High School Softball

[Eric F]

I find that the parents of kids that only played rec league tend to be the crazies.

Even more than 8U all-star parents???

 

[YOCOACH]

Lol! Much to our displeasure the offending banshee woman had two daughters. (Just to be fair the kids were decent kids and would have been spectacularly nice if they didn't have crazy family)

Agree about the rec parents, they had less chance to learn how to hide the crazy.

Yep...In TB...they ALL get much better by 12U or older....NOT! I could tell you some stories that would make your hair curl...lol

 

[Cannonball]

I hope we have some coaches and parents that want to keep this thread going.

Cuts today. We had a practice geared toward infield, base running and situations and pressure defense. We could not get in our cages since the wind was blowing so hard. We do a thing I created long ago called double infield. It can be intense and dangerous if the coaching staff does not know what it is doing and the players don't pay attention. After one round, it was obvious who was out of place on the infield. Imagine two balls in play at all times and players throwing to various bases with the balls then being thrown to two catchers. (Note, catchers didn't get to do much today in this drill but they understood.) The base running is self explanatory. Then, we put kids on the bubble out in their favorite positions and had the varsity players that we knew would make the team be the runners. I hit balls to the various positions or gaps and these players on defense had to get outs/play defense. Tomorrow, we are off and running. Tryouts/cuts are over.

 

[inde53546]

Just came home from parent meeting. Pract/tryouts to begin 3/13.

 

[Greenmonsters]

I hope we have some coaches and parents that want to keep this thread going.

Cuts today. We had a practice geared toward infield, base running and situations and pressure defense. We could not get in our cages since the wind was blowing so hard. We do a thing I created long ago called double infield. It can be intense and dangerous if the coaching staff does not know what it is doing and the players don't pay attention. After one round, it was obvious who was out of place on the infield. Imagine two balls in play at all times and players throwing to various bases with the balls then being thrown to two catchers. (Note, catchers didn't get to do much today in this drill but they understood.) The base running is self explanatory. Then, we put kids on the bubble out in their favorite positions and had the varsity players that we knew would make the team be the runners. I hit balls to the various positions or gaps and these players on defense had to get outs/play defense. Tomorrow, we are off and running. Tryouts/cuts are over.

Good luck with the season! But I did want to point out what sounds like a potential missed opportunity. I'm sure you could figure out a way to replace them (e.g., with two varsity players that you know will make the team) which would allow them to work on blocking, receiving, etc.

First, noting that I would've been more than happy to have CB be my DD's SB coach in HS, TB, or college, I just want to point out that, in general, opportunities for productive catcher work commonly are overlooked as Dave Weaver commented in a 2006 Baseball Fever post The Most Wasted 20 Minutes in a Catchers Life

 

[Cannonball]

GM, the reason I mentioned the catchers was that I also hate it when catchers are wasted in practice. Typically, we use buckets and the catchers do catching drills etc. Yesterday, we had wind of 30+ mph and they kept flying across the field. Also, we have a recently graduated college catcher that I coached from the time she was 8 to work with them. She gets a good chuck of practice time and we also rotate others in to catch the pitchers. Also, I think you know this but I was friends with Dave and so, he kept me abreast of his thoughts and we often shared emails. Finally, while we do attempt limited traditional infield, I do more dynamic work with a type of infield that I created called, "Multiple Infield." One example, is that the pitcher throws a pitch to the catcher who then throws a runner out at second. At the same time, I hit a ball to 3rd. 3rd throws to first. SS throws ball back to catcher who receives the ball and rolls it out for a bunt for next catcher. 1B has thrown their ball to 3B who has had to sprint back to cover. 3B throws ball to catcher who then flips to me and I hit the ball somewhere in the OF.

 

[Rambler34]

Seeing so many people just starting makes me realize how lucky we are to be in the south. We played our first game on 02/20 and will play our 12th today. It is easy to pile up games when they play well in a tourney.

DD is absolutely miserable. She has now been out of action since the Monday before our first game. She has been in PT and they released her to practice yesterday and hopefully she will be released Monday in full. Having to sit and watch her team and not getting to contribute has been tough on her but hopefully the rest will help her get off to a great start.

 

[softgabby]

We had our tryouts for the high school team last weekend. We have our first practice on Monday with our first game not being until the end of the month. We are a real young team this year losing 8 players from last year's squad. We lost 4 to graduation, 2 went to play other sports, 1 was lost to being a foreign exchange student (China) and 1 was lost to injury (torn ACL and MCL playing basketball).

 

[Cannonball]

Quick post from today. I am so proud of our young ladies. We had an intense practice tonight. I had them do a couple of drills that involved two balls in play at all times. With balls flying everywhere and players running everywhere, this can be a sight to see. I don't think most of the younger ones have ever been in that type of practice. They were dragging off the field when it was over and one said that they could not believe that practice went that fast. IMO, that is when you know you have had a great practice. With this being very early in the year and having to get a lot done in a short period of time before the first game, we went until dark. So, that was about 2 hours 45 minutes. I'll slow down posting some now but will continue some updates.

 

[Jdaddy]

DD's team went 3-0-1 last weekend in our first action of the year. Outscored our opponents 31-6. No steal attempts in all four games against DD. The injury bug has gotten us again this year. With six underclassmen playing varsity, we don't have enough kids for JV. It really stinks for a handful of kids who probably won't get much playing time this year.