What were some of the good/bad tryouts you attended

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Yes you pay the $500 to just tryout with no refund and then pay the fees to actually participate on the team. Reality is if you want to be on the top teams in CA, you pay. . .

OUCH!! Ohio is looking pretty good to me! LOL

 

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sounds like with all the money they spend in Cali, ...we could go pick up some of their DD's for the summer and save them some money and get them some "summer ball" experiences her in O-H-I-O!!

 

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They can charge that because of supply and demand. Ever wonder why so many Cali girls wind up on Ohio college rosters?

 

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i bet if some of the teams charged something as low as 25 bucks, they'd weed the casual girl/parent from trying out

 

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Some teams don't time the base times very well. They just have the girls line up at home, no line or nothing, then yell go, and time them. Girls at the end of the line get smart and creep up farther and farther to get a better start!

Explosion did it smarter; they put a bat in the girl's hand, pitched to them, and had them bunt. On contact the clock started.

 

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at the 16U tryout that I was helping with, I did not see any girls that were "out of their league". I can't say if all of them were serious about wanting to be on that team or just out hitting the tryout circuit.

"Pay to tryout" would definately put a stop to multiple tryouts. Non-refundable but I would have the payment count towards the team fee once the family joins.

 

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Explosion did it smarter; they put a bat in the girl's hand, pitched to them, and had them bunt. On contact the clock started.

What happens when you miss your bunt??;& Seems like alot of extra work just to get a home to first time.

 

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What happens when you miss your bunt??;&

the girls probably roll their eyes and blame the machine

 

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Coach is in the circle and "simulates" a pitch - but doesn't actually pitch a ball. Batter in batter's box takes a swing, drops bat, and runs to first. Start the watch with the swing (simulating contact). That way every kid is timed in the same manner. No foul balls, no hit batters, and every pitch is a "good pitch"!

 

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If the batter can't make contact on a bunt off of a pitching machine then it won't really matter how fast she is.

 

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What happens when you miss your bunt??;& Seems like alot of extra work just to get a home to first time.

killing two birds with one stone.......see who can bunt & get a time to first.

 

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Been to many college camps and none time you using the simulate a bunt drill. So when you hear times, they are all using apples to apples. I bet Whatley's time was not a simulated bunt drill! No times where under 3.0 when I watched a tryout do this drill. Rich's point is they still have to get on base. So Speed is important after they get on base, not just bunting. A girl that can steal any base , changes how you call pitches ( no change ups) and how the defense has to play.

 

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Some teams don't time the base times very well. They just have the girls line up at home, no line or nothing, then yell go, and time them. Girls at the end of the line get smart and creep up farther and farther to get a better start!

Explosion did it smarter; they put a bat in the girl's hand, pitched to them, and had them bunt. On contact the clock started.

Or you could do it the common way, single line at home, you say go and start the watch, or you can start it on their go.

 

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I've seen a coach at home and slap their hand on a simulated swing. Clock starts on the clap...

 

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Personally I have them all start at the same spot, usually at the plate. I say go and when they are ready, I start the watch as there first step hits the ground. This allows them to leave when they feel ready and they don't get caught not ready. Have tried alot of different ways but this seems to be the fairest.

 

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A couple of things:
1. If the org is only looking for two players, why have an "open" tryout, especially when you had already targeted 2 players, and start talking to the parents and kids while the other 40 girls are still doing thier thing? You might miss the girl who lights up your returning "Elite" pitcher 3 straight at-bats.

2. If you want to eval a pitcher, give her a catcher who can catch.

3. If an ump is calling balls and strikes, make sure he knows that SOME girls can actually throw pitches that move around the strike zone. It's really bad when you couple a bad catcher with a bad ump--he can't call balls and strikes when he is duck and covering on every pitch.

 

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If you haven't played competetive ball - DON"T HIT FUNGOS
Don't use stop watches - if you can't evaluate speed by observation you shouldn't be coaching anyway.
Don't use pitching machines " THERE IS NO WAY TO COMPARE TO AN ACTUAL THROWER"
SAD that a past Jeopardy champion that never played ball in his/her life can coach a travel team. SCARY AIN"T IT!!!!!

 

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Coach is in the circle and "simulates" a pitch - but doesn't actually pitch a ball. Batter in batter's box takes a swing, drops bat, and runs to first. Start the watch with the swing (simulating contact). That way every kid is timed in the same manner. No foul balls, no hit batters, and every pitch is a "good pitch"!

Only bad thing about that.... some girls will actually do a "real swing" like they would in the game while others do that throw arms and take off running thing. A swing they would never use in a game but it gets them down the line the fastest.

Just time them from home to first with no other "events" getting in the way of timing girls apples to apples.

 

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The kids who cheat (taught by an adult to cheat, I might add) are only cheating themselves out of future opportunities. Fortunately, quality coaches - especially college coaches - spot these cheaters easily. The kids taking "half swings", cheating up the line, etc. are obvious to coaches. Media Steve notices it, and so do a LOT more people.

 

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On time to first, we have them bunt 5 balls, first 3 are for bunting ability (they were instructed 3rd base, middle, first base sequentially) .... then drop the bat and run on the last two. Done with live "coach pitch". On the timed running, it is "bat ping" to "base thump", whether ball is foul or not. Point of this station, we get the following in a quick & combined session:

1. ability to follow directions
2. ability to bunt (and place bunts)
3. time H to 1B from their (real) stance in the box
4. a look at their footwork out of the box, running ability, "hit/run" coordination
5. We record the times for comparison of course, but also make notes. Example "very fast runner, but slow out of box", or "lefty slapper" ... we are left with an impression of "current ability", and "potential" ... (fwiw - just what we like for a specific, overall, and potential overview)