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June 26, 2005 |
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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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To Send Your Kids To Softball Lessons Or Not?
by Dave
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
When I was a kid, there were some sports camps around, all of which were rather expensive. At the age of something like 13 or 14 I finally attended a baseball day camp which did a pretty good job of teaching some fundamental skills. Alas, most of my bad habits were already set in stone. I had learned baseball from somebody else's father hitting ground balls and pitching batting practice for two hours a week for five or six weeks each spring. At camp, I learned some valuable tips and my game improved but it did not make a huge difference. Nowadays it seems as if softball and baseball instructional businesses are popping up in every nook and cranny of vacant strip mall real estate. But are these places worth the money? Will your kid learn solid fundamentals which will not only help her improve her skills, but also maybe prevent injuries in the years to come?
I have very limited experience with softball "schools" but I think my experience is useful in analyzing their usefulness. My girls have tried various sports but the only one which has really caught their interest is softball. One summer I noticed a sign-up sheet for a softball camp when we visited the local batting cages for some hitting practice. Unfortunately the camp was cancelled just a couple days before it was to begin. I was headed out of town on business and I needed a quick fix. I was visiting my doctor who was making pleasant conversation when I told him of my dilemma. He quickly told me the story of his daughter who was a complete couch potato before she discovered softball. His life has never been the same. He suggested I call one particular place and schedule some "private" lessons which I did.
Before I left for my business trip, I encouraged my wife to play catch with my girls who were 8 and 9 years old at the time. My wife had never played softball but she felt very comfortable catching with the girls and so off I went on my trip. Five days later I returned. My kids had been to three one hour sessions which consisted of one half hour of batting and one half hour of instruction on throwing and fielding. Upon my return I asked my wife how the lessons had gone and if she had kept her promise to play catch with the girls. She quickly told me that the lessons had gone very well but after lesson number two, she was no longer able to play catch with the 9 year old. "She throws too darn hard. I get scared when she throws the ball to me," she said.
The truth is the particular place I go for lessons is not all that unusual. Depending on your child's skill level, lessons can be an excellent way to learn the right way of doing things at a very young age. Private lessons are wonderful but they can be expensive, often costing $25-50 per half hour. But most of these places offer "clinics" where they teach kids in groups. It isn't quite the same thing as private lessons but it can drastically improve skills. The place I take my kids charges $40 per half hour for private lessons and about $200 for clinics which typically run 8 or so weekly one hour sessions. We try to mix up private lessons and clinics in order to save a few bucks yet still get some one-on-one instruction.
I imagine that, like anything else, there are schools which are more pretender than contender. Since it is your money being invested, you really need to sit there during lessons and see what your kids are learning and how. If there is no way for you to watch your child's lesson, don't send your kid there. Watch, ask questions, and generally interact with the teachers. Trust your instincts on whether you think the people "feel right," whether both you and your child like going there. Learning a sport simply must be fun or it cannot be successful. If you polled every major league baseball and professional softball player, I believe you would learn very quickly that while becoming good was hard work, the vast majority of players enjoyed practicing. Hard work is often times made far less hard by the desire to achieve some goal but made easy when we enjoy what we are doing. If your kid is not having fun or making marked improvement, obviously you've chosen the wrong place.
It is OK for the instructors to raise their voice at your kid every now and again although this should be an extremely rare occurrence. Adults usually raise their voices when they are frustrated. Good quality instructors generally do not need to shout in order to make a point. We all know our children can sometimes be very trying to anyone and it is not reasonable to expect a human being to never lose their temper but an instructor needs to be in control most of the time. If you hear too much shouting from instructors, take your kid someplace else.
As I said above, you have every right to expect rapid improvement, especially early on. Throwing and hitting are skills which, when taught properly, improve immediately. Your seven-year-old will not learn to hit like Kelly Wilkerson but she should be able to swing properly and make better contact than she did at the beginning of the lessons. Throwing probably will improve immediately though some kids relapse frequently to dropping their elbow and pushing the ball for a while after they learn to throw properly. As long as this is gently corrected until it disappears, the instruction is good. As your child progresses through lessons, the rate of improvement drops. But what you should hear from the instructors is an emphasis on sound fundamentals. The basics are really what make a great player great.
Your child's instructor should not try to introduce new skills constantly. This causes confusion. The drills will vary in order to keep the students attention and interest but new skills should be added gradually. On the other hand, you do not want your child to be taught essentially the same lesson every day of an eight week clinic. If this happens and you inquire about it, be alert to the "bad answer" of "if you really want your kid to improve, sign up for private lessons." This is an indicator that the clinics are there only to draw in kids for private lessons. Clinics should teach a full range of skills for a particular aspect of the sport like pitching. And there should be a range of skill levels such as beginner, intermediate and advanced. If there is only one skill level, you can bet that the clinics are meant to draw you in for bigger bucks.
I recommend softball schools because I have had great experiences. If you want your child to really enjoy softball, they are a good bet provided that you can find a good quality school near you. Like anything else, you need to be proactive and interactive in order to determine if your money is well spent. Don't be afraid of asking lots of questions. Don't be afraid of using your judgment to decide if the school you have chosen is teaching your kids well. Follow your instincts and remember, if your kid is not having fun, they will not be playing softball within a couple years and the only memories you will have is of seeing those large and frequent checks every month when you balance your check book.
 
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