I had someone ask me about this on another forum, so thought I'd post it here:
This is a rating system we used at a college I coached at. The only thing I have is the actual results from when we used that rating system. I don't have the actual rating sheets. The rating system we used was:
1=no college potential
2=college jv player
3=college starter/backup potential with work
4=college starter
5=ability to play at another level
Every coach had a rating sheet. We rated each kid, then took the average score from among the 3 coaches.
You could probably modify this for your use. I believe that the tests we did were: 60 time; arm strength from outfield, SS, or catcher, depending upon their position; hitting ability. That's the best I can remember. I'm not sure what we did for fielding.
This will be my 3rd year coaching high school softball, and we have a rating system that we use, not only to get a feel for our players, but also to deal with any parents who complain about playing time. Usually, our best players are at the top of the rating scale.
This is how we evaluate the girls:
Timed run (we do both 20 yard and 40 yard since the bases are closer). They get 2 tries.
Agility run--we set up a series of cones (about 8-10) from one end of the gym to the other in a zig-zag formation. They have to run from one end to the other and back. This not only measures speed, but also their abilty to cut and change direction. They get 2 tries.
Arm strength--everyone tests from the same location--a spot deep at SS. We draw a big circle that they have to stand in, then we hit them a ground ball. They have to allow the ball to enter the circle before they field it. We time them from the time the ball hits their glove to the time it hits the 1st baseman's glove. They get 3 tries. If the throw pulls the 1st baseman off the bag, it's thrown out of the equation but counts as one of their 3 throws. If all 3 throws are bad, they are put at the bottom of the rank. I take the average time of all 3 throws.
Fly Balls - I hit them 10 fly balls. First 5 are right at them. Next 5, I try to make them move. I track how many they catch out of 10. If it hits their glove, then they should catch it, unless it would have been an amazing catch. If they loaf on a ball that should have been caught, it counts as a miss.
Hitting - kids will get 30 swings evaluted in the cage off the machine. 3 separate coaches evaluate 10 swings each. When they get in the cage, they get to see 5 pitches that don't count, to get warmed up. Then we start--they get 10 SWINGS. If they let it go, it doesn't count toward their 10. If they swing and miss, it's a 0. Foul tip or fouled back = 1. Weak grounder or fly ball = 2. Hard hit ball = 3. They take only 10 swings per day, so it takes 3 days to test this. We add up their score for all 30 pitches. We put the machine on a fairly challenging speed.
After all of this testing, we rank each kid for every test and they get to see the results. I also do a FINAL ranking. For each test, every kid gets points for where they ranked in that test. For example, if you have 30 kids, you get 30 points for finishing first in a test. You get 1 point for finishing last. If there are ties, each person that's part of the tie gets the same number of points, and the person in the next position gets the # of points that they would have gotten if there had not been a tie above them. I then add up all of the points from all of the tests for a "final ranking." Only the coaches get a copy of this final ranking.
I think it's a good way to measure a lot of different skills. And with this method, you can add in any test you want, for example, if you wanted to add something for strength or power, such as the vertical jump, or a 1 minute bodyweight parallel squat test.
I hope this all makes sense! If you have questions, please let me know.
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