Quality of college softball vs. other sports

[quincy]

TV does not do justice to any of the sports.

If you want to form an opinion you need to go see live games.

Basketball they are unbelievably good.

 

[BobInMadison]

Interesting to compare.

My oldest and youngest kids are the ones most into sports, although DD 1 and DD 2 did try some sports, even in HS.

DS rows. He originally was a sprinter in track, then turned into a rower. In rowing, technique is important, BUT, it is 95% athleticism, and 5% technique. (Although really bad technique can kill you). At the highest levels, maybe 98-99+% athleticism, because they are all excellent at technique.

However, I have known cases in which HS girls who have never rowed in their lives have gotten full scholarships in rowing. For example, a local girl, very athletic, went to a winter camp at U Wisconsin. In a few days, she had picked up enough for them to offer her a full scholarship. (College rowers still can't row varsity until their second year of competition, so that gave the coaches a year to get her technique up to snuff). In the 2012 Olympics, Wisconsin sent 3 former rowers who had never rowed before college. All were walk-ons. (Two were very athletic 6'7" twins, in a sport where height matters. The twins were college champs by the time they graduated).

Now, what would be the chances of a girl, no matter how athletic, learning softball in her freshman year at college, being the star of the WCWS championship team her senior year, and then making the Olympic team as a starter? (Assuming the Olympics reinstates softball). Hard to imagine. Way too much to learn. OK, if she were the fastest girl you had ever seen, maybe use her as a pinch runner her freshman year while she learns the game, but that would be a huge exception to the rule.

 

[laker]

Did anybody catch the UGA / Alabama baseball game last night? It was 13 innings, and entertaining despite the unconventional strike zone. Anyway, there were plenty of mistakes and errors. This is top level SEC baseball folks, and there was plenty to pick apart. If anything, when I watch the top tier softball teams play, I'm amazed by the quality of the play, not the lack of it.

 

[let it be fun]

I think there is definitely some truth to the "athleticism" part of the equation. I have watched some very good D1 softball teams play and I have thought to myself, "That girl sure can hit, but she is not an athlete." I was at a game last weekend and watched a D1 player who had such terrible running form that just a little bit of decent speed and agility training could probably drop a couple tenths off her home to first time. She knocked the cover off the ball though! If you are smart, have a good glove/arm and can hit the snot out of the ball you can play softball while not being very "athletic". You don't need elite level speed, balance, agility, and strength to play softball at a high level in my opinion. It sure helps but it is not required. Contrast that to the pure athleticism required to play on the defensive side of the ball at the highest level of college football and I can see how folks would comment on it.

 

[MNDad]

In fastpitch/baseball, more than any other popular sport,
poor decision-making cannot be overcome by sheer athleticism.

NASCAR perhaps? It really comes down to personal preference. We could come up with analogies all day as to which particular sport is most difficult.

 

[quincy]

I can not skate so my vote is hockey.

 

[Tom]

If you really pay attention to what's going on, the girls don't have a clue how to play the game, and a LOT of the coaches don't know what they're doing, especially with situational stuff. If you watch college football, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, golf, tennis, track, cross country, volleyball, swimming, you walk away amazed at the athleticism and level of talent and play. I rarely feel that way after I watch a college softball game.

I would tell your friend that a standard definition of athleticism can't be applied broadly...athleticism is relative. Pick a star out of any of those sports and put them in the box against any average collegiate pitcher or at 1st / 3rd against a speedy slapper or fielding a hard line shot, and they will look foolish. Put them at SS or 2B and have them try go backhand into the hole then throw a runner out at 60' or have them in OF trying to catch, crow hop and throw runner out at home, would also look ridiculous. If you really wanted to prove this point have the best WR in the country put on catchers gear and try to catch a good movement pitcher consistently...passed balls all day long. I would suggest he simply doesn't know what he's watching and has MLB as a frame of reference. Same for Fastpitch athletes, most would look silly trying to return serves in tennis, anchoring a relay team or trying to get a shot off against UConn. Athletes in all of high level sports have tuned their physical and mental skills to what "athleticism" is required for their sport. Comparing is apples to oranges.

In regard to coaching, again, your friend probably doesn't know or fully understand the situation that he is critiquing the coach on. I would ask him what he would have done in a situation and I bet there will be multiple factors involved in the coaches decision that he didn't even know to consider much less how to deal with them. Until you have watched / played a sport for a decent amount of time you just can't see the 10,000 "game within the game" view.

Now if he said College Fastpitch commentating is sub-par compared to other sports I would agree. Hopefully as ratings continue to skyrocket and money keeps coming in the network affiliates will be able to get some more commentators who know the game. Granted, there seems to be more intelligent and entertaining commentating coming every year, but on the whole it's still pretty poor when you get regional commentators.

ESPN and Bobby Knight would both disagree with your friend as well. Remind him of Lauren Haeger being nominated as Best Female College Athlete by ESPN, and show him this clip of Bobby Knight talking about how impressive and athletic he thinks Women's College Fastpitch is.

Bob Knight: Softball Fan

 

[Cannonball]

There are so many different levels of play that I don't know how one could make such a general statement. Many of you, including myself have seen the various levels. To be sure there are some terrible teams and players at every level of play. However, there are some tremendous athletes out there as well.

I've seen soccer at the collegiate level and it is safe to say that you have a wide variety of skill levels at each academic/athletic level as well. I've seen terrible D-I soccer teams and outstanding D-III teams. It depends upon a variety of things. Basketball was mentioned in this thread. As a basketball coach in both boy's and girl's basketball, I've sent several players on to college to play. A couple were fortunate to go to outstanding programs and more than a few returned hating their sport because it was a step back from HS. In baseball, I cut a kid that played at a mid level institution. He was terrible here at the HS level and yet, somehow, he managed to get on the field a few times in college and was equally terrible.

So, I guess what I am saying that you see what you want to see.

 

[smddad]

It may be just me, but from what I have noticed is that since the game has focused on hitting, the defense has suffered with more errors. Add to that the ball coming off the bats a lot harder than it did with single wall aluminum bats, makes it more difficult. Then they lowered the strike zone and took away the rise ball and many strike outs. It definitely is not the same game it was 15 years ago.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I have a friend who told me recently that he thought softball was the least well-played sport in college. He pointed to the number of errors and mental mistakes, the level of athleticism.

I can barely swim myself, but I'm having trouble conceiving of what sort of situational decisions a swimmer might face during a race.

Ironically, UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma - arguably one of the most successful recruiters in college history - said in a recent interview that the quality of women's basketball has been impacted by the fact that young players spend so much time traveling and playing tournaments. I tuned in a for a few minutes of the boys' McDonald's All-Star Game the other day and it was unwatchable.

In answer to the question, the teams which make it to TV in college softball look quite similar to the teams which make it in most other sports. If I had to pick the most poorly-played college sport, though, hands down, my answer would be men's basketball. A major argument is that the number of players who leave early for the NBA is the primary culprit, but I'd argue that the lack of fundamentals being taught and stressed at the youth levels has far more to do with the decline in the quality of the game. These days, instead of having maybe 4-5 kids per year garnering national attention for being game-changing skywalkers, there are probably 100s of talented players spending more time trying to build their "brands" on YouTube than working on their mid-range jumpers.