The player isn't good at anything

Differentiated instruction is just as valuable in sports as it is in academics. Those in both fields who don't recognize that fail to help their students reach their potential. Those who understand this make life-long impacts.

I have always believed a manager/head coach's primary job in terms of tactics and in-game decisions is putting players in the best possible position to succeed, and part of doing this is to highlight strengths and hide weaknesses. Of course we want players to improve where they're weak, but don't ask the girl who struggles to bunt to lay down a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the last inning with the game tied, ya know?

Here's two stories from just this year so far. This got long, so I apologize for that, but you all only have one or two DDs to brag about on here. I have 15 girls I can't stop talking about.

1) We have a Freshman this year who has never played before (one of many on the team who hasn't). She's not yet particularly skilled at the plate, and she still struggles to catch the ball (she has a surprisingly strong arm for her size, though we're still working on her mechanics). She is, however, fast. Probably the fastest girl on the team. And while she still occasionally takes off running without making sure a fly ball drops, she picked up base running quicker than most. After the first couple weeks of practice, I took her aside and explained that while we would work on the other aspects of the game in practice, I envisioned a role for her as a courtesy runner/pinch runner because that's the thing she can do right now. She not only understood, she was excited. She wasn't just a "bench player," even though she does get less playing time than most of the other girls.

She now asks me before every game if she'll be running and for which player so she can be ready when they get up to bat (she grabs a helmet and stands, ready to go, waiting for the other player to get on base). She wants to help the team in other ways, of course, and we are working on teaching her to bunt (she almost got one down a couple games ago...so close) in addition to working on catching/fielding. She's played a few innings in the field here and there, and she even got a start one game. In that game, she drew a walk and scored from first on a double. That included a pretty great slide into home when we hadn't worked on sliding yet. After she was called safe she jumped up and celebrated at home plate, just a little jump up and down and a little cheerful exclamation. She did the same thing again the other day when she scored from second on a base hit (no slide needed). I'm sure some might find the celebration excessive, but she's just so excited to have been successful that I'm not going to tell her to stop.

If I'm being realistic, she's probably never going to be a great overall player. But she can be a great base runner. She often gets down on herself when she fails at some other skill. She thinks she can't do anything. I just have to remind her that there is one thing she can do well, and since team speed isn't exactly our strong suit, it's a valuable skill.

2) Another Freshman. If I'm judging pure athletic ability, she's probably one of the two or three least athletic girls on the team. She's not in great shape (lots of bigger girls can be great softball players, and I'm hardly fat-shaming, but I think even she'd acknowledge that she can be in better shape). She's also new to the sport, but she's a really smart, determined kid. She's not fast, and she's one of the few girls on our team who hasn't really begun to hit the ball yet. I think a couple weeks ago she would've been in the "can't do anything" camp, but I always tell them that anybody can earn a spot if they work hard and show me something.

A few games ago our starting 2B broke her finger and is now out for the season. While I've had others play second as subs, I didn't have a "next girl up" in mind. So at the next practice, we basically had a tryout among all the bench players. At the team meeting before I talked about how it was an opportunity, and I wanted to see who would step up. I'm not much of a "rah rah" coach, but whatever I said worked. We had four girls working at it, and after that practice I couldn't decide. I told them I had a tough decision, too, because they all did well.

At the next game we had extra time, so we put three of those girls through the ringer again (one I had decided was better suited for the outfield at this time). The girl we were leaning toward stepped up and confirmed our decision.

We've played three games since, and she's made every single play except one. Two games ago, in the last inning, she had a ball hit hard to her right. It wasn't an easy play, but it was a play she could've made. She didn't, and my fear was that the failure would cause her to make another mistake. We've all seen that. The very next ball was hit to her. Not hard. Pretty easy play, and she made it flawlessly. After the game she told me she was determined to not screw up the next one. I was impressed. Last game, we were up big in the last inning. With two outs, the ball was hit to her left and in. A little dribbler. She charged it, and I think she just picked her head up to start to make the throw before she had the ball. So she bobbled it a bit, went down to get it, saw the runner getting close to first, and in a move that was much more athletic than I would've guessed she was capable of pulling off, in one motion she reached down with her bare hand, grabbed the ball, and flipped it to first as she was falling to get the girl out.

I've used her as a Flex all three games, and she's fine with not hitting for now. I explained to her that because she's still struggling at the plate, I'm going to just remove that from the equation for the time being so she can focus on developing on defense. She knows it doesn't mean she'll never bat, and I have the added benefit of getting some girls who can hit the ball well but can't field all that well get in the lineup. She's still developing at second base, and I'm sure if many here saw her they'd be able to name 10 girls who could play the position better. But she's proven to me she can play the position, and she can play it fairly well. I have no doubt she'll get even better as time goes on, too.

In our rec program you can "freeze" three girls (including your own child) then the rest are random draw in the fall. Our last season of rec (8U), we had 3 girls who had played All Stars, a few more who'd played rec, and several who had never played softball before. A couple of those stood out as not being good at any of it, in the beginning. By the end, they were all hitting and even the fielding had come along really nicely. We ended up winning the rec championship that season, beating out a team that was very stacked. In fact, that was the only loss that team ever had in rec ball. Their record when they finally went to travel was something like 33-1. I still think about what fun that team was, watching those girls on the lower end really start to get it.

REC ball is about fun and fundamentals. If they player exits better than they arrived and still has a passion to play then a REC coach has done their job.

Had little girl in 14 to 16 rec. Means with how birthdays fall could be an old 13 or young 17 on your team. Team consisted of tb girls to never played before. Little 15 yr old showed up and I mean little , as in T ball glove she showed up with fit perfect. Never played. I put extra time in after practice with her and some others. This girl really showed no extra effort and very quite. Swing was so slow. I dug out old t ball bat and that's what she used. Even With quite personality low hustle and all, the team still rallied around her and every game wanted to see her get a hit. Fouls tips generated a rousing applause. Finally against a HS pitcher her bat got in the way of the pitch. With that tball bat and 55mph fast ball she sent a rocket right over the first baseman out stretched glove for a single that made it to grass on a hop and lot of roll. Standing in 3rd box I saw her grin and a fist pump. For her that celebration rivaled any NFL touchdown. I grinned and clapped as was the stands. I will remember that one forever.

My DD's last season of rec ball (10U), included a few newbies along with the typical mix of mediocre to really good experienced players. One of the 9yo newbies was a good little athlete with a great attitude, and her dad was one of the ACs. Newbie wasn't afraid to swing the bat, but really struggled to make contact, despite being decent with other game skills. Little by little, total whiffs became an occasional foul ball, which eventually became balls in play. In the final game of the season, she got her first legit base hit. The dugout exploded with cheers for their teammate...and 3 grown men (HC, her dad, and I) wiped away tears.

I remember a 12u rec league game, first game of the season.

There was a girl on the team who had never played before, but gave it her all in practice.

DD 3 was the starting pitcher, and pitched well enough for a lead that lasted until the end of the game.

The HC got confused in his positions for the last inning, and didn't have a 2B. He put New Girl on 2B.

Team was up by 1 run, 2 outs, bases loaded. Batter whacks the ball right to New Girl. She caught it. Nobody, including New Girl, had a clue she could do it. Game over.

HC called a team meeting afterwards, gave the game ball to New Girl. Only time I ever saw a rec league player get a game ball. New Girl was grinning ear to ear. Inspired her the rest of the season.

HC actually took me aside after that to explain why he gave the game ball to New Girl instead of my DD 3, who had clearly played the largest role in the win. Of course I agreed with him.

Eric F said:

My DD's last season of rec ball (10U), included a few newbies along with the typical mix of mediocre to really good experienced players. One of the 9yo newbies was a good little athlete with a great attitude, and her dad was one of the ACs. Newbie wasn't afraid to swing the bat, but really struggled to make contact, despite being decent with other game skills. Little by little, total whiffs became an occasional foul ball, which eventually became balls in play. In the final game of the season, she got her first legit base hit. The dugout exploded with cheers for their teammate...and 3 grown men (HC, her dad, and I) wiped away tears.

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Reminds me of a 14U TB game I saw last season. DD 3 was in an organization that had a good 14U team, a good 13U team, and a 14U team with girls who couldn't make a good TB team but wanted to play TB.

In one tournament, in the playoff, DD 3's 13U team faced the B 14U team. One of the girls on the B team, sweetest girl you could ever meet, was more than a little out of shape, but she played very well for her size. And, she could smack it.

DD 3 was playing 1B, the other starter was pitching. 13U team was up by a LOT over the 14U B team. The out-of-shape girl smacked it over the fence. Her very first HR. DD 3 congratulated her as she round the bases, then went to comfort the pitcher. The B team players ran out of the dugout to congratulate her. Parents on both teams stood and cheered. After the game she had her picture taken with the ball and the pitcher.

Some absolutely inspiring stories! Thanks for sharing. I have a few of my own but I choose to hold them for now since I'm limited on time. I will share them with you shortly when I get off of work.

I have found you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. I can relate a few LL stories

1- one girl I drafted was supposed to be some kind of stud 3B at the lower levels, but what I got was a kid who couldn't move well or play 3B at this level. I did some figgering and found her to be a very good catcher. she liked that and did well. FF 4 years or so and she doesn't want to play Catcher anymore, still wants to play IF but still can't move well- they are going to try her at 1B this week.

2- There were always a few kids that could not be coached! no matter how hard you try, they knew what you wanted them to do, but as soon as you weren't looking, they'd go back to doing it their way- which includes refusing to slide at U16 and pretending they didn't know that's what you do when you steal a base.

3- another girl who fancied herself a stud SS and hitter (as her parents believed and she was at the lower levels) dropped everything that was hit to her at SS and couldn't really hit anything. it would get in her head and she was toast. so I moved her to 2B which she didn't like as well as being THE SS, but she could handle it. at 2B there was enough time to bobble or drop a batted ball, pick it up and still get the out.
Also I taught her how to bunt, which she picked up very quickly and really had fun with because she was also very fast. A few years later she was on another team and killed us with her bunting ability and speed. FF about 4 years and she plays lacrosse and doesn't play softball at all. (there's a lot of this!)

4- the thing that I really like is the few kids that I've had who were weak players that I taught to play 1B or 2B. they developed confidence and then later at the higher levels (u16/senior league) I see those kids playing as THE player for their team in those positions. Some go on to play in HS, some do not.

5- the thing that I get the most satisfaction from though, is when I come across former players working in the grocery store or whatever, maybe just at the football game, and they call out my name to say hi and they genuinely look glad to see me. (Sometimes I don't even recognize them because they've grown up so much!) It's good to know that we all have good memories from our days together on the field.