What are your favorite drills for tryouts?

[NBECoach]

First of all is the girl athletic. I am a big fan of versatility, as it gives me options. Not a disqualifier but could limit herself defensively and on the bases.

I look for fundamentals no matter what the drill.

Examples----
ground balls - does she get to the right of the ball, flat back, and field through it, funnel, footwork and throwing slot. Can she play a back hand and forehand? Arm strength.

Outfield- speed/quickness drop step both sides, funnel, footwork, arm strength, accuracy. Don't forget outfielders field ground balls too.

Base running H to 1B (timed) H to 2B (timed) 2B t H (timed) Making the turn full speed vs slowing down to touch the base.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Whats the answer your looking for?

I think any answer other than "I dont know" would impress me. Maybe backup throws to 2nd base.

 

[BT3100]

Give the pitchers a chance to face 9 batters live.
Some of these tryouts have girls throwing pitch after pitch to a catcher.
That gives ya zero idea how she perform against a live batter.

 

[Vertigo]

Give the pitchers a chance to face 9 batters live.
Some of these tryouts have girls throwing pitch after pitch to a catcher.
That gives ya zero idea how she perform against a live batter.

Agree!! Many pitchers look great and can throw hard to a catcher. Put them up against a batter and you’ll see velocity decrease or fast pitching get hit hard because there is no movement or off speed.

Coaches, stop being fooled by the tall girls that throw hard!!! Faster it comes in the faster it goes out!

 

[Wildfire]

Whats the answer your looking for?

Anything other than 'I don't know.' Most will say they're headed to 2nd base.

 

[Strike2]

First of all is the girl athletic. I am a big fan of versatility, as it gives me options. Not a disqualifier but could limit herself defensively and on the bases.

I look for fundamentals no matter what the drill.

Examples----
ground balls - does she get to the right of the ball, flat back, and field through it, funnel, footwork and throwing slot. Can she play a back hand and forehand? Arm strength.

Outfield- speed/quickness drop step both sides, funnel, footwork, arm strength, accuracy. Don't forget outfielders field ground balls too.

Base running H to 1B (timed) H to 2B (timed) 2B t H (timed) Making the turn full speed vs slowing down to touch the base.

I fell into the "athletic" trap at 12U. Had a girl show up who was incredibly gifted with size, strength, and speed. Saying she was fast was an understatement. She had only played Rec ball, but was taking batting and pitching lessons. Her parents were serious about her softball development. However, I should have listened to the warning bells when she had trouble hitting a ball off the T with an audience during tryouts. I soon discovered that no amount of coaching could keep her from panicking on the bases. She couldn't throw a strike if her life depended upon it. In games, she stopped short of every single fly ball that most anyone else on the team could easily catch. We gave her every chance, but she left the team after three months and became a standout track athlete...never played softball again.

If my DD had that sort of athleticism, she'd be playing some high level college softball this year. Her visible athletic gifts are all very average. If you were to measure her foot speed, arm strength, or swing, nothing would stand out. There would be many, if not most others on her team that would outperform her on the measurables that many coaches seem to fixate on during tryouts. However, her hand-eye coordination is off the chart. She tracks a fly ball as well as anyone, and drops nothing. Her throws are always on target. She had no errors over nearly 50 games this summer. Over the course of the season, no one was more effective at the plate in nearly every category on a team that won its share of games. On top of that, she's often able to break a team's number code before the end of a game.

I'm a numbers guy, but I'm telling you that only using the traditional methods will probably not yield the best results. A fast kid is useless if they can't get on base or can't judge / catch a fly ball. A big arm is useless if throws are off target. A big swing is useless if the player can't put a bat on the ball when it matters. All of it is useless if the kid is stupid or has a bad attitude.

Devise tryout tests that mimic game situations, and see how players actually perform. Even then, give someone multiple opportunities before making a final judgement.

 

[JumboJack]

Agree!! Many pitchers look great and can throw hard to a catcher. Put them up against a batter and you’ll see velocity decrease or fast pitching get hit hard because there is no movement or off speed.

Coaches, stop being fooled by the tall girls that throw hard!!! Faster it comes in the faster it goes out!

I'll just add my unsolicited 0.02 here. YES! In the showcase we were at this past weekend the best pitchers were tiny (especially for 18U) but they were studs.

 

[Traps71]

Agree!! Many pitchers look great and can throw hard to a catcher. Put them up against a batter and you’ll see velocity decrease or fast pitching get hit hard because there is no movement or off speed.

Coaches, stop being fooled by the tall girls that throw hard!!! Faster it comes in the faster it goes out!

As the dad of an "undersized" pitcher (about 5'4" at 14) who has average cruising velocity for her age (low 50s), I am starting to see more girls who throw harder (cruising in the mid-50s or better) get roughed up because they cannot actually command the ball (i.e., consistently throw quality strikes) and have no change of speed or movement. It all looks and sounds good in the warm ups between innings ("man, she is bringing it!"), but then it is basically chuck-and-duck when the batter is in the box. Two innings later they are bringing in my DD to put out the fire...

 

[Strike2]

As the dad of an "undersized" pitcher (about 5'4" at 14) who has average cruising velocity for her age (low 50s), I am starting to see more girls who throw harder (cruising in the mid-50s or better) get roughed up because they cannot actually command the ball (i.e., consistently throw quality strikes) and have no change of speed or movement. It all looks and sounds good in the warm ups between innings ("man, she is bringing it!"), but then it is basically chuck-and-duck when the batter is in the box. Two innings later they are bringing in my DD to put out the fire...

Big pitchers can be intimidating, but when I see a team choose the smaller one to start, I'm more concerned. Although I've seen smaller girls throw hard, they're usually there because they can consistently throw to a spot. With a cooperative umpire's big strike zone, this can be a problem.

 

[NBECoach]

I fell into the "athletic" trap at 12U. Had a girl show up who was incredibly gifted with size, strength, and speed. Saying she was fast was an understatement. She had only played Rec ball, but was taking batting and pitching lessons. Her parents were serious about her softball development. However, I should have listened to the warning bells when she had trouble hitting a ball off the T with an audience during tryouts. I soon discovered that no amount of coaching could keep her from panicking on the bases. She couldn't throw a strike if her life depended upon it. In games, she stopped short of every single fly ball that most anyone else on the team could easily catch. We gave her every chance, but she left the team after three months and became a standout track athlete...never played softball again.

If my DD had that sort of athleticism, she'd be playing some high level college softball this year. Her visible athletic gifts are all very average. If you were to measure her foot speed, arm strength, or swing, nothing would stand out. There would be many, if not most others on her team that would outperform her on the measurables that many coaches seem to fixate on during tryouts. However, her hand-eye coordination is off the chart. She tracks a fly ball as well as anyone, and drops nothing. Her throws are always on target. She had no errors over nearly 50 games this summer. Over the course of the season, no one was more effective at the plate in nearly every category on a team that won its share of games. On top of that, she's often able to break a team's number code before the end of a game.

I'm a numbers guy, but I'm telling you that only using the traditional methods will probably not yield the best results. A fast kid is useless if they can't get on base or can't judge / catch a fly ball. A big arm is useless if throws are off target. A big swing is useless if the player can't put a bat on the ball when it matters. All of it is useless if the kid is stupid or has a bad attitude.

Devise tryout tests that mimic game situations, and see how players actually perform. Even then, give someone multiple opportunities before making a final judgement.

Regarding the athletic player who has little to no softball skills I agree. That's why I look intently at fundamentals and attitude.

If you have softball skills (hitting, tracking a flyball, throwing accuracy, arm strength etc.) they will show at the tryout. If your DD had zero errors in 50 games then she is fundamentally sound for the position(s) she played. The best base runners are not always the fastest in the 60 yd dash, I get it. When we time base running it's to see if they make the proper type of turn to avoid slowing down. When we hit ground balls very few players have all of the following: Gets to the right of the ball, Has a flat back, and fields through it, funnels, uses proper footwork and throwing slot. Very few play a back hand and forehand without problems. But If you have any kind of softball skills you will have some of these and as a coach those skills give me options when it comes to lineups and defenses Just as size can be overrated when it comes to hitting. It's not how big you are but how big you play-atttude.

Yes I prefer players to be athletic, but I use my eyes to determine if they actually are a player