Hello everybody. I find myself with a wonderful, lovely new (step)-niece who absolutely loves softball. She is 12, a sweetheart, and I don't know that much about softball. I didn't play softball growing up or anything. I also don't know her that well, but she's a really nice girl and I'd like to get her a Christmas present that aligns with her interests.

Can anybody recommend me a good gift for a softball player that is around $20? (This niece has a sister, and that is the budget I have for the sister as well---I already have her gift---so I would like to make it even.)

Hi, I recently got into softball, I’ve been playing for abt a year now and I want to get more committed. For context, I’m not playing anything too serious or pro, just for fun with other girls at my college, I’m around 5’1 , don’t have a lot of strength in my upper body and games vary between fastpitch and slowpitch. I’d like to know what size and type of bat I should choose, ideally I should be able to use it most of the time. Another thing, the bats I’ve used and felt more comfortable were 22 oz, but i’m not so sure abt length.

Anyone bought one of these for a youth player? They are -13 one piece composite bats. My 8 yr old has been using a used Easton FRZ 29/17 with success, but I'm toying with getting her a new bat for Xmas, but won't tough the ridiculous prices for this age range. Amazon also has the LS Meta 2024 model on a huge sale.

Thinking about purchasing this for my daughters for Christmas and I would just like to hear others thoughts, opinions & experiences. Is it worth it?

Hi I was looking for softball hitting and pitching lessons for 8 year old. Looking in Modesto general area. Thank you

Hello! I come from a golf background where it is easy to find the best instructors in your state or even US (there are several rankings). I may not be looking in right places, but is there a resource that lists best hitting instructors in the country? There are many instructors locally but given amount of time my daughter is putting in to this I want to make sure she is seeing the best. Thanks for any help or advice.

When do tryouts for spring usually wrap up and when do teams finalize their spring rosters?

Got invited to join some dudes playing softball on a weekly basis. I haven't played any sort of softball/baseball since I was 7-8, almost 20 years. I'd like to join in and play and have a good time. What are some resources to learn the rules and how/what to practice? Thanks in advance.

15-year-old daughter used to one last night at D-Bat and was hitting bombs. The velocity, projectory appeared to myself and multiple people there that it was better than that Easton Ghost 2024 she uses

My daughter plays 1st and she is a lefty. She is a great at 1st and has nice 1st base mitt.

When she plays up in travel she plays left or right field since the 14u team has a girl who plays first. She uses her 1st base mitt in the outfield which is not ideal but it works. She very good at judging and running balls down in the outfield. She doesn’t have the speed or range to play center field in school ball but I can see her playing left or right. Although she is very good at 1st, I think she may be to athletic for the position as she gets older.

On to my question. What size glove should an outfielder have? I know their gloves are bigger, but how big? 12, 12.5, 13, 13 plus? Please advise.

My daughter is first year 8u. I’m quickly learning pitching is at a premium. 5 teams in our division, 3 have a pitcher that throws over 50% strikes.

Our own pitcher is very solid she will pitch a few innings during our own team scrimmage, but I’m finding it tough to replicate AB’s for when my daughter and I practice at home.

I’m learning the motion i can throw mostly strikes in the backyard she’s learned to hit well off me, but struggles against kid pitching as the pitches are all over the place and you’re lucky to see one hittable pitch per AB

She goes to the cages, and does well but the timing mechanism is much different than a kid pitcher

Amy suggestions how we can most effectively work on BP at home ?

Hi All, looking for a recommendation for a glove for a serious-ish softball player who is moving up from 12U into the 8th grade/14U range. (Will probably stop playing travel as school teams pick up but that's the age range.) She is on the smaller side so I'm trying to figure out whether an A700 might be the right glove (currently uses A550), even though it is apparently rated for ages 8-11. Athough she's currently in 8th grade she is also young for her grade (in fact because of weird things around grade cutoffs, by birthdate she should actually be in 7th grade). So as a result she is sometimes 'playing up' where leagues are by grade rather than age.

At younger ages she pitched but has sort of settled into middle infield + outfield depending on the team. As she moves into school teams I suspect she'll land at RF/2B. I think her current glove is 10.5 or 11 (not positive - and we're not at home so I can't check), so I'm debating 11.5 vs. 12. She's 13 years old and 4'11" so I'm concerned about getting a glove that's too big; on the other hand she had a couple of drops on routine fly balls in the outfield because her current glove is too small. Ideally she'd get a couple of years of use out of it and then move to a 'real' glove but I'd like to keep it under $100 in case she gets to high school and decides to drop softball...

Appreciate any suggestions - thanks!

EDIT, just realized after posting the title is misleading. I should have said "8th grade/going into 14U". She is CURRENTLY in 8th grade.

EDIT 2: Thanks all - I am going with the Mizuno MVP Prime! Got it for about $75 on a black friday sale.

There are many collapsible wagon carts that are on sale for Black Friday. With travel ball being a new thing for us, we had one tournament without a cart and it would definitely be helpful.

How big did you get? Did you get the oversized wide wheels? Any feature you wish you bought?

Hi. I am looking at a light up softball and wondered if anyone had any opinions on these.

SPARK CATCH Light Up 12" Glow in The Dark Fastpitch Softball for Girls, Teens, and Players (Neon Green) https://a.co/d/iIkNSFl

CHARGEBALL The Original Softball PRO Kit | Premium Hand-Stitched 12 inch Fast Pitch Glow in The Dark Softball w/LED Chargebag, Charge in 20 Seconds for Teen Adult Sport Enthusiast https://a.co/d/2AOSXPk

The Spark Catch uses an A23 battery and the Chargeball uses no batteries.

Are these the main ones out there? Am I missing any others to consider?

Thanks for any input here.

https://preview.redd.it/coc8o2lr3d3e1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=caf2df3b26ee701f58faaa9d60d4117630c6d59e

Hey Reddit,

I wanted to share an experience I’ve been going through recently. I joined a lower-division Coed softball team at the sportsplex a while ago, wanting to get out, have fun, exercise, and improve my skills. As a beginner player, I didn’t expect to be amazing immediately, but I was eager to learn and contribute where possible.

Most of the people on the team were really nice, and I genuinely enjoyed the games. They were welcoming and made me feel like part of the group, which is why it stung so much when I was recently cut from the team.

One thing that stood out to me is that it can be tough to find women players in recreational leagues, especially at the lower levels. There’s often a shortage of girls to make up the coed teams, so I figured that my presence was an asset. But apparently, I was still let go.

I know I made some mistakes in the games, but it was frustrating because other people on the team also made errors, even though they’d been playing "their whole lives," as they claimed. I didn’t feel like my errors were any worse than theirs, and I thought we were all there to enjoy the game and improve, not just point out flaws.

In the end, I guess they just didn’t see enough potential in me, but I can’t help but feel a bit let down. I joined to have fun and to work on my skills, and now it feels like I’m being judged too harshly for being a beginner.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation where you just wanted to enjoy the sport, but ended up feeling like you didn’t fit in? Would love to hear your thoughts or any advice.

Thanks for listening.

Im looking to get a what i assume is last years model LXT bat. I saw a few on sale for about 275, but I see on brand new on sidelineswap for 250. If I were to get it from there does the manufacturer still honor the warranty?

Any chance has anyone seen them cheaper than 250 - 275? Looking for a 30"

Looking to source some .44 375’s for my league. Looking for a balance of price and durability.

The balls we had last year turned to mush after the second inning. And we only want to use about 2-3 balls per game max.

Appreciate any recommendations.

After using the DeMarini 2025 CF Fastpitch Softball Bat, I can say it’s a solid choice, but not without some drawbacks. The sleek black, white, purple, and yellow design grabs attention, and the lightweight, balanced feel makes swinging effortless, thanks to its two-piece composite construction. The Paraflex Plus Composite Barrel delivers a large, forgiving sweet spot, and the Type V CF Connection does a great job reducing hand sting, which I appreciated during long practice sessions. However, while the bat is great for control and precision, it might not deliver the explosive power heavy hitters crave, and the price tag is steep, making it less accessible for players on a budget. Overall, it’s a great bat for speed and comfort, but it’s not perfect.

Alright. Not like I need to buy my daughter more gear. What are some good Black Friday deals coming up? Wilson? Easton? Rawlings?! 😬

Who can help me track down a 30oz bat for a homie? USSSA slowpitch bat. No one sells new bats heavier than 28oz anywhere. Link me up with a bat co. If you know one!

Both of my kids have gotten feedback that they drop their back shoulder too much during their swing. It looks like that’s a little tricky to fix because completely level shoulders would probably be a downward swing, which is also not great. Has anyone dealt with this? Any recommended videos or drills?

What is everyone using for a practice bat? Looking to get my daughter a cheaper composite same size/weight as her regular bat to be her practice bat. Looking for new as this will be a Christmas gift. Something in the $150 +/- range.

My 10U player has played on several tourny teams now and is still too scared to swing at live pitch. She says that she is still scared she'll get hit and so she spends her attention trying to get out of the way. She hasn't been hit yet, mainly because her feet are like on skates in the box so she can get out of the way. She gets good hits and has good technique during coach pitch. She's a talented player, but has this roadblock at the moment. Any tips to help her through it? Thank you!

Any of you on here have camwoods that your girls swing ? I’m looking for sizing help, I’m told by reps that I should go with the same length of bat she swings in games, which is 33, but the weight for that is like 42oz, where the softball bat is 23oz. Is it supposed to be a swing of 20oz for the camwood ? Or do you go down to a different size just to keep the weight down to a manageable size ?

my daughter has the Marucci f5 bat bag but there's not much space as the helmet takes up the majority of the space leaving her to have to put her sunglasses and other accessories inside of her helmet. another issue is the second compartment doesn't have much room after putting the helmet in she kinda just shoves her mask in that one.

Do you have any recommendations on a bag that's better she's been looking at the Easton Ghost ones but I'm not sure yet. any help or opinions would be great!

Please no judgment. My daughter has been on her 16U travel ball team for a year and a half. We love them, the coaches, the parents, the girls. We’re all very close.. They picked my daughter up because of her positive can do attitude although she had barely started to play a year before coming on to the team. She’s a pitcher and is pretty much a PO. Well a few new coaches came on to the team about 6 months ago with their kids and since coming on one coach in particular just can’t stand my daughter. I feel like it’s because his daughter is also a pitcher and they pretty much compete on the mound. She’s been pitching a lot longer than mine but they pretty much keep up with each other. Well he’s constantly picking on ONLY my daughter. I’m not the type to complain and I tell my daughter to ignore it or let it fuel her, I’m just coming to vent and ask if anyone’s been in this position. As a parent, how do you deal with it? I just look the other way but it really kills me because my daughter is so sweet and positive and she’s never done anything to get one any of the coaches bad side. Do I just cry about it at night 🤣🤣🫠🫠

Hi so I’m 18 and I just recently graduated high school in 2024 and for my senior year i wanted to get more involved so I tried out for softball and made the team. I really enjoyed playing softball but I realized it was expensive so I ended up quitting but I was really enjoying playing and was sad when I had to leave. Anyways I want to play again when I go to college and join the club softball team since I’ll have a better chance of getting on that team than the regular team. I also will be buying a bat and equipment and everything I need to get back into softball so does anyone have any equipment recommendations? And any tips/drills that I could do to get good at softball?

I’m working with a new to 12U player. She was okay hitting when she first started. First season of travel hitting was mediocre but not horrible. Second season of travel, last year, was basically non existent. Her confidence was SHOT.

We moved, found a new rec league and my kid got her confidence back. She was hitting! She swung that bat and hit at least once a game, every game.

Now I want to keep encouraging that up through winter. WinVR is on sale for BF right now and I’m seriously considering it. I know this isn’t a replacement for hitting, but I want her to work on seeing pitches and working on timing, then really work on live hitting closer to spring.

Looking for the good, the bad and ugly.

Wondering if there are any decent Black Friday sales at any of the equipment suppliers? Would like to get my 12u daughter a set of white gear she's been asking for. She likes her team mate's Easton set.