softball_rules5 wrote:Some times the truth hurts. Call it as I see it. Don't really feel I called your true character into question here, just an observation that I have seen a hundred times with softball parents. If I'm wrong sorry I hurt your po' little feelins' (emphasis for us dumb ol' folk down here in Indiana).
So in one post you've gone from "your [sic] the one who fired the personal shots long before I did" to "some times [sic] the truth hurts." Mkay. Why don't you just admit that you were out of line for taking a swipe at my parenting (something you know absolutely nothing about) in a weak attempt to undermine my argument? Especially since you've already admitted that you are in full agreement with my central thesis.
A research assignment? No thanks. My only interest in Indiana is in flying over it. That said, I do enjoy watching you and Seeds cite exceptions that only serve to prove the rule. For every high school coach who understands the game, mechanics, etc., at a high level, there are at least fifty who don't. And the ones who do are typically involved in travelball to one extent or another. Travelball inherently aggregates the talent and resources necessary to play the game at its highest (or at least higher) levels, whereas high schools simply do not. There's no shame in that. It just is what it is. And the net result is that players who participate in travel (which typically also entails taking private lessons) improve much more quickly than those who don't. None of this is remotely controversial to anyone with a brain.
So the narrow proposition that I am advancing in this thread is that high school coaches should check their egos, recognize their relative position in the hierarchy of the softball world, and focus their energies on 1) coaching the game (i.e., their system), and 2) teaching mechanics to those who clearly need it. It makes no sense for a high school coach to mess with the mechanics of a strong and productive player who is already receiving professional instruction on the subject. If you disagree with that proposition, by all means explain why. If you don't disagree, then hooray for us; we've found our common ground, and you're now free to carry on with your somnambulant existence.
