Travel success and HS struggles

[ang2bmd]

We just finished our hs season. For what its worth the most difficult strength of schedule for our state as ranked by the imperfect max prep. My freshman performed well by most standards not by her own. By her own she thinks if she doesn't hit 500 its not successful. Finished the season around 375 and slugged about 650 lead the team in triples and was 2nd in home runs. If you ask her she would say she struggled at the plate, not in the better games but in the ones with mediocre pitching. She has a patience problem that she finally adjusted to at the end of the season. All in all I think she learned a lot and will have a more successful travel season from what she learned. There is something to be said for the experience the older players have even though she may have more raw talent.

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[Tango]

The pressure is different. This is straight from a kid that kills the ball in TB and was OK in HS ball. She is a 10th grader and not my DD. She is 15 but has played HS level TB for over a year.

My DD was a 14 year old freshman and started at 2nd base (played awesome). Was 3-0 pitching on the varsity (average for her). Struggled like crazy hitting and lost confidence. She hits better pitching in TB. Did start hitting at the end of the season a little. Not sure why she went off. Absolutely killing the ball since the season is over.

Moving from MS to HS after Covid seemed to make the transition bigger this year, IMO.

 

[Westwind]

In reference to the different kind of pressure- It‘s also different to have friends, teachers and boyfriends etc watching instead of just your parents and grandparents.

 

[tim_s]

our biggest struggle is the adjustment down to the pitching.......DD1 saw quality 18u pitching all weekend.......2 of the 3 best pitchers in the league are on her team, there's more than 1 team who's #1 might touch 50 on a day with a good breakfast and a tailwind when the stars align.......

 

[MNDad]

our biggest struggle is the adjustment down to the pitching.......DD1 saw quality 18u pitching all weekend.......2 of the 3 best pitchers in the league are on her team, there's more than 1 team who's #1 might touch 50 on a day with a good breakfast and a tailwind when the stars align.......

When speed comes up on Facebook softball threads people jump all over it to say speed is overrated. I think most of them are parents of your HS kids who struggle to break 50.

 

[tim_s]

When speed comes up on Facebook softball threads people jump all over it to say speed is overrated. I think most of them are parents of your HS kids who struggle to break 50.

this year is even worse.......so many girls throwing with legit arc on their pitches, you move up in the box......umpires are 6' back, so the strike zone seems to be adjusted a little high.,......we have girls getting strike calls with pitches coming by at eye level lol

 

[black17]

Travel ball, as a general statement, is relative. We assume it means what our mental picture of travel ball is. In my opinion, on average, A ball is probably a little better than HS, but B ball is probably a little worse. I would expect a B and C players to struggle to some degree on a varsity roster as a freshman.

I can tell you for certain though, as tim_s said, really good players can struggle with really bad pitching. I see it A LOT. Its hard to go a full season and not see a bad pitcher you struggle against.

 

[marriard]

I have a different perspective;

I am going to make a big assumption; you are talking GOOD High School and GOOD travel. Because those 15-0 games in either don't matter.

Game Intensity
I don't think the actual length of game plays any factor - they will play many more innings in travel in a day than in HS. But when you see GOOD HS, the intensity level is ramped through the roof compared to one of many games they may play in travel on a weekend.

When you are playing JUST ONE game and it is good competition, you go much harder all game. That especially affects pitchers - there is more riding on every pitch. That intensity level - that is something most freshman will have not experienced until they got to HS.

The other thing in HS is that the end of the game in terms of time is a moving target - and with 7 innings you often have to hold a small lead for longer (or be just behind for longer). An hour into a travel game in the 4th? Well, I only have probably one more inning to go - I am only in 1/2 way done in HS.

When you get to good HS travel, every game is good. Often teams are WAY better than anything you see in HS. But one game intensity is not as common.

Can't Hide
HS records are there. People can see them. People outside your team are looking (especially when you are good). It is season - and people care. You only get ONE shot at most teams - there is no rematch - you either beat them now - or you don't. No second chances.

And teams you do play more than once - well it is often a rival program in the same conference with history so now the win matters more.

You lose in travel? So what - there is next week's tournament and everything resets again. We will beat them next time. No one cares much about what your team is doing outside your team.

Every Day
Most HS coaches go at this EVERY DAY as a team. Most travel teams go at it 2 times per week. So in HS< they are forced to see a LOT of each other... All day at school, every day at practice and games, plus team activities - and for many, they are also on the same travel teams. Cliques form. Drama is escalated. One bad teammate can make a big difference - a lot more than in travel. There is very little getting away from it. It is a very different grind in HS to travel.

Now if you add in a terrible coach to this mix and HS can be miserable. And a lot of misery. The same 2-hour repetitive practice. The same voice that grinds on you. The same people playing or not playing. And so on...

Good Seniors Know More About 'How'
Even with similar skills, good seniors are not only physically better, more experienced, and often more certain of who they are. They often already know what is next so there is no 'college recruiting' pressure and so on. They may have nothing to prove at this point. Plus an additional 4 years is a lot of experience all other things being equal. Also - the parents have 4 years more of not pressuring their kids and making it worse.