Disappointed in University of Houston Softball Camp

Took my DD (8yo) to the UH Softball General Skills Camp this past week. 3.5 days long and I was really disappointed. I thought going to a camp run by the head coach would be pretty technical and work on teaching new skills and refining existing skills. Girls were grouped by age not skill level. In her group of 8yo there was a mix of never really played before to played on All Star teams. A fair bit of the time was spent on batting, but it was just batting practice. No guidance was given, they just let the girls hit. The rest of the time was spend on various fielding drills and throwing. Some of the drills were ok and had some instruction on the specific skill that was being worked on, but I didn't see much in the way of ongoing corrections during the drill. The drills were often rushed with barely enough time to get the girls thru the driill once before moving on to the next one. Bunting was the only thing new to my daughter. I have signed her up for The Nike camp in a few weeks. I hope that one is better. Are there other camps I should look at for this year or next?

Don't take this the wrong way, but your DD is 8 years old.....8...years...old

What do you think a College coach/players can teach an 8 year old in 3.5 days, with a myriad of other little girls running around?

Quit spending a ton of time and money on Camps... and spend some time playing ball with them in the back yard. It's easy, cheap and fun.
You'd be amazed at how much they learn from that.

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Hi. My granddaughter is 8. We practice by ourselves and have joined a team. I will keep teaching her myself, for several years. Make it fun, for your daughter. Bring along a friend.
The kids love to bat.
The kids love to throw balls at a bucket.
And they love to run.

Be prepared to be disappointed several times with regards to camps. Still, your dd is 8 and so, they will get better as she ages. Also, there are various "gains" from these camps but include the staff getting to know your dd. As my dd grew up, we quickly learned that a majority of these college camps were money makers to help pay for the assistant coaches. We did find a few that were very good. Look around at the schools in your area from larger colleges to JUCO to HS camps and you might find some out there with excellent reputations. We just finished up and advanced hitting camp. I was very proud of how hard the coaching staff and some of our HS girls worked. Parents who attended were encouraged to go to the cages and ask questions. On our last day, we received so many compliments. What we do isn't the exception. You'll find some camps out there that you will be glad you found and sent your dd to.

Amy in AZ. said:

Hi. My granddaughter is 8. We practice by ourselves and have joined a team. I will keep teaching her myself, for several years. Make it fun, for your daughter. Bring along a friend.
The kids love to bat.
The kids love to throw balls at a bucket.
And they love to run.

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Ya, when my 3 DDs were little I bought a pick-up load of river rocks and dumped them by the edge of our yard and set up buckets out in our long grass next to a swamp

You'd hear a heckuva a lotta hootin' and hollerin' where they would nail one of the farther buckets with a rock...fun stuff!

"DAD! I just hit the farthest bucket!"... I miss those days!

I didn't bring DD to a college camp until she was a sophomore and that worked out fine. Like Sluggers said, have a catch, throw pop ups in the yard, hit off the Tee. You know enough to get her through at least 10's and the time spent with her is irreplaceable.

I went back and coached 8U this spring. The parents would ask what they should be working on and my response was always, Have a catch with your DD. Best time spent with an 8yo in my opinion.

lancer360 said:

Took my DD (8yo) to the UH Softball General Skills Camp this past week. 3.5 days long and I was really disappointed. I thought going to a camp run by the head coach would be pretty technical and work on teaching new skills and refining existing skills. Girls were grouped by age not skill level. In her group of 8yo there was a mix of never really played before to played on All Star teams. A fair bit of the time was spent on batting, but it was just batting practice. No guidance was given, they just let the girls hit. The rest of the time was spend on various fielding drills and throwing. Some of the drills were ok and had some instruction on the specific skill that was being worked on, but I didn't see much in the way of ongoing corrections during the drill. The drills were often rushed with barely enough time to get the girls thru the driill once before moving on to the next one. Bunting was the only thing new to my daughter. I have signed her up for The Nike camp in a few weeks. I hope that one is better. Are there other camps I should look at for this year or next?

Click to expand...

You didn't mention whether she had fun or not...
I think camps are a waste of time for the most part if you are looking for skill improvement but if you have the cash, and your DD has fun, then I don't see the harm.

pattar said:

You didn't mention whether she had fun or not...
I think camps are a waste of time for the most part if you are looking for skill improvement but if you have the cash, and your DD has fun, then I don't see the harm.

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She had fun. They had five big awards (golden glove trophy) at the end. My daughter was awarded the hustle trophy out of 100 campers. She busted her butt and never complained about the heat or anything else. Really happy with her work ethic. She tries to be the first one out of the dugout and always hustles between stations. It was pretty apparent that many of the kids spent most of their time inside. There was lots of complaining and dragging rear between stations.

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I sent my DD to the Sacramento State Softball Camp at age 7, she was by far the youngest one. I sent her because she loved the game, her skills were not even close to good at rec level at the time, but she had a great time, learned more than she realized about the mental game, and the players on the team just loved her. That's what you can expect out of a College Camp. True story: when they asked her to creep in on a bunt, she put her hands over her head like she was on a Scooby Doo episode and walked in. The (college) players looked at me, laughing, and one said "(DD) is so friggen cute!" The camp helped her develop love of the game, she learned some skills but really it was more about the mental game and getting her to pay attention more than anything else. I can understand what I think you want to get out of a camp, but as someone with a DD who probably isn't as talented as yours was at the same age, just let her love the game and take this camp experience as just an experience. When she's kicking but in 10U next year and remembers one of the players telling her something that helps her in just one situation, you'll think it was money well spent.