High School Coaches

00fpdaddy said:

Thanks to all for the feedback. Will keep u updated as season goes on.

Click to expand...

As an FYI, I don't agree that your dd should do it but did want to make a negative a positive with my previous post. Personally, I'd rather have your dd over to the side working on real command of all of her pitches and having a catcher learn your dd's strengths as well.

I hear ya Cannon. Her JV team is on a roll, they are crushing other teams. Her catcher is one of her best friends and tb player also. They didnt make varsity, politics, too many upper classemen and all the other reasons that go into play. Actually pissed them off. There both in 8th grade. Small school and HC and AC has been there for years. All aspects of the game, they are way beyond their other teamates. They dont show off, or have a prima donna attitude. They help their teamates as much as they can or at least as much their coach lets them.

Going of track, back to the thread. Varsity HC wanted the jv team at Varsity practice this week.(Spring break) Only the 8th graders. (5 in total) See what all the hub bub was about. Sure enough they wanted them vs. Varsity pitching. dd pitched 4 games the week before (2 in cold and wet conditions) and 1 game of a double header and 2 innings of the 2nd on Sunday. Told her if asked to pitch dont. Tell her the truth and your arm is tired/sore and you pitched yesterday already and dont need a workout. This was monday. Thats when dd heard the coaches instruct V pitchers only strikes down the middle. So long story short, her catcher obliterated the Ace, and dd hit a couple of shots just short of the fence vs #2. She has some misses too, but they both definatly left an impression.

I throw a lot of BP for the rep players both girls and boys, woman and men.
The amount of times the ball is driven back at me is incredible and have been hurt throwing BP.
As far as throwing the ball through the middle of the plate (on to the bat) depends on what the caoch is looking to acheive.
If the coach is looking to improve the bat swing and timing I try to throw fat low spinning peel drop ball pitches. Sometimes I throw inside and outside to see how the batter performs.
Movement pitches are genarally kept for the more senior players.
For myself I try to use BP as accuracy pitching practice. The middle of the plate at the end of the day is just another spot on the plate.

Today I saw....... a jv batting practice.
One group hitting inflated basketballs, footballs, and soccer balls, one group hitting with THEIR GLOVE, under the lead armpit, full swings, one group hitting balls thrown up in the air, then hit coming down, Swing level cues from the pitching machine area, with hold the bat upright and only move forward. Keeping the barrel above the hands.

Hands go first, right to ball., stay off your front foot.

I am going to puke.

Unbelievable.....
Practice like you play....period!
Its not that hard to find a decent coach. Who knows a little something.
At our HS the HC corrected my right handed dd in her over hand throwing mechanics yesterday. He said " your left foot needs to be in the air as your throwing, and plant it in the follow through". WTF?!?!? Where in earth do they find these guys?

How about this. Dd playing first base indoors during tryouts, AC tells her "ready position" stance is too wide for his liking. He wants her legs/feet closer together so the ball wont go thru. I kidd u not.

mann said:

Today I saw....... a jv batting practice.
One group hitting inflated basketballs, footballs, and soccer balls, one group hitting with THEIR GLOVE, under the lead armpit, full swings, one group hitting balls thrown up in the air, then hit coming down, Swing level cues from the pitching machine area, with hold the bat upright and only move forward. Keeping the barrel above the hands.

Hands go first, right to ball., stay off your front foot.

I am going to puke.

Click to expand...

My DD, a very good-hitter on her middle school team, as most TB players are, was asked this week by her former middle school coach (now a high school coach, but still teaching at the middle school) if she (my DD) believes in taking the knob to the ball. The coach was running ideas past her in order to help her with her high school team. Conversation itself seems surreal to me. Well, DD knows that knob-to-ball is a no-no, but didn't want to come right out and say that, so says, ''Doing that doesn't work well for me.''

In reality, DD is guilty of some knob pulling herself, and the correct answer would've been, ''I've actually begun seeing a hitting coach right now for the strict purpose of helping me NOT to do what you describe. There's a sickness called bag drag that can result from knob-to-ball, and I want to eradicate any traces of it. Please do not expose any children to it.''

But I also was thinking that if I were answering that question, I would recommend that coaches not teach hitting at all on the high school level unless they really have a very good understanding of it and are addressing things that can be fixed rather quickly, like dropping the hands, or stepping toward third base. It's been very challenging to get my DD to turn the barrel. I would think it's near impossible to get a high school player to do that in a matter of weeks. HS coach has plenty of other, more practical things to do and can actually be an outstanding HS coach without trying to develop hitters. Main task is team-building and getting the best players in the right positions on the field and in the lineup.

Here's the question your daughter should ask:

"After all the hitters get a chance to hit, can you have them come back and swing and miss on purpose so I can feel good too?"

I think the biggest thing that destroys a girl is the reaction the coaches give after a failed at bat. I've seen coaches undermine the mental state of a player and that follows to the next at bat. Negative feed back for girls can be devastating. That being said, I need to keep my mouth shut because this is a sore subject with me.