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Nope, they don't adapt well, they just get older and maybe 1 in 100 gets a scholarship.
Go trophy hunting. Have fun and give the kids the confidence they need for high school.
Nope, they don't adapt well, they just get older and maybe 1 in 100 gets a scholarship.
Go trophy hunting. Have fun and give the kids the confidence they need for high school.
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Great post and EXCELLENT observations!
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I thought this article might be helpful from the net and sounds like it might be softball related. However it is about Zoccer by Gary R. Allen with the US Youth Zoccer National Staff and it is not the entire article.
"Our attempts to date have been to create high-quality, structured environments for our "elite players," where they train "purposefully" and play in "meaningful games." We automatically pursue these themes for all players, so that we continue to separate the "serious players" from the "recreational players" for travel play at younger and younger ages.
"We have proceeded with the mistaken notion that development should be something different for the "serious player," than for the "recreational player." The result is that no one is interested in developing the "general" level of play. We ignore the fact that no one at these ages before puberty is a "player. Each player is a 10-, 11- or 12-year old, in various stages of mental, physical and social development. What we term "serious play" is predominantly the earlier manifestation of a particular stage of development in certain kids nothing more."
"The same limited numbers of coaches will vie for the same small numbers of players, and the result still will be that we narrow the pool of potential players at ages when we need to increase the numbers playing. Essentially, it will be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
"This is the age-old approach of trying to fit players into the game as played and defined by adults. It ignores the fundamental facts of how youth develop, but also ignores the scope of the game itself."
"From a physical standpoint, youth, from the ages of 11 to 15 are going through the most significant changes in their lives, with great disparity in rate of growth, coordination and maturity."
"The approach of the Europeans, English and Americans miss some fundamental building blocks, understanding how young players learn, and applying those concepts to the free-flowing, problem-solving nature of the game."
"When we were younger, we played in neighborhood sports games. We competed as hard as we could; we tried to make the sides even so it would be fun and challenging. But no matter what the result was on a particular day, the next day brought a new game, new challenges, without the albatross of a season record determining how we would play the next day."
When teaching I always find it funny that especially with females, that if they do not hit well they usually do not throw well! Why is it we do not teach the girls how to throw and catch before we show them how to hit? To do either they must understand what a weight shift is in their body and balance and yet we just seem to skip over the basics and put teams together to win and skip the fundamentals in my opinion.
Say what you want about zoccer however they seem to do a better job of teaching the kids the basic skills required to play the game at a younger age. I admire the player that can run while keeping up with the ball however kicking it and bouncing it off your head even Hitter23 and bouldersdad can do:lmao:
"Our attempts to date have been to create high-quality, structured environments for our "elite players," where they train "purposefully" and play in "meaningful games." We automatically pursue these themes for all players, so that we continue to separate the "serious players" from the "recreational players" for travel play at younger and younger ages.
"We have proceeded with the mistaken notion that development should be something different for the "serious player," than for the "recreational player." The result is that no one is interested in developing the "general" level of play. We ignore the fact that no one at these ages before puberty is a "player. Each player is a 10-, 11- or 12-year old, in various stages of mental, physical and social development. What we term "serious play" is predominantly the earlier manifestation of a particular stage of development in certain kids nothing more."
"The same limited numbers of coaches will vie for the same small numbers of players, and the result still will be that we narrow the pool of potential players at ages when we need to increase the numbers playing. Essentially, it will be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
"This is the age-old approach of trying to fit players into the game as played and defined by adults. It ignores the fundamental facts of how youth develop, but also ignores the scope of the game itself."
"From a physical standpoint, youth, from the ages of 11 to 15 are going through the most significant changes in their lives, with great disparity in rate of growth, coordination and maturity."
"The approach of the Europeans, English and Americans miss some fundamental building blocks, understanding how young players learn, and applying those concepts to the free-flowing, problem-solving nature of the game."
"When we were younger, we played in neighborhood sports games. We competed as hard as we could; we tried to make the sides even so it would be fun and challenging. But no matter what the result was on a particular day, the next day brought a new game, new challenges, without the albatross of a season record determining how we would play the next day."
When teaching I always find it funny that especially with females, that if they do not hit well they usually do not throw well! Why is it we do not teach the girls how to throw and catch before we show them how to hit? To do either they must understand what a weight shift is in their body and balance and yet we just seem to skip over the basics and put teams together to win and skip the fundamentals in my opinion.
Say what you want about zoccer however they seem to do a better job of teaching the kids the basic skills required to play the game at a younger age. I admire the player that can run while keeping up with the ball however kicking it and bouncing it off your head even Hitter23 and bouldersdad can do:lmao:
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Howard, do you think that by age 14, with some credible coaching from professionals like yourself and backed up by volunteers (and yeah, I know I got that one thing wrong), then the players profit from playing a much stronger schedule?
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Yes! That is the issue is we do not teach them the required skills and just throw them on the field. You have seen me do this your self and predict the out come. Look at what we have demonstrated at the clinics from the so called elite players not being able to throw or get balanced. The coaches do not even understand how to teach how the female balances or why it is different than the male.
For most male coaches we do not have a clue as to how the girls learn and grow through puberty is my opinion. They are not boys!!!!!!
Take laxity in the female and how it effects the shoulder, ACL and ankles and then when they start having periods the parents do not understand why their shoulders, ACL and ankles are hurting and can not tell the difference in poor mechanics or mother nature.
Now add in carrying angle and you wonder why they throw side arm unless taught differently and then you wonder why they are pre disposed to shoulder problems such as torn rotator cuffs etc!
They are not machines and are still growing and learning and yes they learn differently than the boys as too learning modalities but I doubt if most male coaches would understand that either in my opinion.
One of my parents works at Children's Hospital and has been key to helping me understand what some of these girls have to put up with from male coaches. :lmao:
I love the male coaches who preach the MLB tight hand path....by keeping the elbow tucked in tight. The male has a wide shoulder and narrower hip and can do it. The female has a narrower shoulder that is rounded and wider hips and carrying angle as much as 4 to 10 degrees and the male does not! Now add in chest cavity thickness at puberty and then lets add on the breast and see how tight they can keep the elbow tucked in!
As a female you did it your self when I had you pull on the rope slightly away and in closer and you felt that being slightly away you had more mechanical advantage.
After working with Crystl for 10 years now I feel I have an insight to how the elite female feels and her input is valuable as is her network of friends and coaches when we have questions on how something works verses opinions by others.
Sorry for the rant....
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"...we have questions on how something works verses opinions by others."
Howard, if I understand what you are saying here, this is the Holy Grail of training! Instead of simply accepting what a coach is teaching, they should always ask the coach to explain WHY they are teaching it. This applies to a lot more than just softball skills. Some "teachers" take shortcuts and just attempt to copy the latest fad - not even knowing WHY they are using a certain teaching technique. Understanding the "why" goes hand in hand with understanding the "what".
Howard, if I understand what you are saying here, this is the Holy Grail of training! Instead of simply accepting what a coach is teaching, they should always ask the coach to explain WHY they are teaching it. This applies to a lot more than just softball skills. Some "teachers" take shortcuts and just attempt to copy the latest fad - not even knowing WHY they are using a certain teaching technique. Understanding the "why" goes hand in hand with understanding the "what".
