I think you hit on it with the "ton of energy" statement. My kids have played for several ex college players as well as several non-players and I would not rate the ex-players any better as a whole. I couldn't disagree with you more on your coaching statement, the biggest problem in this area is the recreation and summer programs. "Most" of the high school coaches in this area are getting girls that have little if any knowledge of the game and are expected to work miracles.

 

I agree with you that the summer and rec leagues around here need to get way better. That is why I said coaching is NEAR the top and I do still believe that. I have had 2 different coaches tell me over the last couple of years the first fast pitch game they saw was the first one they coached for their school.

Fast pitch is still new to NKY so the players and coaches still have a lot to learn at the high school and summer level. There is also a lot of turnover among NKY fast pitch softball coaches for various reasons, but I think the "energy" is key. If you have a coach that puts forth a lot of time and energy with the kids at any level and can teach them the basics, then the strategies, etc. will come with experience. With that said, fast pitch softball is like baseball in almost every aspect with the main difference being pitching and the baserunning rules. Hitting, throwing, fielding, catching, fundamentals, etc. are almost identical to softball. Baseball coaches can make the switch - Persinger has done a good job with his program at Bracken after years of coaching baseball. Coach Gregg at WV coached baseball for years and the BGP blogs both rate them as quality coaches.

 

I guess I would have to disagree with the statement that most things in baseball are identical to softball. Take a top level baseball shortstop and a top level softball SS and they play the game totally different. A softball player can rarely wait on a ground ball and in most cases will have to run through the ball in order to make the play which is almost opposite of how a baseball player would do it. (there are many other examples) Hitting is different, I am not a hitting coach but although a lot of things are same there are a lot of differences also. In college and high level travel you see more bunts and slapping than you do hitting, I haven't seen many slappers in baseball. The 3rd basemen and 1st basemen may play 30 feet from home plate half the time. The way you do cut offs can be different, the pick off plays are different. The way you go after lead runners can be different.

 

The biggest difference is the way a team practices, if they practice like a baseball team they could be in trouble. That is not to say at all that baseball coaches can't do it, most could but they have to learn the game bc there are a lot of differences. The biggest one is girls are different than boys in almost every way.

 

I agree if you have a coach that puts forth the time and energy with the kids they will end up being ok and they can get better with experience.

Fast pitch is still new to NKY so the players and coaches still have a lot to learn at the high school and summer level. There is also a lot of turnover among NKY fast pitch softball coaches for various reasons, but I think the "energy" is key. If you have a coach that puts forth a lot of time and energy with the kids at any level and can teach them the basics, then the strategies, etc. will come with experience. With that said, fast pitch softball is like baseball in almost every aspect with the main difference being pitching and the baserunning rules. Hitting, throwing, fielding, catching, fundamentals, etc. are almost identical to softball. Baseball coaches can make the switch - Persinger has done a good job with his program at Bracken after years of coaching baseball. Coach Gregg at WV coached baseball for years and the BGP blogs both rate them as quality coaches.

 

I agree with almost everything you say, but with all due respect, I do not agree with you on the part about fastpitch being like baseball. I agree with SSC on that. Catching and throwing are similar obviously, but many other things are different. Other than pitching and baserunning that you mention, hitting technique, bunting, defense and strategy are all different. The pitching distance and bases are all much shorter and make for a much quicker paced and more exciting game. Besides what SSC mentioned about bunting, slapping, defense, cutoffs, pickoffs, you also only need one good pitcher in fastpitch (2 or 3 is good but you only need 1) and in baseball you need many pitchers. This is why I feel some coaches struggle coming from baseball, they try to coach it like baseball. Persinger and Gregg are two coaches that have adjusted quite well. I know both of them and they both do a great job coaching fastpitch.

You would be correct on both calls. Majority of their league games are played at NKU.

 

As usual Lawnboy 13 you are correct. I have heard that the league has eliminated slow pitch and is now all fast pitch with different divisions using fast pitch rules but for each division the rules will be modified for each age group. I have talked to a couple of the league directors and their ideas are very progressive as compared to the past and they did say that they would be adding a high school division. I know that they usually have a meeting for the coaches in late Jan. or early Feb. so I would assume more information is to come.

SSC, you have mentioned several times that the quality of coaching at the Northern Kentucky High Schools is lacking. What are the traits that you would look for in a "good" high school softball coach in this area? I don't want to hear ex-college player either, I already don't agree there. I am pretty sure Mike Candrea,Patrick Murphy or Ralph Weekley never played college softball. Just wanted your opinion, and how do you think a good coach would be able to work to their best with a kid like your daughter alongside the girl that only plays because her friend does and never works on the game other than during the high school season?

I guess I would have to disagree with the statement that most things in baseball are identical to softball. Take a top level baseball shortstop and a top level softball SS and they play the game totally different. A softball player can rarely wait on a ground ball and in most cases will have to run through the ball in order to make the play which is almost opposite of how a baseball player would do it. (there are many other examples) Hitting is different, I am not a hitting coach but although a lot of things are same there are a lot of differences also. In college and high level travel you see more bunts and slapping than you do hitting, I haven't seen many slappers in baseball. The 3rd basemen and 1st basemen may play 30 feet from home plate half the time. The way you do cut offs can be different, the pick off plays are different. The way you go after lead runners can be different.

 

The biggest difference is the way a team practices, if they practice like a baseball team they could be in trouble. That is not to say at all that baseball coaches can't do it, most could but they have to learn the game bc there are a lot of differences. The biggest one is girls are different than boys in almost every way.I agree if you have a coach that puts forth the time and energy with the kids they will end up being ok and they can get better with experience.

 

BINGO, there are only a few girls who play with intensity that most boys play with. I put the Ginn girl from Walton at the top of the list, and she plays harder than some boys.

As usual Lawnboy 13 you are correct. I have heard that the league has eliminated slow pitch and is now all fast pitch with different divisions using fast pitch rules but for each division the rules will be modified for each age group. I have talked to a couple of the league directors and their ideas are very progressive as compared to the past and they did say that they would be adding a high school division. I know that they usually have a meeting for the coaches in late Jan. or early Feb. so I would assume more information is to come.

 

Have to get my wife and kids to see this.:dancingpa

SSC, you have mentioned several times that the quality of coaching at the Northern Kentucky High Schools is lacking. What are the traits that you would look for in a "good" high school softball coach in this area? I don't want to hear ex-college player either, I already don't agree there. I am pretty sure Mike Candrea,Patrick Murphy or Ralph Weekley never played college softball. Just wanted your opinion, and how do you think a good coach would be able to work to their best with a kid like your daughter alongside the girl that only plays because her friend does and never works on the game other than during the high school season?

 

Ok but this could take a while. First let me start by saying obviously I have no idea what goes on at every school, I would say my views are more perception than facts.

 

First I would say dedication, enthusiasm, knowledge of the game, experience. Just to name a few. There are a lot of coaches in NKY that do,there are a lot more that don't. These are some of what I would want from a HS coach, when you talk about travel coaches I would look for even more.

 

You bring up Mike Candrea, he has been in the area at least twice over the last year. How many NKY coaches went to see him speak or to see him go over drills. I don't know the answer but my guess would be 0 to 1. How many NKY coaches attend any type of education on softball. How many coaches get out on their own and go watch a quality fastpitch game. If John Wooden would have been in the area every HS basketbll coach in the area would been there.

 

I would bet you the Louisville Sluggers practice and prepare alot different than almost any NKY team. The Sluggers coach also coaches a HS team and I know people would say it is different levels but my guess is he coaches them in about the same manner. Most of the coaches in Cincy coach both travel and HS and I know they coach their teams the same way for the most part. So again why do we not do that in NKY.

 

Holy Cross just hired a guy with a ton of baseball experience. I don't know this but my guess would be he hasn't seen more than a handful of very low level HS and JV games. Does this mean he can't do it no way, but does this mean he will be successfully who knows. I sure hope he is. Do you think HC would hire a basketball coach with all most no experience. I would bet the farm the answer would be no, so why is ok to do it in softball. Would Highlands hire a Rugby coach to coach the football team. They have a lot of things in common (Rugby and football) HC is not the only school to do this, there are many other schools in the area in the same boat.

 

As far as a girl that plays all the time vs a girl that only does it during season I would say we have that at almost every school in every sport. Highlands has maybe a handful of kids that go on to play college football

(sorry if it is more) but most do not. They are able to do it. In soccer we have a ton of D1 girls on teams with other girls that just play during their HS season. So again why does softball have to be different.

 

As long as coaches are in it for the right reasons things usually are good but from some of the storys I hear and have seen in NKY we don't always have it that way in softball.

Edited February 10, 201214 yr by SSC

Ok but this could take a while. First let me start by saying obviously I have no idea what goes on at every school, I would say my views are more perception than facts.

 

First I would say dedication, enthusiasm, knowledge of the game, experience. Just to name a few. There are a lot of coaches in NKY that do,there are a lot more that don't. These are some of what I would want from a HS coach, when you talk about travel coaches I would look for even more.

 

You bring up Mike Candrea, he has been in the area at least twice over the last year. How many NKY coaches went to see him speak or to see him go over drills. I don't know the answer but my guess would be 0 to 1. How many NKY coaches attend any type of education on softball. How many coaches get out on their own and go watch a quality fastpitch game. If John Wooden would have been in the area every HS basketbll coach in the area would been there.

 

I would bet you the Louisville Sluggers practice and prepare alot different than almost any NKY team. The Sluggers coach also coaches a HS team and I know people would say it is different levels but my guess is he coaches them in about the same manner. Most of the coaches in Cincy coach both travel and HS and I know they coach their teams the same way for the most part. So again why do we not do that in NKY.

 

Holy Cross just hired a guy with a ton of baseball experience. I don't know this but my guess would be he hasn't seen more than a handful of very low level HS and JV games. Does this mean he can't do it no way, but does this mean he will be successfully who knows. I sure hope he is. Do you think HC would hire a basketball coach with all most no experience. I would bet the farm the answer would be no, so why is ok to do it in softball. Would Highlands hire a Rugby coach to coach the football team. They have a lot of things in common (Rugby and football) HC is not the only school to do this, there are many other schools in the area in the same boat.

 

As far as a girl that plays all the time vs a girl that only does it during season I would say we have that at almost every school in every sport. Highlands has maybe a handful of kids that go on to play college football

(sorry if it is more) but most do not. They are able to do it. In soccer we have a ton of D1 girls on teams with other girls that just play during their HS season. So again why does softball have to be different.

 

As long as coaches are in it for the right reasons things usually are good but from some of the storys I hear and have seen in NKY we don't always have it that way in softball.

OK, first off the coaches or assistants at Boone,Ryle,Conner,Walton,Grant,SK,Campbell,Brossart and NCC have all been travel coaches with a pretty fair amount of success. So who is it you are saying isn't qualified? Most of the rest of the NK teams not mentioned are the old slow pitch teams. I would be willing to bet you if you dropped slugger ball coach into Dayton or Silver Grove he would not have near the success he has with the whole Louisville metro area to choose from. Coaching isn't the problem.

OK, first off the coaches or assistants at Boone,Ryle,Conner,Walton,Grant,SK,Campbell,Brossart and NCC have all been travel coaches with a pretty fair amount of success. So who is it you are saying isn't qualified? Most of the rest of the NK teams not mentioned are the old slow pitch teams. I would be willing to bet you if you dropped slugger ball coach into Dayton or Silver Grove he would not have near the success he has with the whole Louisville metro area to choose from. Coaching isn't the problem.

 

Interesting. I don't think you can really include Brossart and NCC can you? I never thought Mel at Brossart ever coached fastpitch travel ball. Did he? And the coach at NCC I believe is a baseball guy. I believe he was a JV baseball coach or varsity assistance at NCC before taking over the fastpitch job. Not sure about Grant but I know all the other teams you mention their head coaches have coached travel teams before. Not really sure about Campbell County either. Not really sure who their coach is this year.

Interesting. I don't think you can really include Brossart and NCC can you? I never thought Mel at Brossart ever coached fastpitch travel ball. Did he? And the coach at NCC I believe is a baseball guy. I believe he was a JV baseball coach or varsity assistance at NCC before taking over the fastpitch job. Not sure about Grant but I know all the other teams you mention their head coaches have coached travel teams before. Not really sure about Campbell County either. Not really sure who their coach is this year.

Notice I included assistants.

Notice I included assistants.

 

You sure did and I believe that is correct. I totaly missed it. My apologies.

OK, first off the coaches or assistants at Boone,Ryle,Conner,Walton,Grant,SK,Campbell,Brossart and NCC have all been travel coaches with a pretty fair amount of success. So who is it you are saying isn't qualified? Most of the rest of the NK teams not mentioned are the old slow pitch teams. I would be willing to bet you if you dropped slugger ball coach into Dayton or Silver Grove he would not have near the success he has with the whole Louisville metro area to choose from. Coaching isn't the problem.

 

Ok, you don't think coaching is the problem, I get that. I couldn't disagree more. We have some very good coaches in the area but we are talking about the area as a whole.

 

How many of those coaches you talk about have had success in travel ball. Most the coaches you talk about just coach several of their HS girls. How many if any had their teams go to ASA/USA or Premier Nationals. Again that does not mean they are good or bad its just the way things are around here. The schools you list probably are near the top for coaches in NKY.

 

I have never been with the sluggers I was just using them as an example. If you did drop their coach of at Dayton or Silver Grove my guess is they would be very much improved, why coaching. Beechwood has been mentioned on here several times about be an up and coming team by more than just me. Again my guess would be coaching, it sure not bc of their nice field they play on.

Interesting. I don't think you can really include Brossart and NCC can you? I never thought Mel at Brossart ever coached fastpitch travel ball. Did he? And the coach at NCC I believe is a baseball guy. I believe he was a JV baseball coach or varsity assistance at NCC before taking over the fastpitch job. Not sure about Grant but I know all the other teams you mention their head coaches have coached travel teams before. Not really sure about Campbell County either. Not really sure who their coach is this year.

OK, first off the coaches or assistants at Boone,Ryle,Conner,Walton,Grant,SK,Campbell,Brossart and NCC have all been travel coaches with a pretty fair amount of success. So who is it you are saying isn't qualified? Most of the rest of the NK teams not mentioned are the old slow pitch teams. I would be willing to bet you if you dropped slugger ball coach into Dayton or Silver Grove he would not have near the success he has with the whole Louisville metro area to choose from. Coaching isn't the problem.

The coach at Grant is an old mens fastpitch player and also coached mens fastpitch as well. Ott Reed. The coach at Walton John Anderson also

played mens fastpitch for about 10 yrs and his dad George played for over 40 yrs as a pitcher and is a NKY Sports Hall of Famer. In talking to them alot of the problem

is the game is coached like baseball by some schools and fastpitch has a totally different strategy to teaching and coaching. I know for a fact that Anderson has turned

Waltons program into a winner. Marlin Gregg has been an assistant coach at WV 1 yr. Sure would like to have that coaching staff.

The coach at Grant is an old mens fastpitch player and also coached mens fastpitch as well. Ott Reed. The coach at Walton John Anderson also

played mens fastpitch for about 10 yrs and his dad George played for over 40 yrs as a pitcher and is a NKY Sports Hall of Famer. In talking to them alot of the problem

is the game is coached like baseball by some schools and fastpitch has a totally different strategy to teaching and coaching. I know for a fact that Anderson has turned

Waltons program into a winner. Marlin Gregg has been an assistant coach at WV 1 yr. Sure would like to have that coaching staff.

 

Yes I agree and most people say that baseball and softball are the same and that is just wrong IMO. When I say coaching is a problem in NKY I am talking about the whole process. Why is it ok for schools to hire coaches that do not have fastpitch experience. It just almost never happens in the other sports in NKY.