Choosing DD’s Position.

[JudeDaRude]

She's 9. You have no way of knowing what position will be best for her or if she'll be good enough for college or have any desire to play there. You don't know if she'll stay small, or what she'll love. I'd be focused on fundamentals. That's what DH always did with ours, and she can play any position on the field but P/C. Fundamentals + game IQ.

I do focus on fundamentals. I focus on everything and I’m going to focus on what I’m asking about here. What I’m asking is which position, not whether I should focus on a position or not. Thanks

 

[Cagman]

She’s 9, focus on having fun and all around fundamentals. I’ve never met a 9 yr old that wanted more than that. Maybe a post game snack.

 

[JudeDaRude]

I just wonder if anyone will answer my question without telling me to focus on fundamentals lol. I know that but that’s not my question.

 

[_MIA_]

When you say train her what exactly does that mean? Are you asking for things that go beyond the basic fundamentals of catching ground balls, fly balls and throwing e.g. things specific to MI (DP turns, throwing from different arm slots, throwing on the run, charging backhands,etc,etc) or OF (how to charge and throw on the run properly, etc). I would say if your DD has good fundamentals I don't see any harm in possibly picking a position and working on a few specific things. My 9 YO plays SS primarily and I would say 90% of our work at home is basic things(grounders,throwing,popups/fly balls) and then 10% on things specific to MI. However if your DD doesn't catch 9/10 ground balls hit to her (to her backhand,forehand and straight at her), is able to throw to a target within a few feet of where she wants 9/10 times and catch popups and fly balls 9/10 times I would just say that you just stick with the basic things for now.

With regards to what specific position at her age the coach is probably going to have all the girls try different positions and then decide who gets the most playing time at specific positions. Most coaches will still move girls around some but it is at that point you can do some position specific stuff for her primary if you so choose. Just realize that this position specific work may change as she moves up in age and encounters people who are better at her at her current "primary" position so be ready to move on to another position with regards to the position specific work. To answer your original question, as somebody already pointed out, the most athletic kids typically are put at SS at the youngest ages if they are fairly solid with the fundamentals (assuming there are other "less athletic" kids who can catch well enough to play first....). However if you are Michael Jordan athletically but are not able to catch or throw properly you will likely find yourself in RF...

 

[JudeDaRude]

When you say train her what exactly does that mean? Are you asking for things that go beyond the basic fundamentals of catching ground balls, fly balls and throwing e.g. things specific to MI (DP turns, throwing from different arm slots, throwing on the run, charging backhands,etc,etc) or OF (how to charge and throw on the run properly, etc). I would say if your DD has good fundamentals I don't see any harm in possibly picking a position and working on a few specific things. My 9 YO plays SS primarily and I would say 90% of our work at home is basic things(grounders,throwing,popups/fly balls) and then 10% on things specific to MI. However if your DD doesn't catch 9/10 ground balls hit to her (to her backhand,forehand and straight at her), is able to throw to a target within a few feet of where she wants 9/10 times and catch popups and fly balls 9/10 times I would just say that you just stick with the basic things for now.

With regards to what specific position at her age the coach is probably going to have all the girls try different positions and then decide who gets the most playing time at specific positions. Most coaches will still move girls around some but it is at that point you can do some position specific stuff for her primary if you so choose. The most athletic kids typically are put at SS at the youngest ages if they are fairly solid with the fundamentals. However if you are Michael Jordan athletically but are not able to catch or throw properly you will likely find yourself in RF...

I coach her myself and we work on everything. She can catch, throw, great footwork, etc. I can play her wherever. My question is more about what is most important position because I’ve always thought she would be MI at any level but been hearing that OF at a higher level might be best for her. But I definitely think I can get her to play anywhere, especially next few years.

 

[_MIA_]

I coach her myself and we work on everything. She can catch, throw, great footwork, etc. I can play her wherever. My question is more about what is most important position because I’ve always thought she would be MI at any level but been hearing that OF at a higher level might be best for her. But I definitely think I can get her to play anywhere, especially next few years.

As you move up in age good teams are typically strong up the middle (catcher,pitcher,SS,2nd,CF)..best teams are strong everywhere. If you are the coach of her team then you have to evaluate what is best for your team at the moment and play her in the appropriate position...I know I will be roasted for this probably, but if you had to choose between (and you don't necessarily have to if you are willing to put in the time) position specific training for MI or OF, I would say go with MI. There are less things to pick up transitioning from MI to OF assuming a kid is able to track a fly ball..

That said please pump the brakes on the whole college thing..just take it one season at a time.

 

[JudeDaRude]

As you move up in age good teams are typically strong up the middle (catcher,pitcher,SS,2nd,CF)..best teams are strong everywhere. If you are the coach of her team then you have to evaluate what is best for your team at the moment and play her in the appropriate position...I know I will be roasted for this probably, but if you had to choose between (and you don't necessarily have to if you are willing to put in the time) position specific training for MI or OF, I would say go with MI. There are less things to pick up transitioning from MI to OF.

That said please pump the brakes on the whole college thing..just take it one season at a time.

Why hit brakes on college thing? I don’t understand why anyone would think that? That’s my goal for my girls and we are going to work towards that. If it comes to day, that I see they can’t , I will stop, but why would anyone not have that goal?

 

[_MIA_]

That’s my goal for my girls and we are going to work towards that. If it comes to day, that I see they can’t , I will stop, but why would anyone not have that goal?

Is that their goal? You can have that goal all you want but at some point a) the kid has to share it and b) be good enough for it to come true. At this point what you want them to understand is that if they want to be good at something it requires hard work..whether that eventually translates to college softball is irrelevant.

I have plenty of personal experience with lofty expectations at a young age, both external (not necessarily explicit) and internal, and believe me nobody benefits from it in the long run. Let them learn to enjoy playing and working hard and things will take care of themselves.

 

[JudeDaRude]

I

Is that their goal? You can have that goal all you want but at some point a) the kid has to share it and b) be good enough for it to come true. At this point what you want them to understand is that if they want to be good at something it requires hard work..whether that eventually translates to college softball is irrelevant.

I have plenty of personal experience with lofty expectations at a young age, both external (not necessarily explicit) and internal, and believe me nobody benefits from it in the long run. Let them learn to enjoy playing and working hard and things will take care of themselves.

I agree with that. I do believe working hard translates elsewhere. And yes it’s their dream at this point. I’ve taught them when you want something you go after it, we don’t say we want to do something, we say we are going to do this. And I’m not trying to get them to do something unrealistic. I could see if they were average players, nonathletic, etc but they are better than average at this point and very athletic

 

[_MIA_]

I

I agree with that. I do believe working hard translates elsewhere. And yes it’s their dream at this point. I’ve taught them when you want something you go after it, we don’t say we want to do something, we say we are going to do this. And I’m not trying to get them to do something unrealistic. I could see if they were average players, nonathletic, etc but they are better than average at this point and very athletic

Both my wife and I played college sports (baseball briefly for me..see my above comments about the burden of expectations and track for my wife). My sister played D1 volleyball. I have two first cousins who played D1 football, another first cousin who played D1 basketball, my father played baseball and basketball in college. My uncle was a HS All-American in basketball. My DD is 9 and has played up since she was 6. She was playing kid pitch at 7. The last two years she had the best shuttle run time in her school, boys or girls, as a 2nd and 3rd grader.

All that said I have no idea whether she will play in college..none of that crap I mentioned, nor the fact that she is good now, matters at the moment, nor should it. At 12 I was blowing away kids on the mound in LL and hitting all kinds of HR. At 14 I had MLB scouts looking at me as a SS. Fast forward 5 years, 1 blown ACL, 1 sore arm and major head problems left me playing for a decent D3 school which I quit playing for after 1.5 years partially because I couldn't take the fact that I hadn't live up to the expectations, both external and internal.

Don't be that parent that ruins a kids fun because you are always looking forward..just enjoy now. Doesn't mean you don't work hard with them, just do it for the right reasons e.g instilling a work ethic in your kid and most importantly you are spending quality time doing something with your children that you both enjoy. Many weeks, outside of doing this sort of thing with my own kids, the best part of my week is calling my Dad and talking baseball..it something we shared then and still share now.

At some point, yes, you will have to make decisions based upon whether or not your kid wants to play in college. 9 or 10 YO is not that point. They are just little kids who still think Mom and Dad are the best and look forward to ice cream after the game. Hold on to that for a while..from what I hear it doesn't last forever