what do coaches look for in tryouts?

YOCOACH said:

Personally, I agree with you. However, you can have your speed as long as I can have my long ballers. My defense against the bunt is solid. My catchers are strong enough to make that throwdown on a rope to second. My catchers are also smart enough to make sure that a delay is not possible nor probable since they direct our pitchers 8-10' closer to the base and make sure they get the out if tried.

OTOH, long ballers have no need of that. They hit it and runners advance unless it's caught. Just sayin'

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I agree. I also think coaches that get every other player to bunt at the younger age are doing them a disservice. Sure you can win games by relying on a shaky defense that comes with the younger age groups, but this does not prepare them for the future. Teach and encourage them to hit - It will serve them better when they get to the older age groups.

YOCOACH said:

Personally, I agree with you. However, you can have your speed as long as I can have my long ballers. My defense against the bunt is solid. My catchers are strong enough to make that throwdown on a rope to second. My catchers are also smart enough to make sure that a delay is not possible nor probable since they direct our pitchers 8-10' closer to the base and make sure they get the out if tried.

OTOH, long ballers have no need of that. They hit it and runners advance unless it's caught. Just sayin'

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I got nothing against the long ball, lol! There’s also a reason you teach your TB defenses how to cover these bunt and steal situations. It is still an important part of the game even at the college level.

Jdaddy said:

I got nothing against the long ball, lol! There’s also a reason you teach your TB defenses how to cover these bunt and steal situations. It is still an important part of the game even at the college level.

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Absolutely agree. I use small ball as well in the game strategies. However, it has to be used judiciously and at the proper times/situations. Any time you make your team one dimensional, whether it's the long ball or small ball, you're doing your team a huge disservice. The point I was trying to make was that, while speed is nice to have on a team, it's not the end-all-be-all that everyone seems to think it is. I'd much rather have the cagiest base runner in an organization than the fastest. If you can find that rare combination of both, now you really have something worthwhile hanging onto at all costs.

Chaz McNulty said:

I agree. I also think coaches that get every other player to bunt at the younger age are doing them a disservice. Sure you can win games by relying on a shaky defense that comes with the younger age groups, but this does not prepare them for the future. Teach and encourage them to hit - It will serve them better when they get to the older age groups.

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It’s ok to teach girls to bunt and hit in Rec ball. From my experience years ago in rec ball there’s not much teaching of hitting with one, one hour practice a week over a two month season. But for girls who struggled hitting, I could teach some of them to bunt and have a little success which really helped their confidence and allowed them to contribute to the team. I always felt it was my job as a Rec coach to allow every kid on the team to have some kind of success during the season.

YOCOACH said:

Absolutely agree. I use small ball as well in the game strategies. However, it has to be used judiciously and at the proper times/situations. Any time you make your team one dimensional, whether it's the long ball or small ball, you're doing your team a huge disservice. The point I was trying to make was that, while speed is nice to have on a team, it's not the end-all-be-all that everyone seems to think it is. I'd much rather have the cagiest base runner in an organization than the fastest. If you can find that rare combination of both, now you really have something worthwhile hanging onto at all costs.

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Agree 100%. My coaching mentor who I was an assistant for 3 years during 10U and 12U TB alsways talked to me about the different things you could do in 10s but not 12s and 12s but not 14s etc. We would spend entire practices working on becoming smart base runners. Things like taking an extra base if the OF would throw ball back in to the pitcher, or delay stealing when a pitcher was rattled and was turning their back to a runner on second, or catcher got tired and sloppy with their throwbacks. When DD is done with ball, I can’t wait to start a local 10U TB team!

Jdaddy said:

So, now my burner is a half a$$er? JK. Remeber, this thread is about what you do you look for at tryouts for 8U-12U Rec Ball. I like speed. I am a fan of small ball. I like to put pressure on the defense to make errors by bunting, steals, delay steals, etc. Speed is the most effective and easiest advantage to recognize at tryouts for the younger ages, IMO. I’d be willing to bet that all the fast girls will all be picked by the time the draft is halfway over.

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Right, it's about what to look for at rec tryouts, and I look for attitude and how coachable they seem to be. As I posted above, my goals in rec are to have fun, and to get better. I don't care about winning in rec, although the "get better" part usually leads to some wins. I want a team of girls that love softball and work hard. I don't care how fast they are or how much previous experience they have. As you guys know, it's often better to have players with no experience than experienced ones who have developed bad habits that you need to break. And if it's player pitch, it's definitely helpful if you can get a pitcher and catcher. But if you can't, then you develop them, which is the point of rec ball anyway.

As I said, all things being equal, of course I'd take the faster player. But all things are never equal, and speed and overall athletic ability are down on my list of what I want for rec. For comp/TB, it would obviously be much different.

What are your goals for the season?
What are your daughters goals for the season?
What annoys you to no end as a coach?

Took me 1 hell season as a coach to figure this out. Answer those 3 things and who to draft is pretty clear at the REC level. Personally, it annoys me to NO END to see overbearing parents who won't sign up to coach the TEAM. I would notate "pp" next to those players. "Problem parent" No matter what, I avoided them like the plague. As a result, my biggest annoyance was avoided the entire season. At the REC level, it's about ALL of the girls having relative fun and learning more about a game they LIKE.