Development

"Development" never stops. A swing requires constant attention. A good player coming into a D1/D2 environment is often outmatched at the plate. I've watched kids ineffective (< .200 ave) as freshman become solid hitters (>.300) as juniors. Lots of work in the weight room and in the cage. Defensive fundamentals work never stops...you'll see it in pre-game warmups from some of the best college teams in the country. As younger players become more consistent with fielding and moving the ball around, it can be blended with the finer points of making plays and executing more complex defensive schemes.

I'd guess that most coaches who've gotten to 16U have taken on an athletic-looking "project" and had it not work out. Baseball/softball are weird games. Being "athletic" is a nice foundation, but I've seen many players at every level who passed the "eye test" and never seemed to fully get it. Conversely, there's the kid who doesn't look impressive at all who soaks up everything they're taught. The willingness and ability to work outside of practice is often the difference between success and failure, but sometimes it's just not their thing.

pattar said:

Watch till the end. IMO almost impossible to get enough reps in a team practice to become a good IF unless you are there all day Best a coach can do is to shown them how to do it, give them 25-50 reps in practice and then motivate them to work on their own (you can get 100 reps in 30 minutes on your own with just a wall and a ball)

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Quite true for everything except throwing drills. No matter how many GB reps DD got at team practice, but we could still do more in 20 minutes by ourselves. Same thing with hitting. Team BP was for showing what you could do.

pattar said:

Watch till the end. IMO almost impossible to get enough reps in a team practice to become a good IF unless you are there all day Best a coach can do is to shown them how to do it, give them 25-50 reps in practice and then motivate them to work on their own (you can get 100 reps in 30 minutes on your own with just a wall and a ball)
I also like the idea of practicing on less than ideal fields (once a kid gets over the fear of getting hit by the ball..)

Plenty of kids take a 1000 swings a week but how many take a 1000 GB??

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Absolutely, Players get better with individual practice. 2-3 timeslonger for same reps in team practice.

I also think if you can catch with a cheap small glove you can catch with anything.

Vertigo said:

Lol - I used to throw a tennis ball against our stairs and then “fielded” the ball as it came back. I also used to pitch against a brick wall with a box painted on it. The things you do when you had no one interested in playing catch with you.

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I did that too, almost every day. Had to field 27 in a row cleanly, each one being an out. If not, started over. Of course, I was a "just a girl" but, the first one my male cousins called when they needed an extra player.

pattar said:

Watch till the end. IMO almost impossible to get enough reps in a team practice to become a good IF unless you are there all day Best a coach can do is to shown them how to do it, give them 25-50 reps in practice and then motivate them to work on their own (you can get 100 reps in 30 minutes on your own with just a wall and a ball)



I also like the idea of practicing on less than ideal fields (once a kid gets over the fear of getting hit by the ball..)

Plenty of kids take a 1000 swings a week but how many take a 1000 GB??

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Never could put my finger on exactly what made some infielders, (SS), stand out. Some seem so smooth at it. This shows the almost, slow motion, methodical way they approach the ball, lower to the ground, like a cat stalking, until they pounce on the ball. I notice in girls softball, they don't often field this way. There seems to be this stutter step they often use, more upright and tend to throw that way too. It doesn't appear to be smooth. Is it the way they're not being coached? Seems it should be more to it than just getting to the ball and catching it in the mitt. Are girls not capable of this type of fluidity? I haven't seen it quite like this video demonstrates.

What I think happens from what I can see is usually some coach or dad starts rocketing grounders at the girls before they have confidence. Usually telling them to “stay down” as they smash grounders at them. This creates a hockey goalie type fielding where the player is merely trying to defend themselves. You lose all fluidity. I rolled most of the grounders at our kids until I got the fluidity I wanted. Then started to slowly hit them harder.

Towny9 said:

What I think happens from what I can see is usually some coach or dad starts rocketing grounders at the girls before they have confidence. Usually telling them to “stay down” as they smash grounders at them. This creates a hockey goalie type fielding where the player is merely trying to defend themselves. You lose all fluidity. I rolled most of the grounders at our kids until I got the fluidity I wanted. Then started to slowly hit them harder.

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I’ll remember this with my little 6yr old, future Hall of Famer. He can’t field anything at this point.

CrazyNani said:

Never could put my finger on exactly what made some infielders, (SS), stand out. Some seem so smooth at it. This shows the almost, slow motion, methodical way they approach the ball, lower to the ground, like a cat stalking, until they pounce on the ball. I notice in girls softball, they don't often field this way. There seems to be this stutter step they often use, more upright and tend to throw that way too. It doesn't appear to be smooth. Is it the way they're not being coached? Seems it should be more to it than just getting to the ball and catching it in the mitt. Are girls not capable of this type of fluidity? I haven't seen it quite like this video demonstrates.

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To be completely honest I have seen very few (if any) top IF in P5 D1 softball look as fluid as top male IF. Part of it could be the speed of the game doesn't really allow it to show up and some of it may just be athletic differences between men and women. I will say the SS from UCLA the last few years Briana Perez was pretty smooth..Don't get me wrong Grace Lyons, Sis Bates, etc are ridiculously good but they don't look quite the same as a Francisco Lindor.

Thanks, everyone, for some very thoughtful and useful responses. Our team’s approach to development at this point aligns with much of what has been said here: provide a framework for the girls to get lots of reps in a structured environment, and give them some feedback on what they should work on improving.


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