Articles

Each article teaches one idea and links back to a fuller guide in the Parent Resource Center.

• Why Timing Changes What the Data Means

  A mid-summer test tells you where an athlete is — not how she got there. Why a baseline taken before tournament season changes what every later number means.

• What a Showcase Season Actually Does to an Arm

  A showcase season's throwing load never shows up in a stat line. What accumulates in an arm, why it hides in your best players, and what a director can measure.

• What Throwing-Side Asymmetry Looks Like on the Field

  Output testing hides one-sided deficits. Where softball builds asymmetry by design, why the eye cannot grade it, and which number is worth staring at.

• Sixty Feet Decides the Game

  Why softball speed isn't a stopwatch total: the read off the bat, plus the first three steps, decide the close plays that decide close games.

• Young Knees and the Landing Problem

  Girls' knee-injury risk rises sharply in adolescence, and the best-studied response is training how they land and turn. Here is what the evidence shows.

• Counting Throws: The Workload Nobody Adds Up

  Warm-ups, practice, lessons, four-game Sundays — young players throw more than anyone realises. A calm way to see the total before the arm complains.

• The Tired Athlete: Sleep, Recovery and the Midsummer Slump

  The player who was flying in April is flat by July. It is rarely motivation, and the signal is usually visible months before anyone names it.

• How Many Hours a Week Is Too Much?

  There is a simple number that flags when a young softball player is training more than her body can absorb. It has nothing to do with commitment.

• Is Strength Training Safe for a 13-Year-Old?

  The worry about lifting stunting growth has been studied for decades. Here is what the position statements say — and where the real risk sits.