Player Weight !

[SCDad]

I have watched too many young ladies work their butt off to try to become the best softball player they can be. Literally thousands of hours on the field, with their parents dutiful on their side. Way too many times, I have seen players who are 20 pounds over-weight. Their parents are right with them, telling me how hard they are working, and all the good things they do.

My player is also a big body. She stays concerned about her weight, keeps on a diet, and is a lean, mean, softball machine. Not by accident, but because it is at the forefront of her mind. She works hard at it.

Other folks have no problem telling me what my DD needs to work on. Stance too wide, she is not throwing right, needs a better attitude, footwork not right, swinging too early, didn't listen to the coaches, it goes on and on ... forever. But NO ONE ever says, your DD is too fat !!! Lay off the vittles !!

In short, a ballplayers "body-fat" is one of the biggest factors in their future, why is it not talked about more?

Even 10 pounds over-weight is too much. So much discussion is said about everything else, when the REAL answer is if some players lost weight, maybe a bunch, they would have scouts crawling all over them. But nothing ever gets said?

 

[GunnerShotgun]

There are lots of overweight baseball players in the major leagues. You don't have to be an athelete (but it helps).

 

[chinamigarden]

I have seen girls describes here as 5'5" and 180 lbs if solid muscle.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I had a 9yo catching student this summer that was obese. I asked her one day to run into the the batters box from CF and it took her 20 minutes, to catch her breath. The entire family was overweight. She was a very good player, but her weight will be her down fall.

I am certain that parents put their DDs in softball, sometimes, because they think that it will be good exercise. That is seldom the case.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Travel ball coaches should not go there, IMO.

They are softball coaches. They are not pediatricians. They are not dieticians. They are not the parents. Weight and body image is a personal matter. It's a family matter. It's not the business of volunteer softball coaches. I would not want my daughter's softball coaches telling my daughter how much she should eat or what her body should look like. He's not trained. He can do damage making an issue of a player's weight. A person's body shape and image are complex things. Not a coach's place to intervene, IMO.

And I also think that Gunner and Chinamigarden make good points. Smaller isn't necessarily better. In fact, losing weight before you are fully grown and developed usually entails loss of muscle mass.

In sum, it's personal matter. Not a softball matter.

 

[splinterpicker]

There is nothing worse than an over weight coach telling a healthy athletic young lady they need to loose weight. FP is suppose to promote a positive self image not destroy it. The next thing they will want to do is make kids taller also. Then we can have every on 6 foot tall 150lbs with power and 2.8 speed. Oh yea blonde hair, blue eyes don't want to forget that. Coaches need to coach and worry about their own. What some people call athletic leaves a little to be desired.

 

[coach james]

Splinterpicker makes some very good points here but the original post is valid too. In all sports the strongest and fastest players are the all stars. Colleges want the best of the best. Who's to say what that school is looking for in a player. Crystal Bustos honestly needs to loose 40lbs...but NO ONE here or anywhere would turn her away. Same applies to a ton of athletes. GOD made us in all sizes. Use your attributes to the max of your potential. That's not to say its OK to be fat and lazy, however I've never met a truly serious athlete who was.

 

[GatorGirl]

This is def. not a coaches place. It should be discussed with the parents privately under the guise of "your child could excel further if they were lighter." I was berated all through high school for needing to be thinner on our Majorette Squad and I was 5'7" and 140, when looking at pics, I as pretty thin. It left me permanently scared.

 

[chinamigarden]

Travel ball coaches should not go there, IMO.

They are softball coaches. They are not pediatricians. They are not dieticians. They are not the parents. Weight and body image is a personal matter. It's a family matter. It's not the business of volunteer softball coaches. I would not want my daughter's softball coaches telling my daughter how much she should eat or what her body should look like. He's not trained. He can do damage making an issue of a player's weight. A person's body shape and image are complex things. Not a coach's place to intervene, IMO.

And I also think that Gunner and Chinamigarden make good points. Smaller isn't necessarily better. In fact, losing weight before you are fully grown and developed usually entails loss of muscle mass.

In sum, it's personal matter. Not a softball matter.

that was not my point. My point is parent are often blind to the problem. There are no teenage girls who at 5'5" and 180 who are not at least 30 pounds overweight

I also tend to agree that it is not the team coaches job to talk to the girl about it. But parents need to look at what's happening and help their dd on the right path.

 

[sftblldad7]

Go tell Lisa Fernandez, Crystal Busto, that they need to loose weight. And that pitcher from college (sorry for the spelling ) Riccetts that they can't play. Then lets go tell CC sabathia, Big Poppy, Fielder, Kirby Puckett, David Wells and the best ever Babe Ruth that they can not play ball because they are FAT.
My point would be if you can play then don't worry about. I once had the pleasure of listening to this coach from a college going over his take on hitting. He said where else can you do something and fail at it 70% of the time and you are consider a above avg player and if you only fail 60% of the time your a all American. ( HITTING )
Here is a true story to think about, A friend's DD plays college softball and there coach is a work out nut. When they went down south before the season started this coach would only let her girls eat salad for dinner and she controlled the other meals as well. After 2 days the AC had to go to get some fast food ( HC didn't know )for the girls because they were bugging out and they were not happy. I can tell you that they lost 5 players at the end of the year.
This is suppose to be a game and fun, That's why there is D1, D2, D3 ball. After college then what, nothing ? Then you have to use your degree. Worry about what matters more ( your DD education ). I would love to hear just once from a parent who could quote how many hours there kids study and how fast they can read a 300 page book.