Development

[Rolling Hard]

RAD kinda said what I was going to say.A big part of the game is mental. The mental side of the game needs to be practiced.
Also reading and watching video can be very valuable. I have my DD read a page or two of The Mental Keys to Hitting and we talk about it. Going to have her watch Donaldson video where he talks about his swing.
The more knowledge and understanding they have about what and why they are trying to do the better. They need to be interested in learning the game. So make it as interesting as possible.

 

[CoachJD]

Money: Softball is expensive at every level. I had a friend who grew up on the South Side. I asked why he played basketball instead of baseball. He said, "You got to have bats, balls, gloves and lots of room. You only need a ball to play hoops."

A lot of smaller schools are more likely to have boys volleyball than baseball, and it's not because boys volleyball is overwhelmingly popular. The schools literally don't need to spend any additional money on equipment if they already have a girls volleyball team. Not a dime.

Girls soccer is actually popular for reasons I'll never understand, but again, all you really must spend money on are balls if your budget is really tight.

I was talking to our baseball coach just last week about how our sports are so expensive because of all the equipment we need to get, and just when we finally get everything we need, something is five years old or it breaks and now we need something new.

 

[_MIA_]

Yes (unfortunately) money is pretty much required in 2022 for a lot of different reasons. My father was the youngest of 11 kids who grew up in a 3 bedroom apartment. He used the same the glove from LL through college baseball.

 

[Gambler Bob]

Yes (unfortunately) money is pretty much required in 2022 for a lot of different reasons. My father was the youngest of 11 kids who grew up in a 3 bedroom apartment. He used the same the glove from LL through college baseball.

This reminds me of a story my father told me. My dad was also one of 11 kids, he has 5 brothers/sisters, and 5 half brothers/sister.

My father is right handed, and can only see out of one of his eyes. My dad played little league baseball for 3 years with a left handed fielding glove because his older brother was left handed. They did not have enough money to buy each kid their own glove. Damn, things were different back then!

Two of his brothers got drafted by MLB, can't remember what teams. Neither one of them ever played in the minor leagues. They both got drafted and served in the Armed Forces.

My father was the only child out of 11 to go to private school during his high school years. The private school that my father attended would not give my dad his high school diploma when he graduated because he did not pay the school for his senior year of classes, which is understandable. His family was too broke to come up with the money. When his oldest brother returned home from the Air Force, his brother was the one that paid for his final year of high school so my dad could get his High School Diploma. Talk about a family with no money!

Sorry for the off topic response. Seeing the post about your dad large family, made me think of these stories.

 

[_MIA_]

This reminds me of a story my father told me. My dad was also one of 11 kids, he has 5 brothers/sisters, and 5 half brothers/sister.

My father is right handed, and can only see out of one of his eyes. My dad played little league baseball for 3 years with a left handed fielding glove because his older brother was left handed. They did not have enough money to buy each kid their own glove. Damn, things were different back then!

Two of his brothers got drafted by MLB, can't remember what teams. Neither one of them ever played in the minor leagues. They both got drafted and served in the Armed Forces.

My father was the only child out of 11 to go to private school during his high school years. The private school that my father attended would not give my dad his high school diploma when he graduated because he did not pay the school for his senior year of classes, which is understandable. His family was too broke to come up with the money. When his oldest brother returned home from the Air Force, his brother was the one that paid for his final year of high school so my dad could get his High School Diploma. Talk about a family with no money!

Sorry for the off topic response. Seeing the post about your dad large family, made me think of these stories.

Being the youngest my father was "spoiled" a bit from what my uncles/aunts used to tell me. He used to get sleep in the breezeway in the summer..it seemed to be a point of contention for them..lol. He used to use that same glove when he played with me. It looked something like this..