What do you expect from a coach/ team in terms of development at 14u?

[Orange Socks]

7th grader’s goal is to get a varsity letter at this point- not pitch for OU.

This is where it all starts my man. Find a bat review on DFP. Lurk around for a bit and soak up some knowledge. Go from an All Star team to TB team. Start getting lessons. Start attending camps. Start emailing college coaches. Get on a better team. Realize this thing is going somewhere. Go to Colorado 4 summers in a row. Hopping on planes around the country. Realize this thing is going somewhere. Start sharing information. Get recruited. Get to school. Next 4 years are a blur. Kid graduates college and here I am in my office thinking about where it all started. Right here. DFP is all to blame!!! Stay away from here if you want your lawn to look nice.

 

[_MIA_]

Stay away from here if you want your lawn to look nice.

I would have found other excuses for that...

 

[El Oso]

I’m curious what is reasonable to expect from a team coach/ team vs private coach at 14u?

Do team coaches help with throwing form/ accuracy?
Batting?
Pitching?

Or is it all expected to be developed by private coaches? And the coach just chooses who is having success with their private coaches to play?

This is our first year in comp softball and I’m trying to baseline my expectations of what one should reasonably expect from a team.

The way I looked at it was the team coach/team is there to supply practice reps to develop those mechanics that your DD learns in private lessons. If she takes that mindset into each team practice, things will go just fine. She'll learn the finer points from the private coach. Don't expect otherwise. Team coaches don't have the bandwidth to do much on a personal level at team practices. Do the math. Spending just 10 minutes each with 15 players is 2 1/2 hours. The math doesn't work.

I cared more about the practices that the team coaches ran than anything else at 14u. That is where your DD will be developed. These young ex-players 3 years out of college that coach a lot of these travel ball teams aren't the best at game management/strategy etc... but one thing they did learn playing ball in college was good practice drills to run. Way better than most Dad coaches.

 

[FP26]

Depends what kind of team you are:
- Elite?
- Competitive?
- Developmental?

I expected every coach to make my DD's better. That might be strategy that might be mechanics. That is where getting your DD into the right team/program matters.

This is an important piece to understand. Not every team has the same goals, so those goals should match those of the player.

In general it has been my belief that a private coach is responsible for a "player's development". a team coach is responsible for the "team's development". As others have stated, there is not always time within the confines of weekly practices to address every component of each individual player within a team environment.

 

[Orange Socks]

The way I looked at it was the team coach/team is there to supply practice reps to develop those mechanics that your DD learns in private lessons. If she takes that mindset into each team practice, things will go just fine. She'll learn the finer points from the private coach. Don't expect otherwise. Team coaches don't have the bandwidth to do much on a personal level at team practices. Do the math. Spending just 10 minutes each with 15 players is 2 1/2 hours. The math doesn't work.

I cared more about the practices that the team coaches ran than anything else at 14u. That is where your DD will be developed. These young ex-players 3 years out of college that coach a lot of these travel ball teams aren't the best at game management/strategy etc... but one thing they did learn playing ball in college was good practice drills to run. Way better than most Dad coaches.

This sums it up.

If your team has one of these ex college players as a coach, temper your expectations. Yes, they will typically do a good job of doing drills and practices, but that is it. Communications are best done through a parent liason or team captain. They might need help with finding tournaments unless the program signs the team up, which sometimes doesn't always work. At 16U we missed a big Bombers Exposure b/c the coach thought we were signed up. I digress.

 

[Agcy]

Seems I might be in the minority here. How many of you had private coaches?

Pitchers? Yes, need private coaches or lots of time working on it.

For hitting, I kind of get it. But, our TB practices in winter were 1.5 hours twice a week of hitting drills at different stations and 2-3 coaches coaching girls throughout that time. We did 'pay' for some 1:1 time periodically when things didn't feel right. Otherwise, there wasn't a lot of what I would call private lessons. (but, our TB coach was what I consider one of the best hitting coaches in the area so that helps)

For fielding? Not sure where I would find a private coach for that. Once it warmed up, 1.5 hours 2X a week turned into infield, catchers, and outfield drills working on technique. Then the second part of practice would work on situational with the rest of the team.

We were not an elite team, but competitive enough to easily put girls in D1, D2, D3, and JUCO teams in the area and beyond.

If you want to chase the P5 D1 school - I get it. If not, I'm not sure I would pursue private coaches to train and teams 'just to play'.

 

[4Martini]

This is where it all starts my man. Find a bat review on DFP. Lurk around for a bit and soak up some knowledge. Go from an All Star team to TB team. Start getting lessons. Start attending camps. Start emailing college coaches. Get on a better team. Realize this thing is going somewhere. Go to Colorado 4 summers in a row. Hopping on planes around the country. Realize this thing is going somewhere. Start sharing information. Get recruited. Get to school. Next 4 years are a blur. Kid graduates college and here I am in my office thinking about where it all started. Right here. DFP is all to blame!!! Stay away from here if you want your lawn to look nice.

Watching this game she really likes OU’s socks. Her mind might already have changed

 

[daywalkerdad]

Depends on how many times a week they will practice and indoor training in winter. The more times a week, the more fundamentals particularly during school. It is helpful if DD gets some pitching reps in during the winter with short days, during school activities, and if practice is back to back nights.

If you have a private instructors tell the coach you are open to whatever they see just want relayed through a single point of instruction.

As far as coaching.
1. Have high standards and expectations.
2. Do not hurt confidence.
3. Let kids fail equally.
4. Give chances for redemption especially for improvement and hard work.
5. Play a good schedule with a mixture of opponents. The team needs to easy wins, some 1-2 run games, and to get their butts kicked. Key is a good mixture.