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The Best Defense Is Unbridled Aggression
by Dave
Friday, October 17, 2008
If you find yourself in the wild, faced with an animal apparently stalking you for dinner, survivalists often tell you not to run. The reason for this is the predator views anything running away from it as prey. The same animal will view anything that stands its ground as threatening. It may still approach but will do so with caution. That's not always true - I doubt I would find it easy to put into practice when faced with a hungry grizzly. But as a general rule of thumb, it is often easier to be the aggressor rather than the, uh, main course. So, if you have a weapon, use it, and avoid becoming dinner. The same approach works in fastpitch softball.
Recently, I heard a discussion about how west coast softball offenses are the best because they are aggressive. In another setting, I read someone talking about the virtue of aggressive softball offense even when that aggression reached to the somewhat unconventional. Everywhere you turn, when the discussion is about fastpitch softball offense, the main term is aggression.
I think for many of us, the element which differentiates travel softball from say recreation or all-stars is the level of aggression practiced by teams on offense. There are other differences but this is one of the first, most obvious ones. So, if you're coaching travel softball, you may feel it important to teach this aggression but don't forget the other side of the ball because what often differentiates the winners from the losers is defense. Aggressive defense can trump aggressive offense.
What are the elements of an aggressive offense? There are many things the team at-bat can do to force the issue. There are probably more little strategies than I can quickly list but here are a couple tid-bits I want you to consider.
The first aggressive strategy many of us see when we first arrive in travel happens when there is a runner on third and the batter walks. The batter drops her bat and runs to first, rounds the bag and heads to second. Of course, good rec and all-star teams do this too but it is an automatic in travel regardless of whether you are playing the best or worst team in the tournament. We even have a name for the play, "continuation" which shows how prevalent it is. And what differentiates travel ball from other types is often the defensive teams can deal with continuation.
A second aggressive tactic which is found in most tournament games involves the situation in which the offensive team has a runner on third and the batter bunts, hoping that the defensive team will attempt to throw her out at first. The runner on third prepares herself to leave as soon as the ball comes out of the fielder's hand on the throw to first. I suppose you could argue that this play is common, not aggressive, but I still call the commonplace aggressive when it is intended to make hay out of an essentially ordinary play.
This isn't really a "squeeze" play, per se. Safety and suicide squeezes are yet even more aggressive but we'll get to them in a moment. I need to name this play for later on so I'll call it the "sacrifice-safety-score" play. This merely attempts to sacrifice the runner home by giving up the batter but most often results in the fielders holding the ball allowing the batter to reach first safely. Once the batter reaches first, she either quickly proceeds to second trying to draw that throw or she stays at first and then does some sort of a steal on the first pitch to the next batter.
At this point, I should probably at least mention "delayed" stealing since a better strategy to either the continuation play or the bunter proceeding to second after the fielder holds the ball is to just stay at first and then steal on the next pitch. If the run at third is deemed important, many teams won't throw if you do an all-out steal. So, offensive teams will school their runners to jog slowly and perhaps even return to first if there is no throw. They are after getting the runner in from third - that's the primary objective. Sometimes the runner at first will just attempt to get in a pickle by going about halfway to second trying to get the catcher to come out or throw at her. Sometimes the offense will just do a delayed steal in which the runner leads and then leaves for second as soon as the pitcher is about to catch the ball. In any event, the object is to try to make the defense make an ill-advised throw to force the issue and get the runner at third an opportunity to score.
The single most aggressive play is the suicide squeeze in which the runner at third comes off the bag on release of the ball by the pitcher without regard to her safety and sprints home hoping the batter will bunt the ball into play. If the batter bunts the ball down, she scores easily. If she misses it, the runner may still score if the catcher is asleep. If the catcher is alert and the batter misses the bunt, usually the runner is nailed at the plate or a pickle ensues.
A less aggressive play is the safety squeeze in which the runner comes hard off third base on release and watches for the bunt. If the batter hits it angle down, she goes home. If not, she immediately goes back to the bag. This is different than suicide because she does not commit to running home until she sees angle down. It varies from the first situation mentioned because she does not wait to see the throw come out of a fielder's hand. If the ball is bunted to the ground, she's coming.
A variation of the safety squeeze play we see used in softball occurs where the batter deliberately hits a grounder, rather than bunting, and the runner again looks to score on anything angle down. A variation of the "sacrifice-safety-score" play occurs where the batter hits a grounder and the runner on third is prepared to run the moment the ball comes out of the fielder's hand. These are specific plays but there are many other elements of offense which can be used to play an aggressive style.
Many of the best teams teach their kids to run the bases a certain aggressive way, using certain rules of thumb to determine their courses of action, For example, many teams school their kids when at third to go home on anything hit angle down not directly to a corner infielder. The prevailing principle is "make them get you out." This is practiced not just at the highest levels of tournament ball but at any level.
Another common practice is when runners are at second and third, always advance on a grounder. We've been over this but the strategy is a high percentage play since, if the defense throws the runner out at home, usually the offense ends up with runners again at second and third as if the batter had merely been thrown out at first.
Some teams are almost always aggressive even when it appears they are playing for just one run. They get a batter on first and the next kid bunts. The fielders get the out at first and then stand stunned as the runner from first proceeds to third base.
Another element of aggressive offense is the practice of always trying to advance two bases on a basehit behind you. Runner on second always tries to score on any base hit out of the infield except to left if the outfielder is crashing in. Runner on first always tries to move to third on basehits to right. In this case, the typical RF will simply retrieve the ball and look to get it in to the closest infielder who dutifully catches it and throws immediately to the pitcher. This often works without a throw being made to third, unless of course the defense is prepared and that's what this piece is really all about.
As I said, I cannot go over every possible aggressive offensive strategy. I just wanted to list a few for the purpose of going over what we do in practice on defense to prepare teams to deal with agressive offenses. The best way to deal with such strategies is to try to gain the upper hand, to be aggressive when on defense.
To me, there is very little you can do to deal with a suicide squeeze, assuming the bunter gets it down. If we suspect such a play might be invoked, what we do is throw at the batter's head, assuming a righty. This puts the catcher up in a standing position, hopefully with the ball and the batter on the ground. From there, defense is pretty easy. Our defensive practice is merely a discussion. That's about the only thing we can do. By the way, if the batter is lefty, all we do is throw a pitch on the outside corner but this doesn't happen often. - I wouldn't try many suicide squeezes with lefties at-bat since it is so easy to defeat. The catcher can see the runner coming - the element of surprise is gone. As long as the pitcher throws outside, the catcher should be able to nail the runner.
As far as the safety squeeze goes, the best defense is to have your first and third basemen crashing the batter and the catcher ready to make a play should the runner at third come. Your pitcher is probably the only one who can tell the fielder to throw it home. Aside from that, you have little by way of options. Your fielders need to know that this can happen and your pitchers need to know they should be watching for it. Everyone on the field should perhaps be educated and then know to yell "squeeze" when they see the play developing.
On the variation in which the runner at third watches for the ball to be thrown, she'll be well off the bag, looking to head home. On these plays, you have to decide before the thing develops whether you want to get the runner from third at all costs or to simply get the runner out at first and then try to make a play on the runner coming home. This decision with each of its resulting plays is what you must work on in practice.
It all begins with a discussion of the different things which might happen. You should talk about this and drill it as often as you feel necessary given the age and level of experience of your players. 15-18 year olds who hopefully have seen these offensive plays numerous times and practiced defense for them over the course of many years, shouldn't need a lot of discussion. All they really need is enough repetition in live circumstances and you judge when they have the thing down. 12U girls, perhaps playing their first or second year of real tournament ball, will obviously need to hear about this several different times and not just work on it at one practice.
As an aside, whatever it takes you to get a play "down pat," you should probably do about twice as many repetitions in practice. The idea is not to get the play down in practice but to make the reactions and plays involved automatic. I think sometimes we work a play in practice and once it seems to be learned adequately, we ignore it thereafter. I know I am often guilty of this. The players often need twice as much practice at given plays as we give them. This is why drafting up a practice program is worthwhile - it ensures not only that you cover certain plays but also that you give adequate practice reps performing those plays.
So the subject is really runner on third. You go over what might happen. Talk to the girls and let them know that most likely the offense views this as a situation in which the primary goal is going to be to get that runner home even if it means accepting the batter being put out at first. Tell them about squeezes, safety and suicide - teach them the jargon, it's part of their education. Tell them about runners waiting for throws before proceeding - you should go over this anyway when you discuss baserunning. Then talk about possible defensive strategies to deal with all the possible things which might happen.
At this point, I like to stop for a moment and instill the notion of always being ultra-alert on defense and always knowing the inning and game situation. Those are subjects we can go over another time but the actual play utilized is dependent upon the game and inning situation. If there are two outs, we always look to just get the out at first. If we are up or down by 5 or more runs, we always get the out at first. If it is tied or close, particularly late in the game, the girl on third is the only concern. Otherwise, the coach will tell you what our strategy is going to be.
In certain circumstances, we are willing to not just allow the batter to reach first but to proceed to second without a throw. That would be in a one run or tied game in later innings, particularly if not much scoring is going on. It is important for you to explain to your team that when this happens and our intentions are to allow it to happen, that's just the way it is. Too many times I have seen teams get down on themselves because some girl walked and went to second right in front of us because we let her. Of course, we were up by a run with two outs in the last inning and some underage, undersized kid who had struck out every time she came to bat in this tournament was due up. We did this on purpose but the team got down because we let if happen. If they are aware of what's going on, they shouldn't get down. And in some other circumstances, we would want to try to trick the runner from third into going home where we want to put her out or try to get a double play if we feel our players are strong enough to pull it off.
The most obvious play in "sacrifice-safety-score" situations is to have the SS drop in behind the runner at third, the fielder looks back at the runner, then turns to first and then wheels and throws to the SS, all within a half second. This will work against extremely inexperienced base runners. Of course, you wouldn't try this in a game in which you are up or down by 6 or 7 runs. That would result in setting the stage for a real rally by your opposition.
In almost all cases with a runner on third and a grounder to an infielder including safety squeezes, we want the fielder fielding the ball to at least check the runner at third before going to first. The only exception is where we're up or down by a lot and the kid puts down a great bunt - that means if your internal clock tells you that you must hustle to get the batter out, do it and forget about the runner at third. The coaches should be able to tell the girls to forget the runner at third - just get the out.
And, if there is a throw to first, we want the person taking that throw to at least try to get the runner coming home after making sure of the out. Our corner infielders are in front of their respective bags. Our middle infielders might be playing at normal depth or be in a few feet. Anyone who fields a ball will look to third and, assuming the runner is holding, go to first. The fielder at first will get the out and then, regardless of what has happened, throw immediately to home.
The situation gets tricky if you're playing equally for the runner at third and she is on her way home. Your fielders need to make a split-second decision about whether to go home or not. There are those situations in which we have told the girls to always go home. There are those situations in which they are always going to first, even though they are checking third before throwing. And then there are those in-between situations in which they are going home if the runner goes and to first if she doesn't.
More important than the knowledge of possibilities is the development of an internal clock. The fielder retrieving the grounder has to be able to look once at the runner at third, note whether she is holding or going home, and decide whether she has a chance to get her in the event she is running home. Players need lots of experience at this before they are able to make the right decision. They, like a pride of lionness deciding whether they have a chance to bring down the prey, have to decide whether their throw is going to make it on time. If not, they should go to first and put out the fire.
Also, where we are checking the runner at third, it is imperative that girls understand that they look, decide, and act. They cannot look, decide, look back, change their minds, etc. You get one look, decide immediately, and then you go. It may very well be a girl's prerogative to change her mind but that doesn't work on the softball field. Fielders must be instructed that if they hesitate for a second look, the play is over - you don't want them looking twice and then throwing to first. The runner at first will be safe and then the play can get out of hand.
There are some variations on the foregoing runner on third approaches. For instance, early in a game, you may decide that you can live with the batter reaching first in order to gamble on tricking the runner from third into leaving the bag too far or going home. One such play occurs when the girl fielding the ball is the third baseman. She turns her head to check the runner and then fires the ball, across the diamond ... to the pitcher. The pitcher, ready for this because you practiced it, fires imediately to the SS who is covering third. This may not work but it is an aggressive defensive move. And because it is out of the ordinary, you must practice it because it really has to be bang-bang.
More important than any special aggressive play is the fundamental play. Your fielder fields the ball, checks the runner and throws to first where the out is recorded. Immediately the player covering first comes off the bag and fires the ball home. If the runner at third is coming and she delays a bit, chances are pretty good you'll get her out too and thereby break the back of the offensive team. If she doesn't come home, you have put them on notice that you play defense aggressively and would have gotten her out if she had "foolishly" tried to score. That puts them back on their heals. In either event, it is critical that the fielder at first make the throw home rather than merely demonstrate that she is ready to do so. When I'm standing there coaching bases and a fielder comes off first with the ball ready to fire, my thoughts are, "I wonder if you can make that throw every time?" Go ahead and throw it, especially if the runner is returning to third. Just make a good throw and let the base coaches know that yes indeed, you can make that throw every time.
Another important situation occurs in dealing with those "continuation plays." Again, game and inning situations are important in determining how to proceed. If there are two outs, many teams won't continue. That's because, if the defense gets the runner rounding first, usually the runner from third will not score before the tag out, in which case the run doesn't count. Many teams do continue even with two outs though I think it is a bad play. In any event, the best way to deal with continuation is to intimidate the offense by making it a sure out if the runner leaves first.
There are two very similar plays I have seen utilized against continuation. One involves simply throwing the ball to the first baseman after a walk. Often times, your first baseman is one of the top athletes on the field. Not only is she athletic but often she is one of the more savy players. She can handle this situation. Your catcher either throws immediately and directly to first after "ball four" or she throws it back to the pitcher who throws immediately to the first baseman. The idea is the runner at third won't be able to beat a throw home if she goes and the runner now reaching first will be tagged out if she leaves the base. But most often this fails because the ever vigilant base coach begins telling the batter-baserunner to stay on the bag. Further, since the ball is not in the circle, the runner from third can get off the bag and start dancing. This may not add up to a hill of beans but it does complicate the situation and can lead to silly mistakes without really providing the benefit of getting an out.
The second way to prevent continuation is to have either the second baseman or the first baseman stand about 10-20 feet from first in the baseline between first and second. The catcher imediately throws the ball back to the pitcher in the circle which freezes the runner at third. She must now return to the bag or be called out. The pitcher stands with the ball in her hand while not making any threatening gestures to anyone (not "making a play on a runner" per look-back rule) as the batter begins the trek to first. As soon as the batter gets to about 15 feet from first, she throws the ball over to the fielder of choice (1st or 2nd - you, the coach, choose based on who is more heads up and has the better arm). If the base coach and batter don't recognize what is going on, chances are good she'll run right into the tag and still leave the fielder enough time to throw home and get the runner from third should she dare to try to score.
The reasons the second way is preferable to the first are: 1) Throwing the ball into the circle to a pitcher who is not making a play on anyone forces the runner at third to return to the bag. This makes the distance home longer. It also makes her flat on her feet if the coach begins emploring her to score. 2) The first base coach's attention is diverted from watching the play develop to making sure the batter has seen his signal to go to second. If you throw immediately to first, the coach will probably see this before the signal to the batter is even given. 3) Then, once the batter is almost on top of the base coach, the pitcher makes the throw to a fielder and it very likely will be too late for the base coach to stop the runner if he or she does catch what is going on.
If the runner now at first bolts for second, the fielder tags her out and, as I said, throws immediately to home. This last step is important even if the runner from third doesn't break for the plate because it tells all interested parties that no, we haven't forgotten about the runner at third. Rather, we want her to go. We're going to nail her too.
This must be practiced, practiced, practiced. You can't explain it once and then try it out a few times. That's because the pitcher (all of your pitchers) need to understand and practice getting the ball back into the circle while not apparently making a play on any runner and then learning the right time to throw over to the fielder. We need the runner at third to go back. We need the element of surprise on the runner reaching first. Timing is crucial. And the only way to get that timing is to practice the play. Further, if the play should fail, if the runner coming to first holds the bag, we need the fielders to know what to do next. And that is to return the ball to the circle and/or focus on the runner at third in the event the runner at first now starts for second.
In practicing this play, it is imperative that all possible outcomes occur several times. We want this play to be an automatic one when invoked. We don't want anybody needing to think very much about what to do. In order to accomplish this, we need to have our starting infield plus the second stringers run through it many times. We also need base runners and coaches. The coaches must have the runners perform all the variations of possible outcomes. I say this because I once tried to practice the situation using baserunners but, because I was running the practice alone, I had no base coaches. The result was my base runners did the safest thing every time. Of course, when we got into games, our opponents were far more unpredictable.
What you want to do to give your team the most experience on the play is to have the runners do different things every time and be unpredictable. For example, in one iteration, the runner from third would break immediately for home when the ball is thrown to the fielder. In another, she might sprint halfway and then immediately go back to third. In another, she might go five to eight steps off third and stay there, dancing. In yet another, she might never even consider coming off the bag. The runner coming to first might run right into the tag while being surprised and then actually get in the way of the fielder as the runner from third breaks for home. She might hold the bag. She might head for second when the ball is returned to the circle and if the pitcher throws to second, the runner from third breaks to home. You want every possible variation to happen in practice. And the only way that will happen is if you, the coaches, make it happen.
So, that's continuation and runner on third. These plays are important because scoring is the name of the game. But scoring is not even a small proportion of the aggressive strategies offenses will use. A more common aggressive strategy is the old bunt the runner from first to third play. Many defenses go to sleep on the sacrifice bunt with a runner on first. Sleep might be an exaggeration - they field the ball aggressively, get the out at first, but then the play is over. Many offenses realize this and they also realize that if the defense isn't alert, there is nobody covering third!
Many defenses try to deal with this situation by having the SS go over and cover third. I don't like this because I have my 1B and 3B crash in to field the bunt. My 2B is covering first. That hands second to the runner and may not prevent her from moving on to third if the rest of the defense falls asleep. Some teams will try to modify the play by having the 1B cover her bag while forcing the pitcher to field the bunt to the right side. The 2B covers second and the SS third. I really don't like this because any gifted bunter can put the ball down the first baseline beyond the reach of the pitcher. A really gifted bunter/slapper can push the ball right to where the 2B may have prematurely vacated in an effort to try to get over to second and this is a disaster.
My preferance is to have 1B and 3B field the bunt, 2B cover first, and SS cover second. You may say to yourself, "nobody has third." Or you may think, "I know, the LF is covering third." No, that's not the case. My outfielders are important in my plays but in this one, they are backing up throws and we don't have time to get into that now. We have three players essentially covering the bunt, 1B, 3B and pitcher. Only one can field the ball. The other two are free. One of these two, the one closer to third (or the better athlete) will just have to cover third.
But now is the important part of the play because what I want to happen is 1) get the out at first, 2) throw behind the runner at second, and 3) if the runner breaks for third, nail her there. So an infielder gets the ball and throws to first. The 2B catches it, making sure to get the out, and then jumps off the bag, throwing immediately to the SS covering second. If the baserunner is asleep, she'll come off the bag and be tagged out. If she's smart, she'll either slide in or otherwise hold the bag. If she's aggressive, she'll proceed to third. So the next, final step is to have my SS evaluate the situation and then finish the play by tagging the runner, whether on the bag or not, and then returning the ball to the pitcher, or by throwing on to third.
Note that if the baserunner tries to get to third, the SS should have a fair amount of time. She needs to get a line with which to throw to third, inside the baselines - towards the pitcher, and then she needs to make a good throw. She catches the ball at second, basically on or just behind the bag. If the runner is there, she tags her, whether on the base or not - put her on notice that we almost got you out. If the runner is making for third, she steps towards the pitching area, wheels and throws a good strike to the girl covering third. It's easy but it has to be practiced and corrected many times in practice.
The same basic play applies to bunts when there are runners on first and second. But in those cases, we are forgetting about the runner moving from first to second and instead focused only on the runner going from second to third and the batter going for first. Here 2B covers first but the SS covers third - nobody else has time. Your other infielders, not involved per se, need to clear the area in the center of the diamond so there are throwing lanes. One can go back up along the third baseline, the others need to get out of the way by perhaps running for the first baseline. These players need to be alert to the possibility of a pickle developing between home and third and will be needeed to help out so they aren't done yet.
The throwing lanes from first to third first to home, and third to home have to be cleared. Once you get the out at first, the 2B, covering first, must come immediately off the back and head towards third. If the runner has come off the bag, she should throw. Is she's way off the bag and heading for home, the throw has to be directly home. We don't generally throw behind runners at third. That shouldn't happen very often but you still want to practice it. A more likely outcome is for the runner at third to slide, get up and off the bag or to round the bag. If she is more than two steps off the bag but stopped and dancing, I want a throw to third unless the game situation is such that one would be excessively risky. I will say that I want my LF to be backing up third which does not mean standing along the foul line 20-40 feet up the line. It means she has to be well into foul ground in a mostly direct line between first and third and preventing a throw from going out of play.
That's defense for sacrifice bunts with runners on first or first and second. We've been over the runner on third and squeezes. Now it is time to addresss some more general issues like runners trying to move two bases on basehits. I think the first most important approach comes via discussion. When you are going over baserunning issues, assuming you utilize an agressive offense (and I hope you do), you can explain the options on what to do on base hits into the outfield. I hope you tell your kids to try to move from first to third on hits to right. I hope you tell your kids to expect to be sent home from second on hits to the outfield. Of course, I also hope you tell the kids to watch for the base coaches who have a better view of the fielders than they do. But they should expect to go two bases unless the coach holds them. And likewise, they must expect their opponents to try to move two bases.
The first image which I conjure up on a base hit to right with runner on first is the outfielder picking up the ball and hopping, seemingly ready to throw. Then she hops again, then again. Then she finally recognizes that the runner is moving on to third and she hops again but throws the ball to the SS covering second, runs it into the pitcher or, in the worst possible scenario, throws the ball directly to the pitcher, perhaps over her head or in the dirt such that the pitcher can't field it. The second image is the rightfielder trying to reach the third baseman on a fly by throwing a long, looping throw which ends up out of play. These are not acceptable!
What we want is for the fielder to field the ball cleanly and then make a quick accurate throw to an infielder. If you have a strong-armed RF, she can throw it all the way to third but that throw is going to have to opass through the 2B's head. The throw must be hard and low. The throw must be to the cutoff person. If the throw is at the 2B's head and is strong, it will get to third on one hop. That's the right play.
On recognition of a base hit top right, the 2B begins to position herself in a direct line between the outfielder and third. The third baseman can help in this positioning but after a few tries, 2B should be able to accomplish it without much help. The objective for her is to be in basically a direct line and then to catch the ball on the glove hand side of her body while also performing a pivot so as to make the throw to third. This should happen in under 4 seconds which means the 2B should have the ball ready to throw before the runner has gotten halfway to third. The SS is closest to the 2B. She also happens to be in the unique position of seeing whether the runner has gone to third. She effectively becomes the captain of the play and should instruct the 2B of what to do with the ball. The 2B should not think but rather execute.
The SS says (very loudly so that even the coaches in the dugout can hear) "3, 3, 3" or "2, 2, 2" if say the runner rounded second and froze. She might instead tell her "eat it" if the runner advanced to second and stopped and the play is now over. It is very important that the 2B get used to listening for the SS's voice. It is also important that the RF get used to throwing at the 2B's head. It is equally important that the 2B get used to making the throw to both second and third. This must be practiced.
In the event that you have a RF with a killer arm and a good 3B, you may want to make the more aggressive play of throwing through to third. That changes nothing we have said so far. This is important. The RF still throws a ball which is catchable by the 2B, but it is hard enough to get to third. The SS still yells "3, 3, 3" but immediately after, when the 3B can see that throw is coming on line to her, she yells "thru."
The 3B, once the SS has called "3, 3, 3" has two alternatives, "thru" or "cut." At some point I think I used "thru" and "let" but that's wrong. You can't use two words that both end in T for different plays. "Thru" tells the 2B to let the ball go through to the 3B. "Cut" tells her the throw is too weak or offline enough that she needs to catch it and make a throw. If the SS wants to pre-empt, she can by calling "cut 2" and that's about all we need to say on this. That should limit runners on first from taking third on base hits to right unless they really have time to make it anyway.
As far as runners from second scoring on basehits to right and center, again we want to use a cutoff. The choice of the cutoff is going to depend on who your best athlete with the best arm is. This might be your pitcher, 1B, or somebody else. You have to decide and then follow through in practice. The pitcher, if she is athletic and has a good arm will do since she is the one in the best position but I won't tell you what is right here. I;ve seen good 1Bs handle the responsibility well. I've seen 3Bs and SSs used effectively. It doesn't matter to me who you use but you must assign a cutoff.
The catcher has the responsibility of lining the cutoff up with home. She yells "left, left, left" or "right, right, right" and then "THERE." She also calls whether to "cut" or "thru." But in this case, she has such a good vierw of the field that she will probably say "cut" followed by a base she wants the fielder to throw to. That has to be practiced.
The single most important elements to your aggressive defense are: 1) informing the players of why you are doing this and how much focus they need in practice; 2) setting up the specific play you want them to execute and then, when variations exist, setting up a system of communication; and 3) practicing these things so that they become automatic.
I remember a few years back playing against a very good team. We were up to bat and starting to get a rally going. They were up by a few runs on us. I had a fellow out coaching third base for me. We had a kid on third and the batter walked with no outs. The third base coach went to sleep while he waited for the batter-baserunner to get to first and continue to second. The ctahcer threw immediately back to the pitcher who caught the ball and threw immediately to the SS covering third. Our runner was at least as asleep as the base coach. She was easily tagged out. Our first base coach was hot, tired and not paying attention. He sent the girl to second. The SS turned and fired to the 2B who easily tagged out are runner from first. We had a rally going. We were down 4-0 and were going to have second and third with no outs. Instead we had two outs and no runners on when our number four hitter struck out. They broke our backs. We never had another baserunner. They mercied us!
In a different circumstance, at the beginning of one game, we had a runner on second with no outs. The batter walked. The runner on second mistakenly strolled to third. The defense made the same mistake of thinking she was allowed to go to third without liability to be put out. The coach went berzerk. Our first base coach sent our batter-baserunner to second. The cneither the 2B or SS sure which was covering the bag. The ball sailed into center and our runner at third scored. The runner now at second went to third and the CF threw the ball over the 3B's head. That was ugly but you know what, from that point on, the defense really started to have a bad day. They were defeated by the first two hitters of the day.
Thse two anecdotes have repeated themselves over and over again in games I have watched or participated in. It doesn't matter whether the games were 10U, 14U or ASA Gold level play. When teams are not prepared to defend against aggression, it shows. They become prey for the predators. The best defense is aggression. Take this to heart and practice hard. Good luck.
Permanent Link: The Best Defense Is Unbridled Aggression
 
Catching Camp Press Release - Scholarship
by Dave
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Our friend, Dave Weaver, at New England Catching Camp (NECC) asked us to pass on the following:
"The New England Catching Camp is pleased to announce it will award one $500 scholarship this spring to a graduating New England High School student that has been a catcher on their high school team. This will be the 4th year this award has been offered. The scholarship can be applied for by either baseball or softball players. All applications received will be reviewed by a panel of NECC staff members as well as a group of individuals from business, education, and athletics. The group will make their selection of the 2009 recipient by May 29th, 2009. For more information on this program and to learn about previous recipients go to the link below.
http://www.catchingcamp.com/programs/scholarship/index.php?id=info"Labels: news
Permanent Link: Catching Camp Press Release - Scholarship
Tuna Salad
by Dave
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
You really have to hand it to all the girls who are jet-setting across the country to participate in the fall showcase season during the current recruiting window. These girls give up a lot for love of the game. I wish all of them the best of luck in these softball pursuits as well as a speedy recovery with their studies after this hectic experience wraps up. I don't have any good advice for these girls, just some encouragement.
I suspect that the greatest majority of folks involved in fastpitch softball have no idea what I mean when I mention the term, "showcase." Oh, the older girls who aspire to play in college and their parents know about them. But the younger age groups haven't yet been exposed. They are busy wondering whether it is really worth the time, money and trouble to compete in tournament ball. They wonder if $800-$1000 isn't a little too much money to spend on what is essentially a recreational activity. They worry about the two- or three-a-week practice schedule grind, year round, which they just agreed to. They lament the fact that they have to drive 20 minutes to practice 44 weeks a year and almost an hour to tournaments nearly every weekend for half the year. Softball is beginning to feel like a "job" to them. They have no idea what it is going to be like in the future, if their daughters excel and seek college scholarships.
I know most of the people in lower age group softball with whom I have interacted listen intently when the term "showcase" is used, bow their heads, nod affirmatively, and then usually either go back to their business or, less often, summon the courage to ask, "what's a showcase?" In the interests of sharing, I'll explain.
About a decade and a half ago, certain softball tournaments were established with the sole purpose of giving girls who aspire to play college ball the opportunity to play in front of their prospective coaches. This not only provided the players an opportunity to get out there but also gave the coaches the chance to watch these ambitious girls (who often go to great expense in terms of both time and money) play with and against the best players in the game at the highest pre-college level.
The tournaments are not all created equal. Certain tournaments draw more college coaches than others. Obviously coaches from certain conferences tend to cluster in places where they have done most of their past recruiting. Any old showcase is not going to draw in coaches from the Pac-10, Big 12, SEC, etc. when these coaches perhaps find the majority of kids they are interested in say at the "Rising Stars" showcase in Florida, "Ronald McDonald" in Houston, or "Team NJ" in Edison, New Jersey. The "secondary" level tournaments really struggle to attract college coaches beyond Div 3 and JuCo.
The best players are usually found at the top couple of showcases. The competition to just get your team into these is fierce. Lots of bad feelings develop when teams cannot get into the top tournaments or are unable to attract top talent because that talent seeks teams which can provide top exposure.
Further, at the largest showcases, there is loads of competition to play at the prime locations. As you can imagine, when there are more than one hundred teams involved in a showcase, multiple locations are needed just to play the games. Some locations, the prime ones, draw more coaches than others. Tournament organizers want to make sure the best prospects play at the top locations. The politics can get pretty ugly.
Showcase tournaments often have a convention-like atmosphere in which those involved in the sport are able to make and renew lasting friendships while conducting the "business" of recruiting and being recruited. Organizations looking to get their players in front of coaches provide some fairly elaborate food spreads. Showcase coaches spend more time politicking with college coaches and others than they do coaching players. The whole thing seems more like a political convention than a sport.
According to Spy Softball, during the four week fall "recruitment window," there are 9 major tournaments occurring. These are spread all over the country, east coast, west coast, Florida, etc. Many teams will travel to all four corners of the continental US to attend some of these on every weekend during the recruitment window. For hundreds of girls, this will involve at least 3 sets of major flights and some very long car rides, thousands of dollars in expenses for everything from flights to hotels to meals and incidentals, missed school days at the beginning and end of several weeks, and stress levels beyond most of our imaginations.
Showcase ball is different from other kinds of travel ball. For one thing, winning is not the primary objective, exposure is. From moment to moment, the players and coaches want their team to do as well as possible. Every kid looking to gain the attention of a college coach wants to make great plays, get big hits, or otherwise do something positive in a competitive setting. Every coach wants to prove that his or her team competes favorably with the historically best teams. Everyone wants to beat the past year's defending Gold champions (Gold Coast Hurricanes this year) or the teams which place most of their kids into the best college programs (Shamrocks, Batbusters, etc.) Obviously, that can generate a lot of buzz and maybe some attention. But it is the attention which is most important, not the final scores.
For this reason, you might see a game go 0-0 into the fifth inning and wonder why the coach pulled the pitcher who was throwing a no hitter for some kid who looks like she has not yet entered high school. Many times you'll see a team with a roster of 20 girls and all of them play despite the fact that the game seems winnable if only that kid who hit the first inning homerun were still in the lineup. Not every team gives every roster player adequate opportunity but most of the reputable programs do. They'll pitch a kid who is lights out for 3 innings and then two other kids who are apparently not at the same level two innings apiece so they can get some exposure. It is somewhat unusual to watch a team with two catchers, shortstops, etc. on their roster play one kid at the position for an entire game. Often pitchers are allowed to workout their control problems even if it costs a team a game. A fielder having a bad day, making a couple errors, is typically not pulled in favor of someone who might make those plays.
The reasons these things are not played like competitive tournament ball is somewhat complicated. The most obvious reason everyone gets their shot to play half a game is because it can be extremely expensive to play at this level. I've heard costs kicked around from $6,000 to $15,000 per year when all travel, including parents' travel, is factored in. $6,000 would be on the very low side. Some parents have told me "$10,000? At least that much!" Most kids' families are not well healed enough to pay out 15 large just to sit the bench and play two innings a tournament in rightfield while getting one or two at-bats and three chances to run the bases for a pitcher or catcher. Teams which approach showcase ball like that have trouble finding players because very few people are willing to take that kind of risk.
At these things, there are often "grudge matches" between teams which share a history, recruitment pools or are otherwise located in close geographical proximity. In some cases, one team always seems to draw the better talent and another plays all out to beat them every time they meet. The lesser well-known team might play their top 9 starters for most or all of a game. They might pitch their ace for a whole game. They might try to engage in certain strategies to win the game while the other team's strategies are geared towards beating some other team and gaining more college coach attention. Sometimes you get lucky and a couple teams which genuinely don't like each other go at it. Most of the time, what you get is teams, coaches and players looking to pose for the intended audience.
But these facts of showcase ball do not take away much from the experience of watching. I recently attended a showcase and was able to catch about 15 or so games over three days. Some of the games were more spirited than others but even in the less spirited games, it was very entertaining to watch some of the best players in the country ply their craft on the field.
In particular, I always enjoy watching some of the most elite pitchers of the future show their stuff. I also fixate on the many great catchers who were in attendance. I enjoy watching the every-pitch approach of infielders. There is nothing quite as enthralling as a great outfielder making a great play and I saw lots of that. More important than the entertainment value I receive when we go to these things were the "take-aways" my kids got from watching top players. They weren't always watching but they did gain a lot via osmosis.
This year was a little different than in the past. The showcase I attended tried to create a different approach than in years past. Over the several years I have attended showcases, there are often many kids who have already sewn up their college slots. During some of these tournaments, programs are sold which list the kids on the roster as well as the colleges they have signed or verballed with. The list is often rather impressive with several kids playing who will be attending UCLA, Tennessee, Texas, etc. This year, it is my understanding that many teams were encouraged to leave their committed players home. Some teams brought their full rosters but some teams obviously did not.
There has been much talk over the past several years of the need to remove committed players from the showcase circuit. I have opined about this in the past while acknowledging that I completely understand the reasoning and perhaps only object as a fan - because the level of competition is somewhat reduced. I understand that the idea is to get exposure for kids who do not already have slots at colleges sewn up. And if you've got the, already signed, top 100 recruits playing, the result is these better kids take away some of the attention which might fall on kids still trying to earn some scholarship money or gain a slot on the team at the college they want to attend. Also, it stands to reason that if some kid already has a scholarship sewn up, it makes no sense for her to go to all this expense to play ball - if I were such a recruit, I would want to get off the long-distance travel circuit immediately. The reasoning for excluding committed kids is sound but to me, these unsigned kids need to show what they can do against those top kids. If, for example, the best pitchers aren't there, how much stock can a college coach put into a great hitting performance? Anyways, That's the way I see it. Of course, many disagree with me.
Foremost in the group which disagrees with my opinion are the tournament organizers. Several have told showcase team coaches to leave their signed and verballed recruits home. Apparently, many such coaches did just that. The result is, as I suspected, the level of play dropped somewhat. As Spy reported, the Houston Power, left home all their committed kids. As a result, they perhaps did not play quite up to their usual level. I say this somewhat reluctantly because, according to their web site, the Power have just a few kids signed right now. That will undoubtedly change before long.
Many teams, of course, did bring their full rosters regardless of recruitment status of any one particular kid. But I believe this showcase was younger than I've seen in the past. I don't have any stats to back this up but the thing appeared to me to be younger. In years past, I have tried to make special note of the eighth graders and freshmen on the several teams. I recall one such showcase in which there were just a handful of 8th graders and these kids played pretty rarely. They were all very nervous when in the field or at-bat but didn't see all that much action. Generally the group of 8th graders did not include pitchers. Generally the 8th graders appeared much younger than their teammates. This fall showcase had a number of very young pitchers including a couple 8th graders and many freshmen. The younger kids did not appear to be particularly young. They fit right in. And many played very much up to the level of their peers. This could be because these kids happened to be more mature, were really that good or it could be that the whole tournament was younger. I can't say for sure.
In any event, I want to offer some words of encouragement for all that participated in the showcase I watched this past weekend as well as those who will be flying to CA, FL, etc. over the coming couple of weeks. I had some pre-showcase exchanges with a fellow whose daughter played at this level for the first time. He expressed some jagged nerves. I'm not sure if he was referring to his own nerves or those of his daughter! I told him, "remember, it's just softball!"
I think it is difficult to remember that this is just softball when you consider all the years previously put into mechanical skills, physical training, working one's way up the travel ladder, etc., etc. and so forth. You finally get on the bigger stage and, well, it's easy to place a ton of pressure on yourself. You want to play as well as you possibly can. You want to attract and impress college coaches. You've invested a ton into this. But it is just softball. If you don't make that big play, if you strike out too many times, if you flub a couple easy ones in the field, if everybody seems zoned in to your favorite pitch, nobody is going to die as a result.
I understand that you are pursuing your dreams. I understand that you really, really want to hook up with a coach at your first choice school. I understand that you will be heartbroken if that coach just happens to come over to the field right before your big error or strikeout with the bases loaded. But you've played this game a few times before. Ask yourself whether your best games have come when you've put a ton of pressure on yourself or when you've been relatively relaxed and carefree. This is absolutely no different. Play like you know how to play and good things will come from it. If you press, you are not goint to get the desired results.
A friend at the showcase I watched this weekend ran into a batting instructor there. The fellow happens to be one of the most respected batting instructors in the country. He gave the girls some sound advice. He said, "when you're up there, I want you to think about just one thing, just one particular thing." The girl's asked him what that one thing was. His response was, "tuna salad."
The girls smiled and giggled. He insisted that he was serious and explained what he meant. He said you like tuna salad, right? I want you to think about anything you like but not about getting the big hit. He wanted his girls relaxed. He wanted them to have fun. Those words of encouragement are better than I think I could ever possibly come up with. So when you go to the showcases, stop thinking about how important this may be. Instead, concentrate on having fun. Just think to yourself that instead of playing ball, you could be sitting in Advanced Math, English, or Organic Chemistry classes. You could be stressing over some boy or a friend who has decided she "hates you." But you're not. You're out playing in the sunshine. They'll be time enough for stress later.Labels: attitude, college, high school
Permanent Link: Tuna Salad
Growing Pains
by Dave
Monday, October 13, 2008
Oh my gosh, my little daughter has a disease, actually two of them! I thought maybe she was just a little hurt but now I've learned she has diseases! DISEASES!!
My younger child is one of "those" kids. She is very emotional. When she "loses it," it takes significant amounts of time to bring her back into human society. She gets pretty good grades in any subject requiring her to write or otherwise express herself in detail. She has a tendency to exaggerate and use extremely descriptive language about almost anything which moves her. Any kind of discussion of pain or discomfort can become an exercise in creative writing as she tries to bring her point across.
My older child is something of a stoic so when you think perhaps she might have some sort of injury, you have to bring out your best impression of Perry Mason and perform a cross examination, dragging everything out piece by piece. And you must always be prudent because 99 times out of 100, she feels much worse than she's willing to admit.
"I saw you flex your arm. Does it hurt?"
"A little"
"Where does it hurt?"
"I don't know. But it doesn't hurt bad so ... go away."
"OK. Tell me if it gets worse."
"Worse than what?"
"I don't know, just tell me if it keeps hurting."
Days later:
"Is your arm still hurting?"
"Yes, but you said to only tell you if it hurts worse and it doesn't."
"OK, let's go to the doctor. You're injured."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, my dear, you are and we're going."
With the younger child things are somewhat different. The conversation is more likely to go something like:
"Are you hurt?"
"Yes, very badly."
"Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere. I feel like I may die."
"How long has it been hurting you?"
"I think it started around the time I was born."
"Seriously, when did it start, how long has it been hurting you?"
"Seriously, about a year, maybe longer."
"Here, take a baby aspirin and it will go away."
We never hear another complaint about the life-threatening injury although another, unrelated terminal disease will usually crop up within a few months.
This is all very amusing to people not having to deal directly with my children. Anyone who has prolonged experience with them, particularly in sports, however usually quits coaching and never again wants to deal with anyone else's children. A few have survived the experience by realizing the older kid won't complain and the younger one will complain about virtually anything.
For example, when the older one was ten, she swung and struck a foul ball on a hard pitch into her face. She had to be removed from the game ... for an out after which she insisted on going back in. That can be a good quality but, for example, when she injured her shoulder pretty badly while pitching, she didn't let us know right away. After about 10 games, we noticed she was doing certain things like flexing her hand so we immediately went to the specialist who quickly made her take two months off.
Worse still is the younger one with all the real and imagined serious injuries. When she tells us her hand may fall off, our reaction is usually somewhat understated. So when she actually broke a finger on her pitching hand, we pretty much just told her to deal with the pain and get over it. "Shut up and pitch or we're quitting and you'll never play softball again. OK?" And the coaches have learned to not listen to her when she complains because the "injury" will go away if everyone ignores her.
Once upon a time, my younger, expressive daughter started complaining about knee and ankle pain. I let that go for perhaps several months because, well, you know, that's the way we deal with her. If we didn't react that way, she'd never be involved with softball. Actually, she'd never go to school, or set foot outside the hospital. We'd have to keep her in a bubble and inside that bubble, she'd be wrapped in bubble wrap. That's the reality. But this time was different.
As I said, she complained for a while and we didn't put much emphasis on her complaints. We wouldn't have done anything with this but one early spring scrimmage, I noticed her pitching speed dropped off quite a bit. Worse, she had altered her mechanics a bit for unknown reasons. I asked her about it and she, being mad at me for ignoring her for so long, wouldn't give me a straight answer. Then, at her next pitching practice, when her speed was still way off, we decided that it was time to seek medical attention.
We took her to an orthopedic specialist who diagnosed, gasp, two diseases! DISEASES! He told us she was suffering from both Osgood-Schlatter's and Sever's diseases.
By now, if you've been through similar experiences, you probably understand why I'm being so sarcastic about calling these conditions "diseases." If you have never had dealings with Osgood-Schlatter's or Sever's or, if you are just now encountering these two, you may not quite understand the reasons for the sarcasm. So, let's talk a little about these two.
First of all, as kids grow, the various parts of their bodies don't always grow precisely in lockstep. Bones tend to grow a bit faster than tendons. When kids use the tendons which are too short relative to the bones, the tendons exert a lot of force on the bones to which they are attached. This pulling on bones can be rather painful - you have more pain nerves in the bones than anywhere else. (My daughter's pain was very real and severe. Your child's pain is probably bad enough that you wouldn't be able to deal with it.)
Just about every kid gets what we used to call "growing pains" in which something has grown out of sync with something else, caused some pretty major pain, and limited activity. That's what, in essence, these "diseases" are, growing pains. They are more common in those engaged in athletic pursuits than they are in the wall flower types who stay in after the school day and don't run around much outside, let alone work out 4 times or more per week with some sort of sports team.
If your child is involved in sports, chances are pretty good that around the time of puberty, during some unusually drastic growth spurt, she will complain of pain in one or more of the joint areas. I've read several comments by people first encountering these diseases which suggests they are "major injuries" and that they are caused by excessive repetitive motion or pushing kids to their breaking point. Another frequent comment is the incidence is caused by girls playing sports when perhaps their bodies aren't made for it. Both of these are myths.
The simple truth is these syndromes and other related ones are caused by normal growth problems - bones outgrowing tendons. The pain becomes more evident because your athletic kid is using the joints which have the conditions. Use of the joint causes more pulling at the bones and, therefore, inflammation and pain. The condition has traditionally been diagnosed more in boys than girls because, going back 30 or more years, girls just did not participate in sports at the same rate as their male counterparts. But I haven't seen anything which suggests that girls playing sports get these problems more frequently than boys playing sports.
These are not injuries in the sense that other types of injuries are caused by doing something mechanically wrong. You can run, jump or throw perfectly and suffer "growth pain" requiring rest and/or other treatment. You do not have to "over do it" in order to "suffer" these diseases. The tendons are too short for the bones to which they are attached on millions of kids who never got up out of their chairs. The reason young athletes suffer more than inactive kids is not because their activity causes the diseases to occur. They suffer because their activity irritates the condition which is there regardless of activity.
Conversely, numerous kids do suffer from repetitive motion injuries because they do something mechanically wrong, because they over do something, or because some of their musculature is under-developed for the activity they are engaged in. A kid who throws wrong is going to develop an arm injury as soon as she finds herself throwing a lot. Some teams do over stress kids' bodies. Some kids, for whatever reason, do not develop certain muscles as much as others and learn about it the hard way.
It seems to me that mechanical flaws are the most dangerous sort of condition. A kid suffers pain in her joint because of something she does wrong. She gets a little rest with analgesics applied. Then she goes back to doing exactly what caused the pain to begin with. A second injury is inevitable. I think the most common sorts of cases of this involve throwing. I think I see more bad throwing mechanics than any other sort of mistake. And in softball, as you get older, you only do more throwing.
At 10U, games often involve a minimal amount of throws by anyone other than the pitcher. Games at higher levels can involve a fair amount of throwing but I believe this about doubles in 12U due to more aggressive base running and many more balls being put into play by the much more experienced batters. 14U is more so. At 16U and 18U, defense probably determiens the outcome of games more frequently than not and throwing is probably the element of the game which makes the biggest difference. Consequently, there is an ever increasing amount of throwing during practices as a girl moves up in age class.
I recall several very strong age group players who had poor throwing mechanics. They suffered only about as many sore arms as their peers during their teams' twice a week practice sessions. But once they arrived in high school and were going at it 6 days per week, their arms got really sore and never had the opportunity to recover. Usually such girls (and by the way, boys too) end up missing whole seasons or major parts of them while they rest their arms and get PT from medical professionals. If they persist in their poor mechanics, these injuries often resurface later on, assuming the kids ever return to the game. Often girls and boys will end their careers with some sort of major arm injury. I cannot begin to count the number of guys I know who made it to the minor leagues and then "blew out their arm."
There are many teams, often the best ones, particularly in youth level sports, which way over do the practice thing. I know of a 10U team which prohibited their players from being involved with any other major activities, had them practicing about 15 hours per week, and just generally over did the whole softball thing. I'm not fond of ever acknowledging excessive amounts of practice but I think it is fair that at 10U, no kid should be all that focused on a single activity. We'll have to save further analysis of this for another time but suffice it to say that nobody at 10 years of age is emotionally old enough to decide that all efforts from this point forward are targeted at a college scholarship in a top 25 NCAA program. Over doing practice can and often does lead to injuries which shorten or end careers.
Another common cause of sports related injuries involve muscles that ordinary people do not work sufficiently for the physical activity at hand. One kid I coached had a weakness in and around her shoulder joint which caused her to lose several weeeks to physical therapy. Once the problem was addressed and she had strengthened her shoulder, she never had a recurrence.
My older daughter began throwing some pitches which caused her to use parts of her shoulder which had really never been exercised before. She developed a cramping in some of our upper back muscles which required about a month off followed by a month of PT after which the problem did not return. These kinds of injuries can lead to major problems if they are not addressed but when they are addressed early and correctly, they are usually very much cured. Osgood's and Sever's are different.
Osgood Schlatters disease is named after two physicians, Osgood and Schlatter, the doctors who defined the syndrome or disease. It usually is diagnosed during a growth spurt occurring in pre-teen or teenage years. The too short patella tendon tugs at the shin bone causing inflammation and pain. Athletes get suddenly slower and look like they are running over hot coals or some sort of obstacle and they can't bend their knees like they normally do.
Sever's disease, also named for the doctor who defined it, occurs where the Achilles tendon attaches to the growth plate in the heels. My daughter appeared to be running over egg shells when she developed it. She could not land hard and then push off like she used to. She became a much slower runner, couldn't push off the rubber and, in fact, actually walked a little weird once this developed.
I have read all manner of prescribed treatment for Osgood's and Sever's. I am not in a position to offer recommendations on how to deal with it. My best advice is to seek competent medical advice, read up on the condition which assails your kid, and follow through with prescribed treatment until it goes away, and beyond that point. The most common treatments suggest rest and icing. I suppose those are necessary to calm down the pain as soon as possible. The length of rest depends and I have no guidelines to give you on this. Logic should dictate that rest should continue beyond the point at which pain disappears.
After resting, icing etc., there is some disagreement on what should be done next. Our doctor gave us several static stretches for each condition. The papers we were handed had more exercises than we could get my daughter to do. My wife and I sat down and read them over carefully. Where we thought perhaps some of it was redundant, we allowed our daughter to do a little less than what had been recommended. We also let her skip some exercises when they seemed to be too time-consuming and/or she did them with too much ease. The condition went away pretty rapidly and she was able to return to softball without again suffering major pain - she would occassionally experience mild recurrence which went away as soon as she did her stretches again.
In most people, these diseases disease go away on their own with rest and time. Osgood's and Sever's do not hang around for decades, causing pain for these kids as they race towards driving lessons, college, and careers. But that doesn;t mean they should be ignored or "played through." If you try to push through these "growing pains," the conditions will most likely worsen and become more difficult to treat. And when tendons pull repeatedly at bones, a lump can occur as bone grows at the point of stress. This can cause lots of problems. In short, athletes should always pay attention to their bodies when the bodies send them signals via pain. That's as true with Osgood's and Sever's as with other kinds of injuries. And sometimes these conditions, if completely ignored can last quite a bit longer - possibly into adulthood.
If you think your kid might be experiencing "growing pains," if she's in that age span during which the onset of puberty is right around the corner, if she has recently begun spurting up, and she begins to complain about joint pain, get some medical attention. Your primary care doctor may not give you the best advice on how to deal with this. An ortho specialist is probably a better idea. And take their advice to heart. Rest means rest. No, she cannot just be strapped into a bed for two days, go out and play 6 tournament games this weekend and then return to bed. Icing relieves joint pain but it alone is not enough. The same is true for analgesics. Most likely your daughter is going to need prolonged rest, icing, analgesics, some sort of stretching regimen, and then she can be back to her old self. Right now is fall and, while you are playing every weekend, it is a great time for rest. You may think to yourself that she really needs to be at practice and games now in order to make the starting lineup. but if this persists and maybe gets a little worse, she may miss a lot more games in the spring.Labels: injuries, parenting
Permanent Link: Growing Pains
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