fall sports

[John T]

My daughter swims in the fall. It is her primary sport and the one she will be playing in college. She recently told me that she could not play college softball because she could not imagine practicing as much as they do. She told me it would be boring. And I said, swimming isn't boring? Sometimes I wonder if she is really my DD.

 

[Orange Socks]

In our area we have HS fall ball, but they play double headers once a week against other HS teams in the area. It is coached by Dads typically, and the HS coach watches from a far and does not interact with what's going on during the game. No practices are held so this does not interfere with the Fall TB teams or tournaments. A bit more laid back. It has a feel of rec league for HS players and you will have TB and non TB players participating. This is a way for the HS coaches to see what they have for the spring.

I consider swimming an exercise to make your stronger at some other sport. To me it is very one dimensional. Swim back and forth in one lane as fast as you can. Based on your times and lane assignments, you have a pretty good idea of what places you will come in as well. Furthermore, I don't see any strategy that is going on while they are swimming. Train hard and swim fast. Maybe I don't get it. But that's okay. I still appreciate the sport.

In Softball there is so much going on in the game. There are many games within the game going on. There are many wins and losses within each pitch and that is happening at every position. Softball wins over soccer and swimming at our house...at least for the older DD.

 

[Larrry D]

My DD #1 runs Cross Country and DD #2 plays tennis. The tennis has to build up the arm and wrist and fingers for pitching.

 

[medicpelle]

I consider swimming an exercise to make your stronger at some other sport. To me it is very one dimensional. Swim back and forth in one lane as fast as you can. Based on your times and lane assignments, you have a pretty good idea of what places you will come in as well. Furthermore, I don't see any strategy that is going on while they are swimming. Train hard and swim fast. Maybe I don't get it. But that's okay. I still appreciate the sport.

Lane assignments? Really? How does lane assignments in any type of swimming dictate anything? I'm not a swimmer but I know that a straight line is a straight line period. If I am wrong please educate me.

 

[BobInMadison]

In our area we have HS fall ball, but they play double headers once a week against other HS teams in the area. It is coached by Dads typically, and the HS coach watches from a far and does not interact with what's going on during the game. No practices are held so this does not interfere with the Fall TB teams or tournaments. A bit more laid back. It has a feel of rec league for HS players and you will have TB and non TB players participating. This is a way for the HS coaches to see what they have for the spring.

(SNIP)

Interesting!

In Wisconsin, there are limits to the "contact days" different coaches can have with the kids off season. I think this was meant to level the playing field between the richer and poorer school districts. In Madison it gets even weirder, because most HS coaches in just about every sport are also HS teachers. So, I knew a girl who had the SB coach as a teacher, and they could discuss SB in vague terms before or after class, but the teacher couldn't coach the student.

For spring sports this is really weird, because the spring coaches can still have contact with their players through the end of July. For example, the JV coach at a local HS helped run some weekly softball clinics for MS and HS students, but the clinics had to end by the end of July.

My kids' HS will have some winter practices, but the coach can have up to 5 contact days with the students, so there is a limit of 5. If there are any more than 5, the parent have to run them.

 

[BobInMadison]

Lane assignments? Really? How does lane assignments in any type of swimming dictate anything? I'm not a swimmer but I know that a straight line is a straight line period. If I am wrong please educate me.

Both my mother and my younger brother were varsity swimmers in HS. From what I have seen of swimming, lane assignments do make a difference. The reason is, they generally put the fastest swimmers in the middle lanes. That way the fast swimmers can tell if they are winning or not, and that might motivate them to make the extra effort.

My DS ran track for a year, and mumbled something about why some lanes were better than others. Not sure why, but he said it was a little more difficult to run in certain lanes, but that could vary according to the track. For some tracks, the inside and/or outside lane might be close to some barriers. I can see that for swimming some athletes might not like swimming next to the wall.

In theory it shouldn't make a difference. But, as Yogi Berra said, 90% of everything is half mental.

 

[InsidePitch]

Lane assignments mean less now with the lane ropes used but in the olden days when I swam if you were on the outside lanes you got wash from the inside lanes. The new lane markers chew up the wash and calm the water as it passes between lanes. The old bubble type did little but mark the lane.

 

[SB23]

My 14yr old daughter is giving up volleyball this year to play tennis.

Any thoughts ? Could playing tennis affect her softball play ? Swing ? Throw ?

 

[BobInMadison]

My 14yr old daughter is giving up volleyball this year to play tennis.

Any thoughts ? Could playing tennis affect her softball play ? Swing ? Throw ?

Jackie Robinson was a very good tennis player in HS. It didn't hurt his baseball playing.