UA Softball Factory?

[Traps71]

We just played a Softball Factory showcase tournament this past weekend here on the east coast. Unfortunately, Saturday got washed out and so we only ended up getting three of our five scheduled games in. The softball fields we used were nice and it was well run overall (in terms of communicating and keeping things moving), but there sure weren't many college coaches there...at least where we were playing. We played up and played some pretty good 16U competition, but, to me, the whole thing felt a bit lame as far as showcasing goes. That said, I have little experience with such events at this point. Was wondering what experience others have had with Softball Factory events?

The tournament also included a skills testing portion that took about 20 minutes per team during a one game break that we had. They measured exit velo off the bat (hit off tee), overhand throw velo (three attempts), and timed 20 yd dash. The latter was hand timed by one coach, so would be pretty dubious about accuracy of the running times. All that said, how important is it in the college recruiting process to have objective, third-party measurables on your DD? Is it worth going to a Softball Factory skills clinic to get some verified measurables? Another service? Are there such services that college coaches pay more attention to than others?

Thanks.

 

[bmakj]

" overhand throw velo (three attempts) "

was there a accruacy component to this? otherwise, pretty worthless I think.

hand timing by one coach is probably skewed the same for everybody, so pretty fair (ie he is early or late on the buttons prety consistently most likely).

 

[Traps71]

" overhand throw velo (three attempts) "

was there a accruacy component to this? otherwise, pretty worthless I think.

hand timing by one coach is probably skewed the same for everybody, so pretty fair (ie he is early or late on the buttons prety consistently most likely).

No, no accuracy component to the overhand velo. Radar set up behind net. Just chuck it as hard as you can three times. You might be right about the hand timing, but, to me, it is still a flawed method. My kid is not fast, so I wasn't real worried about it. But if you have a fast girl, there is a big difference between 3.1 sec and 2.8 sec.

 

[bmakj]

I doubt any camp/showcase etc. is going to have any sort of electronic timing system, is all going to be by hand. but three or four stopwatches would be better for accuracy sake.

 

[MNDad]

Coaches paid attention and respect On Deck measurements. I assume they’re still in operation. Not sure anyone else is even close to them.

 

[Orange Socks]

UA Softball Factory is kinda meh. Just another company trying to provide a service and make some money at the same time. They had "scout" coaches that offered written analysis for a few of the players on the team. The players that got the analysis were two of our bottom players and didn't seem very accurate. Usually lower level teams in attendance except for the big program that was hosting.

 

[CalvinBall]

but there sure weren't many college coaches there...at least where we were playing.

The COVID restrictions are hurting showcases in this regard right now. D1 coaches can't show up at all for the rest of the year and D2, D3, NAIA, and JC coaches are up to the rules for their individual school. We're hoping things loosen up when our team gets back together for showcases in November.