Money well spent... Time well spent!

[_MIA_]

On second thought..the hell with it. I will do it for free.

 

[BB875]

No offense RAD, but I don't see how your questions are related to the advice you got when you started with lessons. What I took from your screenshot was "don't give away free advice." You offer a service and some folks will want to get freebies. That is not good business.

On to your questions. My family has many fond memories of our years in TB and HS ball. Three DDs over an almost 20 year period. Wonderful experiences and memories for sure. Like Eric mentioned, we made so many friends through the years. Countless weekends at the ball park. Some were close by, others pretty far away. Many team dinners, kids swimming in the hotel pools, parents visiting, memorable achievements, great softball games, etc. I feel pretty blessed to have been a part of all of that. As a family, we made the commitment to help make our kids the best developed players possible. We paid for pitching, catching, and hitting lessons like so many others. Like I said, so many great memories came from softball. I remember my oldest DD was a triple away from the cycle in a HS regional final that helped propel her team to the state tournament. I started coaching seriously with my middle DD, so we both learned the game & grew up together. She too had a great career & I remember so many nights at the ballpark hitting her grounders and fly balls...bucket after bucket. My youngest DD actually played TB for me too & she ended her career on my HS team. We finished that season at the state tournament & I'll never forget the awesome time we had that final season - 4th in the state. We all share softball memories at holidays because it was a huge part of their lives.

I still coach at the HS level and enjoy it for sure.

My only negative comments have to do with the the high level TB scene from my little perspective. To me, its all about the $$$ because it is a business, big business for some. Its a machine fed by the desire to get DD a big time NLI. Preferably D1 P5. Those that offer a path to that goal can make the bucks. You don't actually have to deliver on it, just offer the opportunity. Of course, there are no guarantees in anything in life, but if you are taking large dollars from families with that as the goal, you better come through with something. The best kids gravitate towards the top programs and that, in turn, attracts more kids. Social media gets the word out to potential players that have the available $$$. Its a cycle and the top TB clubs must win to keep the coffers full. I see elite level clubs that have zero loyalty to kids & bring in ringers every weekend trying to woo them away from their old club. I hear that college coaches blame the parents, TB coaches blame the tournament directors, and tourney directors blame the college coaches. Plenty of blame to go around while the machine chugs along. Now, the elites are down to PGF and the Alliance. Why not push out ASA, USSSA, etc? Keep the pie larger & take a bigger piece of it! I have many examples of top level kids that were overlooked by D1 coaches because of the name that was on their TB uniform.

 

[Shiloh]

On second thought..the hell with it. I will do it for free.

Ah come on pattar. I hope you're not serious.
It's all in good fun.
You're one of the best guys on here.

Keep the rest of us old farts feeling young.
We wish were young enough to have 12u and 4u players.

 

[Cannonball]

Money well spent! My dd is engaged. She has 2 maids of honor. Both of them became her best friends trying out for a softball team when she was 10. One sat down next to her and said to her, "I want to be your best friend." There are 4 bridesmaids. All of them also played softball with her. They have been "family" for a very long time. My dd learned discipline, time management, work ethic, and developed a killer competitive spirit due to softball. She received an education where we paid practically nothing due to softball. She got her teaching job due to her ability to take what she learned from softball and apply that to the classroom. She was also hired to coach. She now takes all of those life lessons and is passing them along to young ladies on the playing field and in the classroom. The cost? I'd pay all that I paid and much more if I were asked to do it again.

 

[radness]

No offense RAD, but I don't see how your questions are related to the advice you got when you started with lessons. What I took from your screenshot was "don't give away free advice." You offer a service and some folks will want to get freebies. That is not good business.

On to your questions. My family has many fond memories of our years in TB and HS ball. Three DDs over an almost 20 year period. Wonderful experiences and memories for sure. Like Eric mentioned, we made so many friends through the years. Countless weekends at the ball park. Some were close by, others pretty far away. Many team dinners, kids swimming in the hotel pools, parents visiting, memorable achievements, great softball games, etc. I feel pretty blessed to have been a part of all of that. As a family, we made the commitment to help make our kids the best developed players possible. We paid for pitching, catching, and hitting lessons like so many others. Like I said, so many great memories came from softball. I remember my oldest DD was a triple away from the cycle in a HS regional final that helped propel her team to the state tournament. I started coaching seriously with my middle DD, so we both learned the game & grew up together. She too had a great career & I remember so many nights at the ballpark hitting her grounders and fly balls...bucket after bucket. My youngest DD actually played TB for me too & she ended her career on my HS team. We finished that season at the state tournament & I'll never forget the awesome time we had that final season - 4th in the state. We all share softball memories at holidays because it was a huge part of their lives.

I still coach at the HS level and enjoy it for sure.

My only negative comments have to do with the the high level TB scene from my little perspective. To me, its all about the $$$ because it is a business, big business for some. Its a machine fed by the desire to get DD a big time NLI. Preferably D1 P5. Those that offer a path to that goal can make the bucks. You don't actually have to deliver on it, just offer the opportunity. Of course, there are no guarantees in anything in life, but if you are taking large dollars from families with that as the goal, you better come through with something. The best kids gravitate towards the top programs and that, in turn, attracts more kids. Social media gets the word out to potential players that have the available $$$. Its a cycle and the top TB clubs must win to keep the coffers full. I see elite level clubs that have zero loyalty to kids & bring in ringers every weekend trying to woo them away from their old club. I hear that college coaches blame the parents, TB coaches blame the tournament directors, and tourney directors blame the college coaches. Plenty of blame to go around while the machine chugs along. Now, the elites are down to PGF and the Alliance. Why not push out ASA, USSSA, etc? Keep the pie larger & take a bigger piece of it! I have many examples of top level kids that were overlooked by D1 coaches because of the name that was on their TB uniform.

The post was started from another thread.

How it developed here after this post was not up to me after that.
It is fine for people to perceive and take things however they want and it's interesting to read how people responded

My point is at the bottom of my post.

I see people spending money without putting time into getting quality out of moneys spent.
Really having to do with
People spend a lot of money in softball, but they don't back that money with there own time to work on their skills getting better.
The story of my first student and the attorney who shared with me that advice was pointing out to me there is a difference between just spending time doing something and doing something that actually has value during that time. it was a business discussion yes, but it really rang true in the long run paying attention.

Can spend money on lessons or a new bat or a new team but what matters most is the time put in not the money you spend.

Interestingly people responded in the fashion that regardless of money they look back and appreciated the time.
While I was referring to time spent training. Both are relevant and nice to read what people wrote.

 

[BB875]

There are people who are not making a Time investment ....
Only financial. Brings the questions
What is the value between money and time. I see people that spend money going to learn about how to do things but they don't go home and apply homework.

I saw a post once that said, "A $400 bat won't help a $4 swing!" Amen!

You have to put in the time if you want to be good. That's why I don't golf. It would take too much time away from softball!

 

[radness]

As far as giving away free advice. I am not an encyclopedia at the softball field. I am there to enjoy watching softball.
( sure will engage in some sb chat but not teaching type chat)
I'm not the person's coach and a lot of times people are already paying for lessons from somebody else and they're trying to bounce that softball stuff off of me. For one I'm not a person to just tell people they're doing something wrong because I think people can do whatever they want and figure it out. but if somebody actually wants to have a detailed technical lesson/conversation they are welcome to call and lessons cost $.
Example, I cannot fix/help someones swing in offering two sentences that they don't know how to apply. That is just a simple nutshell response to not offering advice for free. Which would have been an extremely time-consuming if I did.
So instead say to people you're welcome to give me a call and see if you'd like to do a lesson. We can talk in more detail if you give me a call.
Serious people call.

 

[HunterMO]

The post was started from another thread.

How it developed here after this post was not up to me after that.
It is fine for people to perceive and take things however they want and it's interesting to read how people responded

My point is at the bottom of my post.

I see people spending money without putting time into getting quality out of moneys spent.
Really having to do with
People spend a lot of money in softball, but they don't back up as much of that money with her own time to work on their skills getting better.
The story of my first student and the attorney who shared with me that advice was pointing out to me there is a difference between just spending time doing something and doing something that actually has value during that time. it was a business discussion yes, but it really rang true in the long run paying attention.

Can spend money on lessons or a new bat or a new team but what matters most is the time put in not the money you spend.

Interestingly people responded in the fashion that regardless of money they look back and appreciated the time.
While I was referring to time spent training. Both are relevant and nice to read what people wrote.

In specific to DD it’s a simple agreement. She works and invests in herself and I pay for the gear/lessons/fees/etc.

Her work and investment includes keeping good grades, extra work around the house (outside the regular chores), regular practice outside of the team, maintaining healthy eating/exercise habits, following all rules, etc etc. These aren’t necessarily hard things but not always front of mind for a 13yo.

The balance for our money and time spent for her passion is a return of helping us in other areas and making sure she’s growing in the right direction.

If she stops working on the “lesson” homework then the lessons stop. If the grades drop off and the extras at home stop so does new gear and time with the team.

 

[BB875]

As far as giving away free advice. I am not an encyclopedia at the softball field. I am there to enjoy watching softball.I'm not the person's coach and a lot of times people are already paying for lessons from somebody else and they're trying to bounce that softball stuff off of me. For one I'm not a person to just tell people they're doing something wrong because I think people can do whatever they want and figure it out. but if somebody actually wants to have a detailed technical lesson they need to come pay for it. I cannot fix someone swing in offering two sentences that they don't know how to apply. That is just a simple nutshell response to not offering advice for free. Which would have been an extremely time-consuming if I did.
So instead say to people you're welcome to give me a call and see if you'd like to do a lesson. We can talk in more detail if you give give me a call.
Serious people call.

I wasn't trying to suggest you are doing anything wrong. I agree with what you are saying. Skills aren't developed by "simple fixes".

 

[radness]

I wasn't trying to suggest you are doing anything wrong. I agree with what you are saying. Skills aren't developed by "simple fixes".

Appreciate the discussions that people have on dfp. Generally do not take things personally on here because I look at things as topics. Thank you for sharing your feedback on this post!


Like the post #18 @HunterMO balance of investment!
Value in doing that!