| SOFTBALL TIPS |
|
|
|
| SITE STUFF |
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
| • |
June 26, 2005 |
| • |
July 03, 2005 |
| • |
July 10, 2005 |
| • |
July 17, 2005 |
| • |
July 24, 2005 |
| • |
July 31, 2005 |
| • |
August 07, 2005 |
| • |
August 14, 2005 |
| • |
August 21, 2005 |
| • |
August 28, 2005 |
| • |
September 11, 2005 |
| • |
October 02, 2005 |
| • |
October 09, 2005 |
| • |
October 23, 2005 |
| • |
October 30, 2005 |
| • |
November 06, 2005 |
| • |
November 13, 2005 |
| • |
December 04, 2005 |
| • |
December 18, 2005 |
| • |
December 25, 2005 |
| • |
January 08, 2006 |
| • |
January 15, 2006 |
| • |
January 29, 2006 |
| • |
February 05, 2006 |
| • |
February 12, 2006 |
| • |
February 19, 2006 |
| • |
February 26, 2006 |
| • |
March 05, 2006 |
| • |
March 12, 2006 |
| • |
March 19, 2006 |
| • |
March 26, 2006 |
| • |
April 02, 2006 |
| • |
April 09, 2006 |
| • |
April 16, 2006 |
| • |
April 23, 2006 |
| • |
April 30, 2006 |
| • |
May 07, 2006 |
| • |
May 14, 2006 |
| • |
May 21, 2006 |
| • |
May 28, 2006 |
| • |
June 04, 2006 |
| • |
June 11, 2006 |
| • |
June 18, 2006 |
| • |
June 25, 2006 |
| • |
July 09, 2006 |
| • |
July 16, 2006 |
| • |
July 23, 2006 |
| • |
July 30, 2006 |
| • |
August 13, 2006 |
| • |
August 20, 2006 |
| • |
September 03, 2006 |
| • |
September 10, 2006 |
| • |
September 17, 2006 |
| • |
September 24, 2006 |
| • |
October 01, 2006 |
| • |
October 08, 2006 |
| • |
October 15, 2006 |
| • |
October 22, 2006 |
| • |
November 12, 2006 |
| • |
November 26, 2006 |
| • |
December 31, 2006 |
| • |
January 14, 2007 |
| • |
January 21, 2007 |
| • |
January 28, 2007 |
| • |
February 04, 2007 |
| • |
February 11, 2007 |
| • |
February 18, 2007 |
| • |
February 25, 2007 |
| • |
March 04, 2007 |
| • |
March 11, 2007 |
| • |
March 18, 2007 |
| • |
April 01, 2007 |
| • |
April 08, 2007 |
| • |
April 15, 2007 |
| • |
April 22, 2007 |
| • |
April 29, 2007 |
| • |
May 06, 2007 |
| • |
May 13, 2007 |
| • |
May 20, 2007 |
| • |
May 27, 2007 |
| • |
June 03, 2007 |
| • |
June 10, 2007 |
| • |
June 17, 2007 |
| • |
June 24, 2007 |
| • |
July 01, 2007 |
| • |
July 22, 2007 |
| • |
July 29, 2007 |
| • |
August 12, 2007 |
| • |
August 19, 2007 |
| • |
September 02, 2007 |
| • |
September 16, 2007 |
| • |
September 30, 2007 |
| • |
October 07, 2007 |
| • |
October 14, 2007 |
| • |
October 21, 2007 |
| • |
November 04, 2007 |
| • |
November 18, 2007 |
| • |
November 25, 2007 |
| • |
December 02, 2007 |
| • |
December 09, 2007 |
| • |
December 16, 2007 |
| • |
January 13, 2008 |
| • |
February 17, 2008 |
| • |
February 24, 2008 |
| • |
March 02, 2008 |
| • |
March 09, 2008 |
| • |
March 30, 2008 |
| • |
April 06, 2008 |
| • |
April 13, 2008 |
| • |
April 20, 2008 |
| • |
April 27, 2008 |
| • |
May 04, 2008 |
| • |
May 11, 2008 |
| • |
May 18, 2008 |
| • |
May 25, 2008 |
| • |
June 01, 2008 |
| • |
June 15, 2008 |
| • |
June 22, 2008 |
| • |
June 29, 2008 |
| • |
July 06, 2008 |
| • |
July 13, 2008 |
| • |
July 20, 2008 |
| • |
August 03, 2008 |
| • |
August 10, 2008 |
| • |
August 17, 2008 |
| • |
August 24, 2008 |
| • |
August 31, 2008 |
| • |
September 07, 2008 |
| • |
September 14, 2008 |
| • |
September 21, 2008 |
| • |
September 28, 2008 |
| • |
October 05, 2008 |
| • |
October 12, 2008 |
| • |
October 19, 2008 |
| • |
October 26, 2008 |
| • |
November 02, 2008 |
| • |
November 09, 2008 |
| • |
November 16, 2008 |
| • |
November 30, 2008 |
| • |
December 07, 2008 |
| • |
December 21, 2008 |
| • |
December 28, 2008 |
| • |
February 15, 2009 |
| • |
February 22, 2009 |
| • |
April 12, 2009 |
| • |
April 19, 2009 |
| • |
April 26, 2009 |
| • |
May 03, 2009 |
| • |
May 10, 2009 |
| • |
May 17, 2009 |
| • |
May 24, 2009 |
| • |
May 31, 2009 |
| • |
June 07, 2009 |
| • |
June 14, 2009 |
| • |
June 21, 2009 |
| • |
July 05, 2009 |
| • |
July 12, 2009 |
| • |
July 19, 2009 |
| • |
August 02, 2009 |
| • |
August 30, 2009 |
| • |
September 06, 2009 |
| • |
September 20, 2009 |
| • |
October 04, 2009 |
| • |
October 11, 2009 |
| • |
October 18, 2009 |
| • |
November 08, 2009 |
| • |
November 15, 2009 |
| • |
November 22, 2009 |
| • |
November 29, 2009 |
| • |
December 27, 2009 |
| • |
January 03, 2010 |
| • |
January 10, 2010 |
| • |
January 17, 2010 |
| • |
January 24, 2010 |
| • |
January 31, 2010 |
| • |
March 14, 2010 |
| • |
March 21, 2010 |
| • |
March 28, 2010 |
| • |
April 04, 2010 |
| • |
April 18, 2010 |
| • |
April 25, 2010 |
|
|
| SOFTBALL LINKS |
|
|
|
Pick-off At Third!
by Dave
Friday, May 11, 2007
A visitor writes in with the following question:
"My daughter plays 3rd base for her HS team. When a runner is at 3rd, she has been told by the coach to straddle the bag to receive a pickoff throw from the catcher. I would say this was/is the classical view of positioning. I'm sure 95% of all coaches and instructional books state this is the position for the 3rd baseman to be in when receiving a throw from the catcher after a pitch. However, I want a real life practical view. I suggest she stand to the inside of the bag because she then gives the catcher a target and she then can see a throw unobstructed by the baserunner.
If straddling, I realize a catcher could/should throw over the head of the standing runner, but the line of sight is still mosty obscured and bringing the glove down for a tag is now from way up high -- if the runner slides. Assuming the catcher aims a throw for the runner's back and the runner does slide, then such a throw would theoretically be perfect height for a tagout if she were straddling. But before the runner slides, the line of sight is obscured and the 3rd baseman only has a millisecond to pick up the ball and catch it after the runner slides. It ain't gonna happen -- instead, my daughter will get hit in the face or will miss the catch. The textbook is to straddle -- real life says stay to the inside. Her coaches could not come up with anything definitive when she told them the runner was blocking her view. What do you say?
Concerned Dad"
Concerned, your analysis is perfect. The textbook says exactly that and the problem with the textbook is exactly as you state it. Let's start at the start and see if we can break this down.
First off, any well-schooled runner at third base knows to come off the base in foul ground so that if the batter hits a shot, she does not get hit by the ball in fair territory, in which case she would be out. Likewise, she knows to return to base in fair territory to block defenders' views should anyone try to pick her off. I teach my kids to look into the eyes of the covering player and run right at her unless she is way off to the side. In this scenario, the covering player will have her view obscurred and will always have a tough time making the catch.
Let's go back a bit and look at your question. You say your daughter is the third baseman and she is covering on a pick-off attempt. If I saw that, my first thought would be to squeeze a run home by bunting at the third baseman who most likely is breaking back to the bag to cover the throw. She may not leave before a bunt is made but she will be leaning. That's human nature.
From a defensive point of view, my preference is to have the third baseman more concerned about the bunt and to have the shortstop cover on a pick-off attempt. Keep in mind that I want any pick-off attempt at third to be a called play not an ad hoc attempt to get the runner on a play by play basis. We notice she is traying off to far so we call a play to try to nail her.
From a base coaching point of view, my runners watch the third baseman while the base coach watches the shortstop. My runner is told to only stray off base as far as the third baseman and to come back to the bag with her unless they hear "BACK" from the third base coach in which case the shortstop has snuck in behind the runner. If the third baseman is overly concerned with the runner, we bunt. If she isn't, we get a good lead until the SS sneaks in behind.
Defending against or picking-off a runner at third can be done in a couple of ways. As I said, my preference is to have third in closer, perhaps 20 feet in front of the bag or more to defend against a squeeze play. After every pitch, my SS comes in behind third and covers the bag. She doesn't always get all the way to the bag. She just heads in that direction. If the runner is truly straying off, what we're looking for is the element of surprise. So the SS creates the illusion that she isn't all that gung ho about covering the bag. She lures the runner into a false sense of security that nobody is going to cover so there isn't going to be a pick-off attempt.
Now, where we go from here is one of three ways. The first is not really meant to get the runner out but rather to get in her head or to defend against delayed stealing. The throw from catcher goes right to the third baseman standing 40 feet or thereabouts from home. She catches the ball and swipes backwards at where she thinks the runner might be. If the runner breaks for home, it is a quick throw back to the catcher to get her out.
The second way is meant to get the runner. The shortstop comes all the way to the bag because a pick-off play has been called. -; She takes the throw and tags to try to get the runner out. This would be the scenario in which what you describe would be the consideration. Should the shortstop straddle the bag and catch the ball as the runner slides? I do not believe she should. I'd prefer my SS stand in foul ground and take the throw there. My catcher is going to do a drop step and throw from foul territory most of the time if there is a right handed batter. Even if there is a lefty at the plate, the throw is probably going to be in foul ground. And I expect the runner to come back in fair territory. If she doesn't we need to adapt and perhaps throw in fair ground in which case the SS should be in fair territory.
The third way in which we attempt a pickoff is intended to catch the runner from third napping. What we do is the SS repeatedly comes all the way to the bag but the catcher shows little or no interest. If you've got a budding actress at short, I suggest you make use of her skills. If I'm at short, I want to sigh really loud on each of these plays and then mutter something about the runner being lucky because the catcher is just chicken to throw down to third. Then what I want to happen is also a set play. I want the catcher to throw back to the pitcher hard and then I want the pitcher to make the throw to the shortstop just as quickly. If you get the runner out, tell the actress SS that she should let the runner know that while the catcher is chicken, the pitcher is not!
So that's my advice regarding a pick-off at third. I disagree with the question about how the third baseman should position herself to take the throw from the catcher. That's because I do not believe she should be taking the throw at all unless it is from a position well in front of the bag to keep the runner honest and defend against a delayed steal. Her primary responsibility has to be the bunt. You can go at this pick-off in a couple different ways but I believe it must be a called play. I don't want my catcher at any age or play level deciding for herself when she should try a pick-off. I'd much rather set a trap for the runner at third and then spring it. And I'd prefer that the SS take the throw at the bag.
Response from another reader
"I read your stuff on a regular basis. As you know sometimes I disagree but I like your style or I wouldn't send my thoughts. Regarding this pick off play, my kid caught and she had a quick release with 65 mph speed. If the girl at third got a big jump, the third baseman who had great speed would signal or we in the dugout would say lets get this out or some such signal and they exchanged a glance and the play was on. After their first success they pretty much got it or saw when it would work on their own. My girl would signal to the pitcher she wanted an outside and up pitch with a right hand batter. The third baseman would break towards the bag just after the pitch was released. My kid caught the ball and released it without hesitation as the third base man got towards the bag. Since the runner was breaking when the pitcher's arm was on the down stroke, it was difficult to stop the momentum of her forward progress. The third baseman would catch and apply the tag. It was as simple as that. An accurate throw to a player like a football receiver running a diagonal route. It worked on many occasions and it broke the backs of the opposong team and lifted our team to get the offense going at our next turn at bat. Your comments about this are appreciated."
Here is my reply:
I understand where you're coming from and while I don't outright disagree, I have some problems with your approach. My problems have to do with the ability level of the players. That makes or breaks the play as you describe it. And there are some other considerations beyond the abilities of the players involved.
This site is "girls-softball" for a reason, the target is age group level play up to about 16. We talk about college, ASA Gold, and high school usually in the context of learning from watching. I think college and ASA Gold take a different approach to this situation because the players' arms are much better and more reliable than they are in high school. Also, usually the games are a bit tighter and runners at third come with a higher premium.
In high school ball, there is a broad spectrum of ability level. It is hard to suggest anything at all for any situation because so much depends on the ability level of the players. A very good high school team is more similar to an average Div II or III college team than it is to a very bad or even mediocre high school team. I think a very good high school team can pull off the play you suggest more than half the time but that's poor odds, even for a potential crushing blow to the opposition. A mediocre high school team is going to allow the runner to score more than 50% of the time.
It isn't so much the arm of the catcher or the speed of the third baseman that makes or breaks this. It is the speed, strength and accuracy of the return throw from the third baseman, if the runner from third breaks for home. I like that you call this play from the bench because you don't just want the players to decide on their own in this situation. There are so many factors that play into this defensive play and they really fall into the managerial decision making realm. But let me break it down a bit further.
If you go back through the original post, I have my runner at third keying off the third baseman. The third base coach is watching the SS. The runner watches the third baseman closely and keeps her in front. If she breaks back for the bag to cover, my runner, if I have coached her correctly, should immediately break back with her. Your point is the runner's forward momentum will prevent her from getting back because she will notice the third baseman's break too late and that may be true. But the crucial element is where your third baseman is positioned to begin with. She's got to be even with the bag or somewhere in front of it. (I hope for your sake she's not in back of it - I've seen teams do that but not many.) If she's just ten feet in front, she should be able to make this play but I'm going to squeeze on the first pitched strike and she's not going to be able to make the play to home in time because she's too deep. My runner is not going to come that far off the bag unless we have the queeze on. If she's twenty feet in front of the bag and charging, that is about the only time I'm going to have my runner at third far enough off the bag to nail her. In that case, our biggest concern is the SS coming in for a pick off attempt.
As a second point, my runner is going to come off the bag in foul ground and back in fair. If your third baseman is in back of the runner somehow, my runner is going to be in position to block the throw. If the ball hits her and bounces away, we're going to get a run. If I have scouted you and seen this play, it is entirely possible that we're going to try a straight steal of home when we judge you're going to try this. This is actually why I like the play the way I described it better. My biggest concern with calling a pick-off at third is the team that is heads up enough to try a steal when we throw down.
You don't get my scouting in age group tournament ball. There just isn't enough time. Sometimes age group teams face the same opposition over and over again and get to know each other's plays. In that case, your play might work today but the following 3 times, the opposition is going to try to steal home. If this is high school ball, then your team is going to get scouted and if you try this play enough times, the other teams are going to know when it is on.
In my play, the runner at third sees the third baseman is in about 20 and charging for the bunt if the batter's hands seperate. The runner gets used to charging off the bag almost but not quite as far as the third baseman. If the catcher throws to the third baseman, one of two things happens. She might break towards home in which case my third baseman has a 40 foot throw and is already in position to make it with her left shoulder towards the plate. If the runner returns to third, my third baseman is going to have made the catch and be charging the runner who may now have her back turned and not be aware that a pick-off play is on.
If I call the throw to the SS, the catcher does a drop step behind the batter and the SS is hopefully ready to receive it in foul ground to her glove side which is also the side of the bag and returning runner. The throwing lane is clear because the runner should be returning in fair ground and the SS has a relatively easy tag to make. If the runner breaks for home, we're in the same situation as you are but I think it is likely we can get a call of batter's interference on the return throw unless she has moved way out of the picture already, in which case we have a clear throwing lane, on the foul ground side of the line.
Really, there are a whole bunch of other considerations in this play. What's the score; what inning is it; how many outs are there; how many runners have already reached third today; how fast and smart is my runner at third; and several other things have to factor into this. If I have a slow runner at third, she's not going to come far enough off the bag to make this a consideration. If she's as fast as lightning but the game is low scoring and tied in the sixth or seventh, she's also not going to be that far off the bag. If we're down by two, I want her to score, so I'm having her run conservatively. If we're up by two in the second inning with nobody out, we're playing aggressively and even if you manage to pick her off, you're not going to break our backs or turn it around. We're going to shake off the loss of our runner at third and chalk it up to aggressive play. Defensively, I'm not actually out to pick-off the runner. I'm more interested in shaking her up and taking the running game away just a bit.
We can go around and around on this and I can keep writing different scenarios and the reasons why I do not or do not like your approach or mine but that's why we love this game. There is always room for disagreement. One way will work once while the other fails. The next time the reverse is true. As a coach, you've got to consider all alternatives and pick the ones that are right for your team.
If we go back to the original question, the issue involved how a third baseman positions herself to take the pick-off throw from the catcher. The HS coach suggested the "book" says to straddle the bag. While it is true that any fielder taking a throw on a tag play whould straddle the bag, I don't particularly care for the notion that the third baseman takes the pick-off throw from the catcher at the bag. The third basemna's father doesn't like it either. It is too difficult to see the throw, let alone catch it. Your play involves the third baseman catching the ball like a wide receiver taking a pass in football which also alleviates the problems of seeing and catching the ball. But I think both approaches are wrong because the third baseman is too concerned about a pick-off and not concerned enough about a squeeze play.Labels: defense
Permanent Link: Pick-off At Third!
 
12U Tryouts
by Dave
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Dave writes in with a question:
"I ran across your website. We are a new and green club program, and have our first U-12 age group tryout. I'm trying to find a fairly simple grading / tryout checksheet or rating system to aid some evaluators in picking our team for the summer. Any direction you can give?"
Sorry dave, I don't do simple. But here are my thoughts about tryouts:
First off, I would start with an outline of the skills you need the girls to have. Obviously, they need to be able to throw and catch. They also need to be athletic within reasonable bounds - don't dump the kid who is overweight and slow afoot - she may turn out to be your best hitter who also isn't afraid to catch the hard throwing stud. Figure out what other skills you see as important and then list them out. Don't go nuts with detail. Use the personal preferences of the coaching staff. Perhaps you favor kids who, while not the absolute best athletes, are extremely coachable. Or maybe you can't stand the boisterous kid who challenges you or tells you what her father told her when you try to correct her. Write those things down as much as you write down throwing, catching, speed, etc.
Now the scale or numbering system you use is actually unimportant. What is important is that you have some girls whose ability levels will be beneath what you can reaonably expect to use, a few who are far above the rest, and hopefully the vast majority whose skills / qualities fall into the middle range. You could use "1" for the absolute best kids" and "-0-" for kids you just can't see playing for the team. Then the rest of the kids are what you are really concerned with since these are the ones you are going to have to differentiate.
The kids in the middle of the pack need to be differentiated because you are going to have to make your toughest decisions on them. You are going to want to invite a number of them and then when a few turn you down, you're going to want to be able to run down the pecking order and ask the other kids. I would use a three part ranking, say A for the best, B for the middle, and C for the least.
So now, presumably you have a skill set and a ranking system, 1, -0-, A, B, C. I would write out a list of the skills you want to rate in order of importance. I would put throwing first, catching second, then coachability, positions, and then some of the other skills like ability to fetch a grounder or pop-up. Throwing is the single most important skill in 12U ball. catching is second. If a kid can throw and catch, you can work with them. And they have to have built those skills via some means. Maybe their parents regularly play catch with them. Maybe they play ball all the time with their friends or siblings. Whatever the reason, the kids who can throw and catch are going to be, in the long run, the kids who will perform best for you. I'd also look for something that is not quite swagger, probably more aptly referred to as a "spark" or pride. These are the kids who care about how they look to you. They don't want you to think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread but they do want you and everyone else around to see that they can play ball.
The next thing you need to do, which is probably even more important than the ranking system, is to devise a plan for your tryout. All good tryouts are organized and planned. If you have a chance to go see some team's tryouts, go watch and see what they do. You'll either see what not to do or get some ideas of what to do. I have done this myself with an ASA Gold team which is well respected around the country. I've also done it with an "A" level organization. What these teams generally do is run some agility stuff like running or the ladder or whatever they can come up with to see how the kids run and move.
Then they go to base running. Run to first (I don't care of you use a stopwatch or not), run out a double, go first to third, run all the bases. You can do stealing or tagging up on a flyball but you can teach these skills if you have kids who can run.
After agility and running, I would go to throwing. I would have the kids throw from 30 or 40 feet to get lose but while they're doing that, see if they have accuracy with these short throws. Then move them back 10 feet, then another 10 until they are throwing from 60 feet. 60 feet is the most important throw at 12U. But don't stop there. Move on to longer throwing for at least a while to see if you've got any really talented arms - you need to have a couple catchers who can throw from 85 feet.
After throwing, I would move on to fielding grounders and flyballs followed by a throw. Sometimes kids who can throw have incredibly long pause points which do not show themselves when doing throwing alone. You aren't just after the best arms, particularly in the infield. You also want kids who can make a throw rapidly after fielding. Sometimes the kid with the weaker arm who gets rid of the ball faster gets the kid out at first while the strong armed kid who pauses and pauses doesn't.
I forgot to mention it but I would want to ask each kid what they have played, expect to play, want to play. As I said, you need catchers. You want to have good infielders at this level. You need outfielders but if you can't sign up outfielders, you need to be able to make them. What you don't want is the age old question from your three outfielders, "when do I get to play X infield position?" You want kids who know instinctively that there are nine positions on the field and none of them has a stigma or shame attached.
As an aside, I once took a young 11 year old onto a 12U team. She was a pitcher who had poor reaction speed but was otherwise athletic. I didn't really want the kid on my team for a number of reasons but I was approached by her parents and had lengthy discussions about it. We agreed that she would be on the team as an experience gathering project. She would practice her pitching through the winter and I would give her innings whenever I could, probably one game per tournament in the circle until she needed to be relieved. She would grow over the next year and then the following year she would be a star on the team.
So we went through the winter and her mother told me she couldn't make many of the winter workouts because she was playing basketball for the school team. I reacted badly because we had all this conversation about how this would be the year she would improve and work towards the following year. But I had given an out to all the girls on the team. I had said anybody who needed to miss practice due to a school team, was excused. So they said this kid was on a school basketball team. Well, it turns out she did ride the bench on a middleschool "JV" team but that wasn't the conflict. She also played on a recreational basketball team - something I said wasn't an acceptable excuse. That also wasn't the only conflict. This kid was also on some travel basketball team where she never played a minute but on which they practiced when we did. The parents had lied to me to get their kid on my team.
I never said anything about it but also during the winter I could see this kid was not progressing with her pitching. I had to tell them aggressively that she shouldn't be taking lessons with an 11 inch ball - the one they use in 10U play. Finally they followed my advice and made her throw the 12. She was awful. And her speed was well below 12 other girls I had turned down for the team. She threw at half hour lessons once a week. She never threw any other time unless I scheduled a pitching practice that conveniently fit her schedule. Then I stopped by her lessons a few times and saw that she had been hitting rather than pitching. I couldn't believe my eyes. She couldn't even throw once a week but her parents wanted assurances that she would get a chance to pitch for our team!
My solution was to make the kid throw batting practice at our weekly Friday night hitting sessions. Once she showed up without her mitt so she couldn't pitch. Another time her mother had to leave and couldn't come back so she asked me if I could give her a ride home but I was headed to yet another team's practice and couldn't accomodate, so she left! Finally I got this kid in to pitch practice. Our girls pounded, and I do mean pounded her. She lasted five minutes and was winded not to mention I was afraid to leave her out there for fear she would get hit in the face with a linedrive.
So we finally moved to outdoor practices and scrimmages. Her mother assured me that basketball was over. So we scheduled our first scrimmage and then I got a message that this kid wouldn't be there because her rec basketball team was playing in the semi-finals of the league championship! Then we get to the scrimmage and she shows up - turns out they lost and she didn't have a game like she thought. So I played the kid but I didn't let her pitch because I already had my pitchers set and I had been worn out by this nonsense. Then we got into a double header scrimmage and I put the kid in the outfield for a couple innings. Between games the kid's father comes up to me and asks if his kid can get a few innings to play in the infield. He says "isn't she good enough to play infield?" Can you imagine that? What complete and utter nonsense!
Next up we had a tournament. I put in our second best pitcher for the first game. She throws hard. These kids started teeing off on her. The balls were flying everywhere. Several pitchers in this particular tournament took trips to the hospital before the day was through. We tied our game but I resolved not to put in our number 4 or 5 pitchers that day. So the day after that one-day tournament, the father calls me and says, they've decided to go in another direction, find another team. I came to understand via other conversations with the parents that the primary reason was she didn't get to pitch. Heck, they would have sued me if I pitched her and she got badly hurt!
But my point is, you want to make absolutely sure that nobody is going to come up to you and ask, "can Sally please pitch" or play shortstop. You want to know exactly what these kids and their parents expect once the real games start. So ask each kid what positions they have played, want to play, expect to play. Then later talk with the parents and get a sense of their take on this. The kid might be a great kid who is willing to be DP or DH but the parents may have another idea.
The thrust here is get yourself several pitchers and catchers, some of whom want to and are capable of playing other positions. Get yourself some kids who can and are willing to play outfield. Make sure their parents agree with that notion.
But enough of that. We're talking about tryouts here.
You've got an idea what you're looking for, you've developed a scale of sorts, you did agility, baserunning, fielding generic groundballs and flys, and maybe a couple other typical practice things. I forgot to mention that if you are making the decisions on who to invite to the team, you'll want other people, assistant coaches or volunteers, to actually run things so you can be a spectator and write notes freely. You need to watch as many kids as possible and make notes so you'll need to know who they are. Either call out specific kids for drills by name or put numbers on their backs by writing bold numbers on sheets of paper and attaching them to the kids with string.
You should try to conduct some complex throwing drills so you can see what the kids are like under stress. You also want to make the kids get tired so you can see how they'll do late in the game or in tournament games number 2 and 3 on the same day. Softball skills do not exist in a vacuum. They exist in an environment filled with pressure, stress and fatigue. You need to see that in order to discern which kids you want on a travel team.
You'll want to work out as many pitcher prospects as possible. I strongly suggest you either catch them or stand behind the catcher or cage so you can see how well they throw from the vantage point of a hitter. You want to see not just speed but movement. You'll want to tell them inside and out to see if they can do that on command. You want to know what they throw and then see how those pitches work for them. At some point, you want them to randomly pick a pitch to throw and then ask them what they threw. If you couldn't tell that this pitch was a screwball, drop or change from behind the plate, it wasn't a good one. I once tried out a bunch of pitchers who all claimed to throw 4 pitches. But I couldn't tell one from the other and neither could a hitter because they were all the same pitch, same speed, slightly different spin, no movement. I didn't ask those pitchers to join the team.
You'll also want the girls you invite to pitch to be able to go more than two innings on 100 degree days. So if it isn't nearly that hot out, make sure you get them hot and then see at least 50 pitches after that, unless you're sure you aren't interested. There's no other way to make sure your pitching corps is up to the challenge of tournament ball unless you see them throw as they get tired.
You'll also want to have several catchers whether they play other positions or not. At this age level, few are the girls who can catch three games in a day. Extremely few can do 3 consecutive ones. Most of your catchers will want to catch one game in a day, particularly in June and July. So you need at least three who can catch a game. Perhaps a couple others who are willing to do it in a pinch is a good idea. Catchers get hurt more frequently than others. You'll want to see that all of your catchers or at least most of them are willing to get in there and catch the hardest throwing pitchers you are going to have on your team so let them catch some of the time during pitcher tryouts. Catching the pitch is one aspect of catching and throwing is another. You need to run some stolen base throwout drills to see how well your potential catchers come out of a crouch after receiving a pitch and make throws.
Just to summarize position decisions, you want to make sure you have 1) pitchers, 2) catchers, 3) two shortstops, 4) centerfielders, 5) enough true utility players to fill other positions as needed. Shortstops can often be taught to play center. One team I worked with had two shortstops who each played center when not in the infield, another girl who could play center but played left other times, two pitchers who played third when not in the circle, one of them was a good alternative at first, both could play second, a catcher who could play third or first, and along with our catchers, a few utility players who were not only willing to catch but did admirable jobs when asked to play that position.
OK, so that about covers it. The rating system is not all that important. What is important is that after you are able to segregate the bad players from the excellent ones, you'll need a way to break down the rest. You need to have a well organized "practice' which will show you what kind of talent you have. Put an emphasis on throwing and catching skills, critical at this level. Talk to every kid you are considering and make sure all your field positions are covered. Make sure you understand who is really going to be playing outfield without their parents putting a contract out on you.
Now it's time for batting tryouts! I put this last because in 12U ball, much of the outcome of games is determined by defense and most of the runs score as a result of other things than great hitting. You need good hitting but the other things are more important. What hitting will do probably is show you a kid you weren't interested in who maybe you ought to have on the team. You don't want to fill your roster with kids who can't throw or catch but can hit the cover off the ball but having a few isn't such a bad idea. Perhaps more importantly, this may provide you with some information that allows you to seperate two equally good kids. It is highly unlikely that a terrible fielder will be a great hitter but you never know. If you find such a kid, the next question you want to ask yourself is whether you can work with the great hitter's defensive skills. If you can work with one but not another, obviously, ask the kid who may become a better fielder to join the team.
So now you've finished your tryouts. Hopefully you've found sufficient pitching and catchers who can catch them. That is critical in the 12U tournament game. Pitching is important throughout fastpitch softball but it is critical at 12U. You've got enough decent catchers to make it through a tournament. You've got reasonably good infielders who can throw and you've got enough outfielders to field a team. You're ready to go. So go ahead and invite the kids.
In the process of inviting kids, you want to make absolutely certain, to the extent possible, that the kid and the parent understand how much commitment is involved. You want to make sure they understand that accepting the invitation means another kid is not being invited so if they have any doubts, now would be the time to express them. You want commitment because that's what you are offering in exchange. What you don't want is conditional or temporary acceptance of your offer. Oh, you'll get some of that whether spoken or not. We all do. But you want to make sure you can send the kid and parents into guilt pergatory if they later back out and leave your team a player short. You want them to understand that they are shortchanging another kid as well as the other 11 or whatver number is on your roster.
Eventually you'll get to the point where you've filled your roster. Your work, my friend, is not done. You have a duty to continue on. That's what you signed up for when you conducted tryouts. Too few coaches recognize this duty and build really bad reputations as a result. Your next duty is to communicate with those who didn't get invited.
In order to speak properly with the kids you are not inviting, and more importantly, their parents, you want to have your evaluation sheets in front of you. You want to give as specific a brand of feedback you can. For those kids who you wouldn't even consider having on your team, find something nice to say about them. For example your part of the conversation might be something like "Sally is a really great kid. I really would like to have her on the team but we tried out 45 girls for 12 roster spots and she isn't one of the top 12 picks based on our evaluation. What I think she could do in order to make the team in the future is work on her throwing and catching skills. Honestly I have seen so many girls at this age improve their games so much just by throwing in the yard 3 or 4 times each week throughout the summer. Try that." If your sense is the game is really important to this poor player and you know of some good clinics where she could drastically improve her game, suggest those to the parent. But make sure they understand that if they want to make this kid happy and get her on a travel team, the ball is in their court. There's nothing you could do but there's plenty they can. That will be the biggest favor you could ever possibly do for that kid.
Now you need to move on to the kids who just barely didn't get invited. For these conversations, I would put the emphasis on how difficult of a selection process it was and how it is nearly impossible to discern between kids at this age but you had to make descisions and you did. Their kid probably isn't being invited not because she isn't a really good ball player but because you had to make the imperfect cut someplace. It is your fault (the coach) she didn't make it because something about the way you ran tryouts didn't allow her to shine! I'm not serious - it isn't your fault - but you don't want to say anything overly negative about the kid or the way she did at tryouts. It's tough to pick between kids. it is an imperfect process. let them know that you know that. Then I would suggest to them that some of the things she could work on to make the team next year are ....
Notice that I'm telling the kids who I really had trouble putting into the cut list that they came really close. That's not to soothe their anger but to encourage them for the next time. The kids who really want to make your team next year will work their butts off and get better. Actually they may be the stellar ones at your next tryout.
You also might suggest other teams if you know of any who are looking for players. What you want from this cut is a good feeling from the kid and the parents. Next year you may need this kid on your team. You do want her skills to improve. You want her happy and to like you in the end.
So now you are ready to put your team on the field for your first practice. You've said no thanks to a bunch of kids and none of them is upset with you per se. They want to come back at your next tryout and knock you dead, as opposed to killing you today. You've completed thr tryout task and now the real fun ... and work begins. Good luck, coach!Labels: Tryouts
Permanent Link: 12U Tryouts
Beating Rotational Teams
by Dave
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
I hope you've seen some of these teams. I know I have. What I'm talking about is the team comprised of girls who all go to the same batting instruction school which teaches so-called "rotational" hitting technique. These kids are very successful in youth play since they really do learn how to hit the ball hard and far. Pitchers have not yet learned to deal with them so they arer invariably successful. But as things move forwards to better and better competition, these teams become very beatable because of a flaw. Perhaps you are one of the teams which will beat them deep into some national tournament. In that case, you probably do not need to read this. But if you are playing tournaments in your area and come across the good rotational hitting teams, you should at least consider that there may be a way for your team to beat them.
There is a growing fallacy out there that rotational hitting is a superior technique that everyone in the know uses. I believed that for a couple months. I saw the results of such technique and was very impressed but I had not analyzed things completely. Also, while reading several hitting mechanics books and articles, I became convinced that 99.9% of MLB players were hitting with the rotational method. That was wrong and I'll explain how I know that in a minute. And, after hearing an Olympian speak, I decided my first perceptions were wrong. I needed to do more analysis.
First off the very term "rotational" refers to the hip rotation used to power the ball. &nbs-p; It really doesn't matter what hitting technique you use. If you don't rotate your hips, yuou aren't going to drive the ball. When we see a kid who doesn't rotate her hips, we say she is "arm swinging" or note that she doesn't make use of her legs. if you arm swing and don't use your legs and weight shift, you will have a hard time hitting the ball out of the infield. Slappers don't really make use of their legs and body weight when they hit but that is a deliberate technique and an effective one. The rest of the girls need to use their legs and weight shift in order to hit the ball with enough authority to get base hits. "Rotational" is a misnomer since everyone who drives the ball uses rotation. But we'll continue to use the term to describe a particular hitting approach since that is the term which is in common usage.
At least from my point of view, at least with the brand of rotational I'm familiar with, the things that differentiate rotational hitting from linear and other styles are 1) the timing of when the hips fly open, 2) the positioning of the back elbow in the beginning of the swing and at point of impact, 3) the holding of the bat head below the hands, and 4) the tendency to pull the ball. In my experience, pure rotational hitters open their hips before the ball arrives, keep their back elbows in against their bodies, and tend to pull the ball most of the time. Some of this may vary as a rotational hitter advances her skills but I haven't seen many who do not fit this mold.
Next, while many sources claim "rotational hitting is used by the vast majority of major leaguers, especially the successful ones," I have a bone to pick with that opinion. l If I examine who the top hitter in the game are, especially the power hitters, almost all of them use the "Charley Lau top hand release method." A discussion of top hand release will have to be addressed another time but suffice it to say that the release of the top hand is not a crucial element of the Lau swing mechanics. Rather it is a result of the swing the Lau family teaches. If you look for the release, you'll see it in such names as ARod, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey, jr., Barry Bonds, etc. And there is no way you can hit Lau while also hitting rotational. There are a some hitters in the majors who appear to use rotational hitting technique but you really have to watch them in slow motion to be sure and upon further analysis, I doubt you'll conclude any of them are "pure rotational hitters." They do rotate their hips but you really have to do that to hit at that level.
In fastpitch softball, I like to defer to the opinions of the top level players and coaches. As I said, when I listened to an Olympian discuss "rotational hitting," the first thing I heard was that the very term was wrong. She said, nobody hits without using their hips and legs, it isn't possible, but nobody (at her level) allows their hips to fly open before the pitch arrives. She was supposed to be giving a brief seminar on the differences between rotational and linear hitting. yet she dispensed with the notion that there were two competing hitting styles within the first sentence of her presentation. Then she went on to describe the "right way to hit" which looked to me a lot like what people describe when they want to discuss so-called linear hitting. This involved, flying open your hips as you made contact and drove the ball, extending the arms outwards so as to create the longest possible lever (a discussion for another time), and a high follow through. I'll discuss the positioning of the bat head another day. Here all I wanted to do was go over basics before outlining a strategy to beat rotational hitting. So now let's get on to that.
While I understand that my analysis of "rotational hitting" is hardly complete, the brand of this style I have seen leaves open the fundamental flaw we want to exploit when we find ourselves face to face with one of those teams that uses the technique extensively. That flaw is plate coverage. A pure rotational hitter tends to have a more difficult time protecting the outside lower corner of the plate than other hitters.
So what you do to combat these teams is work that location. If you make a rotational hitter reach, she will often ground out to the right side of the infield. That's not because she is trying to pull the ball but because her mechanics, the flying open of the hips, make her act as if she is trying to pull the ball. And if you try to pull an outside pitch, what usually happens is a ground ball that is weaker than it otherwise might have been, often to the right side.
Now please understand that rotational hitters will often move up on the plate to fight back and get good bat on the ball. That's why you;ve got to be smart about things. As any smart person around softball or baseball knows, you can't work the outside corner if you can't work the inside corner. You've got to push the rotational hitter back in the box in order to get her out. But when you come inside, you can't do it in such a way that you allow her to hit one of those screaming line drives over your leftfielder's head.
So my appraoch to the rotational hitter is to work the outside corner while keeping her off the plate by working inside. The best pitches for hitting the outside are any kind of curve where you have command - not hangers; change-ups down and away; and straight drops at just below the knees and lower, on the outside corner or just off the plate. You can throw some high pitches on the outside but I'd stay away from a lot of fastballs from the letters down to the belt. Those become base hits even for rotational hitters.
Now in order to work the outside part of the plate, you're going to have to come inside at least once on every at-bat, particularly early and/or on 0-2 / 1-2. I would use a screwball if you have one and keep that up in the zone or out of it to the inside. A screwball down and in is good food for rotational hitters since they tend to have the bat head lower and open up quicker. The screwball down and in becomes a fastball down the middle for a batter who opens up early. Up and in exploits the batter's low bat head. She can't get the head up high enough to hit one at the letters or hands. If you have to throw a low screwball, keep it out of the zone and make her foul it off to the left side.
Other pitches that are effective as setups for rotational hitters are change in the dirt, fastballs high and tight - just like the screwball, and drops below the knees - preferably in the dirt. The change-up and drop in the dirt, or at the very least knees-down, can make the rotational hitter look like she swung when she didn't. That's because the fly open of the hips provides the forward torque she wants to use to drive the ball. If she judges the pitch to be a strike on, for example, 0-2, she may not fully pull the bat back and the ump, who doesn't have that great of a view in this scenario, may call her out for going. The first base coach is going to argue vehemently that she didn't go but the plate ump isn't going to appeal to the field ump because of that - it doesn't work that way. Once the plate ump punches her out, it's over.
The fastball up and in is meant as a waste pitch even if it is just beneath the letters. It can't be hittable or it will be hit. It is meant to make the hitter uncomfortable. It is meant to make her "move her feet" to get out of the way of the pitch and perhaps step back a bit in the box. It is meant to get inside her head if only for that one at-bat. You'll have to do something else to get her to move next time up if you strike her out this time.
The nice thing about the screwball up and in is it makes the hitter want to move back in the box not so much for personal safety but rather because she likes that pitch rotation and wants to put herself into a position to drive it. You feed her a screwball and saliva builds up in her mouth as she sees what appears to be favorable rotation come right into her wheelhouse. But because it is above her hands, she doesn't get that one. She hopes the next pitch is the same thing and she wants to be ready for it so she moves back ever so slightly and then doesn't perceive the called strike three on the outside corner.
Similarly, the change inside and very low should get the rotational hitter to move back just a bit so she can drive the next one. If she thinks you're working the inside corner on her, she is going to start to get excited because she thinks the next inside pitch is going over the fence. She's preparing herself to hit a bomb. So she may move back or perhaps open her hips even a little earlier. Any time a hitter moves backwards in the box from one pitch to the next, she loses plate perspective and can't judge strikes on the outside corner. You've got her. The inside and very low straight drop can be almost as effective a setup pitch as the change. But with both of these pitches, you've got to stay way inside and low without hitting her.
So let's talk about a possible pitch sequence targeted at getting the rotational hitter out. But before we do that let me say just a few words about pitcher selection as opposed to pitch selection.
Far too often what I see when a team comes across a rotational hitting team is they use their ace power pitcher. Most of the time that means the girl who throws hardest and overpowers hitters more frequently. She may or may not have a good change. She may or may not have pitches besides the fastball she can spot with any regularity. generally her strength, the reason she is the ace, is her ability to throw hard with movement on the fastball, and her tendency to be wild within the zone. Hitters usually don't get around on her and when they do, her natural movement usually makes them miss-hit the ball. Even when good hitters face her, they often don't have big games because her wildness within the zone never puts the ball where the hitter can do her best damage.
Before I proceed, let me discuss wildness within the zone as an aside. There are a couple kinds of wildness. One kind occurs where the pitcher isn't very experienced or hasn't nailed down her mechanics yet. That should only occur when a pitcher is young or new to pitching. We see that mostly in recreational ball or lower level travel. Another kind of wildness occurs when a pitcher is tired. If she's on her third game in a row and is walking batters after throwing two walkless games, she's tired and her mechanics are breaking down. Obviously, that's to be avoided. Another kind of wildness occurs when a pitcher is repeatedly trying to make too good of a pitch. She's missing the zone not because she can't find it but because she wants to make the batter swing at pitches outside the zone. This can also appear to be the case when you have one of those plate umps who spends too much time watching baseball and pinches the pitcher in order to make himself feel like he is a hard-ass. The kind of wildness most frequently visited upon the ace who also is a power pitcher is of a different type.
The wildness of an ace power pitcher is usually wildness within the zone. This 14 year old aims for the middle of the plate at the belt but never hits it. her pitches are usually within the strike zone but never where she is aiming for. She'll try to throw one down the middle and end up with one at the letter on the inside corner, or maybe down and away. She never really knows where her fastball is going but it doesn't matter because neither does the hitter. the catcher sets up down and away and the pitch is inside and tight at 60 miles per hour, strike three. She wins a lot of games and uses power pitches 80-90% of the time with a few changes mixed in to keep the batters honest and an occassional movement pitch which she also doesn't spot.
This kind of pitcher while generally effective, perhaps her teams best, is not the pitcher you want to use against the rotational hitting team. You want to use somebody else who may not be considered to be your best. You also don't want to use the low ball pitcher because low strikes are food for rotational hitters. What you're really looking for are pitchers who spot their pitches better regardless of speed. You might have a movement pitcher who can't throw hard but puts the ball pretty mkuch where she wants it and likes the outside of the plate. She's going to have to come inside but you need to have her spot those and follow the advice above. If you have a high ball pitcher who also happens to be a power pitcher but is wild right to left, that can be OK as long as she stays up in the zone to take advantage of the lowered bat head. Sometimes girls like this have good screwballs. Use that when ahead in the count to set up the outside fastball. You don't want a rotational hitter sitting in tight while looking for a high fastball on the outside corner. She'll drive it to right, perhaps over the fence since she's taken care of plate coverage by crowding the plate. Also, while high pitches are advisable against rotational hitters, a high outside pitch is very reachable and hittable if she's in tight.
OK, so you've got your most accurate pitcher in the circle. She's got most of the pitches under control. She hits her spots, can work in and out, up and down, and she changes her speeds well. I know that sounds like a dream but we're talking relative qualities here. And before I get into the pitch selection, let me say that the pitcher with lesser speed can be better than the power pitcher because rotational hitters usually don't have any trouble getting the bat around on even the fastest pitchers. they can have some trouble with slower junk pitchers because they open so early. But on to pitch selection.
Here's a possible pitch sequence to use against the rotational hitter:
Pitch 1 - screwball up and in, outside the zone
Pitch 2 - drop curve outside and low, within the zone or just out of it
Pitch 3 - change-up inside and in the dirt
Pitch 4 - fastball outside and low, just out of the zone (assuming you have pushed her back in the box)
Pitch 5 - screwball up and in (she moved up so now push her back)
Pitch 6 - drop curve on the corner
That's 6 pitches which means you went 3-2 on her. But juggle things around and maybe it should have been 5 or 4. If you start with drop curve on the outside and then push her back with the screwball or fastball up and in, come back with the curve outside and follow it up with a change at the knees just outside the zone. I wouldn't advise trying to sit her down after 3 pitches. That kind of approach only works against weak teams or hitters. I would plan on 4 pitches at least for beating a good team which also happens to use pure rotational hitting mechanics. Presumably we're talking about one of your better tournaments on an elimination day.
I threw out a possible pitching sequence just as a demonstration. There are as many permutations as you like, given your pitchers repertoire. But don't get yourself patterned. You want to change the sequence on each batter and for each of their at-bats. the last thing you want to do is screwball, dropcurve, dropcurve, change to the same batter two or three times in a row. Any good hitter is going to figure that out. Also, you don't want to frequently go 3-2 and then resort to the same pitch on a lot of batters. As always, you want to get ahead and stay ahead if you can. On the other hand, you don;t want to groove the first pitch to multiple batters. If the opposition seems disciplined and waiting on a first strike, go ahead and throw one until they seem to be adjusting. Then start all the hitters out with first pitches outside the zone until they start sitting back again. Then change again when they adjust.
Much of this game is about adjustment. We look to force the opposition to adjust to us rather than us having to adjust to them. The pure rotational hitter has limited their ability to adjust to a pitcher. That's because the basic rotational mechanics contain a flaw. That's why there are truthfully very few pure rotational hitters either in MLB or on Team USA softball. The very best pitchers see this sort of hitting style and they begin to get excited about the possibility of a win. But even if you do not have some stud with a 10 pitch repertoire, 65 mph screwball who spot every pitch she has ever thrown and fool any batter, you can still deal with the otherwise strong rotational hitting team. You can make these hitters adjust to you and then you can adjust to their adjustment and keep them off balance.
Mine is I suppose but one of many strategies to try to win against such teams. As in most things in this game, the trick isn't so much in having a strategy but rather in executing it well. Still, I see far too many teams that look at the board with the preliminary game results, see the rotational hitting team which beat up on the opposition and plan to use their wild-in-the-zone-ace-power-pitcher so they can have a chance. Then they don't know what hit them as they are making their way home early on Sunday. Instead, they should have thought about the weaknesses such hitters have and exploited them.
I'll leave you with the conversation between Danny and Ty in Caddyshack:
Danny: "I thought winning wasn't important."
Ty: "Me winning isn't! You do!"Labels: game strategy
Permanent Link: Beating Rotational Teams
Get Behind Your Fielders
by Dave
Monday, May 07, 2007
Of all the cat-calls from the crowd which really get under my skin here's my least favorite: "Come on girls, get behind her, get behind your pitcher." Almost invariably that one comes from the mother of the pitcher. Usually it means something like, "my darling daughter (aka "DD") is a wonderful pitcher who is working so hard out there and if all you supporting cast members would just perform at half her level, we might win the game." It makes my skin crawl because there are just so many layers to it and because long ago my father installed a button which triggers whenever anybody looks out on the field and says the pitcher is doing the job but nobody else is. I guess I should elaborate.
Long ago and far away I was "the pitcher." This was in very low level youth play. I was smart enough as I aged to graduate to the position of catcher from which I couldn't hear my father. Heck he could have left the game, driven to China and back and I wouldn't have known it. You can't get distracted by the crowd, not even your father, when you've got that heavy mask on ... and some kid throwing 80 mile an hour jumping fastballs at you.
When I was "the pitcher," my father would grow increasingly annoyed as I made generic pitchers mistakes. If I nibbled around the corners or didn't throw strikes when I could, he would begin getting on my case. If I worked too slowly or tried a few too many times to pick the runner off of first, I would hear him raising heck. If I didn't pitch to contact, he would say something like "all of us are out here waiting for you to let the batter hit the ball. If you don't, we're all going home."
And you couldn't in any way let on that he or anybody else had gotten through to you when you pitched. If I reacted even a little to his words or the cat-calls from the opposing team, my father would begin a chorus of "Rabbit Ears, Rabbit Ears, Rabbit Ears!"
I thought my father a bit peculiar when I first heard that one. I wondered what did he mean? After the game he told me that it was what they called kids who were bothered by anything said to them from the crowd or from the opposition's dugout. He said you had rabbit ears if you heard anything like that when you were playing. He said, "ever see a rabbit play baseball? No, of course not, that's because they got rabbit ears. If they even tried to play baseball, they'd never get through the first inning without crying. Rabbits don't play baseball, they hop around and eat the outfield grass when nobody else is on the field. And people with rabbit ears don't play baseball either."
If you were in my family and wanted to be a pitcher, you had to have thick skin. My father coached quite a few youth baseball teams when I was a boy but he never coached any of my teams. He never coached my only brother's teams either. I used to wonder why my dad coached all these other teams and never coached his own kids teams! It didn't make any sense. But after I grew up, I was really happy that it had played out like that. I don't think I could have survived being coached by my father!
My father was exactly right about most of the things he taught me about pitching and pitchers. It was in his genetic make up as well as the upbringing his father had pounded into his head. You see my father's father and his father before him had been pitching coaches. They had worked with kids who were the stars of the county in their Pennsylvania coal mining town. They knew the game from the psychology out. And they understood better than most what was important to pitchers.
My father used to say, "some pitchers always seem to get good fielding behind them and some don't. I wonder why that is? It must have something to do with luck. Some guys are lucky and some aren't, right kid?" If I said yes, my father would go into a little greater detail. He would remind me that luck has nothing to do with anything, least of all baseball.
After shooting down the luck thing, my father would say something like "isn't it funny how the pitchers who get really good fielding behind them often get so confident that they work really fast. They don't dilly-dally on the mound. They get the ball back, check the sign and pitch. They're all business. I guess knowing you have good fielders behind you makes you work fast. It also must give you the confidence to throw strikes because all those pitchers with the fielders behind them don't seem to nibble around the corners. They have the confidence to pitch to contact. They aren't always trying to strike out all the batters by fooling them. They challenge the hitters. They don't seem to walk a lot of people. Funny how that is, isn't it? The best pitchers throw strikes, don't delay the pitch, pitch to contact, and get really good fielding behind them. What a coincidence, right kid?"
If you haven't gotten my father's and my own point yet, it is this, pitchers who want to be successful need to work at a good steady pace, throw strikes, pitch to contact and generally keep things moving along. That keeps the fielders expecting action all the time. If you've ever played behind a pitcher like that, you know what I mean. You stand out there on the balls of your feet ready to jump because you know you are going to have to jump soon. You are not going to be able to sit back on your heels and wait for one or two batters to get walked before you see some action. That steady, quick pace keeps you on your toes and off your heels.
It was always of great interest to me how two innings with different pitchers and the same outcome could vary so much in the way they felt. I'm talking about one of those innings where all 9 players or more come to bat, 4 or 5 runs score, and you get out of the inning because somebody hits into a double play. Behind some pitchers this can feel like an eternity in limbo. With other pitchers you are surprised the other team scored at all since whatever happened, happened fast. In one case you're exhausted and can't hit. It almost seems as if your team gets 3 pitches and you're running back out onto the field again. In the other case, with a rapid pitcher, you feel like you can do some damage and maybe come back with a couple runs of your own.
Let's go back to our softball pitcher whose mom is in the stands yelling encouragement to the girls so they will "get behind" her daughter and get out of the inning. Chances are pretty good that this pitcher is good for 10 or so walks an outing. She may not walk all that many batters but she will go 3-2 on most of them. That's what really cheeses me off.
The pitcher gets up 0-2 and then she throws 3 straight balls which are often not all that close. Then she gets the hitter out one way or another and the next kid steps in. She gets her 0-2 and then throws three straight balls. Maybe this time she walks the number 7, 8 or 9 hitter, bringing up the slapper or drag bunter. She doesn't want to give the dragger anything to put on the ground so she ends up walking her on four pitches. The next girl steps in and squares to bunt and the pitch is way outside. Then the same thing happens again, 2-0, runners on first and second, 1 out. The coach goes out to settle her down. She throws two strikes and now it's 2-2. The batter didn't think she could get one over so she didn't even square to bunt, she just took them. Her next pitch is going to really fool this batter except that it's a drop ball that drops and hits the corner of the plate and bounds away from the catcher, allowing both runners to move up. The next pitch is in the strike zone but the batter gets metal on it and hits a wildly spinning grounder to second. She fields it and throws to home just a half second too late. Now it's first and third, one run in, still just one out, 1-0 in the sceond inning. The next hitter pops a fly to mid right centerfield. The righfielder catches it and throws home where the girl from third has tagged and scores fairly easily. The ball gets away from the catcher and the runner from first advances to third. Now it's two out, 2 runs in, runner on third and the 6 foot 3, 250 pound, county leading homerunner hitter, first baseman / clean-up hitter steps up to the plate. Everyone is getting hot and tired. It's just the second or third inning, nobody really knows for sure. She pitches around the slugger for two or three pitches and then grooves one because she's tired since she's already thrown 50 pitches this inning. The slugger misses it but sends a low pop behind first base where three fielders about collide and the ball hits the chalk and then squirts out of play allowing this kid to move to second or third and another run to score. This is about the point the pitcher's mom says, "come on girls get behind your pitcher."
Later in that same game, everybody is pretty beat up. The score is only 6-3 but everybody feels as if this is the third game on the last day of a four day tournament. It's only the fifth inning but everyone would much rather go home than stand and watch this pitcher "work." They've had it.
Chances are pretty good that when the first baseman lets a dribbler go through her legs, one of the middle infielders bobbles a simple grounder, or somebody else makes some sort of mistake, the pitcher's going to show them up. Heck, she's tired too, having thrown her heart out in 3050 pitches through the first 4 innings! She's had it with her lazy good for nothing fielders. All they have to do is get the outs. They should try pitching some time.
If you don't understand what is meant by a pitcher "showing up" one of her fielders, this can take the form of many different actions. She might throw a "look" at one of the few other good players on the field. She might get really red in the face. She might look at mom and sigh while holding her arms out at her sides. She might actually say something like "Oh come on!" None of these things is good and I'm left wondering where she learned such behavior.
The truth is this sort of behavior must have been learned from the pitcher's parents. Just as my father never missed an opportunity to tell me that it wasn't the fielders' faults if I worked slowly, didn't pitch to contact, etc. and then they made some bad plays on easy balls, it is the parents consoling their poor DD after a loss reminding her that "it wasn't your fault" that sets the stage for future poor pitcher behavior. And the mom who is sitting in her ultra comfortable lawn chair yelling "get behind her girls" who failed to teach her kids proper behavior. Now there's no going back and this kid will be a pitcher for not much longer.
I've seen a few of these situations develop over the years. I can think of one kid in particular who stormed off the field into her daddy's or mommy's arms after a tough inning and cried quietly, "it wasn't my fault." I was really shocked when I heard the parent soothing her by saying, "I know, I know, you did what you could." And this was for a young kid who had left the dugout with a 4-0 lead and then walked in 5 runs before the wheels really came off! What did they think they were teaching her? What was it that they hoped to instill in their DD's developing brain? It's always somebody else's fault, never yours?
I guess I could go on and on about this one but I want to bring it to a close. I think enough has been said. Some will get this little diddy and some will not. If you get it, I hope you no longer play on the same team with that pitcher. If you are a pitcher or related to a pitcher and don't get this, I hope you have a plan B for after the playing career comes to a close. You may need some help adjusting to the way the rest of us work in teams.
Otherwise, try reading it again and this time start with the assumption that it is the pitcher who must get behind the fielders not the fielders who must get behind the pitcher. Picture, if you will, 8 sets of parents standing near the dugout calling in unison the encouraging words, "come on (insert pitchers name), get behind them, get behind your fielders. You can do it. Let's get out of this inning, RABBIT EARS." The last guy to join the chorus, the guy who called out rabbit ears, is the ghost of my father. He's not really there. Or maybe it's me, if one of my pitcher DDs is in the circle.Labels: pitching
Permanent Link: Get Behind Your Fielders
|
|
|
