How to optimize while getting moved around a lot?

[4Martini]

My daughter is a pitcher- but she seems to get shuffled around a lot for her secondary position. Usually filling in for injured kids. Last season their shortstop needed surgery and all of the sudden she was shortstop when not pitching. This season 1st base had surgery and same thing. Then she was moved to outfield when that kid came back. This is 2nd year 14s. She works really hard to learn the positions and had other coaches comment on how good she was playing in A tournaments.

It’s resulted in a ton of playing time. But she worries she’s never really developing a secondary position.

We put a ton of work in to make it happen / getting ready to hit a ton of fly balls to her to learn outfield- where she has not played a lot.

I think a lot of it is that she’s really athletic and learns quick. But I know the term utility is frowned on.

Is this a concern? How do you get them a more permanent spot? She sat one inning in 5 games this weekend- so being flexible is being rewarded with playing time. But we are putting in a ton of time in addition to pitching and batting for her to learn all of the new spots.

 

[canyonjoe]

If she can pitch, hit and play a lot of positions she'll be pretty valuable to any team especially HS where they don't have the luxury of just finding a position player

 

[DonnyS]

Embrace this, especially if she wants to ultimately play in college. You never know what position the school she may want to go to will be looking for. Coaches want athletes.

 

[mmeece]

Too many players become overly focused on one position. She is so much better off in the long run just becoming a better softball player. Most of the players I coached who went on to play in college were placed in positions other than their "primary" position. As it applies to recruiting, listing her as a utility player does sometimes imply that she doesn't really have a position. If she can play SS well I'd list her as a P/SS. That should make it obvious to coaches that she's an athlete who could probably play just about anywhere.

 

[sluggers]

Don't sweat it. Focus on hitting and not on a secondary position.

Here's the deal: On advanced teams, your DD will never play SS, 2B, 3B, or OF. Those positions are too critical to have a part-timer.

Your DD is going to P. When she's not pitching, she'll DH and let her play 1B.

 

[Cannonball]

My daughter is a pitcher- but she seems to get shuffled around a lot for her secondary position. Usually filling in for injured kids. Last season their shortstop needed surgery and all of the sudden she was shortstop when not pitching. This season 1st base had surgery and same thing. Then she was moved to outfield when that kid came back. This is 2nd year 14s. She works really hard to learn the positions and had other coaches comment on how good she was playing in A tournaments.

It’s resulted in a ton of playing time. But she worries she’s never really developing a secondary position.

We put a ton of work in to make it happen / getting ready to hit a ton of fly balls to her to learn outfield- where she has not played a lot.

I think a lot of it is that she’s really athletic and learns quick. But I know the term utility is frowned on.

Is this a concern? How do you get them a more permanent spot? She sat one inning in 5 games this weekend- so being flexible is being rewarded with playing time. But we are putting in a ton of time in addition to pitching and batting for her to learn all of the new spots.

This scenario is exactly what happened FOR my daughter. She was fortunate to have coaches who played her at every position except catcher. When it came time to try out for the varsity team her freshman year, she became a pitcher and SS. The next year, she was a pitcher, SS and RF. Her third year she was ... You get the picture. She knew how to play all of these positions and was so valuable to the team. In college, she signed as an OF and played 1B. Tell your DD to enjoy getting to do something that others don't get to do which is to become well-rounded playing the game.

 

[4Martini]

Don't sweat it. Focus on hitting and not on a secondary position.

Here's the deal: On advanced teams, your DD will never play SS, 2B, 3B, or OF. Those positions are too critical to have a part-timer.

Your DD is going to P. When she's not pitching, she'll DH and let her play 1B.

My reason for working on it is she needs to be good enough to keep in the game so she keeps getting at bats to keep improving her hitting. (which she’s doing well enough to stay in the top 9- but is not a leader on the team)

The 1st basemen is a heavy hitting lefty with the same last name as the coach- so she’s not going to play there any significant amount (and I don’t disagree - we need her bat on the lineup and my kid is more versatile in the field).

 

[dogpatch]

My daughter is a pitcher- but she seems to get shuffled around a lot for her secondary position. Usually filling in for injured kids. Last season their shortstop needed surgery and all of the sudden she was shortstop when not pitching. This season 1st base had surgery and same thing. Then she was moved to outfield when that kid came back. This is 2nd year 14s. She works really hard to learn the positions and had other coaches comment on how good she was playing in A tournaments.

It’s resulted in a ton of playing time. But she worries she’s never really developing a secondary position.

We put a ton of work in to make it happen / getting ready to hit a ton of fly balls to her to learn outfield- where she has not played a lot.

I think a lot of it is that she’s really athletic and learns quick. But I know the term utility is frowned on.

Is this a concern? How do you get them a more permanent spot? She sat one inning in 5 games this weekend- so being flexible is being rewarded with playing time. But we are putting in a ton of time in addition to pitching and batting for her to learn all of the new spots.

The opportunity to experience multiple positions as a younger player provides the opportunity to learn the game from different perspectives, which ultimately will make her a better asset as an older player. Since colleges don't recruit 14 year olds, do not be concerned about impressions she makes on folks outside the fence. As she develops, she will very likely settle into her best position, pitcher or otherwise. The most competetive older teams (16U/18U/high school) have coaches that understand the wisdom of placing the athletes in one position where they perform best from a team perspective.

 

[dogpatch]

Don't sweat it. Focus on hitting and not on a secondary position.

Here's the deal: On advanced teams, your DD will never play SS, 2B, 3B, or OF. Those positions are too critical to have a part-timer.

Your DD is going to P. When she's not pitching, she'll DH and let her play 1B.

Softball eliminated Designated Hitters 20 years ago. The Designated Player rule (DP), adopted in 2003-04 is an interesting concept that is more versatile than baseball's DH.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

How do you get them a more permanent spot?

Her permanent spot is pitching. She will not play SS while she isn't pitching as she ages up in travel. For school ball, she might get more of an opportunity, but not in travel unless she is a unicorn or your other pitcher plays SS so they can split time.

The reason for this is simple. What high-level SS wants to sit while your daughter plays SS? They all want to play and if you want to be on a good team this is how it goes the majority of the time.

If she can hit the coach will get her in the lineup when she doesn't pitch, that should be your focus.

Also, the kids who are getting the reps at their position will get better while your daughter focuses on pitching.