Hitting and Hitters Discussion Would you rater have your dd on a winning team and barely playing

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Agree with MacsMom- we ALL know there is a difference between rec ball and travel ball and what the choice would be in that situation.


It's clear to me that in reading this thread that some parents are all about bragging rights!:lmao:

 

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Down side to sticking it out with strong team for better coaching. We know a young lady who recently quit softball for good. Four, five years ago she was in the same boat as my dd. One of the weaker players on a strong team so playing time was minimal but she stuck it out b/c she loved the team and her parents knew she was getting excellent coaching. This last season she really started to come on. Her first three homeruns, consistantly hitting all season. She also has become a very solid outfielder in the last four years. Only to have her coaches pick up several new players, one who will certainly take her playing time away even after all the progress she has made.

I can only think that if maybe she had left this team sooner, got the playing time that she needed to improve somewhere else, she may still be playing ball.
She's a great kid, alway been dedicated to getting better and has but unfortunatly she is now paying the price for sticking it out on a winning team.

 

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My middle DD made a pretty good travel ball team, and they did well in some Fall tournaments against some "Name" teams. We figured we were scratching the surface of her ability playing rec ball, and were looking forward to her growing. FAST FORWARD-she had to sit out the whole year due to a back injury, but she learned a ton about the finer aspects of the game due to the excellent coaching her team was receiving. So, she didn't play a lick, and is probably softball-smarter than most girls on her school's varsity=so you can learn by observing, as long as you are watching a quality teacher.

 

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Being the kid on the bench every game defeats their confidence and can become emotionally draining. Mid season you will find that being on an "A" team doesn't really matter to them personally anymore they just want to PLAY and feel like they are part of the team. (Been there...)

 

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Would you rather have your dd on a perceived good team with average coaching where she is a back up and doesn't get as much play time or a team that will be around .500 where she will get to play all the time with good coaching and will get developed.??????


Both teams playing similar schedules

There is just enough information there to make a general response. Based on only the information listed above then more playing time would be better. IMHO

Of course these situations are always much more complicated and I would make the case that if the player is really motivated then her playing time will be decided by her. For years I have had players that would play themselves in and out of the top 10 players on the team all season long. If they get lazy, then they will slip. Often times players get lazy when they know they have a spot locked up no matter what. This typically happens on teams like the second one in DABOBMS67's example. When a player knows she is on a team of solid players and has to bring it every time she takes the field to earn playing time then she normally will. I will leave it at that.

Regarding playing time there is no substitute for that. Practice in my opinion is for building individual skills and working on some of your team concepts, but there is no way to create the competitive juices that flow during a game. Even a scrimmage does not always approach the same level. There is nothing like the finality of either winning or losing and that can only be found in the context of a game. Playing on the field matters, and having players compete for their playing time will ultimately produce better players. A good coach who is doing this for the right reasons will find a way to motivate the player who is on the fringe and help make her better. I see no reason why any decent coach would allow any player to simply sit there without any cmmunication. Again this is just my experience and my opinion.

 

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Would you rather have your dd on a perceived good team with average coaching where she is a back up and doesn't get as much play time or a team that will be around .500 where she will get to play all the time with good coaching and will get developed.??????


Both teams playing similar schedules

The team around .500 with good coaching.
Because over the course of the season, that team will improve and will become one of the better teams whether they get recognized for it or not.

There are some perceived good teams who have average - at best coaching - but have that perception of being great teams. Those are the ones who sits people on the bench and doesn't care much about the progress of each kid.

The coach of the team around .500 who is a good coach is more concerned with their kids making progress and getting better than they are about being recognized or other ego-driven items.

 

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Excellent post clydesdale1. I was thinking along the same lines. Sometimes the best team doesn't have the best coaching. They got the more developed player because of their reputation.

 

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This is a tricky question because if the team is a winning team pretty much every kid on it should be worthy of their spots and get playing time. These teams usually play a high level of softball and every kid gets playing time. Now I'm not saying equal playing time but playing time.

Now where this is a problem is with those teams that are really not very good at all and the coach or manager plays the roll like he needs to play his best nine to compete but it doesn't matter who he starts the team cont compete! This situation there's no reason for any kid not to get into some games.


Hey BEAR just for the sake of a good HIJACKING any chance I can get out of the PINK?

 

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Are you comparing a weaker travel team to a rec.ball team? Its been our experience in the last few year that some of the weaker travel teams in our area are only 3-4 runs a game away from being a stronger team. I would also bet on a weaker travel team 9 times out 10 against a strong rec. ball team. JMHO
Ask my dd how far sitting the bench got her on a strong team compared to playing time on a weaker team. She'll tell you she didn't start to get better till she got in the game....even with weaker coaching which hopefully is about to change.

re-read my post again. I'm agreeing with you. My daughter sittingo on a weaker travel team's bench with good coaching is better off than playing every inning at the rec ball level.

 

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Excellent post clydesdale1. I was thinking along the same lines. Sometimes the best team doesn't have the best coaching. They got the more developed player because of their reputation.

Maybe the team got a good reputation because of better coaching. The better teams tend to have better players for a reason. They play better schedules and have rosters full of good players who have to work hard at it to get playing time. Many parents fail to see this point and they end up settling for less in order to get little susie more playing time on a lesser team that plasy a lesser schedule. Some progress will be made there but not as much as if she would have had to battle for it.

 

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Or maybe the better team had better coaching at some point and built a reputation on that. Now the players who have developed on the lesser teams come to their tryouts and get snatched up. Then knowing that it is expected to be a very competetive team they go to hitting and pitching instructors and work in their backyards with their parents 20 hrs a week. Then it becomes a self fullfilling prophesy without said coaches having to be much more than good managers.

 

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PT, PT, PT, PT.. anything else is not what you signed up for. I have to balance this as a coach. As a parent... dealing with a DD... all should hope to play as much as possible. If the alternative has good coaching... play down and challenge the coaching staff to play a stronger schedule. Win-win!!!

 

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my dd has been on teams where she was a starter. but i usually was able to schedule my sundays with other things. she also was on a team that she didn"t play alot. but almost always went to the championship. i'd much rather spend my time on sunday at the ballfield.

 

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re-read my post again. I'm agreeing with you. My daughter sittingo on a weaker travel team's bench with good coaching is better off than playing every inning at the rec ball level.

Sorry Honor&Glory, I misunderstood what you were saying.

 

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Or maybe the better team had better coaching at some point and built a reputation on that. Now the players who have developed on the lesser teams come to their tryouts and get snatched up. Then knowing that it is expected to be a very competetive team they go to hitting and pitching instructors and work in their backyards with their parents 20 hrs a week. Then it becomes a self fullfilling prophesy without said coaches having to be much more than good managers.

Great post....

 

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PT, PT, PT, PT.. anything else is not what you signed up for. I have to balance this as a coach. As a parent... dealing with a DD... all should hope to play as much as possible. If the alternative has good coaching... play down and challenge the coaching staff to play a stronger schedule. Win-win!!!

Agree! How much experience can your daughter get if the team goes 0-3 or 1-2 in pool play then exits every Sunday after 1 game in single elimination or 2 games in double elimination?

 

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Two things: Player Development and Playing time (they go hand-in-hand). With good/great coaches they will focus on off season development of all their players and then playing time will fall to the player based on improvement, attitude, love of the game and the desire to be the best. For myself, I look at and watch player development/team development.

 

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Playing time!

If sitting on a VERY good team, then I would work hard to get good enough to compete for time. If that doesn't work, then drop down to the next tier of team/competition that affords a lot of playing time but still challenges the player for growth.

Nothing wrong with being around great coaching, and great players, and great experiences, but at some point you need to be "participating" ... in games.

Why else are you doing it? To learn to "sit it out" in life, as a 2nd stringer? Don't we go to this extra effort of time & commitment, and money ... to develop as players, and become assertive people? Yeah, there is an important commitment, sacrifice, and "team" lesson to be learned also, but hopefully there is a progression to the field programmed in there somewhere o it is not the right place. Realistic about abilities also - there is a place for everybody. JMHO ...

 

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Pickledad, These are my thoughts exactly. You've hit the nail on the head...

 

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Winning teams come from Winning organizations with winning coaches teaching winning ways in the offseason. Chosing to go with a team where playing time may be limited in exchange for some quality coaching may be in the best interest of the player. Also, sometimes it takes sitting the bench to light the fire under someone's backside.