Are softball players good athletes?

[CLM265]

Watch some youtube softball skills videos and try to find one that shows off a very athletic player. Very hard to find. I really have new found respect for college coaches that have to watch so many run of the mill athletes. Softball is a time consuming sport to learn and so many girls find an easier path to show their athleticism through soccer, volleyball and basketball.

 

[slingnit]

I think that coaches are putting an emphasis on recruiting and making players more athletic. You can see this by some of the training they are doing ie. crossfit and the likes. But I do not think that equates to softball players being athletic as a whole. Playing ss, making a diving backhand, come up throwing from the knees and getting the out would show athleticism IMO. Bustos or Nuveman, who were more respected for their sticks than there position play. I would consider them skilled, not necessarily athletic. Hitting is a skill, speed is athleticism. Pitchers are prime example. Finch, Fernandez, Smith athletic. Abbott and Osterman skilled. Athletes can be skilled and skilled people are not necessarily athletic.

 

[CoogansBluff]

The perfect example of a great athlete who could not transfer it to another sport is Jordan. Undoubtedly one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball was only a so so baseball player. The definition of athlete is quite mailable.

Not sure we can judge Jordan as a baseball player. He played baseball in high school, then not again until 13 years later, when he was 31. How would any MLB prospect do at age 31 if he took 13 years off? I think Jordan had the hand-eye necessary to become a legit pro prospect. Would he have made the majors if he'd dedicated himself to baseball beginning at age 10? I wouldn't bet against it.

But I do agree that the qualities we most associate with athleticism - speed and strength - don't help that much in the batters box unless you put barrel on ball squarely and consistently. Many MLB prospects are overrated and called 5-tool players, only to find they can't hit at higher levels. And then there's John Kruk.

 

[vcackerman]

At my level(10U), I encourage girls to play other sports. On a team of 11, I have 8 girls playing basketball (6 on travel teams), the other 3 doing gymnastics or indoor soccer in the offseason. This helps improve their overall athleticism and ability to react quicker in game situations.

I was told many years ago to recruit good basketball players for softball as they have good reaction skills and in shape. It's interesting it's worked out that way for me.

 

[maksoftball]

I have to say this is all so confusing to me. Too much analysis and focus on athleticism. I know players who are not athletic (more nerds/geeks), and they work 200% at getting to that level or maintaining/improving the level that they are at. DD is very athletic, and it seems that the first comment out of most coaches mouths are "I love how athletic she is" or "She is very athletic". She only plays softball. That is it. She is naturally athletic but she still has to workout and practice to maintain and improve her skills...but probably not to the extent that non-athletic softball players do.

However, I will say that intelligence or softball IQ is a huge part of being a good softball player. DD has that. She is ready at the helm for any possible situation (shadowing catcher/pitcher from 3B to make sure that pop up they caught doesn't get dropped, communicating/yelling at her teammates possible situations, etc). I know of another player who is 5'3" - tiny thing - she is very smart as well. Not athletic, she has to work extra hard to be fast and quick. She gets passed over at tryouts because of her stature/size/build. However, she is now playing for one of the top organizations in the state. The coaches saw her talent/skill immediately...at the plate. That kid can direct the ball anywhere she wants it to go. She has worked HARD at being able to do this.

Anyway, I don't know if I went off on a tangent but if I did that is because this analyses confuzzles me. LOL. Athletic or no...good softball players pull it from deep down inside.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I have to say this is all so confusing to me. Too much analysis and focus on athleticism. I know players who are not athletic (more nerds/geeks), and they work 200% at getting to that level or maintaining/improving the level that they are at. DD is very athletic, and it seems that the first comment out of most coaches mouths are "I love how athletic she is" or "She is very athletic". She only plays softball. That is it. She is naturally athletic but she still has to workout and practice to maintain and improve her skills...but probably not to the extent that non-athletic softball players do.

However, I will say that intelligence or softball IQ is a huge part of being a good softball player. DD has that. She is ready at the helm for any possible situation (shadowing catcher/pitcher from 3B to make sure that pop up they caught doesn't get dropped, communicating/yelling at her teammates possible situations, etc). I know of another player who is 5'3" - tiny thing - she is very smart as well. Not athletic, she has to work extra hard to be fast and quick. She gets passed over at tryouts because of her stature/size/build. However, she is now playing for one of the top organizations in the state. The coaches saw her talent/skill immediately...at the plate. That kid can direct the ball anywhere she wants it to go. She has worked HARD at being able to do this.

Anyway, I don't know if I went off on a tangent but if I did that is because this analyses confuzzles me. LOL. Athletic or no...good softball players pull it from deep down inside.

Two kids:

Very athletic, hasn't worked that hard to this point,
Not athletic, has worked very hard to this point, high softball IQ

Which has more potential?

Coaches believe they can motivate you to work hard and improve your softball IQ. They can't make you more athletic.

 

[KCPRK]

There are softball players who are superior athletes and some that aren't. My DD was voted most athletic girl in her school. There are girls on the softball team and on the volleyball team who are not athletic but are good at specific skills that make them valuable to the team. I would say more basketball players And
Soccer players are athletic because the game requires it for success.

The hand eye coordination point is valid. Both my kids can juggle. When my son was 13 he spent all his free time learning how to do trick juggling. 4 and 5 ball, passing 6 clubs with a partner behind the back tricks... The next summer his hitting and fielding was so much better then the year before. I always thought it was because he trained his hand eye coordination with
All that juggling.

AND his confidence from increased work ethic.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I don't know enough about softball outside my own little world to say one way or the other, but if it parallels baseball at all, then the trend is towards more athleticism in the sport.

Consider the best players of bygone eras in baseball and you'd be hard pressed to find one with the overall athletic abilities of Mike Trout or Andrew McCutcheon. Heck, I think one of the first baseball guys to really hit the gym was Brian Downing of the Angels in the 80's. The thing is, the best players were the best because they played the game at a higher level than nearly everyone else, and athleticism was a secondary or tertiary aspect of their abilities.

I guess what I'm saying is that I believe that being a good athlete will help your game, but being a good ball (baseball or softball) player doesn't require it like some (most?) other sports.

JMO and all that.

 

[BobInMadison]

I don't know enough about softball outside my own little world to say one way or the other, but if it parallels baseball at all, then the trend is towards more athleticism in the sport.

Consider the best players of bygone eras in baseball and you'd be hard pressed to find one with the overall athletic abilities of Mike Trout or Andrew McCutcheon. Heck, I think one of the first baseball guys to really hit the gym was Brian Downing of the Angels in the 80's. The thing is, the best players were the best because they played the game at a higher level than nearly everyone else, and athleticism was a secondary or tertiary aspect of their abilities.

I guess what I'm saying is that I believe that being a good athlete will help your game, but being a good ball (baseball or softball) player doesn't require it like some (most?) other sports.

JMO and all that.

Going back a little further, the Philadelphia sports reporters in the 1970s used to make fun on Steve Carlton because of his strenuous workout regime, which included some Asian martial arts training a Phillies trainer picked up in Hong Kong. Carlton got so angry at the reporters, he refused to talk to any reporter for about 10 years. He would tell his catcher, Tim McCarver, what message to give to reporters.

In the end, Carlton was the first pitcher to get 4 Cy Young awards AND get over 4000 K AND over 300 victories. The Philadelphia reporters who made fun of Carlton had to watch as Tim McCarver became a superstar sports caster. Who's laughing now?

To make things even weirder, I remember watching a Phillies game on TV in 1980, when announcer Tim McCarver left the broadcast booth, suited up, and hit the game-winning RBI for the Phillies. The Phillies won their division by one game that year, and went on to win the World Series. I got to watch game 2 that year. Carlton got the win, Tug McGraw (father of singer Tim) got the save.

 

[CoogansBluff]

All sports are becoming more athletic at the highest level. Football is much bigger, faster and stronger than the 1970s. Tennis had Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert in my growing-up years. Good athetes, but compare them to Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. I don't know that the difference between baseball players now and then is as great as those sports. Probably similar, but no more drastic, IMO.