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Nailed it. I know people that recreation cycle on 'cruisers'. That's a great way to see the sights, on a beautiful day. No argument. I know people that train to pedal 100M, timed. These people were once kids. Some kids want to compete at the highest levels. It's who they are. It's what makes them happy.belljr said:
And how they have to motivate them differently etc. Plus how girls at that level still don't do the basics right all the time. The mental parts of the game and building a program won't always relate to young kids 10/12u or if you are town ball team. But overall its still a good experience. I hope it keeps going as I said the last year or so was scaled back.My question would be what is deemed as successful? When I was coaching HS baseball I had many discussions with parents over the years. Some were venting by the parent about situations they didn't know anything about. Some were civil questions that were answered truthfully and addressed any issues that were propping up and they went away satisfied. I found that parents that truly wanted to understand my decisions were pleasantly surprised and accepted the information I gave them. The ones that wanted to vent and yell and try and "change my mind" without understanding where I was coming from were never happy. It also gave me more insight into why their kid behaved the way the did. You can really tell what kind of parent a kid has pretty quickly when you are making kids work hard and you see how they handle those situations.
My wife and I talk with our older daughter's high school coach a lot. He's pretty open to communication as much as he can be. He is only the softball coach and not a teacher at the school too, so maybe he cares more? I obviously don't know the people involved but it might just be a misunderstanding or something. I don't think it is an unreasonable request to ask a coach to talk to you for 5 minutes. I get letting your kid learn how to talk to adults and handling things themselves but sometimes they need to see a behavior to do it effectively.
A good answer to the question, word for word, what belljr wrote. I suggest players ask "Coach, what am I doing, or what am I not doing, to get X" where X = playing time, play at a position, spot in the order, etc.
UPDATE: Today I became the 5th person to resign from the board this calendar year. There have not been 5 board resignations ever before this year :(My daughter and I are watching Arkansas vs UGA on ESPNU right now!
P.S. she's a 10u pitcher, I am a 10u assistant coach / pitching coach (by default), and VP of the board.
PS2 I am REALLY becoming tired of the board... there are very few of us who prioritize what is best for the girls over what is easiest for the league
I was on the LL board for 1 yr. I saw how it turned rational people into irrational people almost immediately. I am not sure why it does that but seems to be the power trip to control things and get your own way. Happened to good people. You are probably lucky to get out in tact.......hahaha
That is one of the hardest things to teach younger players. The ball looks like a beach ball coming in when it is so slow and they just want to hurry and hit it.My daughter can not hit middle school pitchingShe swings at low ones and is so far in front its not funny. The 43ft and slow speed has definitely messed with her. She can't wait on the ball to save her life
Yeah we do the oppo drill. The machine was on 55 last night and kids were cranking it
But give her a 40mph fastball shes toast. Changeup is still her weakness,
I am sure you already know this but with a change of speeds the biggest problem for most youngsters is the weight shift and hands moving forward so you lose all power. Being "all in" on her swing way too early is the issue with change of speeds. She needs to learn to keep her hands back so she can still swing with authority on change of speeds.Yeah we do the oppo drill. The machine was on 55 last night and kids were cranking it
And its not power or keeping hand back. Shes all in on her swing but way too early. end of bat to third. The low pitches she wrongfully assumes they are going to be strikes at the knees and realizes way too lat that its not reaching home plate lol
ETA: the tournament this weekend we're not too worried about beach balls
local city softball president had to resign over embezzlement charges. thousands of $$. it can always be worse.
Let me rephrase. Her bat speed is pretty fast. Shes pulling the trigger too soon. And when she pulls the trigger its the full authoritative swing. Her timing is off - shes not being fooled by the school pitchers. Shes just way out in front of it and hits weak grounderss to third off the end of the bat. There is no early weight shift or hand moving. Shes in her loaded position and is starting her swings probably a half second too soon.
The regular stuff like not taking play-up requests to the board for discussion, refusal to acknowledge late registration requests (after deciding to end registration early this year), preventing girls from playing in another rec league... oh, and secretly electing to the board (with no vote) and subsequently handing a head coaching spot (again with no vote or even discussion) to a dude who lost his job in local media for hitting his wife. You know, regular stuff like that
Our board took scheduling a pitching clinic to insane levels.The regular stuff like not taking play-up requests to the board for discussion, refusal to acknowledge late registration requests (after deciding to end registration early this year), preventing girls from playing in another rec league... oh, and secretly electing to the board (with no vote) and subsequently handing a head coaching spot (again with no vote or even discussion) to a dude who lost his job in local media for hitting his wife. You know, regular stuff like that
My last year of coaching U12, first game of the season a girl got hit by a pitch pretty hard. I spent the rest of the season trying to get the younger girls to stay in the batters box. It was a futile effort for 2-3 of them, every first step was backwards.
FTR - i wasn't referring to pitching but throwing to other girls in general (like SS to 1B)
Our #2 is 50/50 right now. Our #3 my daughter, could fill in at the next level but is not ready fully yet. We faced a freshman pitcher and she was pretty good. We only had 2 strikeouts (my kid looking was 1 ) :( But we just couldn't manufacture runs. She'll look like Willie Mays one play then Dexter Fowler the next. 
Then you go to work on it and she looks great again
The first practice of the year I would have all the girls at about the shortstop position. I'd then ask, if i was playing short, which balls are mine? They would throw out various answers and I'd wait til the guesses were done and then I'd tell them they were all wrong. The correct answer is, every ball is mine until someone tells me that it isn't.
yeah... our Game 2 was rough as well. 3 girls cried, including my daughter (who quit softball again as a result). The worst thing about my daughter crying is that I have no idea why. It was after both innings she pitched... and she did great pitching both innings. There were a bunch of walks mixed in there, but she struck out the side both times and only let up 3 runs in two innings combined. I don't get it.
Jaysus said:yeah... our Game 2 was rough as well. 3 girls cried, including my daughter (who quit softball again as a result). The worst thing about my daughter crying is that I have no idea why. It was after both innings she pitched... and she did great pitching both innings. There were a bunch of walks mixed in there, but she struck out the side both times and only let up 3 runs in two innings combined. I don't get it.
I am out of town for business, so I will miss game 3, but she is planning on playing at this point
I know the feeling, my pitching daughter has been on some turriball teams. In 12u she pitched a game where her team committed 17 errors. My personal favorite inning is the three strikeout other team scores five runs on three errors inning. It is the first hurdle to growing into an effective pitcher to know when you are pitching well but the team behind you just isn't fielding. I have always told my daughter try to average one strike out an inning and get balls that can be playable. All you can do as a pitcher.Reaper said:
I have no delusions that we have to do this to further her career or anything - just something she wanted to try. If she makes it - AWESOME, if not it's fine. Its semi money grabby anyway but make no mistake - if she makes the team we are going
I have a hand me down DeMarini Cat Osterman that my daughter is allowed to start using once she fixes her swing. It is jacked up (back elbow too high, bat cocked forward) and she does not want to work on it because she is comfortable... and because she was batting 1.000 through 6 games, but she struck out twice last night against good pitchers because there was just no way she could get the bat around fast enough.
