What is your calve training frequency and how do you train them, do you get a good mind muscle connection?
Me? I try different things throughout the year, from once a week to every other day. My favorites now are donkey calf raises and a seated Panatta straight leg. Research, depending on whether you value it or not, says bent leg raises don't grow calves much at all whereas straight leg raises do as the gastroc is the one that has hypertrophy potential, besides the straight leg trains the soleus as well. Research also indicates it's the stretched position that is the most potential so I go until the weight doesn't move, sometimes I do just the bottom half with more weight. I have always done some seated calf raises after my deadlift sessions as good strength in those seemed to help my deads, also simulated the starting position on deads. Calf strength adds to hamstring strength to bend the leg. Reps have varied but I mostly do 6-12 reps now but have done plenty of high to very high reps as well to finish off, for the pump. Mind-muscle connection feels very good, pumps are great but I tend to question the value of that connection, as fat guys with huge calves don't have to "connect" to grow calves. If the muscle is worked is all that matters, how you feel about it is secondary

And I always feel strength gains are related to size gains after a certain rather short period of time, but obviously that stalls fairly quickly, otherwise I'd be calf raising 5,000lbs by now. If it kept going up the size would automatically come I'm sure. And not to forget I've been in gyms since I was about 8 or 9, 40 years!, that's lots of time to try everything. One well known plastic surgeon for bodybuilders in the 80s and 90s had some fascia splitting procedure so the muscle would billow out more. I haven't tried site injections to build more scar tissue "size" there as well as temporary swelling, but obviously it's the only way pro bodybuilders ever add calf size, especially black bodybuilders do it almost as a rule.
What has worked for you? Were they weak at some point despite training them but grew significantly once you made some changes? If so, what changes?
Wow, another very lengthy reply, trying to include everything...Fake calves vs insane calf genetics. First two of Dexter, earlier vs later.