Youth Softball - Sometimes It Just Takes More Time

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

It's funny the difference a few years can make in youth softball development. Sometimes players who are studs at 10U become average or even below average by the time they're 14U. And other times, a kid who is sort of an also-ran at the younger age levels will suddenly have it all come together as they get older.

I've certainly seen both in my coaching career. But today I want to focus on the latter with a specific story, because it shows what you can do with a fair amount of passion — and more than a little hard work.

Emily is a girl I've known for several years now. I have never been her team coach, but I've given her pitching lessons since she was 10. She was always rather on the small side, not very strong, and didn't have a lot of endurance.

"Fastball" was more of a description of the way she was throwing the ball than the speed of the pitch. When she ran the bases you wanted to get behind and push. But she loved the game and never seemed to notice her physical abilities and skills weren't quite up to most of the other girls.

I wish I could report that in lessons she was always highly focused and dedicated, but that wasn't always true. She would often seem disinterested after a few minutes, although that could've been a function of having her mother catch for her.

One day at 10U, after our team's season was over, I had a chance to see her pitch against a very good team. She was by no means her team's #1, but that day you couldn't tell. She came out with fire in her belly and actually was the reason her team won the game. I thought she'd turned a corner — but the next year at lessons it was more of the same. I wondered how much longer she'd keep playing.

Fast forward a couple of years, and suddenly Emily found herself in a different situation. Some defections from her team, including their top pitcher, created an opportunity for her. We talked about it during the off-season and I told her this was her chance to step up. She would get a lot more innings than she ever had; what she did with them was up to her.

Well, what she did with them is raise her game. She went from picking up a few innings here or there to being her team's #1. She still doesn't throw tremendously hard, but she can change speeds very well, and she can make the ball move.

Prior to her freshman high school season I got to see her pitch a couple of scoreless innings for the JV team against the varsity. Her JV season went well, and now the summer is going well also.

Most interesting is the change in her approach. I didn't see a lot of her during this past off-season, but when I did she was highly focused.

Tonight we did a tune-up on her curve ball. What was most remarkable was her level of interest in the technical aspects and the effort she put into getting it just right. She was a far cry from the little girl who everyone underestimated just a few short years ago.

So coaches, the lesson here is not to assume that what you know today will always be true. Keep an eye on your players and how they develop year to year, and don't be afraid to give them more responsibility when you can. They just might surprise you.

And for those of you who are players, keep working on your game. You never know when one day all those little, disparate pieces of information will come together and the light bulb will come on for you. Keep working your game and you just may surprise everyone one day — including yourself.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

Ken Krause