Tagged With "advice"
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Lynn University
Anyone have info on them? Any info at all. I know about the school and education, but what about baseball? How/where they recruit, showcases they attend, how their camps are, and, above all, how to get their attention from all the way up in Jersey?...
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Advice On Transferring After/ During Freshman Year
A little background information on my recruitment. My senior year in 2018 I committed to a private D3. However, towards the end of my Spring high school season the coach that recruited me stepped down. I reached out to a local D2 university that was previously following me. This school gave me a full ride for academics and the coach expressed interest, so I came here in the fall as a walk on. Do to budget cuts (As the CIAA no longer supports baseball in conference), I was informed that the...
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2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
I've been reading a lot of recruiting advice on this forum, and much of it seems to be specific to the level of the player. The advice given to an elite-level D1 talent is not appropriate for a D3 level player, and vice versa. As he is beginning his sophomore year of baseball and formulating his college recruiting plan, what is the best way for my son to get an honest assessment of his talent level? His high school and travel team coaches are excellent at teaching the game of baseball, but...
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Advice for Incoming College Freshman
Going off to college is exciting, know there is a whole new baseball world that's waiting for you is even more exciting. I just finished my freshman year of college and I wanted to share some of the things I wish I had known/ I learned. Disclaimer: This is written from a players perspective of college baseball, so there will some things that parents probably won't want to know about. Understand that you are a freshman: It doesn't matter if you're the number 1 recruit in your class or a...
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Which team?
Can someone give me solid advice about choosing a summer team 16u. My son tried out for two good teams. CBA Rancho and Trosky Kali. He has a great chance. How do I choose? Are there any questions I should ask besides, of course, logistics. We would have to travel either way. And also be in a position of saying a “small” no to summer school ball.
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Rising HS Sophomore Advice
This is my second post on the site. I received great advice from my first post, but I am still unclear about some things. I am a future sophomore with dreams and aspirations of playing at Notre Dame, going pro, etc. My freshman year was disappointing from a baseball standpoint. I was second-string under a player who was probably a little better than me. He threw harder than me and was well known by the coaches before the season. When I got opportunities I produced, but I was still a utility...
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Advice for a Freshman
Hey Y'all, I just graduated high school and am currently preparing for my freshman year of college. I'll be playing at D3 school in TX. If y'all have any advice for me about adapting to the college environment or really anything to do with college, please share!! Thank in advance!
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Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
Hello, new member and somewhat new to scorekeeping for 14u team. I have some plays over the past few weeks that i'd like to get some opinions on if they are errors or not. I'm still a little unclear how much weight to give to "weather" when it comes to judging errors for the second and third situation. Thanks for any help. Situation #1: Fly ball hit a ball to the right field gap and a three-way collision ensues in the outfield between CF, RF and 2B, and ball drops. An error to the right...
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2019 C/Utility out of England
I have little to no context of skill or coaching as a player in the United Kingdom, as the baseball infrastructure here is severely lacking. I'm 6'0, 175lb, with a hand-timed record pop time of 2.05. I try and self-coach as much as possible when practices are few and far between, emulating players on Instagram and YouTube. I've played international baseball with Team GB, which is probably at the same level as US high school, and I have a career average in those tournaments of .445. I will be...
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Catching Pop Time
Need some help, tips, advice for my throws to second. I was thinking that I should be throwing under 2.0 to the bag, but I am not from what I saw of my recent video that I got of myself. any advice, mechanically, etc. on what to do? What could I be doing wrong? There is the link to my video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RavimeYq3Ig
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Top 3 takeaways from parents who have been there
Parents of student athletes who have successfully gone through the baseball recruiting process: as you look back, what would you say are your top 3 key learnings for those of us in the thick of it right now? We see bits and pieces of your wisdom in different threads, but would be great to see what you think matters most. Thanks in advance.
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Catcher Skills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdHr6JAOE2s Here is a link to my video from Baseball Factory. Here is a link to my Baseball Factory page: http://members.baseballfactory...er/_/109066/#member/ Can I have any catching advice, more on...
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Re: Catcher Skills
Wesley, As a 16 year old, you have a good base to work with. I would recommend three things immediately: 1. Lose the Knee Savers. This should allow you to get lower in your stance. Also along that line...get more flexible in your hip flexors. Take a yoga class. You have a pretty good sized frame and you will need to present a low target at times. Flexibility is very important. 2. Find a long toss or arm strengthening/stabilizing program. We use Jamie Evans' Velo-City (...
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Re: Catcher Skills
Originally Posted by redbird5: Wesley, As a 16 year old, you have a good base to work with. I would recommend three things immediately: 1. Lose the Knee Savers. This should allow you to get lower in your stance. Also along that line...get more flexible in your hip flexors. Take a yoga class. You have a pretty good sized frame and you will need to present a low target at times. Flexibility is very important. 2. Find a long toss or arm strengthening/stabilizing program. We use Jamie Evans'...
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Re: Catcher Skills
Originally Posted by CaCO3Girl: Has your velocity been clocked on your throw down? I have been clocked at 75 mph.
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Re: Catcher Skills
Originally Posted by standballdad: Originally Posted by redbird5: Wesley, As a 16 year old, you have a good base to work with. I would recommend three things immediately: 1. Lose the Knee Savers. This should allow you to get lower in your stance. Also along that line...get more flexible in your hip flexors. Take a yoga class. You have a pretty good sized frame and you will need to present a low target at times. Flexibility is very important. 2. Find a long toss or arm...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
IMO, No errors on any play. While the standard is ordinary effort, generally its interpreted as basically requiring the fielder either touch the ball or essentially have it go through him (e.g., infielder ball between his legs). Instance 1 was a miscommunication between three fielders; instance 2 was a player who will now never forget his sunglasses and use his glove to block the sun; instance 3 could be attributed to the weather. The good news is that the first two instances provide great...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
None of those seem like routine plays 14u players would be expected make all of the time. I think if any of these plays are made the players gets a "ooh great catch". This is 14u ball and good teaching moments. I would mark them down as hits and remind the kids how to handle them better next time.
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
As Goosegg says, the standard is "ordinary effort." You have to make a subjective decision. Considering the totality of circumstances--where the fielder was positioned, where and how the ball was hit, and other factors in play like wind and sun--should a player of average ability at that level of baseball be able to make the play while exerting ordinary effort? One unofficial rule of thumb I use is to put myself in the position of the pitcher. Could the pitcher have reasonably expected the...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
If you're the pitcher's dad: All three are errors. If you're the hitters' dad: All three are hits.
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
As a pitcher's dad, I often suspected scorekeepers of basing their decision on their assumption that it's better to call it a hit and have the pitcher's dad hate them than to call it an error and have both the hitter's dad and the fielder's dad hate them.
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
Situation 1: Hit. If caught it would have been a great play by any of the three players involved. Not an ordinary effort play. Situation 2: Hit. IT's exceptional effort to block the sun with the glove to make the play, especially at 14. Chances are, even with sunglasses it could have been difficult to catch. Situation 3: Hit. It would take exceptional effort to quickly calculate the wind and rain effect. If the player made the play everybody would have clapped, suggesting it wasn't an...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
Thank you for all the responses. Great advice.
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
I have been keeping the book for years. I can't tell you the number of times I have had the "he should have had it" - "the standard is ordinary effort" conversation. However, this year, I have become frustrated by a first baseman who doesn't scoop well and never comes off the bag to block a ball. The throws could be better but a better first baseman would have cut the errors in half or at least held the runner at first instead of letting the ball get by him and the runner going to 2nd. All...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
DadintheBox posted: …All this to say is that scoring is subjective and sometimes the wrong person is hit with the error (ex. SS makes a great play in the hole and throws off balance. Ball is a low throw that one hops. 1st baseman scoops and misses - E6. But a good 1B makes the play 9/10 times). ... I agree that a good F3 saves a lot of errors, but it doesn’t matter. Any throw that strikes the ground that would have put a runner out if it was caught, is an error on the thrower. OBR Rule...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
I mentioned this before. I don't really sweat what the guy who does the book. writes down. A lot of time and at lower levels its a dad that means well or another player. Not exactly experienced score keeping. If your trying to keep track and record at the HS level for college recruiters, thats a different issue. at 14/u it really doesn't to much. My son's a catcher and I know what he should and shouldn't get to....I dont sweat if the pitcher spikes the ball two feet in front of the plate and...
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Re: Advice on 3 potential errors (some weather-related)
This has been brought up time and time again, but HS stats are not reliable (Many times the official score book is kept by a parent or player in the dugout) and college coaches rarely (If ever) take them into account. What they do take into account is the player's tools. Not saying HS stats shouldn't be kept, but statistically the data set is too small to mean anything. Even at the college level where they play three times as many games in a season, the data set is not quite enough to mean...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Ben, I'm not an expert on high-academic D1/D3 catching stats (my son is a 2019 1B/RHP/3B), but others here have Ivy and D3 experience and great perspective, like BucsFan, 9and7Dad, Gov and others (you can always private message if they don't respond here). I will say that I'm really impressed you have this goal and that you're reaching out here to ask. I'd suggest that you send some video to coaches at the schools you're interested in now if you haven't. Also, have you filled out the...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Ben, if you do send video try to make a really tight edit with nothing but simulated game reps and/or game action focused on you. A recruiting video should be 2-3 minutes, top. I tried watching some of your videos but honestly there wasn't enough going on. Your situation is a challenge but if you could shoot on ball field not a soccer pitch that would be good. You're doing the right thing going to Head First. Don't know about the Swarthmore camp, but it's a great school, so why not,...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Hi Ben, Welcome to the site. Thanks for sharing your videos. It would be interesting to see a few hitting videos. Regarding defense/catching - I want to give you honest feedback, positive and negative... You have some interesting physical tools and a good build but catching mechanics are still raw and very much a work in progress. I like your quick release and decent athleticism. But most of your throws, you spin off/fall off too much. Your feet are reasonably quick but they are often going...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Hi MidWestMom, thanks for the reply. I've filled out the recruiting questionnaire for my ED, Swarthmore, and I'm in the process of contacting coaches from the rest of my shortlist. I have family in Oregon, and I've attended the Oregon State overnight camp for the last two years, and am planning on doing so again this year. This website has some great resources, and I've sort of lurked in the shadows for the past few months haha.
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Hi JGC, I haven't sent any video or edited anything yet. That video on my Drive is what I've been taking to evaluate myself and try and improve. It's still below freezing here in London for most practices, so the field is out of commission until April 8th. My club ball coach, a Dartmouth grad who holds single season records for hits and runs scored, has told me as an international student I need to send two emails where everyone else would send one, just to maintain interest and recruitment...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Hi CabbageDad, thanks for the response. That's very useful feedback, I'll incorporate it into my training. I'm a regular at my school weight room, and I'm actively trying to make myself more of a physical specimen with good projection. At this time, I'm throwing long toss into a net in my back garden most days. At this point, Ivies are mostly a second option, and to be honest, if I had offers from my favourite D3 as well as Harvard, I'd take the D3. Some hitting video should be up on the...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Ben, HCs at D3s Vassar (NY state) and Pomona (SoCal) both played ball post college in Europe. They might be interested in learning more about you. Top academic D3s, both with solid programs. PM me for more specifics or names and email addresses if you need.
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Ben, are you an American playing in England or are you British. Not that it matters in the end, but I am going to give an example of a German player who came to the states and successfully made it into college ball. Depending on your situation it maybe helpful to you. My sons sophomore year in HS a player transferred in from Germany. He was a pitcher. Its tough to compare skill levels to what I have seen on your videos, but he was big and athletic. Similar to what I saw in your videos. His...
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
You are looking at 2 great schools. Swarthmore's campus is so beautiful, and it will be just cold and wet enough to remind you of London sometimes. Pomona's campus is wonderful too but walking around in tee shirts and shorts all winter might make you homesick. Good luck!
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
joes87, I'm an American citizen living in London for the last 14 of 17 years. I can't foresee myself transferring to a US high school, or attending a JuCo, but I have considered a gap year in the past. My intended major would be Political Science, and I have some contacts in Oregon politics, so working on a congressional campaign during 2019/2020 is a possibility, and would really strengthen my application. At the same time I could be seeking coaching on my catching and working on my physique.
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
There's video of me hitting on the google drive now, if you're interested.
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Re: 2019 C/Utility out of England
Ben, no one has said this yet so I'm going to give you some advice I've seen given on this site many times: focus on picking a school that best fits your academic and career/life goals. As a high academic kid who has his major selected already, you need to focus on finding the school that best fits your academic/career goals. I would strongly caution you not to lower your academic standards in order to play college baseball. If you can attend an Ivy or other prestigious academic school and...
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
Post his measurables. By sophomore year you can start to get a pretty good idea.
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
Take him to a PBR showcase. They're usually not much more than a hundred bucks and he'll get to see how he stacks up with those in and around his age group. Will also get his numbers/measurable's verified and likely posted on their web site (for college coach's to see). I believe 2 franchises recently opened in CA ( 1 north & 1 south). Google search PBR California and you should find all you need to get your questions answered by the franchisees.
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
And I would agree, if you don't have measurables, PBR is a good value.
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
As others have said, PBR is best bang for your buck. You didn't mention if pitcher or position.. IMO metrics much more straight forward as a pitcher, obviously more goes into a position player.
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
Baseballhs, here are his measurables. 6'4", 205 lbs, LHP/1B/OF, FB max 86mph, FB avg 82-84mph Here are a few other data points. High School: played varsity as a freshman for a Division I team in San Diego. 2.50 ERA in 14 innings, 7 appearances. .220 BA in 46 plate appearances with one HR. Arizona Sophomore Fall Classic: 4 2/3 innings, 9Ks, two hits, no runs
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
A few ideas... You have plenty of JC's in your area (Mesa, Grossmont, SDCC.). Contact one of the HC's and ask if he will spend 15 - 20 minutes at his convenience, his field to give your son an honest assessment, purely for reasons of figuring out which pond to fish in. A local JC coach will have enough qualifications, enough peripheral interest that they may be willing to do that for him but enough distance that they will likely do so with honest, if not harsh feedback (particularly knowing...
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
A lot will depend on where he goes with velocity. He has the size D1’s love. He needs to get his velocity to 90+ to be a D1 recruit.** You should get him on a travel team or in individual showcases where he can be seen by D1 coaches. At his current measurables he would attract “follow” interest. He should be on a travel team with college contacts who can presell him as a “should see him pitch” recommendation before the events. His pitching coach may be prone to hyperbole. But “a lot of...
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Re: 2022 - Where can I get a good assessment?
NYCDAD and DESERTDUCK, thanks for the PBR tip. He has played in a PBR tournament, but not a showcase. I will look into it. Would he get an objective assessment at a college camp, or would it be standard boilerplate feedback (get in the gym, work hard in school, etc.)?