Not long ago there were a couple of posts up at SoftballPerformance.com talking about “Soft or Hard“ and “Good vs Successful.” Both posts were quite thought provoking and got the wheels turning in my head. What’s more important? From a coaching standpoint, tons of arguments can be made for each side as well as for a mix or balance of each.
BUT, from a parent perspective…
What’s more important?
If you had to choose one or the other which would you choose?
Or if you had to say that one was primary and the other secondary, which way would you go?
If you knew one team guaranteed a winning season, but not necessarily a lot of progress for your daughter and the other guaranteed improvement for your daughter, but maybe not a championship type record – which would you choose for her?
What’s more important to you?
a) that your daughter be on a winning team
b) that your daughter improve her skills as a player/person
Leave a comment here and share your thoughts! I, of course, have my own thoughts as a softball parent, but I am interested in hearing what you think too!
I would prefer to have some of both…harder tournaments/games with good competition to improve my daughter’s skills, and some easier tournaments/games that the team can most likely win. I would tend to favor the harder tournaments/games over the easy, but I’d hate to have a season full of no wins.
We’ve been there, and I have to say my vote is definitely for the skills. This year my daughter was on a team that won very few games, but she had good coaches who continued to stress the fundamentals and made them do things right. She and her teammates are better prepared for next year, better rounded, and are already talking about what they want to prove next year on the field.
Skills lead to wins, not the other way around. Thanks for the thought-provoking post!
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