1 day Clinics - worthwhile or not.

[NBECoach]

We are about to embark on the softball off season. That means that at some point over the next months there will inevitably be some organization/school or individual holding a softball clinic most likely as a fund raiser. There will be flyers for pitcher x, hitter y, or coach z, and their list of accomplishments. Parents gladly sign up for these clinics with the hope this helps their DD. You get 1.5 hours each of pitching, and/or hitting for your money.

My questions are these. Do these DD’s really get anything out of these clinics? I mean does a U12 pitcher have any memory of what the clinic pitcher talked about last February? I do not mean to bemoan the players giving the clinic. They may be great, but 1.5 hours with 10 other DD’s of varying abilities (even with 2 separate age groups, younger and older) doesn’t scream worth time and money.

To me improvement is incremental, no matter how good the instructor is. If you feel your DD will benefit from instruction go private lesson or small group.

 

[Bullseye]

Selective on what to go to.
Have taken 2 dd's to camps. The best offered position specifics.
Hitting was more observing teaching methods. Not specific to each player.
By 14's dd's had broader insight and grew noticeably.
Younger age groups Coaches seem to run practices not drill especially well what seemed to promote being more aggressive.
Will start taking youngest when they are offered.

 

[BigSkyHi]

IMHO, once in a while having kids socially interacting with other kids striving to get better is priceless.

 

[livingontheroad]

Re-training to break bad habits and develop new ones.....takes a lot of repetition. As far as that is concerned, no , a one day camp probably won't be too beneficial. You practice until things happen automatically without any conscious thought......



Now in the same breath, I'm going to tell you it can be. I've seen good camps were they worked girls over and over and over over over over on positions .... With highly focused attention..... But they were two day camps....
For relatively small groups...

Most parents waste .a lot of money on poor camps that will really never do their daughters any good.

But its also about fun, meeting other people, hearing firsthand from well-known coaches or players.

 

[625ender]

The scope of the clinic is far more than everything else. The last thing you was is some dummy telling you daughter shes doing something wrong, bringing that home, and then dealing with it.

The majority of clinics will hit the ground running trying to correct and teach

 

[BT3100]

DD and I took 2 flights and drove 90 minutes each way to attend a camp with Rick and Sarah Pauley. Worth every penny. Would do it again tomorrow.

 

[_MIA_]

If orgs actually wanted to help their kids get better they would have coaches clinics instead (where a parent could also pay to attend if they wanted to..) Other than for motivational purposes, instructional clinics for players are useless.

Edit: I went to one camp when I was growing up and the only reason I went was that it was held in McCoy Stadium (place the Pawtucket Red Sox, AAA affiliate of the Sox, played). Of course I got the flu the 1st day of camp and missed the rest of the camp. I think my father had to eat the camp cost..he wasn't pleased

 

[Westwind]

Pattar is right.

We spend time money and effort on half assed attempts to “develop players” when we should be developing coaches.

When it smells like a fund raiser, run, don’t walk.

 

[ANNASDAD]

No idea how many college camps / clinics Anna's been to? *Maybe* a 1/3 were helpful, maybe? The one that absolutely stands out to me was a team camp with Mickey Dean when he was still at James Madison, Anna was 14U.

Anna absolutely couldn't stand him, I on the other hand thought he was awesome! He does NOT **** around, and you have no problem knowing exactly where he stands! The talk he gave the girls, and parents afterwards was priceless, very well worth the price of the camp, and then some!

As great as his camp was, the majority were completely on the other end of the spectrum, just cash cows and going through the motions! Waste of time and money!

Chris Hawkins & Bryan Pack at USC Upstate both put on a great, high intensity camp that's worth signing up for! And I'm not ashamed to say it, as a coach, every Upstate camp I attended, I learned something and walked away with some great information to pass along, usually how to utilize practice time more efficiently!

 

[uncdrew]

We've skipped them thus far. If there's a local one that's inexpensive and friends are doing it, we do it for the social aspect. But I feel our money is better spent on individual lessons at this point.