by ondeck81710 » Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:01 pm
Hey everyone. This is Derek Allister. John Cookson sent me this thread, so I wanted to jump on it and offer some thoughts. I really appreciate CountryBumpkin asking those questions. And I am glad John sent the thread to me. The answer might get a bit long, but we really think this is important. First, Joann and I appreciate those who have related their experiences with us . . . we know we have helped thousands of players over the years - some of whom never even knew we were helping them. They appeared on our Report, and then schools started showing up for games. And there have been a few who have been offered scholarship money just off our report. That makes us nervous, but in each of those cases, it worked out well for the school and player. In regards to our events, it's important to understand that we can only provide a platform. We don't get involved in the recruiting process itself. We don't recommend players to schools since we work for so many of them. We just provide our evaluations and a platform. The rest is up to players, coaches, and parents. As we all used to say in the basketball recruiting world, "one man's food is another man's poison" and nothing could be more true.. For example, some coaches like catchers who are great defensively and can control the bases, even if they give up some offense. Others look for catchers who are run producers and are only solid behind the plate. Every coach looks for players who fit their philosophy and need. But the wave of the future in softball is athleticism, and the roots of the ODM lie in that fact.
The ODM started at the request of the college coaching community. Just over three years ago, a significant number of them approached us about starting "measurables." We explored how we might do that and then created OnDeck Measurements. Now, of course, these metrics are all the rage. However the simple intent of the score is to establish a baseline for each athlete and then give them something to work on. The University of Arizona told us that years of testing revealed that the average D-1 athlete threw the ball 61 MPH. So it would be obviously beneficial for players and parents to know what their daughter's velocity is; and then determine if arm strength is something that is a weakness or a strength. Now Joann and I sometimes wonder about the frenzy surrounding all these metrics. So we constantly try to remind people that players still need to hit it, catch it, throw it, and pitch it. And that will never really change. But metrics are the wave of the future in everything in life, it seems. So these numbers are here to stay whether all of us like it or not.
But back to the point. After we established the metrics, the next step was naturally an "Index" - another coach request. A statistician from UC Davis created the ODM Athletic Index over the course of 4 months while looking at nearly 2000 players' numbers. That number has now grown to nearly 10,000 at this point in time. Needless to say, we seem to be zeroing in on some trends since the data is growing so quickly..
Now for some college stories. Like everything in life, some coaches are absolute believers. Others are skeptics. I will tell you more and more coaches are coming over to the believer side each and every week. We had a BCS school who regularly plays in the NCAA tournament call us asking about a recruit's ODM scores and Athletic Index. They needed those numbers before they could decide upon a financial offer to the player on her visit. Two SEC schools look at and use the numbers very differently. One looks for Big Time numbers even tho the skill set might be lower since that staff feels it can teach and develop those skills. Another school looks for a well developed skill set and will take players with lower scores since they believe their strength and conditioning program can develop the "athlete." Two very different approaches. But both schools religiously follow the numbers that ODM supplies.
I hope that helps. Again, thanks CountryBumpkin for posing the questions. Please let us know if we can ever help any of you in any way. Take care and have a wonderful Holiday Season.