12U running time...

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I have a question. We are new to the whole travel ball scene my daughter has played rec for 3 years....so I have a million questions running through my head. I am not sure what is good, what is not so good, what are things being looked for.....that sort of stuff. So my first question is about home to first running time. What is fast, what is average that sort of thing. Yesterday we attended a tryout and I overheard my daughter's time. Here is a little background she is almost 11 so she would be 12u and they timed her simulating a hit. She ran a 3.37 is that ok? I would think that she might be able to do a little better because this was her time at her second tryout after she had already been out in the sun playing ball for 4 or so hours. I don't know what her other times were earlier in the day because they never told us I just was close enough to hear that one. I have always thought she was pretty fast but that is a mother's opinion comparing her to girls in rec.... And you know how us parents get sometimes....so I just wanted an unbiased opinion. :-/

 

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We ran tryouts the last few days at GFOD, so I'll give a little insight at to what I saw. ?Not knowing how they started and stopped, or if she was in the left or right batters box, things that could change her time. ?I would say that for a 11U girl her times are slightly better than average. ?Most of the girls we timed were around 3.5, with one or two around 3.1-3.2.
As a coach, blazing speed does stick out and adds bonus points, but I'm looking for attitude, solid glove work w/ arm strength, solid hitting mechanics, pretty much in that order. ?Just my 2 cents worth, good luck in your tryouts.

Coach Yeater
14U GFOD Thunder

 

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I coach an older 12U team. The times on my team ranged from 2.79 to 3.43.

 

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At the try outs we attended, the coaches would let the girls bunt on the right side to a soft toss by a coach.
the clock would start at the sound of the bat hitting the ball.
Most girls averaged about 3.5 seconds.

 

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a thread on this forum some time ago listed the minimum requirements for making the olympic team. ? for infeilders it was 2.95 seconds from home to first. ? it looks like she getting close. ? i would say she has plenty of speed and will get faster. ? sounds like a lot of speed at the 11U/12U ?ages.

 

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Lady_knights-
Thanks. She was in the left box-not sure when they started but I know she ran through and he stopped when her foot hit the bag. Not real sure why she chose to stand left (like a drag but she just swung and ran?-not real sure why she does a lot of things......She is a catcher. She can stop almost anything-small and flexible. Her reaction time seems ok to me but I REALLY have no idea what is what. She needs work in the batting department she was a consistant hitter in rec but she never saw much speed. The only fast pitcher in our age/league was her pitcher so she never hit her because she was always her catcher. She is late and dips when she swings-not sure when she started the dipping but I noticed it this weekend..... Her throws to 1st and 3rd are nice but she worries to much about hitting the pitcher when going to second that she doesn't throw like I have seen her throw. ?Even though we assure her that she will move. IMO she has potential and heart...not sure what will happen this year-I am not to worried about it as I wasn't going to even take her out until next year but was assured that it couldn't hurt so why not....so here we are....thanks!

 

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Thats how my daughter got started, didn't think she was ready, but thought we would take her to tryouts to get a comparison. The coach saw she had some ability, and we have been going at it hard for several years now, with tons of improvement. Travel softball tryouts can be nerve wrecking and intimidating, but life lessons are being learned even at tryouts that will build character in your daughter making her a better person.

Now on to some of her problems you have mentioned. Sounds like she has the typical Rec. swing, caused by swinging at arching type pitches that require an upercut type swing to hit. Can't be corrected if she continues to face Rec. type pitching consistently. It will get better with more swings, with better pitching, and that can only happen if she is playing on a quality travel team. In the offseason, have her concentrate on good swing mechanics, tee work, soft toss, hit-n-stick, which will build muscle memory, which in turn, should in some way, alter the pitches she swings at, because it will feel funny to take that uppercut swing. (I hope that makes sense.)

The throwing down to second problem. It is the pitchers job to get out of the way, bottom line! We want our catchers to throw the ball as fast and as hard as they can, and that requires them to throw the ball flat and straight. So tell your pitchers to get out of the way or feel the consequences. Once again, my 2 cents worth, but I hope it helps.

Good Luck.
Coach Yeater

 

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Thanks again! She has never had a pitcher not move it is just her not wanting to hurt someone-she doesn't mind if it isn't a teammate (not that she is heartless) but it doesn't bother her to knock someone coming into home just her own player. My husband is working with her on that. We tell her that if the pitcher doesn't move that is her mistake not your problem. Even the pitcher's mother says the same thing if she gets hit its because she wasn't where she belonged. So hopefully before next year if she doesn't make a travel team that we can get it corrected. She is going to get catching and batting instruction starting in September once a week so that should help a lot.

 

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At our tryouts 12u the kids that are in the running for the team all were between 2.81 and 3.29. This was done from the right side after making contact with the pitch.

 

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Coach Yeater (or anyone for that matter)-
Other than getting her on a travel team-which obviously we are working on.....How do I work on correcting the dip-it isn't in her swing-her swing is level. When she swings and turns "to squash the bug" she dips her right leg down in turn bringing her and her bat under the ball. The same things....tee....hit-n-stick....etc? I am sure that her batting coach will work with her on that once we get her started next month. But any ideas to work with her at home would be great.

 

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depends on who is running the watch. There is no real way to compare.

 

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There are so many ways to time running and even then it's subject to the operator's thumb. Given that, we do time girls at our tryouts, but for my own purposes I simply watch them and decide how fast I think they are.

How many times have we seen a girl run to first base, 50,000 maybe? I feel like I can tell a girl's speed with my eyes better than an inexact measurement.

 

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JoeA I could not agree more.

 

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I just came from a 16U tryout. I was the fastest at 2.7. Average was about 3.5

 

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Could the speed be the deciding factor in whether or not coaches pick a player for travel? My dd is not very fast but has other good abilities. Could she be being passed over because she is not very fast? (she is not the slowest either)

 

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Personally, I'd take a smart base runner over a fast one any day. On my dd's team (12u last year) one of our best base runners was also our slowest. When she takes off, it's like you're watching the play in slow motion. Amazingly, she rarely gets thrown out. We had another girl with great speed that would leave me scratching my head wondering, "huh?"

 

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For the purpose of timing a runner. Take a softball and hold it over your head. Let it drop. The starting point is when the ball hits the ground. Both the runner and the watch start at that point. Stop when the foot hits the bag. They actually swing the bat just like a game situation.

Anything 3.0 or under would be very good for a runner using this method.

 

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Bran,

I am not sure I understand your question on hitting. Care to clarify for me. Maybe I can help you.

Elliott.

 

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Elliott-thank for your reply but we got it under control. I have been taking her to the cages lately to try to work it out and the other night-what I was saying finally sunk in and she quit. What she was doing was bending her back leg so much that she was in turn pulling her whole swing down under the ball. If that makes any sense. I am not good at describing anything-I just go and watch and cheer.... Dad does the tip giving and understands the techniques way more than I do and can explain it all better. But luckily for me what ever I told her seemed to work she is back to making contact rather than swinging at air.