So Cal Ellie

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Mar 22, 2016
505
63
Southern California
Figured I'd start a thread to document progress. This is Ellie, entering her second season of 8U. In our highly competitive rec league, the girls pitch until they reach four balls, and then it turns to coach pitch. In the second half of the season, coach pitch is eliminated. Ellie led off and split time at catcher as a league-age 7-year-old this past spring for her team, which featured the fastest throwing pitcher in the division. She was, in my opinion and per the GameChanger stats that were kept (not by me) the third best player on the team. The two better players ahead of her both made the Gold All-Star team, which won States this summer.

I don't have video of the front toss from tonight's session, but she found a second gear with her snapping and learned to snap faster to hit faster pitching, which was a big revelation for her. A lot of work was put in tonight on the coiling. Still a work in progress, and of course she has other issues to work out, but a solid night of work.

 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Looks pretty good to me...get some live ball swings when you have a chance. How big is that bat?

Does she throw lefty too?
 
Mar 22, 2016
505
63
Southern California
Looks pretty good to me...get some live ball swings when you have a chance. How big is that bat?

Does she throw lefty too?
Live ball she becomes a wreck. At least she did at try outs on Saturday. Of course, they allowed zero warm up and the machine was throwing slow so her timing was a mess. Regardless, she bailed out of the coil way completely and didn't turn the barrel and hit a couple of medicore ground balls. But hey, at evals in spring she swung and missed at all four pitches - at least she hit two this time.

She bats left, throws right. She also writes left, but kicks right. She's all over the place.
 
Last edited:
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Off to a good start, Seth. (y)

During your practice with her, have her pay attention to how the good tee swings feel in her body, and ask her to make it feel the same way when she hits a moving ball.
 
Mar 22, 2016
505
63
Southern California
Off to a good start, Seth. (y)

During your practice with her, have her pay attention to how the good tee swings feel in her body, and ask her to make it feel the same way when she hits a moving ball.


Oh I was definitely telling her that on Friday, when this was recorded. REMEMBER this feeling, and take it in to the live at-bat. I think the nerves and slow machine just threw her completely off, and she reverted back to old habits. But we'll keep working. This is our first time playing fall ball, and we were only at one of four evaluation times for 8U, but man the overall quality seems way down from spring. Need to keep her motivated to push, push, push.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Oh I was definitely telling her that on Friday, when this was recorded. REMEMBER this feeling, and take it in to the live at-bat. I think the nerves and slow machine just threw her completely off, and she reverted back to old habits. But we'll keep working. This is our first time playing fall ball, and we were only at one of four evaluation times for 8U, but man the overall quality seems way down from spring. Need to keep her motivated to push, push, push.

It's a process. Game swings are always the LAST place changes show up.

It's not uncommon for rec league fall ball to be a lower level than the spring season. Often, the better athletes are playing another sport. Many leagues also promote the fall season as "introductory" or "instructional".

Careful with the "push, push, push". You don't want it to push her out of the game. Keep it fun, fun, fun.
 
Mar 22, 2016
505
63
Southern California
It's a process. Game swings are always the LAST place changes show up.

It's not uncommon for rec league fall ball to be a lower level than the spring season. Often, the better athletes are playing another sport. Many leagues also promote the fall season as "introductory" or "instructional".

Careful with the "push, push, push". You don't want it to push her out of the game. Keep it fun, fun, fun.

Right. I don't want to misconstrue my intention. I meant push as to keep it challenging/motivating/growth. She seemed disappointed with the quality out there. But, she has things to work on. The trap for her will be her falling in to "just doing enough" rather than using this time to continue to grow as a player, as a teammate, as a leader on the feel (now that she's one of the older girls). That's the only push I meant. She typically plays soccer during the fall, and she's pretty good at it. But she chose to play softball this time. She's also playing Friday Night Lights flag football to be with her twin brother and their nephew, all on the same team. So she's excited for that.

Fun, fun, fun.
 
Aug 23, 2016
359
43
This is our first time playing fall ball, and we were only at one of four evaluation times for 8U, but man the overall quality seems way down from spring.

That's how DD's league is. We don't actually lose that many kids to other sports, and the ones we do are usually not the best players in the league. But fall is when kids move up to the next age group, so each age group sees an influx of kids who need time getting used to playing in a higher division. Plus, our fall ball always gets a bunch of girls who are new to softball. By the halfway point of the season it's always better.
 

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