Softball · Player Development Rubric · Ages 11-12
Hitting
Contact quality, plate discipline, situational approach, and power tool. Premium edition includes prescribed drill blocks for advancing each level.
Dugout Edge
Player:
Age / Level:
Coach:
Date:
LevelMastery CriteriaAverage exit velo by ageNext-Level Drill PlanMark
Rookie Ball
  • Athletic stance, balanced over the back side
  • Makes contact off a tee > 80% of swings
  • Knows the strike zone, takes balls in tee work
10U40 mph EV
12U50 mph
14U60 mph
16U+70 mph
Tee work daily, sound-of-contact reps, soft-toss progression.
Low-A
  • Repeats simple load + stride
  • Hard contact off front-toss machine
  • Lays off pitches a foot out of zone in batting practice
10U48 mph
12U58 mph
14U68 mph
16U+78 mph
Front toss to drive zone, plate discipline reps, hands-inside drill.
High-A
  • Hits live arm in BP > 70% hard contact
  • Tracks pitch out of pitcher’s hand
  • Makes adjustments from coach feedback within 10 swings
10U55 mph
12U65 mph
14U74 mph
16U+82 mph
Live pitching reps 2x/week, vision drills (numbers/colors), film review.
Double-A
  • Drives ball to all three fields in BP
  • In-game contact rate > 80%, K-rate < 25%
  • Two-strike approach: shorter swing, foul-off ability
10U60 mph
12U70 mph
14U80 mph
16U+85 mph
Opposite-field toss series, two-strike battle drill, pitch-recognition machine.
Triple-A
  • Situational hitter: moves runners, drives in 3B with < 2 outs
  • BB-rate > 10%, OBP > .400 vs peers
  • Average exit velo above league median
10U
12U74 mph
14U83 mph
16U+88 mph
Constraint-based hitting (situational scoring), weighted bat work, plate-discipline study.
Major League
  • Top-end exit velo & bat speed for age
  • Pulls ball in air on strikes inner-half
  • Recognizes spin out of hand, lays off chase
10U
12U78 mph
14U88 mph
16U+93 mph
Overload/underload bat training, vBat or HitTrax tracking, pitcher-specific scout reports.
All-Star
  • Recruitable EV (95+ HS / 100+ college)
  • Plus hit + plus power tool
  • Performs in elite tournament / showcase environments
10U
12U
14U95 mph
16U+100+ mph
Pro-style daily hitting plan, biomechanics review, recovery + nutrition programming.
How to use this rubric
  1. Evaluate the player against every level’s criteria, lowest first.
  2. Assign the highest level where they meet ALL criteria.
  3. The next level’s criteria become this season’s focus.
  4. Re-evaluate at mid-season & end-of-season checkpoints.
Typical level by age
4-6 (T-Ball)Single-A → Double-A
7-8 (Coach Pitch)Double-A → Triple-A
9-10 (Kid Pitch)Triple-A → Major League
11-12 (Little League)Low-A → Double-A
13-14 (Travel)Double-A → Triple-A
15-16 (JV)Triple-A → Major League
17-18 (Varsity)Major League → All-Star
College / EliteAll-Star
For more coaching tools, visit dugoutedge.com