What defensive positions are the hardest to fill for HS coaches?

[CoachJD]

The hardest positions to fill are the hardest positions to play.

I'd kill a drifter for a bona fide shortstop. I've had girls who can play short. But I've only had one actual shortstop (and only for a year because Covid came her sophomore year and she moved during her junior year) since 2017.

This year, because of a transfer, I have a hole at 3B for the first time ever (In 2017 we had a Freshman who played third, then in 2021 we got another Freshman who was a mediocre SS who I taught to play third; that girl is the one who transferred). One of my meh shortstops does pretty well there, but she hates it. Filling 3B is my primary concern as we approach the season.

I rarely have an issue with OF, but that's because I start developing them in middle school. Barring that, I find girls who have an aptitude for judging a ball in the air and actually spend a lot of time working with them on it. I do have a couple holes this year -- we had 3 varsity seniors graduate, 6 transfers from our two levels, and 1 senior (last year's CF) who looks to be opting to work instead of playing. I'm not concerned though. I don't have a lot of OF depth today, but by our first game I'm confident I'll have a decent enough starting OF.

tl;dr version: If you want your DD to go to high school on the Southwest Side instead of in the burbs, you could very well save a drifter's life.

 

[Lance Steckler]

2 different teams?, 2 diff coaches?... both seeing her in same role.... mirror is right over there. maybe your view is hindered by rose colored glasses???

 

[GIMNEPIWO]

Here is what IMHO many people miss about the difference between coaching REC, Travel & HS ... ( I've done all three ) ...

In REC, you seldom have enough athletes in this order; Pitcher, Catcher, Infielders ... After that, you fill up the outfield with kids who are less likely to get hurt there ... Kids and Parents sooner or later figure that out and deduce that Outfielders are less important ... While that may have some truth to it in the lower levels of REC, once the transition to Travel Ball and HS happen, it couldn't be further from the truth.

In Travel Ball, if your team needs to fill a certain position player, you can go out and look for it and recruit what you need.

In HS, you don't have an endless pool of players to pick from ... You can not (in most situations) go looking for a player outside of the pool of players who came to tryouts and made the ream. As a coach, in some situations the athlete that you play in F8 could be your best F6 ... But you can not put her at F6 because the one you are playing at F6 does not play anywhere else very well. I've also had the situation where the players / parents thought they were the best F6 or F5 (not) when they were actually the best F7 & F8 ... But when I would play them where they were best suited they considered it a demotion based on what they saw at REC level ball ... Another situation could be that your best F6 is also your best F8 and you need to play them in either spot based on who your F1 is or which team your playing on any given day. As long as the coach knows that she can play a position and wants to play a position, they may have a reason that you are over looking ... Unless of course they are just an Earth Science Teacher who needed some extra money this year and softball sounded easy.

In HS I've always felt a willing utility player was super important ... Even more so with the DP / Flex rule.

 

[GIMNEPIWO]

Sorry, I never directly answered the OP question ... In HS, all positions are the hardest to fill.

 

[Lance Steckler]

Triage mode is what alot of HS coaches operate in. and then throw in the various political promises and crap. It's no wonder players & parents feel like they are getting the shaft yearly.

 

[Bingo]

HS putting players where the coach needs them is not as hard to deal with as the repercussion of player complaining to parents because they don't get the position they want and parents complaining to athletic directors and principals making up crap about their daughter being mistreated.

 

[Rolling Hard]

That's a whole nother thread...lol. Because she's little (5'0"), fast, and can bunt, DD gets the bunt sign for the first two strikes 90% of the time. Therefore, when swinging away, she is usually hitting behind in the count. Because she is right-handed and fast, her coaches have practiced her from the left side but never in a game yet. DD wants a hitting coach to learn to slap and bat left. I'm now looking for a coach to work with her on this.

How fast? Needs to be sub 3 seconds down the line. If not, she needs to hit.

 

[SoftballDadnWV]

Some players just can not play OF so coach needs to make a decision.

Knowing different positions is a good thing, she will catch back up for IF easy enough.

I tell my middle DD (11 yo) "You may be the best, or one of the best Catchers, but your team is better when you play First. You may be the best at 1B, but your team may be better when you are playing 3B, and you may be the best at 3B, but your team is much better when you are playing CF." Some good softball players just have issues playing outfield. There is a certain skillset that lets some excel in the OF that is hard to come by it seems.

 

[angispeds]

How fast? Needs to be sub 3 seconds down the line. If not, she needs to hit.

Agreed fast is relative until you are sub 3. Lots of kids seem fast at the level they play and then high school comes or higher level travel and they’re not and no one taught them to hit. At our level your not fast until your sub 2.8


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[Rolling Hard]

I tell my middle DD (11 yo) "You may be the best, or one of the best Catchers, but your team is better when you play First. You may be the best at 1B, but your team may be better when you are playing 3B, and you may be the best at 3B, but your team is much better when you are playing CF." Some good softball players just have issues playing outfield. There is a certain skillset that lets some excel in the OF that is hard to come by it seems.

I am going to disagree. All good softball players can play outfield. Wouldn't want my DD to be the obvious best SS on the team but playing RF because some other player can't play outfield. I would go further and say, if you cant play outfield I highly doubt you are a very good SS. You might see a college coach convert a recruited SS into a RFer but probably not going to see a RFer converted into a SS.