High School Ball

[Country Boy]

I think school ball has more pressure than travel. Every game counts. But why is the coach borderline insane?

Extremely dumb question. What coach isn't insane? Why else would we put up with the crap?

 

[sportinus]

My DD plays freshman ball. She is doing well, but I overheard her talking to a non-hs player saying that it is really hard to hit in HS because at the freshman level some of the pitchers miss big. So pitch 1 behind you, pitch 2 short, pitch 3 strike, pitch 4 over your head pitch 5 strike,..... plus the umpires want the game to end at some point so the strike zone expands.

 

[slaphappy]

In other words, you and your DD are "spoiled'--your DD plays for a TB coach and a TB team you carefully selected to fit you and your DD's wants and needs.

I think TB parents are "spoiled" but not in the way you mention. Our HS plays in the highest division in our state but I am astounded by the lack of quality coaching in HS softball. I would consider many ASA B level coaches in our state to be better coaches than many of our HS varsity coaches. A level TB players are spoiled because all they have known is at least decent coaching.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

Dd's skill set has been destroyed in HS ball... batting avg has dropped about 200 points, and her pitching has never been worse. She is made to do push ups for utilizing an IR approach, if HE isn't performed she is told to drop and push ten. Thanks to this a-- hole her speed is down about 10 mph and the spin/movement is horrible. Been such a horrible experience that it's highly unlikely she'll play next year. Thinking we'll give tennis a whirl.

Probably going to be the same result with DD albeit for different reasons...DD is THE pitcher for HS team...was 8-12 last year, just finished the regular season at 16-7 this year...but this has been by far the most frustrating year dealing with favoritism of certain players and just plain stupid coaching...she's almost quit 3 times already...2 weeks left for playoffs...then bye-bye to HS softball...she's going to concentrate on conditioning and strength training her senior year rather than put up with the BS anymore...because the "favorites" will also be seniors next year and will be running the asylum...

 

[Slappers]

Extremely dumb question. What coach isn't insane? Why else would we put up with the crap?

True that but I've been called insane for various legitimate reasons and quite a few illegitimate reasons.... I was just trying to figure out which side of the fence the OP was on.

 

[left turn]

This drives me nuts. Why would they try to change someone in such a short amount of time?

Something very similar happened to one of our travel players who is on JV in another town. She tucks the ball behind her head in her overhand throwing motion. Her throwing motion is not optimal, but she has great hands and is very quick with the catch and throw sequence. Despite the motion she has a good arm and she's a really nice kid from a great family.

Early on in practices, the high school coach told her she had to change and showed her how she should throw. When she didn't immediately change her motion, the coach pretty much sidelined her. She didn't see much playing time in HS ball and is really upset. She is one of the few travel ball players on the team.

This is not something a player can change in a 5 weeks of preseason workouts. If she told her, "It is not optimal, fix it for next year", I could understand. At least that is within the realm of possibility.

I can only surmise the coach is enamored of her coaching prowess and when her wizened words didn't cause muscle memory to be magically undone she was annoyed.

 

[SCDad]

High School Softball carries way more pressure than travel softball.

It takes some getting used too. So, your DD batted .360 ... and you want to blame the coach. Sigh ... you travel folks.

 

[YOCOACH]

Something very similar happened to one of our travel players who is on JV in another town. She tucks the ball behind her head in her overhand throwing motion. Her throwing motion is not optimal, but she has great hands and is very quick with the catch and throw sequence. Despite the motion she has a good arm and she's a really nice kid from a great family.

Early on in practices, the high school coach told her she had to change and showed her how she should throw. When she didn't immediately change her motion, the coach pretty much sidelined her. She didn't see much playing time in HS ball and is really upset. She is one of the few travel ball players on the team.

This is not something a player can change in a 5 weeks of preseason workouts. If she told her, "It is not optimal, fix it for next year", I could understand. At least that is within the realm of possibility.

I can only surmise the coach is enamored of her coaching prowess and when her wizened words didn't cause muscle memory to be magically undone she was annoyed.

Without seeing the motion in action, I would strongly suggest you check out Austin Wasserman's throwing motion then have the coaches do the same. He has everyone he instructs take the ball behind the head and it never ceases to amaze me how fast the overhand ball speed is for his students.

 

[iMlearning]

arm behind head

http://wassermanstrength.com/ichiro-throwing-pattern-warm-up/

 

[YOCOACH]

Hello All:

I am interested to learn about High School Softball. My daughter plays for a HS coach who is borderline insane.
My kid is a travel player who plays on a top level team. She is a mid infielder that hits between .400-.450avg a season in travel.
But its been a frustrating high school season where she barely hit .400 after 20 games played . Seems in high school she hits the ball hard but gets unlucky and either hits the ball right at them or they make an unbelievable catch etc...

The coach bats her ninth & after 20 games she only has 16 RBI'S .360avg


Is it possible to have more pressure in High School ball than travel ? How do we make sense of this ???

Need some input please ...

JWP

Sorry for the digression first but a little background is needed to clarify your situation. There are two types of HS coaches; ones that will play entitlement players and ones that will play the best 9. It seems to me as if you fall into the latter group as far as your DD is concerned. Now you have to understand that I am making HUGE leaps of deduction here but this is where I'm at as far as what your post says and I could absolutely be completely off-base.

Your DD usually does well in TB. That's a fact I have surmised from what you have stated. Even though DD may have played against these players in the past, this does not mean that she is comfortable hitting against them now. Team composition has a lot to do with this. Many HS teams have bullying that is never acknowledged by the coach. This will only add more stress to the situation unless addressed.

Unfortunately, our HS coaches pit players against one another for playing time. This also creates an atmosphere of animosity but the HS coaches feel it is more about competition. That being said, many great players have crumbled under the added pressure.

Also, your DD may be more comfortable in the #3 spot as opposed to the #9 spot. Comfort in their batting position may be affecting her also. Mental is a huge part of hitting and a perceived lack of confidence by the coaches can become a serious detriment to batting. I cannot tell you how many times I have faced this situation, especially at the younger ages. I have had to tell them repeatedly that the batting order didn't mean much since often times I would put my second best lead-off hitter in the 9 position to make the turn.

I can't tell you how many times I would end up at the bottom of the order to get her on base and then go to the top of the order to score her for a run. It's not all about BA and what your DD can do. It's what she can do for the team.