Looking for some advice on HS ball because this dad is driving the struggle bus (Sorry another HS topic)

[Orange Socks]

In high school, to get my daughters on a different team would mean selling my house and moving to a different town, or sending them to a private school. So if your kid is in a bad high school situation, and you're looking at 2 or 3 more years of it, it gets frustrating.

I was approached by another dad whose kid attended a local private HS telling me that the school was "highly motivated" for my DD to play her Sr. season there. Recruiting for sports purposes is prohibited, which basically means I would need to initiate contact with coach. This private HS routinely competes for a state title and would have been nice for DD. Her HS team never once made the playoffs and would have been really nice for her to play in the post season. I ultimately decided nah. I needed that $14K. Looking back at her senior year, the softball season was a complete Sh$t show with a new inexperienced coach and bunch of not so motivated players. I should have moved her!!!

 

[CoachJD]

Poor performance on the field. I am not saying it should be at the top of list of priorities but an Athletic Director should have some interest in putting out competitive teams, no?

Of course, but there's more to it than that.

Where is the school located? What are the expectations? What is the likelihood of being able to find a coaching upgrade? Does the AD even have the ability to replace the coaches?

I'm replacing one coach for next year because he was a complete disaster (I have a 5-page written document with 7 pages of screenshots/attachments detailing why he needs to go). I have two other coaches I should probably replace, but that particular sport won't ever be a big thing at our school and the coaches' other roles at the school make it basically impossible to replace them because they're people I have to work with on a near daily basis. Nobody's ever complained about them; I just know we could do better.

Competitive teams are a goal, yes, but I'm not firing our new girls basketball coach for their 7-16 record this year when only four girls showed up to the first day of practice and most of the first month was spent trying to recruit players who had never played before. And since four of the five best girls on the team were seniors, next year might be even worse. But I like what he's doing, and I know it's going to take years to build a respectable program. If someone suggested I replace him because the team isn't good, I'd have a hard time not laughing in their face.

 

[_MIA_]

Of course, but there's more to it than that.

Where is the school located? What are the expectations? What is the likelihood of being able to find a coaching upgrade? Does the AD even have the ability to replace the coaches?

I'm replacing one coach for next year because he was a complete disaster (I have a 5-page written document with 7 pages of screenshots/attachments detailing why he needs to go). I have two other coaches I should probably replace, but that particular sport won't ever be a big thing at our school and the coaches' other roles at the school make it basically impossible to replace them because they're people I have to work with on a near daily basis. Nobody's ever complained about them; I just know we could do better.

Competitive teams are a goal, yes, but I'm not firing our new girls basketball coach for their 7-16 record this year when only four girls showed up to the first day of practice and most of the first month was spent trying to recruit players who had never played before. And since four of the five best girls on the team were seniors, next year might be even worse. But I like what he's doing, and I know it's going to take years to build a respectable program. If someone suggested I replace him because the team isn't good, I'd have a hard time not laughing in their face.

I should have said (and I think I said that in a post later) that improvement is what you want to see but I get your point. At the end of the day your budget is limited, which makes it hard too. I will exit stage left in this conversation since I am out of my depth..

 

[jsoftballcoach]

I may be in the minority here, but I don’t think the HS coach is doing much development at all. It’s all about the talent that the coach has.

Can the HS Coach help my DD become a better pitcher? No.

Can the coach help kids become better hitters? For a seasoned player? No.

Reps are what make these kids better. The more you do something the better you get. For the TB players, they just know how to play better and have more experience.

I appreciate the time and effort that goes into being a coach, but at least in what I’ve seen, they are managers not coaches. I guess team culture and morale could help, but DDs team is not 12-1 because of the coaches.


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[GunnerShotgun]

I may be in the minority here, but I don’t think the HS coach is doing much development at all. It’s all about the talent that the coach has.

Can the HS Coach help my DD become a better pitcher? No.

Can the coach help kids become better hitters? For a seasoned player? No.

Reps are what make these kids better. The more you do something the better you get. For the TB players, they just know how to play better and have more experience.

I appreciate the time and effort that goes into being a coach, but at least in what I’ve seen, they are managers not coaches. I guess team culture and morale could help, but DDs team is not 12-1 because of the coaches.


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So who teaches players to pitch and hit if not coaches?

 

[jsoftballcoach]

So who teaches players to pitch and hit if not coaches?

I was talking specifically about HS development.

Most of these kids have played rec for many years and love softball. They picked up skills along the way, from coaches and practice.

I don’t mean to offend anyone, teaching is great. I just would not expect much development over HS unless that kid works outside of the team and during the off season.

Is Susie a better player as a senior than as a freshman? Yes, almost assuredly. Is it because of coaching, or is it from growing, maturing, and taking thousands of reps over 4 years?

There’s also plenty of TB coaches who are just managers, and expect the kids to get their own work in and show up and play.


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[flash277]

There’s also plenty of TB coaches who are just managers, and expect the kids to get their own work in and show up and play.

When DD was 2nd year 12U, she had a coach like this. At the end of the season, he said to me, "well, your DD has a good bat, but she's not gonna see the field much next year", (her fielding was weak), I said to him, "You're the coach, so coach her".....He had a dumbfounded look on his face. She found a new team the next season.
Although I did more fielding work with her on our own, I really haven't seen any of her coaches work on fielding more than "everyone line up, I'm gonna hit some balls"

 

[ang2bmd]

High school coaches in my area have kids for 3 months of the year. Maybe a few contact days throughout the years. My daughters team usually plays 4 nights a week so only 2 days of actual practice half of which are in the gym on shitty days. That’s simply not enough time to make a significant impact on development. Development happens in the off season. Travel coaches see the kids more hours so more can happen here but even then my daughters national team practices 1 day a week for 3 hours when they aren’t playing. Really really good players spend hours outside of practice developing their game, working out and doing all the things that make them amazing.


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[Strike2]

So my daughter is a sophomore and played on varsity last year. She is a pitcher who plays 1st and some OF. Last year she got a bit of time at those positions but being a freshman she didn't get a lot of field time. What she did do quite a bit was DP/Flex almost the whole year and ended the season 3rd on the team in BA (.412) and in the top 5 in RBI and OBP. This year is a new coach and assistant coach. She's been working all off season to get stronger, throw faster, improve her pitching, etc. So far this year she's seen 0 pitching time during games. She hit in 1 game and was 1-3 with an RBI and hasn't been up again. At practice she throws BP and because they're resting the starter she doesn't get to hit at practice. She comes home almost every day after practice ready to break down because the coaches do not let her practice positions in the field or at pitcher. I urged her to speak to the coach about it and let him know she wants to do whatever is necessary to play more. She has twice now, but he doesn't give her much of an answer but told her that she MIGHT pitch next week if the starter is tired.

Thus far I've stayed out of it because she's a HS player and should advocate for herself but I can see how much this is killing her. Last night, for the first time every, she came home and said "Dad, I hate playing softball, I don't know if I want to play anymore". I asked why and she said that at practice the coaches put the 9 starters on the field and had the other players sit off to the side while they ran through situations. They didn't rotate at all. I think she's going to quit in the next week and I'm not sure I will try and talk her out of it or stop her. Looking for any help or advice that anyone has.

Welcome to the very large membership of teh "HS Softball Haters Club".

I assume by "BP" that you mean she isn't allowed to use her skill to strike a batter out in the context of some sort of scrimmage. That said, using a pitcher to throw "BP" is BS. Personally, I wouldn't tolerate it as a parent who has invested considerable time, effort, and expense into developing a pitcher. I'm sure her TB coach wouldn't approve, either. I know at least one pitcher right now playing college ball who, to my knowledge, never threw a single pitch as a HS varsity player. If it's my kid, the coach can decide to not use her in games at pitcher, but he doesn't get to use her for batting practice.

Only putting 9 starters through situational work is also BS. If your DD does happen to get into a ballgame, I've got a grand that says the coach will cr@p on her for not knowing the play. Been there, seen that.

If DD speaking to the coach isn't yielding results, and it's important enough to both of you, I encourage YOU to speak to the coach. Don't be put off by the "I don't talk to parents...blah...blah...blah". You've got nothing more to lose. I know another current college player whose parental "come to Jesus" with the harda$$ softball coach turned her HS career around. IF that doesn't work, encourage her to walk away from an environment that could poison her whole view of the game. If playing in HS is important enough, look at other schools, especially private.

 

[Frost033]

So a little update. I spoke with the coach after yesterday's game because yet again, my daughter got 0 time despite the team playing a non-conference game and up big in the 6th and then 7th innings. I approached him after the game and asked to speak, he agreed so I asked him what my daughter can improve, or what he would like to see in order for her to get some time pitching, hitting, fielding, anything. His response was "Nothing, she's a great kid. She works hard at practice and is a natural leader. She just needs to sit and wait her turn, it's a hierarchy." I repeated my question and said "So you're telling me there is nothing she can do to get more playing time" and he said "No. She just needs to wait. She'll get pitching time at some point, I just don't know when <the starter> will get tired or need to be switched." I then asked if she could play JV so she could get some pitching time and he said "No, that's not an option, I need 2 pitchers."

The team has now played about 40 innings this season and my daughter has pitched 0 (hasn't even warmed up btw), the other girl has pitched EVERY inning. Including every inning of a scrimmage before the season started.

At this point my daughter doesn't want to just quit, she wants to play in college. She's spoken to a few coaches, nothing super serious at this point, but she's afraid that what is happening this year in HS is going to kill her chances. I keep telling her that she can use travel ball clips for her recruiting video but she's so down right now I don't even know how to help her.