been in the softball world for awhile now and the number of 'happy' families is a much smaller number than you'd think. Seen every aspect you can think of. From the clueless coach, to the daddy ball coach, to the outright liar coach, to the different rules apply to different players coach, to...
like real estate: location, location, location. harder to recruit, harder to train, etc. etc. Plus even if say PSU or Mich were attractive to a talented girl from say CA, does she really want to travel all that way for MI or PA weather???
The west coast and southern teams have been far ahead...
Quite the problem to have:12U and unmotivated players.
biggest thing I know that can help you is have a organized plan for practice. Every Time. have it all laid out from intro, stretching, thru infield, throwing, hitting etc. Not saying it all gets done, but it will help you stay on course...
mediocre coaching aside, Playing is better than sitting. So playing every minute of JV should be more beneficial than bucket sitting on varsity.
And being on a legit travel team playing higher level competition all summer, is better than either.
i would not have them taking swings with bats other than their game bats during pregame warm up. Also, would waste time with weight balls off of a tee.
a few cuts with thrown TCB balls.
hearing that many schools are struggling with total numbers coming out. IE barely enough for 2 teams or strictly Varsity, as opposed to more players previous seasons.
Normal stories of the 'coach' that is clearly overwhelmed for the $$$ or daddy ball factor.
Or the HS coach that is already...
if each player fee has been deemed to be say $850, then each person's individual fund raising efforts go against the $850.
Now is the org cost for misc admin, accounting, insurance etc, metered out to say $200 for each player on the 3 teams. IS that included in the $850 example? or in...
helmet on, fielding glove on, batting stance, and machine set to throw ~60ish.... and throw .... catch every ball like leading with left elbow during swing and glove catch every pitch. take about 10 and fear will be gone.
part of it is if the pitcher can actually be a productive hitter. Some can, some are lost.
Assuming she can actually hit... Is her value as a pitcher outweighing potential injury on the bases, at the plate, etc? I've seen many HS teams have their season implode because their only pitcher...
just how in the he77 is a coach blaming a pitcher, when his/her own team managed exactly ZERO hits and only 3 balls in play???? Scoring 0 runs will never get you a win (barring fluke forfeit).
Glad that coach has made incorrect mental decision and will not be using DD much. Saves wear and...
if she is judging success strictly based on play time....she's in for a rude awakening at some point. be that skill, coach, peers etc.
Yes, she likes to play, but growth comes from being pushed and it doesn't sound like current team is challenging her.