softball camps

[coachmike734]

i am thinking about sending my dd to one of u of m's summer softball camps. she has never been to any camp and i was wondering what the pros and cons of camps are. id welcome any feedback on camps in general or specific feedback on michigans camp if you have any.
thank you
michael

 

[absdad]

I would think they might all be fairly similar. My dd went to her first university camp last summer. It was a 3 day camp, and I got to see the final day. Lots of players and coaches, good interaction with the campers. Not one on one, but they were certainly broke down into smaller groups so that it was as individual as it could get. I was really happy with it, and going to send my dd again this summer.

 

[SnocatzDad]

If it's extremely convenient and affordable it can't do much harm and might be great. If you can't get a strong recommendation from someone who has attended it may not be worthwhile. I've seen camps that were meat markets, rotate kids through stations to get a look at all the cattle and try to cull a few prospects out of the herd. I've been to other camps that were completely skill/teaching focused with minimal intent to evaluate kids as prospects. Depending on age and goals either type may be a good fit. If your kid has specfiic colleges in mind you should attend those camps for sure. Even if you find out you don't want to go there after attending the camp that's extremely valueable info. If not ask around about which ones have the best teaching value and attend those.

 

[Coach Tom]

Sent my DD to Notre Dame's camp last summer, she LOVED it. As much as I would love for her to play in college I'm also a realist and most likely will not so the camp was not for recruiting purposes for her or the University. She learned a few things and came back a tad better than when she went in. And since we play in the Chicago area she got to meet a lot of girls from teams she plays. She will go again this summer.

 

[Cannonball]

I think a lot of what you get from a camp is exactly what you are looking for from a camp. DD went to the local university's camp for 4 or 5 summers. It was apparent that they didn't have an interest. Still, she had a good time and we got our money's worth from the camp as parents. Then, we had to change focus. We have sent our dd to every type of camp imaginable. Some very good. Most terrible. That makes the good ones stand out even more. Some of the winter camps have been the best. They have fewer numbers and we've found that many of these schools video the hitters that they are interested in. What I really like about these winter camps is that most have given us a written evaluation that shows that they really know our dd. I'm sure some of you have received the "written evaluation" that is so generic that it can apply to the masses. Also, we've been able to incorporate unofficial visits at the same time in a general area.

Keep in mind that some schools will track a kid starting very early that they like. Then, these young ladies and those coaching staffs build a repore. Even with the university that didn't like my child, my dd and the head coach speak to each other a few times a year. BTW, you can't take a lack of interest personal. I know some who do. For us, again, we received our money's worth and so, we're happy. This winter, my dd went to a couple of camps that she was really high on. So, if I might, I will name them. The U. of Indianapolis put on a top notch camp. I think that the players and coaches paid tremendous attention to detail. Murray State is a new program. This was their first winter camp and, to be honest, it was as good as many seasoned program's camps we have attended. They filmed the girls and tried to show them examples of what they believe in and are looking for in a swing. The Head Coach did this portion as a camera crew continued to swap cameras. Again, in both of these clinics we felt we received more than our money's worth and the evaluations were personal.

I will wrap this up by saying that there are camps out there where your child is never going to get instruction. Those are simply money makers. However, there are great programs out there that will get after it and your child will learn. Good Luck!

 

[coachmike734]

thank you for your thoughts on the subject. just thought i'd let everyone know, i've received several replies on another chat site (michigan-fastpitch.com) specifically relating to the university of michigans camps. as of now all of the responses have highly recommended their camps and say their dd had a great time and had gotten alot out of them. so as of now as long as we get approval from Mom dd, and a teammate, will be attending this summer. i'll keep you updated if anything changes or i get more specific camp info.

play hard, have fun and have a great season!

coach mike

 

[amanda_cake]

I've been to softball camp at Virginia Tech three times and it was well worth the money. It was definitely more geared towards skills, however, they did look very critically at some of the older girls. A lot of their purpose for being there was to get recruited, to get noticed. Last summer, I had different softball plans for the week they hosted their camp so unfortunately, I've never been part of the oldest group they have. I don't know exactly what goes on with the older ones, only know what I saw from the sidelines. Do know that they have had issues with having too many kids, especially after Tincher's pitching success over the US team. I can say that I did get an opportunity to take an at bat off of her during a scrimmage (she pitched from behind a screen at change up speed, other kids played the other positions in the field) and I did make contact!