Player and College Coaching Compatability ?s

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Oct 2, 2015
615
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These questions are in regards to a player's abilities in adapting to a certain type of College Coaching System.

Our DDs can have hopes and aspirations of playing at their dream College, wherever that may be.

For the sake of this thread let's say your DD has everything their Dream College is looking for. Great Hitting and defensive skills, or the right stuff on the pitcher's mound. As well as great grades and testing scores.
So it boils down to this...

I'm seeing and hearing more and more of this...compatabilty issues with the prospective or incoming player to an University.
Here's what I mean, if your DD is recruited mainly as a hitter and has a certain hitting style, why are there college coaches that try to recruit her, that have a different style of hitting system?
The same goes for pitchers (I'm pretty naive on the various pitching styles here, so bear with me) Why would a college coach recruit your DD if she has a different style of pitching thatn they currently coach/teach?
The most obvious place to see this is at College Camps. Your DD shows up, and is ran through various skills stations. Whether they are measuring 20 yard times or throwing speeds and exit speeds.
For the non-pitching prospect, one of the most notable places you see College Coaches working with the players is in the batting stations...and how the Coaches are trying to get the girls to hit like they want them to hit, over the course of an afternoon.
Does the same happen with pitching prospects? Your DD shows up at the College Camp and is taught a completely different way of pitching, even though their mechanics might be stellar to begin with.

Why do College Coaches even entertain the idea of recruiting a girl who doesn't have the same hitting system that they currently use? Rotational vs. Linear
Why do College Coaches try to recruit pitchers that do not have the same style of pitching their program uses?

I'll finish with this, so these aren't viewed as loaded questions.
There are many Colleges in the Upper Midwest, MN, ND, SD, IA that teach an Arrow Straight Linear hands hitting system.
Or the Swunt as my youngest DD calls it (Swing/Bunt)
I have nothing against it. But for my DDs, who have a rotational swings, to even go to those camps after being invited has literally gotten pointless.
They have rotational swings, that some of the interested coaches seem to like, while other coaches try to change their swing immediately at the camp.

Why would they even want my DD to come to their camp? When the difference in some of these skill sets are miles apart?

Does this same thing happen to your DDs who are pitchers?
They have dreams of pitching for Awesome U, they have the grades and the skills to play there and be recruited, but the differences in pitching skills are miles apart...

Across the board from D-1 to D-3, has it gotten to the point where our DDs need to scout out a prospective College Coaches hitting/pitching systems before they go to the camp?
Or is that a Captain Obvious question? ..."Of Course you have to scout out the College Coaching systems that school the school has."

Don't get me wrong here, my DD2 isn't a phenom by any means...but it literally has gotten to the point where she is asking me, "even if I'm good enough, will I fit in there?", before she even sends a letter to the coach, or tries to get into a camp.
 
Last edited:
Jul 3, 2013
438
43
Coaches invite players to camps for a variety of reasons. One of those is to spend some time working with her or watching assistants work with her. If your DD isn't coachable, then she doesn't have everything her dream college is looking for.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
I think this varies from coach to coach. DD has visited several colleges and has talked to several coaches. One coach in particular that DD seems to like told her "it is not our job to teach you how to hit or pitch. You already know how to do those things. What we will do is help you take what you currently know to another level." Not sure I have that wording exact, but you get the idea. By comparison, another school she visited has a coaching staff that is far more involved. One of her friends plays for this particular school and has told us that their coaches have attempted to change every aspect of her hitting. Seems like a variety of philosophies out there.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
College coaches are just looking for strong athletes. They've got plenty of time to "fix" anything that goes against their philosophies. Players need to accept that and be able to adapt. Don't pick a college based on coaching philosophies because odds are low that the coach will still be around when your kid is done with college. They'll need to be able to fit into whatever system the new coach brings in.
 
Apr 12, 2016
316
28
Minnesota
I know a rotational hitter who played for a linear college coach. She said all was good when she was hitting and coach did not mess with her but if she got in a slump they were all over her trying to change what she was doing. DD1's college coach turned her into a mostly pull hitter in less than a month. She was always more of an opposite field hitter who preferred the outside pitch. DD2 is a slapper (freshman) and I won't be surprised if her college coaches do plenty of tweaking with what she is doing. In the end the coaches are trying to make the players better so the team is more successful.

Sent from my LG-H820 using Tapatalk
 
Oct 2, 2015
615
18
Comocoach, what you wrote opened my eyes quite a bit. Does Coachable=Changable sometimes?

Isn't there alot of coaching time invested in a player, by trying to change these various mechanical skills? When ultimately, those skills might not be up to their standards when all is said and done?
Bottom line, I just don't understand why a coach would be interested in a girl, when they want to totally change parts about them from the get go. (no I'm not playing dumb here)
Why wouldn't the coach just look for a girl that already has the swing mechanics, or pitching style, they want?

All things being equal between 2 schools, (D-2 let's say) equal undergraduate quality education, caliber of team, Win/Loss Record, same distance from home....etc. the only difference is the coaching systems.
One that your DD is already much more compatable with as a hitter or pitcher than the other, this is a gimme...right? Go with the one that is more compatable right off the bat, so to speak.
So, for some players (trust me not my DDs) who have multiple offers at the D-1 level, what is the determining factor in their choice?
I know there are multiple factors involved, distance, major, etc...but are some of these girls picking a college team due to the coaching styles or, whether it's pitching or hitting?
But is the choice of which college they play for, EVER decided on a skills compatability factor?

Trust me 55dad, after the long talk we had last week, you really opened my eyes to recruitment, this is where some of my questions come from. Thanks again for the time!
 
Jul 3, 2013
438
43
Comocoach, what you wrote opened my eyes quite a bit. Does Coachable=Changable sometimes?

Isn't there alot of coaching time invested in a player, by trying to change these various mechanical skills? When ultimately, those skills might not be up to their standards when all is said and done?
Bottom line, I just don't understand why a coach would be interested in a girl, when they want to totally change parts about them from the get go. (no I'm not playing dumb here)
Why wouldn't the coach just look for a girl that already has the swing mechanics, or pitching style, they want?

All things being equal between 2 schools, (D-2 let's say) equal undergraduate quality education, caliber of team, Win/Loss Record, same distance from home....etc. the only difference is the coaching systems.
One that your DD is already much more compatable with as a hitter or pitcher than the other, this is a gimme...right? Go with the one that is more compatable right off the bat, so to speak.
So, for some players (trust me not my DDs) who have multiple offers at the D-1 level, what is the determining factor in their choice?
I know there are multiple factors involved, distance, major, etc...but are some of these girls picking a college team due to the coaching styles or, whether it's pitching or hitting?
But is the choice of which college they play for, EVER decided on a skills compatability factor?

Trust me 55dad, after the long talk we had last week, you really opened my eyes to recruitment, this is where some of my questions come from. Thanks again for the time!

I think coachable does equal changable. Remember, most coaches are recruiting student athletes (and families) that fit in with their program. Not recruiting a bat or an arm, but a person. They want a player that will buy in to what they're coaching.
 
Jul 3, 2013
438
43
I'll add that I don't see a problem with using coaching system as a factor in your school choice.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Most college coaches want to put a feather in their cap. They want to tell everyone that their players were a "mess" when they got them, but through the hard work of the college coaching staff, they made them what they are today. When my DD was going through the recruiting process I had several college coaches tell us that they will add 5 MPH to my DD's pitching speeds. Needless to say I was intrigued, thinking they could see a flaw in DDs mechanics. Turns out the extra "speed" was going to come from my DD running and working out 3 hours/day, 5 days/week...
 

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