Player evaluations

[chinamigarden]

I always coached back in my DD's younger days and when recruiting for rec teams, players with skills usually ran out in the 3rd round. I filled up the rest of roster with attitude and personality.

One year in 10u, I was in the last round where coaches were down to the kids that picked their noses and put their gloves on the wrong hand. I decided I was going to choose the kid that SCREAMED everytime she tried to catch a ball. What amused me was the fact that she was terrified of the ball, but yet she was actually "trying" to catch it, which she never did, but there was definitely desire there.

I lost her in the last round and ended up with the- glove on the wrong hand kid-.

Although she played for another team that year, I watched her slowly improve throughout the season and talked to her dad a few times. He said her athletic skills were less than adequate but her heart was totally into the game. She played with me that fall, and she was one of the most enjoyable kids I ever had. I just had that one fall rec season with her, she moved up an age bracket the next year and then I moved out of league and into travel ball.

Then one year around 14U I'm at a tourny and who do I see playing second base? Yes, Miss Screamy! Playing travel ball! Still loving the game and still working as hard as she could.

I kept in touch with her dad after that and wanted to relay that she never lost her love or desire to be the best she could be and ended up with a scholarship playing second base at a DII school, so she could continue playing the game she loved.

Right now they may not be able to swing or catch, but look for those "with the love of the game".

My favorite player on my DDs team was afraid of the ball when they were 8. She did everything she could to be as far from the ball as possible, and still try to catch it. I was an assistant that year and we worked and worked, next year she was better but still didn't want to get in front of the ball. Now she is 13 and is a great 3rd baseman, with a cannon for an arm. Sweetest kid on the team too.

You never know which of those 8 years old are going to will themselves to be better.

 

[Greenmonsters]

For the absolute beginners, we'll start with setup, raise, step, knob-INSIDE-the-ball to get them to learn what a swing feels like. In addition to throwing, this is going to be a stressed from our very first practice. I know you guys don't like for us to dumb things down too much for the girls, but we have to get their bodies moving in the right direction before getting too technical with them.

Fixed it for you. FYI - the Tech Hitting subforum is an invaluable source of info and drills regardless of hitting level (but it isn't for the faint of heart!)