Lack of speed & agility is concerning...

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JLF

Sep 18, 2017
46
6
Hi, new to dfp.com.

After 3 years of coaching my DD in rec, she is now playing on a 12U TB team and I am not coaching. This is a newer club, but it has a great reputation and from what I heard, had the largest turnout for tryouts in the area.

The kids seem great, the parents are great, the coaches are ok so far (except for one daddy ball AC).

However, I am stunned by the lack of speed on the team. My rec team was so much faster. 9 of 12 on rec could really run & play, including my DD, and they were for the most part in very good shape. On the TB team, there are 2 really fast kids, then 2 medium fast kids, then the rest are excruciatingly slow. Plus the slow kids are on the thicker side and not very agile.

The team has played in 2 tournaments and I haven't seen much speed on other teams either. It's tough to watch. One kid hit a grounder to deep short and was out by 5 steps.

Is this common in TB? Do the kids who can run gravitate toward soccer/hoops/other sports?

This could be a long, frustrating year.
 
May 22, 2015
410
28
Illinois
In hitting the tryout circuit a few times with DD over the last couple of years it seems that with younger teams that size trumps speed. A lot depends on what the coach is looking for, and most of the time they will choose a big bat over speed. As the girls get older things start to change and speed becomes more of a factor both offensively & defensively.

Two girls that DD played with in 12U were on the heavy side and very slow. We had not seen them for a while, but over the course of a year or so they both hit a growth spurt and really thinned out. Neither would still be classified as fast, but they do run well and really surprised me with the speed they did pick up.
 

2br02b

Trabant swing
Jul 25, 2017
303
43
A lot of teams pick the best hitters out of their tryouts and other skills be damned... I guess they feel they don't need to run too much if they can hit the ball hard.
 
Apr 24, 2017
203
28
Georgia
I really think it depends on the coach, but I do see that younger teams tend to pick big bats over speedy fielders. We are first year 14u A ball, and we only have a few girls that can really hit the long ball. But we have three lefties and a scrappy, quick team! :)
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
The amount of fast kids will vary from team to team, but in my experience with 10U and 12U TB in So Cal, there are a lot of very fast players in the game. Last year, we had an umpire call make a joke about our "track team that also plays softball". On my DD's current 14U team, we have 2 players that I would rate as "very fast", a couple more that are "pretty fast, a handful of "not-quite-fast", and two that are "slow".
 

2br02b

Trabant swing
Jul 25, 2017
303
43
We have a girl who is so fast, she has gotten super confident at stealing home. She will lead off 3rd and run home as soon as the catcher releases the ball back to the pitcher. Only good for one try against a catcher who will throw, but if the catcher is scared to throw...

3 weeks ago she scored on a strike-out... Dropped 3rd strike, stole 2, then 3, then home...
 

Top_Notch

Screwball
Dec 18, 2014
512
63
Daughter played 8U-11U for the same team and they could hit the ball but other than one fast girl the team was slow. At 12U now her new team is overall much quicker. Outfield speed becomes more important as the game speeds up. As the girls mature, and games (and talent) get closer, speed becomes more important. It's much easier to steal a run with speed on the bases, which is key in close or extra inning games. It also helps defensively, and I see it being more important as the game gets faster and the girls get older. That being said, there's always a place on a team for a slow girl that can pound the ball.
 
May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
My daughter plays on a 10u A team. This team is very fast in comparison to everyone we play. I would say that 10 of the 11 girls are pretty fast, only one slow player on the team. Also 9 out of 11 of the girls are also lefty batters. Every girl can bunt well, or at least bunt well for 10u. 4 slappers who can also swing away. The team is very dangerous.

Overall I do think most teams look for size instead of speed at younger levels which is not the right recipe in my opinion. I prefer girls that can put the ball in play, steal bases, and the make the defense make plays at the 10u level.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
That's interesting. What's stood out to me so far in 12U is how fast all the 2nd year girls. Our SS will field the ball cleanly, throw to 1B on a routine play, and the runner is already safe. The girls all seem way faster than they did in 10U to me.
 

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