DD joined a new team back in July. It has seriously been the absolute best move she could have made. The coaches are amazing, the girls are wonderful and the parents and great. The environment on this team is completely opposite from her last team. I almost feel like it's too good to be true! LOL! This coach has only had 3 girls leave his 2 teams in the 5 years he has been coaching - so for DD to get a spot on his team was a pretty big feat.
HC is so supportive of DD - she is the first slapper he has had that he claims he is learning from. DD has gotten pretty good at telling him where she wants to place the ball and then she can follow thru. She can bunt, slap and hit away. She has the highest on base percentage of any player on either team. So offensively she is doing good. He has even asked her to play up with his older team a couple of times.
However, for some reason she is acting hesitant on the bases. She used to be a very aggressive baserunner, but this year she is holding back. Defensively she has started to discover what she wasn't taught over the past 4 years. She is so discouraged and feels like she fell behind especially over the past 2 years. Her old coach was a nice guy, but not a good teacher and not a great coach. He ran the exact same practice for the last 2 years. I could have run it! She said in the first 6 practices with her new team she learned more than she had over the past 2 years.
Obviously since DD is the new player on the team the rest of the girls know some things DD doesn't. Over the past 4 years she was the primary catcher for her team, playing OF when not catching. On the new team her primary is OF and secondary is catching. She is a quick, little lefty so OF is a great place for her. She is having problems knowing exactly how to track a fast ground ball, and then knowing where to throw. She is also struggling with all the different bunt plays (whether playing catcher or OF). I told her she just needs to ask to talk to the coach. Sometimes because she hangs with the rest of the team I think he forgets that she doesn't know all his plays. I know he would respect her if she came to talk to him - he is very kind and patient. She is just such a perfectionist and I think she is afraid of showing weakness...ugh. She was almost in tears last night after practice.
HC is so supportive of DD - she is the first slapper he has had that he claims he is learning from. DD has gotten pretty good at telling him where she wants to place the ball and then she can follow thru. She can bunt, slap and hit away. She has the highest on base percentage of any player on either team. So offensively she is doing good. He has even asked her to play up with his older team a couple of times.
However, for some reason she is acting hesitant on the bases. She used to be a very aggressive baserunner, but this year she is holding back. Defensively she has started to discover what she wasn't taught over the past 4 years. She is so discouraged and feels like she fell behind especially over the past 2 years. Her old coach was a nice guy, but not a good teacher and not a great coach. He ran the exact same practice for the last 2 years. I could have run it! She said in the first 6 practices with her new team she learned more than she had over the past 2 years.
Obviously since DD is the new player on the team the rest of the girls know some things DD doesn't. Over the past 4 years she was the primary catcher for her team, playing OF when not catching. On the new team her primary is OF and secondary is catching. She is a quick, little lefty so OF is a great place for her. She is having problems knowing exactly how to track a fast ground ball, and then knowing where to throw. She is also struggling with all the different bunt plays (whether playing catcher or OF). I told her she just needs to ask to talk to the coach. Sometimes because she hangs with the rest of the team I think he forgets that she doesn't know all his plays. I know he would respect her if she came to talk to him - he is very kind and patient. She is just such a perfectionist and I think she is afraid of showing weakness...ugh. She was almost in tears last night after practice.