The Biggest Problem in Softball RIGHT NOW

Louuuuu

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I agree.

If you look at a lot of the posts on OFC, it's "What college coaches were at XXX tournament?" "In which College Showcases is your team playing?" "Why don't colleges recruit more Ohio players?", etc...

You seldom see "Which team will make my daughter a better player?" They want the house without building the foundation first.

If you have the skills, colleges will come looking for you!
 

tjsmize3

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You seldom see "Which team will make my daughter a better player?" They want the house without building the foundation first.
If you have the skills, colleges will come looking for you!

The biggest problem with posts that start with "the biggest problem" is that it simply de-emphasizes how much better our sport has become over the past decade. And this is especially true for emerging areas such as Ohio. Let's face it, in almost any sport we could say "today's athlete worries too much about (speed, athleticism, recruiting, schedule, etc...) instead of just focusing on the fundamentals of the game. When most of us read that we tend to take that at face value because it's very hard to disagree with. But, is that really accurate, or more so... is that really the "biggest problem?" For some teams maybe, but not for a handful that I can think of... they seem to balance their goals well. And is it also true the best "skilled" players are being sought after the most, or is it those with the best measurables? I can hardly forget recent posts on OFC that perpetuated myths that "no one is recruiting 8th graders" and begged all of OFC to "not drink the Kool-Aid" that some of these travel organizations offered. While I wholeheartedly agree that putting recruiting ahead of game fundamentals, speed/strength, proper nutrition, leadership skills, etc... is a mistake, it's just making the mistake of not properly balancing your short and long-term goals. Since most kids with parents on OFC set a goal to play somewhere at the next level it's very important that both players and coaches do properly educate themselves about the realities of recruiting. Each year kids who are physically, mentally and fundamentally better players lose out for scholarship spots because they simply did not understand the basics of recruiting (or learned them too late). One of the biggest myths out there is this idea that "if you are good enough they will come find you." For many reasons it is not a reality in our sport and does not at all represent how the majority of our athletes are recruited and offered scholarship money. While it's always good advice to tell people to not put the cart before the horse, I wouldn't lead them to believe the horse is going to come looking for the cart. If any of us (coaches or players) are setting goals of getting to the next level, then it is incumbent on us to know something about how that really happens.
 

yossarian

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The same trend he talks about is happening in academics. Kids are being taught to test well and that doesn't necessarily mean they're learning critical thinking skills for their future.
 

tshepherd

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Great post TJS, you are correct problem most have is they learn to late on how to get recruited it's a fact. Once a coaches money is gone it's gone so your coach being knowledgeable to the recruiting game is very important. As far as academics go that's why the rule change GPA's over the years have dropped and they attribute that to kids missing lots of school in the fall and winter in order to be recruited. I've talked to some of the larger schools and it won't affect them as much but I do think it will affect your smaller D1's to some point how much who knows.
 

manitoudan

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We used to have some great discussions about hitting , tons of technical stuff was constantly shared and discussed here . Now its not so much
 

BouldersDad

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I think if someone posts a question about hitting it wouldn't take long for a reply. I'm still waiting on a hitting thread that does not end in a brawl.
 

CARDS

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I think if someone posts a question about hitting it wouldn't take long for a reply. I'm still waiting on a hitting thread that does not end in a brawl.

This site is tame...IMO this site also has better "informed advice" than sites like Discuss Fastpitch...

Nothing like a post from the EXPERTS that has no examples of female students. Like Ford says' dont tell me what you can do show me what you have done...

Most of the arguments come from the coaches that has a ton of Major league baseball players they use as an examples for a 10 year old...Amazing how many coaches out there do not know the differences in a male and female athlete outside of the obvious..
 
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Creek01

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We used to have some great discussions about hitting , tons of technical stuff was constantly shared and discussed here . Now its not so much

If you want I can start a new face mask thread.....
 

Run26

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I think if someone posts a question about hitting it wouldn't take long for a reply. I'm still waiting on a hitting thread that does not end in a brawl.

slapping coach threads always make me cringe. Is someone practicing self defense?
 

BouldersDad

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Chris great to see you back. Toss something out lets see what kind of fire we can start
 

Hilliarddad3

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Who needs hitting thread? It's simple, see the ball, hit the ball.....

Thread closed ....;)
 

TheSoftballZone

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If you want I can start a new face mask thread.....

That the probelm with a forum it's almost like having a ecyclopia on Hitting, Coaching, Playing, How to act as a parent and so on and so on. Even most news users have said they learn more about the game on the forum then other type of softball sites.
 

prattmandu

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The biggest problem with posts that start with "the biggest problem" is that it simply de-emphasizes how much better our sport has become over the past decade. And this is especially true for emerging areas such as Ohio. Let's face it, in almost any sport we could say "today's athlete worries too much about (speed, athleticism, recruiting, schedule, etc...) instead of just focusing on the fundamentals of the game. When most of us read that we tend to take that at face value because it's very hard to disagree with. But, is that really accurate, or more so... is that really the "biggest problem?" For some teams maybe, but not for a handful that I can think of... they seem to balance their goals well. And is it also true the best "skilled" players are being sought after the most, or is it those with the best measurables? I can hardly forget recent posts on OFC that perpetuated myths that "no one is recruiting 8th graders" and begged all of OFC to "not drink the Kool-Aid" that some of these travel organizations offered. While I wholeheartedly agree that putting recruiting ahead of game fundamentals, speed/strength, proper nutrition, leadership skills, etc... is a mistake, it's just making the mistake of not properly balancing your short and long-term goals. Since most kids with parents on OFC set a goal to play somewhere at the next level it's very important that both players and coaches do properly educate themselves about the realities of recruiting. Each year kids who are physically, mentally and fundamentally better players lose out for scholarship spots because they simply did not understand the basics of recruiting (or learned them too late). One of the biggest myths out there is this idea that "if you are good enough they will come find you." For many reasons it is not a reality in our sport and does not at all represent how the majority of our athletes are recruited and offered scholarship money. While it's always good advice to tell people to not put the cart before the horse, I wouldn't lead them to believe the horse is going to come looking for the cart. If any of us (coaches or players) are setting goals of getting to the next level, then it is incumbent on us to know something about how that really happens.
You are exactly right coach. Too many people make everything a choice between this and that. Successful people don't look at challenges and see an "Either Or" option. They look at things as an "And" option. There is no reason teams cannot focus on recruiting the best talent AND playing the most competitive ball, AND traveling, AND being recruited, AND fundamentals, nutrition, etc etc. All of those things can AND should be done together. To do all these things coaches need to educate themselves on all of these topics AND bring in support staff who can supplement what they are doing. Too many focus on the thing they are good at and don't offer a wide array of support to their players and families. Being part of a strong organization is a first big step in the right direction. I have personally seen kids get offers and accept offers who were not as good as other players I know. The difference, the kids getting the offers are the ones getting the exposure and doing the other things to get on the recruiting boards of the colleges.
 

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