Number Of Practices During Week????

[Texas Vengeance]

As the Coach of a 16U team we practice three times a week Mon, Wed, Fri unless we have a tournament game on Friday and it takes all the practice you can get to be competitive.

 

[1st_&_3rd]

My DD is pretty good and enjoys competitive softball something the rec ball around us does not provide in any way. Besides team practices she does hitting lessons twice a month and a few times a week (Spring and Summer) we do catching work which each team she has been on hasn't allocated time for. That being said she doesn't live and breathe it. She has other interests. Some of the comments here make it sound like she shouldn't play if that's the case. When the tourneys start there is barely a break from the game if you're doing 3-4 practices a week. In my opinion there should be some kind of "balance". I must be odd in that respect in regard to softball.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

This is only my opinion...

If a kid isn't OK with living and breathing softball that's OK, just don't get her on a top level competitive team.

DD has friends who don't want to make the commitment but still like playing softball, they have a great time playing on a rec team and a couple play B level ball (it's a LOT cheaper too)

 

[sluggers]

I must be odd in that respect in regard to softball.

No. You're a normal person. That is why there are so few "good" ***INSERT NAME OF SPORT*** players. Most people wouldn't give up a huge chunk of their life just to play ***INSERT NAME OF SPORT***.

With due respect, I think you've underestimated what it takes to be "good" at softball (or any sport). It takes an unbelievable amount of work. My DD the pitcher pitched 5 days a week, 11 months out of the year. My DD the basketball player practiced 360 days a year. (She shot 100 free throws every day for 3 or 4 years.) That is the way it is. If your DD doesn't do the work, she won't be good.

If she doesn't want to do the work, she should accept being a marginal softball player, and find a less competitive team.

 

[SnocatzDad]

We made no apologies to the team for basically having practice or games 6 of 7 days during the season. We always took Mondays off (well almost always) and gave the kids one full week off in the middle of the season to go on vacations, heal up, reenergize and do other things. In the off season we go 1-3 days a week as a team, with kids going to clinics, camps and private lessons on their own. Most of our kids play at least one other HS sport and we are pretty flexible working around those in the offseason. My dd played HS ball this year as well and our travel programs suspend activity during the HS season, but we still worked 2-3 days a week in addition to the 5-6 HS practices/games a week because I didn't feel they were getting enough BP to stay sharp.

We were suppossed to have a little time off here before Nationals, but last weekend a catcher on our other team broke a thumb on Friday and Sunday morning they asked my DD to leave that day for USSSA Nationals as a pickup to replace her. I left the decision up to her, and she chose to go and play a little more ball even though we couldn't go with her and I know she wanted to squeeze in a little boyfriend time before taking off for Kentucky for a week to play in our own Nationals.

Sluggers is right, they either want to do it and see it as fun, or they don't. There are plenty of kids in between DI full ride and Rec Ball slowpitch. Saying it's too much or too little really isn't up to you, it's up to the kid. If practicing more makes her hate the sport, back off and let her enjoy it at her level. If she can't get enough get her more until she finds her limit. Mine btw went to a few college camps heard about 20-30 hrs in the offseason mostly in the weight room and told me flat out she's not interested in doing that and understands that means that competitive play will end for her after HS and she's okay with that. I could force her to start working at that pace now to show her she's capable of it, but that would make her hate the game and ruin what should be an enjoyable final two years playing ball. Maybe she'll find a fit at a DIII where she can play ball and work in the offseason at a pace she wants, if not she'll still have great memories of the game, and it ends eventually no matter what.

 

[SamG]

before taking off for Kentucky for a week to play in our own Nationals.

Where are Nationals in Kentucky?

With apologies in advance to Ray, I think his choice of words can rub people the wrong way. In his last post, he indicates to be a "good" player you have to eat, sleep, drink, etc. a sport. If you don't do that work, in his words, you're marginal. To me, that's too simplistic. I think you can look at players the same as you do school grades (A-F). The 'A+' players are the ones with the D1 scholarships. Move on down from there (softball even uses A & B to "rank" competition level, right?). In my mind, a decent 'rec ball' player would be a 'C'. No, they are not as good as those who practice 24/7/365, but that doesn't mean they are not "good". To me 'marginal' would be those who close their eyes when they swing, catch, or throw (they sometimes get lucky). Those are the 'D' players. The 'F's are the ones playing because mom & dad make them. They don't listen to the coach, they pick at grass, they kick the dirt, etc.

It all depends on how you want to "grade" your DD. Right now, I think DD is ready to step up a team next year. We'll see what happens.

 

[SoftSocDad]

Just ask HER what SHE wants to do and everything will be fine.

I usually agree with you, but we should always be mindful that not everyone lives in an ideal world where everyone gets to have whatever they want. I'm sure many aspiring players have asked parents for more than they could provide, be it funding to play on a particular team or transport to-and-from those out-of-town practices.

Meh, it's a coin flip...either you tell the kids what the options are let them them choose, or you listen to want they 'want' and then tell them what they can actually have. Life is what it is. *sigh*

With apologies in advance to Ray, I think his choice of words can rub people the wrong way. In his last post, he indicates to be a "good" player you have to eat, sleep, drink, etc. a sport. If you don't do that work, in his words, you're marginal. To me, that's too simplistic. I think you can look at players the same as you do school grades (A-F). The 'A+' players are the ones with the D1 scholarships. Move on down from there (softball even uses A & B to "rank" competition level, right?). In my mind, a decent 'rec ball' player would be a 'C'. No, they are not as good as those who practice 24/7/365, but that doesn't mean they are not "good". To me 'marginal' would be those who close their eyes when they swing, catch, or throw (they sometimes get lucky). Those are the 'D' players. The 'F's are the ones playing because mom & dad make them. They don't listen to the coach, they pick at grass, they kick the dirt, etc.

It all depends on how you want to "grade" your DD. Right now, I think DD is ready to step up a team next year. We'll see what happens.

Truth, and there is that 1-in-5000(?) player who can be great by just doing the minimum.

But most of us are parents to the other 4999...

 

[SnocatzDad]

Where are Nationals in Kentucky?

Bowling Green, 16UA ASA Northern Nationals, looks like a nice field with 86 teams and about 20 from outside the Northern Region who were closer to KY than their own (southern or eastern) Regional. Starts Thursday.

 

[sluggers]

If you don't do that work, in his words, you're marginal.

Exactly. In competitive softball, if your DD doesn't do the work, she will be an also-ran. There are kids out there, like my DDs, who will put in the time and do the work, and put your DD on the bench. The "compete" in "competitive softball" means "competing against your teammates for playing time".

(NOTE: There is nothing bad about being a "marginal" softball player. It is a *GAME* played by kids. Millions of women never played an inning of softball, and yet went on to become highly successful mothers, professionals, and business women. It is logical for someone to say, "I don't care to be a good softball player.")

If a person has chosen "to be good at softball", there is no middle ground. You either go for it balls to the wall (which, by the way, is not an anatomical reference), or you don't. If you don't, then you will be a marginal player at whatever level you end up at.

My youngest DD played D3 basketball. During the season, she practiced 6 days a week. During the off-season, she ran 5-10 miles a day, lifted weights, and shot hoops. She worked her buns off working on fundamentals. Other more talented kids on the team didn't do the work, and so my watched my DD from the bench. It was the same with my DD who played D1 softball. She did NOT land a top 20 softball team. But, she outworked all the other kids on the team, and ended up have a great career. The other pitchers on the team faded into obscurity.

It doesn't matter if it is D3 basketball or professional bowling--it is all the same. If a person doesn't work her/his buns off at whatever level of competition they land, then she/he will be one more who never quite excelled.

 

[SamG]

Ray, I understand your point.

But look at it this way... I can point out that even though your daughters put in the work, busted their butts, and "lived" their sport, they are also "marginal". After all, your youngest DD only played D3. Your oldest, although playing D1, didn't make a Top 20 team. Therefore, there are players in their respective sports who are/were better than your DD's. I don't mean to insult you or your DDs, any more than you mean to insult me or my DD. I just want to let you know how your words can be interrupted.

Now, you do hint in this post that there are "marginal" and "good" players at each level. I'll agree 100%. That's what I was trying to point out in my post... it all depends on where you (or DD) want to "set the bar".