What makes a Hot 100 player? Part 5 (1/16)
What makes a Hot 100 player? Part 5 (1/16)
We conclude our series of articles running this week discussing what elite club coaches think are factors common to the elite players who make the Full Count Softball Hot 100 Recruit lists.
We’ve done the top 100 players in the 2014, ’15, ’16 and ’17 classes and soon will begin working on the 2018 standouts (you can start sending in your player nominations too! Brentt@FullCountSoftball.com)!
*** On Monday, Coach Mike Stith of the OC Batbusters – who has no less than 18 players Hot 100 players on his current team led by the top rated standouts in two of the last four classes: outfielder Amanda Lorenz (2015, Florida signee) and pitcher Mariah Lopez (2016, Oklahoma commit) – talked about four key elements of a Hot 100 player… you can see his comments in the video here.
***Tuesday, we got input from Kevin Shelton of the Texas Glory organization and the new General Manager of the Dallas Charge organization of the NPF.
Coach Shelton added three more factors to our list that he thinks are important and which he has seen in the many Hot 100 players he’s produced in the last four classes.
*** Wednesday, we learned what Bret Denio of the Explosion organization—which finished in the top 10 at PGF Nationals last summer in the 18U Premier division and has had multiple Hot 100 players— sees in his standout prospects.
*** Thursday, we got the insight from another Top 10 PGF Nationals finisher in John Corn of the Lady Lightning Gold Team Miken program (N.C.).
Coach Corn has had four dozen players go to schools in major conferences like the ACC, Big Ten and SEC and produced several highly rated Hot 100 honorees added yet another trio of keys that the best players have.
And finally, we wrap up this Hot 100 series with perspectives from Bill Conroy, the head of the Beverly Bandits organization that has teams from Ohio to California with his own Premier team being based in Chicago.
There have been four classes ranked and Bill has coached two of the No. 1’s: infielder Jenna Lilley, now at Oregon, who was atop the 2014 Hot 100 list, and pitcher Alexis Holoway, a Notre Dame commit, who was the No. 1 player in the recently released 2017 Hot 100’s.
Here’s what Bill has to say about the attributes he sees in his top players:
- Intangibles
“In my opinion, there are a quality kids but what makes someone a top 10 or 100 player it comes with combination of skills and athletic ability, but I’ve had players who have had less athletic skills but ranked higher because of intangibles. These are things you can’t put your fingers on sometimes, but rise to the surface when needed. It can be leadership, it can be carrying at team when needed and even building the psyche of the team and helping the players and even coaches go a long way to getting wins. A good example is Alexis, she has great fundamentals, but doesn’t have the speed and isn’t a kid you’d say is a great athlete. However, she is as fundamentally solid as any kid I’ve had and has the intangibles that make her a top rated player in the country.”
- Lack of ego
“The high level caliber players make sure it’s not about them, they do a good job of making sure that their teammates and coaches get credit. They convince everyone that this is the way they feel and when they get a strikeout they high-five the rest of the infield and make sure everyone feels a part of things. I currently have three pitchers – Alexis Holloway, Taran Alvelo (2015, Washington) and Miranda Elish (2016, Oregon) – who don’t have egos and they do what’s best for the team. They may have more competition here on this staff than they may have in college, but they never complain or show a sniff of ego.”
- Praises Teammates
“I was around Jennie Finch when she pitched for the Chicago Bandits (NPF) and she was always outstanding at deflecting self-praise to her teammates. The Hot 100 players are like this, they are mature, great leaders who have the ability to bring in their teammates as part of their own success. They make it not about them, but about the team and that’s part of being a great leader who gives their teammates and coaches the credit. But they still know they are the go-to option, they want the ball and take it and run with it. The elite, Hot 100 players think in their head that they are the best option.”
Here are the other great points made by coaches earlier. We’ll be compiling all of these in one final article so keep checking in!
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A HOT 100 PLAYER… Previous Points:
- Leads by Example
The true Hot 100 player doesn’t just play a good game or talk a big game, they determine the pace and provide the path for their teammates to follow. “The best players know how to play the game and because they do it the right way, they set the tone and the example that the other players follow,” says Coach Corn.
- Composure During Adversity
Everyone has slumps and bad stretches, but the best have the confidence to keep powering through knowing good times will come again. “The Hot 100 caliber players stay on an even keel and don’t get frustrated or thrown for a loop, even when they’re not performing at the level they can or should be. Their composure during trying times is way more mature than others,” believes Coach Corn.
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Jenna Lilley was the top-rated player in the 2014 Hot 100 and is now at the Univ. of Oregon. She possesses pretty much every feature on this list of what makes a player great! Rises to the Challenge
There are games when it’s just for fun and others when the pressure is so huge it’s like an oppressive blanket weighing down on a player, but despite the nerves the Hot 100 player rises to the occasion. “These star players are good when their team needs them to be good. They play best in clutch situations and elevate their game when the team must have a big play,” adds Coach Corn.
- Athletic & Skills Ability
Perhaps the most obvious of all the attributes, the best players have the talent, both in skills and athleticism, that makes them stronger, faster, more efficient and more accomplished in their play. “You have to have the tools to play with and against the best,” says Coach Denio.
- Top Notch Competition
Want to be the best? Play against the best to bring the best out. College coaches are even telling high-end players to compete on the best club teams to prepare for the level of competition they’ll face at the college level. In other words, don’t be a big fish in a little pond… you don’t grow that way! “There is no better way to improve your game than playing against the best players on a regular basis,” states Coach Denio.
- Innate Knowledge of the Game
Some things you just can’t teach and having the instincts and intuition to make a play is a gift that only a few—the very elite—have. One club coach, for example, marveled at how his Hot 100 shortstop would seemingly know where the ball was going to be hit and head to the correct spot even before the ball was hit. “The best players have the unteachable gift of knowing intuitively how to make a play.”
- Love of the Game
If you truly love something and enjoy doing it, it’s not a job or work, it’s a passion. The best players eat and breathe softball, eager to participate in the most mundane drill or workout.
“The love for the game, or at least the desperate need to compete and win or be the best, is crucial,” stated Coach Shelton. “Everything flows from here. I have never seen an athlete that I coached that excelled without a genuine joy for the game and a will to be the best.”
- Mental Toughness
As the cliché goes, if you only succeed 30% of the time as a hitter, you’re a success. In every pitch and at-bat, there’s going to be a winner and a loser and the best are able to maintain confidence even when the game isn’t going their way.
“This provides the foundation that allows our kids to do what it takes to get better and to win,” adds Shelton. “Extra reps, fighting thru adversity in whatever form it comes and just good old-fashioned perseverance require some level of mental strength. It’s key to success.”
- Thirst for Knowledge
The best want to keep getting better and soak up any tip or counsel they get. This also ties into being coachable and being willing to seek out the expertise of those who can pass on useful information.
“A desperate thirst for knowledge is (another) critical factor for our top players,” continues Coach Shelton. “The best athletes embrace the idea that there is always more to learn. This not only makes the best coachable but it shows the way for others on the team. The great seek information and ways to improve. It’s a trait that lends itself to humility and helps the best lead others less talented.”
“The best athletes I’ve seen combine love of the game, mental toughness and a thirst for knowledge into a lethal formula for their competition because they more often that not, maximize their own results and can lead those around them to get closer to their own potential.”
- Commitment
The best club players aren’t necessarily more driven, they have more exposure to the understanding of that level of commitment (what it takes to excel). Many high school players don’t know what it is to compete at a high level or to maintain commitment at that level. It takes a passion to want to excel and the willingness to do what it takes, many times sacrificing social activities or “fun” stuff to hone the necessary softball skills, but the best and most passionate players say it’s worth the effort and commitment to make it happen!
14c. Accomplishments
As Coach Stith said, “At some point it comes down to accomplishing something. You have to do something to make people notice what you’ve done, It’s a results world and you will have to achieve something to get that recognition.” This includes team and individual successes. Coaches love players who are winners and it’s not surprising to see elite players playing on championship caliber teams. They do what it takes to win and, more often than not, they help their teams get into a position to succeed.
- Exposure
You have to be seen to be recruited and exposure does matter, but if a player is good they will be found, almost all coaches agree she will be found. “Good players usually don’t slip through the cracks,” says Coach Stith. It’s a good news/bad news scenario, though: as a player you WILL be seen but are you prepared in your skills and abilities that you WANT to be seen? Preparation is key to maximize the exposure that will come!
- Work ethic
Unless you’re a freak of nature and everything comes exceedingly easy, Hot 100 caliber players have to work incredibly hard to get every bit of their talent squeezed out. “The elite work and hard and put that time in,” says Coach Stith,” and the good players know and do what it takes to work to reach the highest levels.”
“The work ethic of these Hot 100 players is replicated in their play on the field,” agrees Coach Corn.