ever dinged a girl for making routine plays. Perhaps I need to re-think my eval form. ;-)

I usually get to see at least a couple of very hard shots at each girl I am seriously looking at. Not always a bad hop, certainly, but seeing short-hops from the catcher in between innings, watching her pre-game warm-ups, watching her in a few practices and watching her in 5-15 games usually tells me what I need to know. I am looking for "100% ingrained and natural to the girl" and I can usually see that with the amount of legwork I put in. If I don't think I have, then I am either scouting the wrong girl or I put more time in. The need for either conclusion is usually apparent at that point, as well.

 

[pizza-boy01]

If there's one thing my limited experience in fastpitch tells me, its that facemasks are only going to get more popular. I see exponentially more masks at every level (travel, HS, and college), than I did 15 years ago, when DD1 first started playing. I see nothing to make me believe this trend will not continue.

As masks become more and more prevalent, I believe any coach/scout that wants to view them strictly as a criteria for eliminating a potential player runs the risk of missing out on a lot of very talented kids.

 

[FP26]

Good question. I am not sure I have ever dinged a girl for making routine plays. Perhaps I need to re-think my eval form. ;-)

I usually get to see at least a couple of very hard shots at each girl I am seriously looking at. Not always a bad hop, certainly, but seeing short-hops from the catcher in between innings, watching her pre-game warm-ups, watching her in a few practices and watching her in 5-15 games usually tells me what I need to know. I am looking for "100% ingrained and natural to the girl" and I can usually see that with the amount of legwork I put in. If I don't think I have, then I am either scouting the wrong girl or I put more time in. The need for either conclusion is usually apparent at that point, as well.

Thank you for answering. I do appreciate your openness and honesty on this topic. Truth be told, I am not scouting the same level of athlete you are. And while I am very happy with the girls on my team, and not willing to trade a single one of them, it is doubtful any of them would be considered among the top 1%.

 

[riseball]

I would not get too concerned about a so called big name TB program passing on your DD because of a mask. True that these TB programs do a good job of providing exposure to top teams. But if you do the analysis of where these programs actually place players and what those players accomplish once they get there, it is much more about the player than the TB program. If your DD has the goods there is very little that the big name TB program does for her that any other reputable program will provide, often at a much more reasonable cost.

 

[cuzmail]

I guess we're both questioning the same thing. If the player is ALWAYS going to play with a mask on no matter what, what difference does it make if her feeling of confidence or her aggressiveness is due to her wearing it or not?

Exactly. A good player is a good player.

We could also argue whether good outfielders are truly good if they are using the crutch of a 13" or larger glove. Can they show me some real skills and play just as lights out with a 12"? I guess we'll never know until we see her light it up with a 12". Until then, we just don't know for sure if their skills are due to the glove or their ingrained ability.

 

[Cowdogz]

Exactly. A good player is a good player.

We could also argue whether good outfielders are truly good if they are using the crutch of a 13" or larger glove. Can they show me some real skills and play just as lights out with a 12"? I guess we'll never know until we see her light it up with a 12". Until then, we just don't know for sure if their skills are due to the glove or their ingrained ability.

It's for this exact reason that I make my players hit with a wiffle bat. I want scouts to see their true abilities.