Softball Guides
For coaches: running a girls fastpitch tryout, evaluating players beyond arm and speed, and registration done right. For parents: tee ball rules and the first things to teach the youngest players.
Tryouts, for coaches
How to Run a Softball Tryout: A Coach's Step-by-Step Guide
A simple plan for running a girls fastpitch tryout: what to collect ahead of time, how to set up stations, what to score, and how to pick your roster without second-guessing it.
What to Look For at a Softball Tryout (Beyond Arm and Speed)
Arm strength and speed are easy to see and easy to overrate. Here's how to evaluate girls fastpitch players at a tryout, including the game IQ and coachability that decide close games.
Softball Tryout Registration: A Better Way Than a Google Form
What a girls fastpitch tryout registration form should collect, why a Google Form and a spreadsheet fall short on tryout day, and how to take players from sign-up to your roster on one link.
The youngest players, for parents
Tee Ball Rules, Explained for Parents (6U Softball)
What a tee ball game actually looks like: everyone bats, hits come off a tee or a coach's soft pitch, nobody steals, and the clock ends the game. The 6U softball rules most leagues share, in plain words for parents.
How to Teach Softball to a 5-Year-Old: The First Five Things
The five things a five-year-old needs before her first tee ball game, in order: the bases by name, run through first, glove on the ground, fair or foul, and GO and STOP. Three minutes a day, one idea at a time.
6U to 8U Softball: What Changes When She Moves Up
Moving from 6U to 8U girls fastpitch: the tee goes away, a coach or a machine pitches, strikes and three outs arrive, and the scoreboard turns on. What to expect and what to teach before her first 8U game.