Its High School Ball

[Cannonball]

I don't want to post too much of what we do but I do want to give a sense of what we do. The rationale for this is to give some of you who believe HS ball is worthless an idea of what happens at other schools which might not be in your region/state. As I have stated before, I coach in a very good HS softball area. Also, to be clear, I am now a volunteer coach. I'm retired. I have the luxury to say when I show up and take off when I want to do family stuff.

Today, the HC and her husband got to the field early to roll the diamond. That means both OF and IN. Then, screens etc, had to be moved and set up for the rest of the season. We/the team started practice at 9. Today's focus was hitting balls in flight. We had stations set up as well as rotations. I threw in the cage. As one player said, "Coach, you're not bad. You throw about the speed I love to hit." LOL That is planned. I throw at speeds where I can coach the swing. We had live pitching on the field as well. One thing that we do is that we have former college pitchers throw. They have to be approved by the school board and they have to have passed the state requirements or coaching requirements. When I finished throwing live in the cage, we set up a screen right behind the catcher on the field and I coach from there. Our pitchers now go-to game mode and pitch. We rotate them so that they simulate game stuff and our hitters can hit different pitchers. We film all of this as well and at some point, I will break all of that down.

Along with this, we did do those other things expected of a normal practice like infield. We do infield differently and it is intense. Think of a normal practice from most and have it be on steroids when I am hitting double infield with another coach. I am loud and intense. Again, I am not going to post much of what we do but I do want to share some to give an example that HS ball in many places is not worthless. I guarantee the girls today had fun hitting all of those balls in flight and that they were coached. Please share just a little of what you do if you are a HS coach to make this thread have some relevance.

(I forgot to add. We have 2 turfed cages and both have 70-foot cage nets. We set up stations outside of that as well. If our machine is not being used in a cage, typically, it is shooting outfield balls.) If some of you want to vent about HS ball, do so.

 

[El Oso]

Your school is definitely a unicorn so for my DD and 99% of the others, it's still "Just High School Ball". I can only dream that my DD's HS coaches would do the same as you stated above. Those are some lucky girls.

 

[STRIKE3]

I don't want to post too much of what we do but I do want to give a sense of what we do. The rationale for this is to give some of you who believe HS ball is worthless an idea of what happens at other schools which might not be in your region/state. As I have stated before, I coach in a very good HS softball area. Also, to be clear, I am now a volunteer coach. I'm retired. I have the luxury to say when I show up and take of family stuff when I want.

Today, the HC and her husband got to the field early to roll the diamond. That means both OF and IN. Then, screens etc, had to be moved and set up for the rest of the season. We/the team started practice at 9. Today's focus was hitting balls in flight. We had stations set up as well as rotations. I threw in the cage. As one player said, "Coach, you're not bad. You throw about the speed I love to hit." LOL That is planned. I throw at speeds where I can coach the swing. We had live pitching on the field as well. One thing that we do is that we have former college pitchers throw. They have to be approved by the school board and they have to have passed the state requirements or coaching requirements. When I finished throwing live in the cage, we set up a screen right behind the catcher on the field and I coach from there. Our pitchers now go-to game mode and pitch. We rotate them so that they simulate game stuff and our hitters can hit different pitchers. We film all of this as well and at some point, I will break all of that down.

Along with this, we did do those other things expected of a normal practice like infield. We do infield differently and it is intense. Think of a normal practice from most and have it be on steroids when I am hitting double infield with another coach. I am loud and intense. Again, I am not going to post much of what we do but I do want to share some to give an example that HS ball in many places is not worthless. I guarantee the girls today had fun hitting all of those balls in flight and that they were coached. Please share just a little of what you do if you are a HS coach to make this thread have some relevance.

(I forgot to add. We have 2 turfed cages and both have 70-foot cage nets. We set up stations outside of that as well. If our machine is not being used in a cage, typically, it is shooting outfield balls.) If some of you want to vent about HS ball, do so.

Not going to comment much other than a big thumbs up. All you newbies here need to listen to what @Cannonball has to say if you want help. @Cannonball has been a long time member who knows stuff! I would encourage anyone who wants to learn more to reach out to @Cannonball.

A huge resource. Just wish more old timers would still come around.

Thanks for posting @Cannonball !!!!!

S3

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I wish we had the same at my district. Our coaches are just teachers collecting an extra paycheck. My daughters win in spite of them.

 

[CoachJD]

I wish we had the same at my district. Our coaches are just teachers collecting an extra paycheck. My daughters win in spite of them.

I won't argue for the quality of the coaching, but keep in mind if they weren't "collecting an extra paycheck," there probably wouldn't even be a team since there'd be nobody to coach.

I don't take the coaching stipend, but if I did, I'd be getting paid well below my state's minimum wage based on the hours I put in. The same goes for most of my other coaches, too (the soccer coach, who is not going to return, is an exception, but he was just generally a total negative). And that's the varsity head coach stipend. ACs and JV coaches make even less (they do less, but not that much less).

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I won't argue for the quality of the coaching, but keep in mind if they weren't "collecting an extra paycheck," there probably wouldn't even be a team since there'd be nobody to coach.

I don't take the coaching stipend, but if I did, I'd be getting paid well below my state's minimum wage based on the hours I put in. The same goes for most of my other coaches, too (the soccer coach, who is not going to return, is an exception, but he was just generally a total negative). And that's the varsity head coach stipend. ACs and JV coaches make even less (they do less, but not that much less).

Well, not exactly. One of the neighboring districts just hired a 20 year D2 coach whose college merged with their D1 program two years ago. We have qualified coaches in the area, but our AD refuses to get rid of our HC and AC. Our coaches do the bare minimum. When I procured an indoor space for hitting a defense at no cost, the coaches said no thanks since it was going to be volunteering for them.

I'm sure we'd love to have someone as dedicated as you. Sadly, ours are only collecting a paycheck.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

When I procured an indoor space for hitting a defense at no cost, the coaches said no thanks since it was going to be volunteering for them.

That is truly depressing.

 

[HunterMO]

I’ve mentioned it before but we consider ourselves very fortunate when it comes to DD’s school ball program. Same coaches for JH and HS. Have been doing it for years. As well as having played themselves. And umpired. They’re knowledgeable, fair, huge on fundamentals, and hold girls accountable. It’s easy to see they care about the players.

This is DD’s second season for JH. We’ve watched 3 seasons of the HS program and are impressed. DD will tryout as a Freshman in Fall (our seasons are reverse most elsewhere). We do have the good fortune of having almost all solid TB players for JH (2 squads), JV, and Varsity. So that helps. All squads are currently very competitive.

But in terms of the coaching and team atmosphere it’s tough to beat. Playing for the school means something to DD. So her playing in HS is a must as far as she’s concerned.

 

[Towny9]

I’ve mentioned it before but we consider ourselves very fortunate when it comes to DD’s school ball program. Same coaches for JH and HS. Have been doing it for years. As well as having played themselves. And umpired. They’re knowledgeable, fair, huge on fundamentals, and hold girls accountable. It’s easy to see they care about the players.

This is DD’s second season for JH. We’ve watched 3 seasons of the HS program and are impressed. DD will tryout as a Freshman in Fall (our seasons are reverse most elsewhere). We do have the good fortune of having almost all solid TB players for JH (2 squads), JV, and Varsity. So that helps. All squads are currently very competitive.

But in terms of the coaching and team atmosphere it’s tough to beat. Playing for the school means something to DD. So her playing in HS is a must as far as she’s concerned.

Many of the girls at our HS tell me they prefer school ball. When I ask them why - they say travel is too stressful because of their parents behavior!

 

[HunterMO]

Many of the girls at our HS tell me they prefer school ball. When I ask them why - they say travel is too stressful because of their parents behavior!

I don’t doubt that at all. DD’s JH/HS coaches are very adamant that parents are not to be coaching or yelling at umpires from behind the fence. For the most part it works out that way. I’ve seen some ice cold death stares from the HC at parents. And word is he’s escorted a couple out over the years.

DD also likes that she gets to play with all of her school softball friends. Once season is done they all split up for the year. This aspect is a big deal to her.