Ideas for a "study guide" for a middle school team?

Strike2 said:

At our HS, many of the parents (who are coaches) in the stands could easily take the group that shows up to our HS tryout and win just as many games as the HS head coach. His ACs are quite good, and many players see them for hitting and pitching lessons year-round, but the HC doesn't do much more than make the lineup and look grumpy. His players show up ready to go, and he gets to choose his "all star" group from the travel teams that ultimately trained them.

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While I wish I had a few more experienced players, I'm not sure I would like to be in that situation either. I like actually coaching. When I want to make out a lineup and simulate the game, I play OOTP.

Strike2 said:

At our HS, many of the parents (who are coaches) in the stands could easily take the group that shows up to our HS tryout and win just as many games as the HS head coach. His ACs are quite good, and many players see them for hitting and pitching lessons year-round, but the HC doesn't do much more than make the lineup and look grumpy. His players show up ready to go, and he gets to choose his "all star" group from the travel teams that ultimately trained them.

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That's how my DD1's high school team was. They went to the state semis 2 of her 4 years, and lost in the regional finals the other 2 years, mainly because almost all of them played travel ball. The coach's main qualification was that she was a teacher at the school. She barely had a clue about softball, or they may have won a state title or 2...

I agree with the pitching. There is a returning 8th grader that was a pretty good pitcher last year, but I've heard that she may not play because she was tired of the head coach not caring. I'm hoping to convince her that I actually do care, and that I'm actually going to put effort into coaching. My daughter has been pitching for a while, but she's a 70 pound 6th grader. A couple of the other younger girls are similar, they've had some work pitching, but they're still small. Athletic, but small.

Which is why I plan on working hard on the short game at the plate