There is a DH but the risk is getting hit on the hand or getting injured running the bases when you aren't Ohtani hitting the ball.
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Collectively, A Thread To Celebrate Our Kids Athletic Accomplishments (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Anarchy99
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Instinctive
Footballguy
That's so silly IMO. No way of knowing if anyone ever will be if we don't let guys who never strike out and get on base a lot actually hit. Shortsighted coaching IMO.
Agreed. The coach is an old school guy and it has rubbed some of the players the wrong way. I don't see why he doesn't give Gally Jr the fall to show how/if he improved unless he has big plans for him on the mound. The did bring in quite a few infielders so that may have something to do with it also.
El Floppo
Footballguy
She made Varsity!
Waiting to hear about what role.
Im kinda hoping shes not top Singles player (s1). The S1s at other schools tend to be elite, college recruit level kids. While it would be cool and a great experience to play against them, it would also be fun for her to win sometimes lol.
Waiting to hear about what role.
Im kinda hoping shes not top Singles player (s1). The S1s at other schools tend to be elite, college recruit level kids. While it would be cool and a great experience to play against them, it would also be fun for her to win sometimes lol.
belljr
Footballguy
Awesome, so happy for you guys
Kuz
Footballguy
Figured she would make it but congrats.. Making a High School team as a 9th grader is very impressive.. Good luck this season
Chadstroma
Footballguy
I didn't have a doubt in my mind. Congrats to her! Looking forward to the updates on her season!
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Great to hear. She will get some really good experience from this, I'm sure.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
How is overseas soccer going for lil z?
The Z Machine
Footballguy
See the other thread about youth soccer.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Makes sense
I had always thought that the singles players played a round robin meaning you played against both the #1 and #2 players. Is it strictly 1 v 1, 2 v 2, and then doubles? Only three matches?
That makes coaching really strategic on how you label your players. If you are playing against a total stud that you know would beat your #1 then make your #1 your #2 for the day to get a split for sure from singles. Seems like the chance for a lot manipulation if that is the format.
El Floppo
Footballguy
Singles 1 plays 1, 2 plays 2, 3 plays 3. Doubles 1 plays Doubles 1, 2 plays 2.
I think its illegal to game it the way you're saying...but not sure.
Eta... Because each team needs to win 3 matches to win the head to head.
I am not sure how they could monitor/enforce it. Seems like the best way for the team is to bump everyone down so that your #3 is listed as #1 and #2 is #1 and #3 is #2. Theoretically that gets you two wins every time.
Hopefully coaches don't do that because that would hurt the players as they will not be playing against similar competition.
How many sets is a match?
belljr
Footballguy
I understand what you are saying but I'm almost positive that some 2s are just as good as the 1s etc....so you really aren't gaming the system, plus it is unfair to the kids for individual accolades also
My buddies kid was the best player on his team as a sophomore. Just barely.
So he played as the number 2 and the almost equivalent senior was the #1
I'm sure this varies greatly by school and area but your #3 isn't the Colorado Rockies and the #1 is the Brewers
I have no doubt that is the case most of the time. I am primarily looking at it when you know the other team's #1 is elite and gonna win no matter what. Again, I am just thinking from a game theory perspective.
El Floppo
Footballguy
Ive asked the rival HS coach who coaches floppinha privately and is the head of the league for tennis.
"Top player MUST play 1S. Second best player MUST play 2S. 1D team MUST be stronger than 2D team.
This means third best player can play either 3S or likely 1D."
How is that enforced? Whats to keep teams from gaming it?
"Hopefully integrity. Ha ha.
It’s been discussed.
Coaches can file complaints, to me!"
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Just so we are crystal clear. I have no idea what any of that means.
El Floppo
Footballguy
1S = #1 singles player
1D = #1 doubles pair
Each matchup is 3 singles and 2 doubles pairs head to head. 1S from floppinha school vs 1S of redwes loser school.
I guess if you are truly trying to game the system there will be undeniable talent differences between the S1/S2/S3 which would be the reasoning for gaming the system. If all those players are close enough that moving them up or down isn't obvious then moving them up or down really wouldn't be gaming the system as S1 is just as likely to lose to S2 because they are close enough to not raise a red flag.
Having not ever been involved in HS tennis or how it is set up I thought it was interesting to think about game theory when you are talking about H2H matchups leading to a team score and if strategic coaching would come into play. Sounds like strategic coaching to win the overall match is somewhat frowned upon.
How long are the matches? 1 set, 2 sets? Reason I am asking is if they are two sets I wonder if it would be more interesting having the players rotate after each set to a different opponent. So S1 vs S1 for set 1. Then S1 v S2 for set 2.....and if they play 3 sets the S1 v S3 for the 3rd set
belljr
Footballguy
Nice suck on that. Felicia.
I don't know if there's even a girl named Felicia on the team, but it sounds like she would be a bully so I'm happy LOL
El Floppo
Footballguy
Its 2 sets with a 10 point tiebreak if they're tied at 1 set each.
I get the sense from very limited exposure (I've only seen 1 HS match), that each team has only 1-3 kids of the 10-12 total members who actually play consistently all year- lessons, clinics, tourneys. Those tend to be a head above everybody else. It seems like my daughter is the only one this year at her school.
But even for those kids, there's potential for a HUGE range of abilites. The USTA has a ratings system for kids who play competitive matches based on anticipated won games vs their opponents level vs actual won games. I dont understand it, tbh...but my daughter is a UTR 4.0. some people think she plays better than that, but its about games won vs anticipated games won dependent on your opponent.
The girl shes likely playing today- only a year older- is a UTR 8-9 who plays tournaments 2 levels higher than her (L4 vs L6). On paper, amd tbh in reality, my daughter is going to get destroyed. You dont get to those kinds of ratings without being elite. So itll be fun to see how it goes and if she can win some points and hopefully a game or two. Ftr, im pretty sure UTR 9+ is D2 to D1 level recruit.
Kanil
Footballguy
Dibs on the first set of FBG US Open tickets you give out when she makes it.
El Floppo
Footballguy
she played a tourney there a year or so ago- got to play on Grandstand Court (lost). just me and the other kid's dad sitting in the giant stadium... very, very cool- and plenty of seats available! I kept booing the other girl and then ducking down pretending it wasn't me.
El Floppo
Footballguy
lol
the tennis girls at her school seem to be the worst of the kids- cliquish, judgey, entitled and rich, without the dedication or passion to develop whatever little skills they have from playing with daddy at their hamptons house. I'm pretty sure they're ALL named Felicia.
Probably all pre-Karen's as well
Redwes25
Footballguy
Congrats!
belljr
Footballguy
El Floppo
Footballguy
Good info. Maybe for women?
Her private coach who coaches at a rival school had a senior last year who was 8-9 that todays opponent beat easily last year. That girl went D2.
belljr
Footballguy
Idk.... Not sure what his final ratings were but that was when he got recruited.
My point was more I think you are close with the numbers
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Redwes25
Footballguy
So first game of the season he didn’t see the field in a close 1-0 victory. Second game was this afternoon and team started out awful with a ton of bad touches and just booting the ball around. My son came in after about 15 minutes as part of three man sub with another sophomore and a freshman and team settled down and played much better. End in a tough overtime loss but my son ended up playing a bit more than half the game mostly as part of a double pivot cdm.
He played well though the league is very physical as HS soccer can be and at times got pushed around a bit. Honestly he needs to get bigger(which will happen) but he did what he does best which is passing, first touch/control and positioning. Very proud even if he is upset with result.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
An interesting development for my daughter's freshman year of volleyball. Friday she was demoted from the A team to the B team heading into a tournament today. They told her 'they wanted to try it' (which I have my thoughts on that being maybe not the best communication you can give a young athlete but it is what it is).
I have been able to see some of her play on the A team and missed some as well. From what I saw, she was solid, making most of the plays she should with an occasional misstep. Definitely on the same level as the rest of the team.
She had a game Wed that I missed due to my younger son having a scrimmage and being a coach, I didn't have a choice. I asked how it went and she cried a bit and said she made a mistake and they pulled her right away. I didn't get much more information because dealing with a teenage daughter is like being on the bomb squad, it is a delicate situation that can explode and kill everyone. So I am not sure what the mistake was.
Before she made the A team, I had told her either way is a plus. If you make A then you are on the higher level and can work hard. If you are on the lower level you will have more playing time and can work hard. When she made the A team, they moved her to DS from outside and she was very much a role player with limited playing time. Today, she was heavy in rotation. She played a little DS but mostly was outside. They won all three of their games only losing one set. She seemed to really enjoy herself today... a lot looser than when I saw her play with A. Her friend that she pairs with on beach volleyball in the summer is also on the B team.
As a footnote: when they scrimmaged the A team with her on B Friday, it was the first time this whole season that the B team beat the A team. I thought that was interesting information.
She shall see how this goes from here.
I have been able to see some of her play on the A team and missed some as well. From what I saw, she was solid, making most of the plays she should with an occasional misstep. Definitely on the same level as the rest of the team.
She had a game Wed that I missed due to my younger son having a scrimmage and being a coach, I didn't have a choice. I asked how it went and she cried a bit and said she made a mistake and they pulled her right away. I didn't get much more information because dealing with a teenage daughter is like being on the bomb squad, it is a delicate situation that can explode and kill everyone. So I am not sure what the mistake was.
Before she made the A team, I had told her either way is a plus. If you make A then you are on the higher level and can work hard. If you are on the lower level you will have more playing time and can work hard. When she made the A team, they moved her to DS from outside and she was very much a role player with limited playing time. Today, she was heavy in rotation. She played a little DS but mostly was outside. They won all three of their games only losing one set. She seemed to really enjoy herself today... a lot looser than when I saw her play with A. Her friend that she pairs with on beach volleyball in the summer is also on the B team.
As a footnote: when they scrimmaged the A team with her on B Friday, it was the first time this whole season that the B team beat the A team. I thought that was interesting information.
She shall see how this goes from here.
El Floppo
Footballguy
Another match, another destruction. 1-8 (not sure why it was 1 8 game set this time.)
My wife was there and didnt think the other girl was all that- good, but nowhere close to the level of the 1st opponent on Friday. Somebody she could go toe to toe with in the tourneys she plays. Sounds like floppinha was hitting a lot into the net and serving and moving badly.
Ill see what floppinha has to say.
My guess- "i played well but the other girl was much better" which removes any goal driven self reflection from it.
My wife was there and didnt think the other girl was all that- good, but nowhere close to the level of the 1st opponent on Friday. Somebody she could go toe to toe with in the tourneys she plays. Sounds like floppinha was hitting a lot into the net and serving and moving badly.
Ill see what floppinha has to say.
My guess- "i played well but the other girl was much better" which removes any goal driven self reflection from it.
First fall intersquad game. The pitchers were capped at 20 pitches and were only allowed to throw fastballs and change-ups.
Not a bad first outing. Some of the other pitchers that went got hit pretty hard with a couple bombs and doubles to the gap. This included three of their top 4 starting pitchers from last year.
- First Batter (returner-starter): K on three pitches. Got him with an 0-2 change up down
- 2nd Batter (returner - starter): Had him 0-2 with first pitch fastball, and swung over a change down. Backed up with another change that he wanted in the dirt but located in same spot as 2nd pitch and hit for a clean single
- 3rd Batter (returner - non starter): went 0-2 and wanted fast ball up and in on hands, ended up off end of bat for weak grounder to 1B.
- 4th batter (transfer): Went full count and blew FB at top of zone by him for K
- 5th batter (returner - starter): went 2-2 and got him to roll over a change up for routine ground out to SS.
Not a bad first outing. Some of the other pitchers that went got hit pretty hard with a couple bombs and doubles to the gap. This included three of their top 4 starting pitchers from last year.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Gotta be tough to get batters out without any breaking balls. Especially if they know there's no breaking balls!
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Agreed, at that level that is a dang good outing only using two balls and the batters knowing that.
Agreed. He wasn't too happy with those limitations. He was handcuffed as he uses his breaking ball in fastball counts because he can put it where he wants to get easy strikes to get ahead. It sounded like he was getting good movement on his change-up so that helps too.
Both boys signed their player agreements as of today and will be playing Jr A hockey this year for sure.
It's taking some getting used to watching their preseason games on stream instead of in person.
Fall update:
Performance wise things are going well but the coach is rubbing a lot of players the wrong way because he is forcing his old school ways on a lot of the players and it is causing issues in performance. He appears to be losing the team a bit.
Gally Jr is affected because the head coach is trying to force him to move to the 3B side of the rubber where he typically goes from the 1B side. With his arm slot and movement being on the 1B side allows him to tunnel his pitches better and with his pitch movement gives him space to work. When he moves to the 3B side he has to open up more to hit the outside corner (to a RH hitter) and with his movement it is causing his pitches to "miss" over the plate instead of off the plate as he has typically done.
He has pitched two different outings so far in the fall. The first one he faced 5 batters (20 pitch limit) with 2 K's, 2 ground ball outs and a single (he missed his spot). This was all from the 1B side of the rubber.
His next outing (yesterday) the first 5 batters he faced was again 2 K's, 2 ground outs and a single. On the 6th batter he was 2-2 on him and the head coach came out and made him move to the 3B side of the rubber. He said he threw a nasty change that the LH batter swung over the top so the head coach told him see how much better than works. He then proceeded to give up singles to the next two guys. One was on an 0-2 curveball that he missed out over the plate where from the other side he would have missed off the plate. The other was a fast ball that leaked back over the plate instead of on the outer third. Also hit for a single.
Gally Jr talked extensively with the pitching coach about set up location and why he believes his pitches move and locate better from the 1B side of the rubber based on his movement and locations. The pitching coach agreed with him so they went together to talk to the head coach after practice. The head coach shut it down and said I want all my RH pitchers going from the 3B side period. Basically cut the pitching coach off at the knees and. As background the head coach is an infielder and hasn't pitched. He is being very obstinate and not allowing for any discussion.
Gally Jr. is so frustrated that he wasn't given an opportunity to state his case and let the results speak for themselves. He could understand if he was doing it his way and wasn't getting results then try something and shift over. But since he has now pitched about 15-ish innings over last fall and this fall and given up 2 ER's over that time with more than a K an inning it doesn't make sense to change this approach. It got to the point that he told me yesterday he plans to transfer because he is done with this coach. Very disappointing at a time things should be exciting based on how well he has been doing.
I am baffled by the inflexibility of the coach and how he takes no input from his pitching coach about seeing how things play out. I mean that is what fall is supposed to be about. If I was the pitching coach I would be having a sit down with the head guy and lay it out to him. What is the point of having a pitching coach when the head coach with no pitching experience forces things without performance reasons. I wouldn't put up with that.
Now, I have coached for many years and I know there are times when you see something a player is doing and you want to change things up because you can see how they may be limited with their current techniques and a change can open things up to get better. However, if the players is effective and has thought about and tried the change and has valid reasons (and results) showing how the change is limiting him then you gotta give the player a chance to prove his convictions. I am baffled that this isn't happening.
Just an odd way to run things in my experience. Sorry for the long post but had to vent a little bit.
Performance wise things are going well but the coach is rubbing a lot of players the wrong way because he is forcing his old school ways on a lot of the players and it is causing issues in performance. He appears to be losing the team a bit.
Gally Jr is affected because the head coach is trying to force him to move to the 3B side of the rubber where he typically goes from the 1B side. With his arm slot and movement being on the 1B side allows him to tunnel his pitches better and with his pitch movement gives him space to work. When he moves to the 3B side he has to open up more to hit the outside corner (to a RH hitter) and with his movement it is causing his pitches to "miss" over the plate instead of off the plate as he has typically done.
He has pitched two different outings so far in the fall. The first one he faced 5 batters (20 pitch limit) with 2 K's, 2 ground ball outs and a single (he missed his spot). This was all from the 1B side of the rubber.
His next outing (yesterday) the first 5 batters he faced was again 2 K's, 2 ground outs and a single. On the 6th batter he was 2-2 on him and the head coach came out and made him move to the 3B side of the rubber. He said he threw a nasty change that the LH batter swung over the top so the head coach told him see how much better than works. He then proceeded to give up singles to the next two guys. One was on an 0-2 curveball that he missed out over the plate where from the other side he would have missed off the plate. The other was a fast ball that leaked back over the plate instead of on the outer third. Also hit for a single.
Gally Jr talked extensively with the pitching coach about set up location and why he believes his pitches move and locate better from the 1B side of the rubber based on his movement and locations. The pitching coach agreed with him so they went together to talk to the head coach after practice. The head coach shut it down and said I want all my RH pitchers going from the 3B side period. Basically cut the pitching coach off at the knees and. As background the head coach is an infielder and hasn't pitched. He is being very obstinate and not allowing for any discussion.
Gally Jr. is so frustrated that he wasn't given an opportunity to state his case and let the results speak for themselves. He could understand if he was doing it his way and wasn't getting results then try something and shift over. But since he has now pitched about 15-ish innings over last fall and this fall and given up 2 ER's over that time with more than a K an inning it doesn't make sense to change this approach. It got to the point that he told me yesterday he plans to transfer because he is done with this coach. Very disappointing at a time things should be exciting based on how well he has been doing.
I am baffled by the inflexibility of the coach and how he takes no input from his pitching coach about seeing how things play out. I mean that is what fall is supposed to be about. If I was the pitching coach I would be having a sit down with the head guy and lay it out to him. What is the point of having a pitching coach when the head coach with no pitching experience forces things without performance reasons. I wouldn't put up with that.
Now, I have coached for many years and I know there are times when you see something a player is doing and you want to change things up because you can see how they may be limited with their current techniques and a change can open things up to get better. However, if the players is effective and has thought about and tried the change and has valid reasons (and results) showing how the change is limiting him then you gotta give the player a chance to prove his convictions. I am baffled that this isn't happening.
Just an odd way to run things in my experience. Sorry for the long post but had to vent a little bit.
Skipdog77
Footballguy
That sucks for Gally Jr (and you, by extension). Good coaches coach to the individual player. His decree that all his RH pitchers will go from the 3B side (and his subsequent dismissal of his pitching coach's opinion) shows he has neither the inclination nor the ability to be that kind of coach. The bad news is that he may have transfer and start over somewhere else. The good news is he has that ability, and he has proven himself to be a player who would likely catch on quickly elsewhere.
Sorry that he is dealing with it when he should be able to focus on all the success and hard work he has put in to this point. When one door closes, another opens.
Sorry that he is dealing with it when he should be able to focus on all the success and hard work he has put in to this point. When one door closes, another opens.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
This is an example of where I think the transfer portal is a good thing as much as there are many negatives to it. It use to be in this situation the player was kind of screwed. Now, they do have an out of this doesn't resolve towards the better at the end of the year.
Skipdog77
Footballguy
Agree. By all means though, I do think Gally Jr should try to talk to the coach at least one more time to express his concern and rationale. Maybe the coach is having a bad week, and may be more open to an actual conversation next week. Try to work it out until he believes it can't be. Transfer portal may be the ultimate result but it shouldn't be jumped to without exhausting communication in the current situation, especially since he seems to like it there and the team. But it's there to be used if needed.
We talked specifically about this and I mentioned to Gally jr that it sounded like the coach was having a bad day or under pressure or something else because the response didn't seem to match the situation.
My advice was to talk to the pitching coach more and see if he will go to bat for the pitching staff (as this isn't just a Gally Jr thing. He has been talking with one of the junior transfer pitchers that also typically throws from the 1B side and they discussed pros and cons and neither think moving is a benefit to them and their mechanics). Essentially let the pitching coach have first crack with the head coach to see if he can find an underlying reason for the inflexibility. It could be the coach is under pressure from the AD because the program hasn't been successful the last couple years and it has mainly been due to bad pitching. Lot's of things could be at play here that have nothing to do with actual performance.
Gally Jr doesn't believe there is any use in trying to talk to the head guy more because he has talked about it with other players that are also frustrated over this kind of thing and they haven't gotten anywhere either. It seems the guy is just stuck in his ways and doesn't want to be flexible.....this may be why the program struggles.
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He has. He was pushed to that last fall and tried with limited success. You wouldn't think it is that big of an adjustment but when discussing it with junior his biggest struggle is what the change does to his "misses". He says if he throws a good pitch it's still a good pitch and still is effective. But when he misses it is more costly because from that side it causes his natural movement to now break to the middle of the plate instead of off the plate. So where his curveball may miss off the plate before it now misses middle. So mistakes are much more costly. That seems to be the big difference and the reasons given for moving (hiding the ball better to RH hitters) isn't making up for the misses.
He worked on it last year and kept moving slightly back to the 1B side over time. He also tried it this summer and it just wasn't as effective for him. The gains just aren't realized at this point.
He is going to keep trying and working because like he said, good pitches are still good pitches he just has to make sure he doesn't miss. It will be a work in progress for sure. My hope is his frustration doesn't bubble over too much. Having the pitching coach on his side will hopefully help with that too.
