2020 give or take a year...

2020dad posted:

On another note...   Question for the group. Because of the format of our tournament this weekend only 6 of the 14 teams advanced to Sunday play. Lost (run ruled) to the team that finished 2nd.  The way the tie breaker worked was runs allowed for first tie breaker.  We were down like 9-0 and it was apparent we would get 12 run ruled or 10 runned if we could hang for another inning. We needed to keep them to 12 runs or less to survive the cut. Our kid doubles. The next kid singles. Do you hold the runner at third?  Or score him knowing it just about kills your chances to play on Sunday?  By scoring that run they will now run rule you 13-1 rather than 12-0. That one extra run keeps you from playing at least one more game in the tournament. What do you do?

I would have probably held him but was the coach aware of the situation?

CaCO3Girl posted:

So, how did everyone do this weekend?  Any crazy stuff happen?  In the championship game my son had the slowest stolen base known to man!

He hit a good shot out to center, as he was rounding first the 1B got in his way and tripped him up, he got a little disoriented and when he got up he looked at the ump for a call.  The ump was apparently explaining to the catcher how his pitcher needs to throw a little more inside *picture hand motion*...my son thought he was awarded second based on 1B interference and causally walked/jogged to second.  When he got there he stood on the base right next to the 2B who was HOLDING the ball in his hand!  The umpire walked out and said "You all realize that ball was still live AND that boy just stole a base on you right?"  The other teams coach yelled for a time out and the 2B looked mortified!  My son in typical 14u fashion just looked confused.  His team erupted with laughter and cackles and they wound up coming back from a 7 run deficit to win the game!  Man I love baseball!

Good weekend - son's team won their first tourney of the year.

By the way, I saw two absolutely bbcor bombs hit out on the big fields at East Cobb. No doubters!

One of the pitchers on that list goes to school with my son.  He works 3 mph lower this year than the listed velocity on PG from last year.  Also, there was a 13u kid who hit 90 last year at the PG WS.

 http://www.perfectgame.org/Eve...ault.aspx?event=2633

Regarding setting up our own PM conversation:

I have sent PM's to 2020Pops and JDB because their posts did not indicate if they wanted to be included in the PM or not.

As of right now here is my list of people to include.  If your name is not on this list and you WANT to be on the PM please respond to this post or PM me:

2020DAD

2019DAD

JOHNNYSAKO

SLIDER8

HSHULER

FRANKJP

PA2020LEFTY

GO44DAD

D-MAC

PROSPECT2020TX

BK-CATCHERDAD

TEXAS1836

PW

SCOTTY83

SMOKEMINSIDE

INITECH

PLAYWITHEFFORT

BANDERA

DEUCES WILD

BEBOBUNO05

JIMMYMAC

SAFEATHOME

2019SS

CaCO3Girl posted:

Regarding setting up our own PM conversation:

I have sent PM's to 2020Pops and JDB because their posts did not indicate if they wanted to be included in the PM or not.

As of right now here is my list of people to include.  If your name is not on this list and you WANT to be on the PM please respond to this post or PM me:

2020DAD

2019DAD

JOHNNYSAKO

SLIDER8

HSHULER

FRANKJP

PA2020LEFTY

GO44DAD

D-MAC

PROSPECT2020TX

BK-CATCHERDAD

TEXAS1836

PW

SCOTTY83

SMOKEMINSIDE

INITECH

PLAYWITHEFFORT

BANDERA

DEUCES WILD

BEBOBUNO05

JIMMYMAC

SAFEATHOME

2019SS

I'm in.

Another bad weekend for my son's team  We cannot score on Sunday and we had another first round exit.  Since we can't score he can't get enough at bats on the weekend.  5th straight tournament with no more than 7 AB's.  Beat a pretty good majors team on Friday and thought we might have turned the corner only to lose to a team that we should have run ruled and then got run ruled by a majors team that is about even with us.  Hopefully, they can get it turned around next weekend. 

safeathome posted:

PW posted:

2020dad posted:

PW posted:

Maybe that's a high velocity for your area, but it's not uncommon for a middle school age kid that is 5'11" and 150lbs to cruise at 80 where I'm from. We've got 4 on our middle school team that stay between 77 and 82 and all are under 6' tall. I would be more concerned with throwing more than 1 pitch and being able to locate.

As far as the middle school drama goes, it is what you make it. There will be drama on most teams. 

PW I assure you as a guy for whom velocity is a passionate hobby there is nothing common about 13u's throwing 80. If you have four of them that is quite an anomaly.   Just peak at the PG tournament velocities and I think you will change your mind. In all the tournaments we played last year I gunned exactly one kid throwing 80. 

Maybe I just live in a very talented area. 2 of the kids on our team are 2021s and 2 are 2020s. All 4 have gone through puberty and look 16. Just curious, how many 2020s does PG list throwing 80? All the kids I've seen throwing this hard in 7th or 8th grade have gone through puberty early. 2 years ago we had 2 more that cruised at 80. They were 8th graders though.

I don't know if they keep lists for kids that young.  You can find numbers from their old larger events, though a lot of teams are not represented there.  By example, in 2015 

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=2523

Only 53 of 205 14u (2018-2019) pitchers, from better teams around touched 80.  My guess is that of those that hit 80 most cruised much lower.  Rare pitchers are above, up to 86.

One 13U pitcher that I know of touched 90 on three different occasions last summer. There was one other kid that I am aware of who touched 86. After that, another dozen or so 13U's at the larger tournaments would hit 80 - 83.  This is only what I saw last summer but there are obviously more across the country. 

My son's organization currently has 13 kids out of the 29 14U players (two teams) who touched 80 last summer at 13U or in the fall as 14U players. There are probably four or five who could cruise at 80+ and hit 85 by the end of summer...and one of those doesn't pitch anymore.  That's not normal as most teams have one or two kids who are 80+ and some don't have any. What I will say is that if you throw hard and can't pitch, that stuff travels a long way of the bat head. :-)

slider8 son's team made it to the ship but ran out of gas or something. Left too many on base and lost 9/8. He was walked 3 times in the ship but had a good weekend overall. Playing up next weekend at PG/LP.

CaCO3Girl posted:

So, how did everyone do this weekend?  Any crazy stuff happen?  In the championship game my son had the slowest stolen base known to man!

He hit a good shot out to center, as he was rounding first the 1B got in his way and tripped him up, he got a little disoriented and when he got up he looked at the ump for a call.  The ump was apparently explaining to the catcher how his pitcher needs to throw a little more inside *picture hand motion*...my son thought he was awarded second based on 1B interference and causally walked/jogged to second.  When he got there he stood on the base right next to the 2B who was HOLDING the ball in his hand!  The umpire walked out and said "You all realize that ball was still live AND that boy just stole a base on you right?"  The other teams coach yelled for a time out and the 2B looked mortified!  My son in typical 14u fashion just looked confused.  His team erupted with laughter and cackles and they wound up coming back from a 7 run deficit to win the game!  Man I love baseball!

Great story!

2019Son's team won big on Sat. Some interesting things happened, but better suited for the PM thread.

d-mac posted:

Another bad weekend for my son's team  We cannot score on Sunday and we had another first round exit.  Since we can't score he can't get enough at bats on the weekend.  5th straight tournament with no more than 7 AB's.  Beat a pretty good majors team on Friday and thought we might have turned the corner only to lose to a team that we should have run ruled and then got run ruled by a majors team that is about even with us.  Hopefully, they can get it turned around next weekend. 

You make an interesting point. I have a friend whose sons only ended up playing about 30 games last summer because they were three and done in most tournaments. His boys ended up getting about 70 official ab's for the entire travel ball season.  Conversely, my son already has 54 offical ab's this season. Personally, I would rather play at a lower level and get more ab/game reps. 

CaCO3Girl posted:

Regarding setting up our own PM conversation:

I have sent PM's to 2020Pops and JDB because their posts did not indicate if they wanted to be included in the PM or not.

As of right now here is my list of people to include.  If your name is not on this list and you WANT to be on the PM please respond to this post or PM me:

 

Please add me to PM group.  2019 in NC.

Thanks

hshuler posted:

safeathome posted:

PW posted:

2020dad posted:

PW posted:

Maybe that's a high velocity for your area, but it's not uncommon for a middle school age kid that is 5'11" and 150lbs to cruise at 80 where I'm from. We've got 4 on our middle school team that stay between 77 and 82 and all are under 6' tall. I would be more concerned with throwing more than 1 pitch and being able to locate.

As far as the middle school drama goes, it is what you make it. There will be drama on most teams. 

PW I assure you as a guy for whom velocity is a passionate hobby there is nothing common about 13u's throwing 80. If you have four of them that is quite an anomaly.   Just peak at the PG tournament velocities and I think you will change your mind. In all the tournaments we played last year I gunned exactly one kid throwing 80. 

Maybe I just live in a very talented area. 2 of the kids on our team are 2021s and 2 are 2020s. All 4 have gone through puberty and look 16. Just curious, how many 2020s does PG list throwing 80? All the kids I've seen throwing this hard in 7th or 8th grade have gone through puberty early. 2 years ago we had 2 more that cruised at 80. They were 8th graders though.

I don't know if they keep lists for kids that young.  You can find numbers from their old larger events, though a lot of teams are not represented there.  By example, in 2015 

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=2523

Only 53 of 205 14u (2018-2019) pitchers, from better teams around touched 80.  My guess is that of those that hit 80 most cruised much lower.  Rare pitchers are above, up to 86.

One 13U pitcher that I know of touched 90 on three different occasions last summer. There was one other kid that I am aware of who touched 86. After that, another dozen or so 13U's at the larger tournaments would hit 80 - 83.  This is only what I saw last summer but there are obviously more across the country. 

My son's organization currently has 13 kids out of the 29 14U players (two teams) who touched 80 last summer at 13U or in the fall as 14U players. There are probably four or five who could cruise at 80+ and hit 85 by the end of summer...and one of those doesn't pitch anymore.  That's not normal as most teams have one or two kids who are 80+ and some don't have any. What I will say is that if you throw hard and can't pitch, that stuff travels a long way of the bat head. :-)

Having just been through this level, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, with that many approaching 85, that your son's organization has one of the ten of fifteen best 14U teams in the country at the moment.

Last year in the opening game of the 14U USABaseball tournament 2019Son's team faced a lefty (current SEC commit as a freshman) who PG had at 85 last summer. Through 4 innings, 2019Son's team was down by 3 or 4 runs, but they had scratched a few runs across. The starter was pulled --now's their chance, right? Nope -- he was relieved by another lefty (current PAC12 commit as a freshman), who PG had at 87 last summer. I'll say this -- 85+ before freshman year seems to draw a lot of recruiting interest from Top 20 programs. 

Please add me.  Thanks!

Please add me.. Thx in advance...

CaCO3Girl posted:

Regarding setting up our own PM conversation:

I have sent PM's to 2020Pops and JDB because their posts did not indicate if they wanted to be included in the PM or not.

As of right now here is my list of people to include.  If your name is not on this list and you WANT to be on the PM please respond to this post or PM me:

 

Sign me up.  2020 8th grader from OK.

Sign me up. Little Taco is a 2020.

Okay I have written down all the new requests but think I will leave this open for today and send out the PM tomorrow.

It is absolutely unbelievable how this has taken off.  I had no idea there were so many of us on here!

2019Dad posted:

hshuler posted:

safeathome posted:

PW posted:

2020dad posted:

PW posted:

Maybe that's a high velocity for your area, but it's not uncommon for a middle school age kid that is 5'11" and 150lbs to cruise at 80 where I'm from. We've got 4 on our middle school team that stay between 77 and 82 and all are under 6' tall. I would be more concerned with throwing more than 1 pitch and being able to locate.

As far as the middle school drama goes, it is what you make it. There will be drama on most teams. 

PW I assure you as a guy for whom velocity is a passionate hobby there is nothing common about 13u's throwing 80. If you have four of them that is quite an anomaly.   Just peak at the PG tournament velocities and I think you will change your mind. In all the tournaments we played last year I gunned exactly one kid throwing 80. 

Maybe I just live in a very talented area. 2 of the kids on our team are 2021s and 2 are 2020s. All 4 have gone through puberty and look 16. Just curious, how many 2020s does PG list throwing 80? All the kids I've seen throwing this hard in 7th or 8th grade have gone through puberty early. 2 years ago we had 2 more that cruised at 80. They were 8th graders though.

I don't know if they keep lists for kids that young.  You can find numbers from their old larger events, though a lot of teams are not represented there.  By example, in 2015 

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=2523

Only 53 of 205 14u (2018-2019) pitchers, from better teams around touched 80.  My guess is that of those that hit 80 most cruised much lower.  Rare pitchers are above, up to 86.

One 13U pitcher that I know of touched 90 on three different occasions last summer. There was one other kid that I am aware of who touched 86. After that, another dozen or so 13U's at the larger tournaments would hit 80 - 83.  This is only what I saw last summer but there are obviously more across the country. 

My son's organization currently has 13 kids out of the 29 14U players (two teams) who touched 80 last summer at 13U or in the fall as 14U players. There are probably four or five who could cruise at 80+ and hit 85 by the end of summer...and one of those doesn't pitch anymore.  That's not normal as most teams have one or two kids who are 80+ and some don't have any. What I will say is that if you throw hard and can't pitch, that stuff travels a long way of the bat head. :-)

Having just been through this level, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, with that many approaching 85, that your son's organization has one of the ten of fifteen best 14U teams in the country at the moment.

Last year in the opening game of the 14U USABaseball tournament 2019Son's team faced a lefty (current SEC commit as a freshman) who PG had at 85 last summer. Through 4 innings, 2019Son's team was down by 3 or 4 runs, but they had scratched a few runs across. The starter was pulled --now's their chance, right? Nope -- he was relieved by another lefty (current PAC12 commit as a freshman), who PG had at 87 last summer. I'll say this -- 85+ before freshman year seems to draw a lot of recruiting interest from Top 20 programs. 

That's just wrong...85 followed by 87...and both were throwing from the wrong side. 

Our kids are split between two teams but we do have two very competitive teams. I can tell that as soon as they're eligible some of these kids will get offered. 

hshuler posted:

2019Dad posted:

hshuler posted:

safeathome posted:

PW posted:

2020dad posted:

PW posted:

Maybe that's a high velocity for your area, but it's not uncommon for a middle school age kid that is 5'11" and 150lbs to cruise at 80 where I'm from. We've got 4 on our middle school team that stay between 77 and 82 and all are under 6' tall. I would be more concerned with throwing more than 1 pitch and being able to locate.

As far as the middle school drama goes, it is what you make it. There will be drama on most teams. 

PW I assure you as a guy for whom velocity is a passionate hobby there is nothing common about 13u's throwing 80. If you have four of them that is quite an anomaly.   Just peak at the PG tournament velocities and I think you will change your mind. In all the tournaments we played last year I gunned exactly one kid throwing 80. 

Maybe I just live in a very talented area. 2 of the kids on our team are 2021s and 2 are 2020s. All 4 have gone through puberty and look 16. Just curious, how many 2020s does PG list throwing 80? All the kids I've seen throwing this hard in 7th or 8th grade have gone through puberty early. 2 years ago we had 2 more that cruised at 80. They were 8th graders though.

I don't know if they keep lists for kids that young.  You can find numbers from their old larger events, though a lot of teams are not represented there.  By example, in 2015 

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=2523

Only 53 of 205 14u (2018-2019) pitchers, from better teams around touched 80.  My guess is that of those that hit 80 most cruised much lower.  Rare pitchers are above, up to 86.

One 13U pitcher that I know of touched 90 on three different occasions last summer. There was one other kid that I am aware of who touched 86. After that, another dozen or so 13U's at the larger tournaments would hit 80 - 83.  This is only what I saw last summer but there are obviously more across the country. 

My son's organization currently has 13 kids out of the 29 14U players (two teams) who touched 80 last summer at 13U or in the fall as 14U players. There are probably four or five who could cruise at 80+ and hit 85 by the end of summer...and one of those doesn't pitch anymore.  That's not normal as most teams have one or two kids who are 80+ and some don't have any. What I will say is that if you throw hard and can't pitch, that stuff travels a long way of the bat head. :-)

Having just been through this level, I'm going to go out on a limb and say, with that many approaching 85, that your son's organization has one of the ten of fifteen best 14U teams in the country at the moment.

Last year in the opening game of the 14U USABaseball tournament 2019Son's team faced a lefty (current SEC commit as a freshman) who PG had at 85 last summer. Through 4 innings, 2019Son's team was down by 3 or 4 runs, but they had scratched a few runs across. The starter was pulled --now's their chance, right? Nope -- he was relieved by another lefty (current PAC12 commit as a freshman), who PG had at 87 last summer. I'll say this -- 85+ before freshman year seems to draw a lot of recruiting interest from Top 20 programs. 

That's just wrong...85 followed by 87...and both were throwing from the wrong side. 

Our kids are split between two teams but we do have two very competitive teams. I can tell that as soon as they're eligible some of these kids will get offered. 

Yeah...that is wrong. It was rough weekend for son and his team. Team lost all 3 games. We committed a lot of errors -- many not really forced by pressure on the defense. It was completely uncharacteristic of our team, which made it difficult to watch at times. To top it off, son struggled at the plate all weekend! ...LOL.!  Baseball giveth and baseball taketh away!

oh well, tomorrow is a new day.

Also, speaking of lefties that are just wrong, I saw a 13u lefty touch 80 a couple of times on Saturday.

CACO3GIRL- Please add me good insight for my 2019 brother! Thanks

Looks like Club 2020 is going VIP invite only.  Start up the fog machine!  Let's rave!  Varsity as a freshman!  WooHoo!

CaCO3Girl posted:

Regarding setting up our own PM conversation:

I have sent PM's to 2020Pops and JDB because their posts did not indicate if they wanted to be included in the PM or not.

As of right now here is my list of people to include.  If your name is not on this list and you WANT to be on the PM please respond to this post or PM me:

2020DAD

2019DAD

JOHNNYSAKO

SLIDER8

HSHULER

FRANKJP

PA2020LEFTY

GO44DAD

D-MAC

PROSPECT2020TX

BK-CATCHERDAD

TEXAS1836

PW

SCOTTY83

SMOKEMINSIDE

INITECH

PLAYWITHEFFORT

BANDERA

DEUCES WILD

BEBOBUNO05

JIMMYMAC

SAFEATHOME

2019SS

Please add me as well......2019 son.

Thanks!

Has anyone here used the king of the hill leg drive trainer? Curious to whether or not it's a gimmick or actually has some usefullness. It seems to be kind of an expensive yet simple devise. My son pitches almost all arm with little use of his legs. I'm looking for an aid or drill to work on this issue.

So here's a new topic. How many of your sons play catcher? If they do, what are their pop times? I'm a catcher coach that has a 2020 son that catches. He hasn't gone through puberty yet, he still has baby fat and a squeaky voice. (We are anticipating it's arrival like a kid at Christmas) He consistently throws a mid 2.4 and mixes in a high 2.3 or low 2.5 every now and then. His weak arm hurts him some but he works hard on his foot work and accuracy. His strengths are his blocking and receiving for sure. 

I like talking about catching and kids that play there. Just thought I would bring it up!

PW posted:

So here's a new topic. How many of your sons play catcher? If they do, what are their pop times? I'm a catcher coach that has a 2020 son that catches. He hasn't gone through puberty yet, he still has baby fat and a squeaky voice. (We are anticipating it's arrival like a kid at Christmas) He consistently throws a mid 2.4 and mixes in a high 2.3 or low 2.5 every now and then. His weak arm hurts him some but he works hard on his foot work and accuracy. His strengths are his blocking and receiving for sure. 

I like talking about catching and kids that play there. Just thought I would bring it up!

Sounds like he's a good defensive catcher who just needs to develop arm strength. Puberty will be huge for that, of course, but its something he can train for, too. This is an area where the parents of catchers and of pitchers may find some common ground. One thing to consider as he moves forward is a throwing program of some kind -- FWIW, the son of Ron Wolforth (the founder of Texas Baseball Ranch, known for its pitcher development) is actually a catcher, currently in college. He built up his arm strength over a number of years -- using the same throwing program TBR teaches to pitchers -- to the point where PG had his pop time as low as 1.75:

www.perfectgame.org/Players/Pl...ofile.aspx?ID=342097

That may seem crazy, and each kid is different, but the point is he can train for arm strength.

2019DAD other than long tossing leading up to and during the season each year since he was 10 he really hasnt done any type of throwing program. I've been leary of weighted balls and lifting weights until puberty comes. I'm not sure why, I have no evidence to say that it makes a difference. 

I coached him and another 7th grader last year in MS. The other kid had never caught before, not very athletic, real stiff and mechanical in all he does. My son had him beat by a full second in pop times. Fast forward to this year. The other kid done no off season work. Didn't long toss through the winter. Did nothing but play football and rec league basketball. We throw pops the first week of practice and he was only .3 of a second slower than my son. He shaved around a full second off his pop by doing NOTHING! Except... he went through puberty! 

SOME GOOD ADVICE, my 2019 brother played on varsity until he recently got hurt. I advise you talk to your 2019s, 2020s and even 2021s about the things they will see/hear if they make varsity. Keep in mind they are around legal adults(18) that think they know everything. My brother and I are close and he told me how a good amount dip, consume alcohol and some occasionally smoke(not cigs). The best thing I asked was do a lot of starters do it, his reply was "no". Once he told me that it was easier to put it in perspective for him on how to obtain your goals by staying away from substances that can effect your physical abilities. Just something you might want to think about bringing up with your player especially if they are 14/15 playing with 17/18 age group. 

PW posted:

2019DAD other than long tossing leading up to and during the season each year since he was 10 he really hasnt done any type of throwing program. I've been leary of weighted balls and lifting weights until puberty comes. I'm not sure why, I have no evidence to say that it makes a difference. 

I coached him and another 7th grader last year in MS. The other kid had never caught before, not very athletic, real stiff and mechanical in all he does. My son had him beat by a full second in pop times. Fast forward to this year. The other kid done no off season work. Didn't long toss through the winter. Did nothing but play football and rec league basketball. We throw pops the first week of practice and he was only .3 of a second slower than my son. He shaved around a full second off his pop by doing NOTHING! Except... he went through puberty! 

Yes, it's like being on steroids. Literally.

It might not be the right time for your son to do a throwing program. Just something to keep in mind -- if he finds himself excellent at blocking, receiving, leadership . . . well, he can work on arm strength.

PW posted:

So here's a new topic. How many of your sons play catcher? If they do, what are their pop times? I'm a catcher coach that has a 2020 son that catches. He hasn't gone through puberty yet, he still has baby fat and a squeaky voice. (We are anticipating it's arrival like a kid at Christmas) He consistently throws a mid 2.4 and mixes in a high 2.3 or low 2.5 every now and then. His weak arm hurts him some but he works hard on his foot work and accuracy. His strengths are his blocking and receiving for sure. 

I like talking about catching and kids that play there. Just thought I would bring it up!

My son 2020 plays catcher sometimes, no idea on pop-time though, and he has gone through puberty. His weakness is blocking, he has this bad habit of trying to scoop rather than block...probably all that time at 1B rearing it's ugly head!

jennifita2baseball posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

Regarding setting up our own PM conversation:

I have sent PM's to 2020Pops and JDB because their posts did not indicate if they wanted to be included in the PM or not.

As of right now here is my list of people to include.  If your name is not on this list and you WANT to be on the PM please respond to this post or PM me:

2020DAD

2019DAD

JOHNNYSAKO

SLIDER8

HSHULER

FRANKJP

PA2020LEFTY

GO44DAD

D-MAC

PROSPECT2020TX

BK-CATCHERDAD

TEXAS1836

PW

SCOTTY83

SMOKEMINSIDE

INITECH

PLAYWITHEFFORT

BANDERA

DEUCES WILD

BEBOBUNO05

JIMMYMAC

SAFEATHOME

2019SS

Please add me as well......2019 son.

Thanks!

ALL-the PM is live and up.  Sadly I could not include PW because the PM program wouldn't pick up his/her name, hopefully he/she can adjust his/her name to allow the PM.

Is there anyone else who wanted to be on the PM that didn't get the message?

TB team went 1-2 at ripken this weekend. We drew 2 very good tournament teams, ive never seen so many 6' 12U kids, we are a small team. The first team jumped on us 6-0 in the first, we had our hardest thrower on the mound and they were just lighting him up, he doesnt have much off speed, so we brought in one our slowest throwers with some off speed and they couldnt touch him, we ended up winning 7-6, it was one of the best games we've played. The second game was against an even better and bigger team, we were up 6-2 in the 5th, our #2 had them on their heels and frustrated but they started to get him timed in the 5th and he was pulled for #1 from the first game with the bases loaded, well this team ate up his fastball and we ended up losing 7-6. Seems to me these tournament teams are used to hitting speed, makes me wonder if we had brought in another slower P in that game if it may have had a different outcome? Its easy to second guess.

Yesterday was our first middle school game, we lost 10-2. We have 3 8th graders that can play, 1 7th (my kid) and 1 6th. Their are 3 other rec only kids(2-8th grade, 1-6th) and for the rest of the team that was their first game ever, its going to be a long 10 game season and Im the HC.

bebobuno05 posted:

Has anyone here used the king of the hill leg drive trainer? Curious to whether or not it's a gimmick or actually has some usefullness. It seems to be kind of an expensive yet simple devise. My son pitches almost all arm with little use of his legs. I'm looking for an aid or drill to work on this issue.

http://baseballthinktank.com/3-Day-Pitching-Program

Lantz Wheeler ^^ is worth checking into.  He used to advertise on this site.  I hear a lot of good things about his Core Velocity Belt, it is not a gimmick.  His pitching programs are fully priced, maybe since he has pretty good results. 

CaCO3Girl posted:

PW posted:

So here's a new topic. How many of your sons play catcher? If they do, what are their pop times? I'm a catcher coach that has a 2020 son that catches. He hasn't gone through puberty yet, he still has baby fat and a squeaky voice. (We are anticipating it's arrival like a kid at Christmas) He consistently throws a mid 2.4 and mixes in a high 2.3 or low 2.5 every now and then. His weak arm hurts him some but he works hard on his foot work and accuracy. His strengths are his blocking and receiving for sure. 

I like talking about catching and kids that play there. Just thought I would bring it up!

My son 2020 plays catcher sometimes, no idea on pop-time though, and he has gone through puberty. His weakness is blocking, he has this bad habit of trying to scoop rather than block...probably all that time at 1B rearing it's ugly head!

My 2020's primary is catcher, and def hasn't gone through puberty yet. Don't know his pop time but he's getting the slower guys out. He was playing 60/90 last year since he played up and was one hopping all the throws, but this year he's getting good solid shots out to 2nd. Been working on both technique with his catching coach (who I can't recommend strongly enough if anyone's interested) and attending velocity classes - where everyone but him is a pitcher.  

His strength is definitely behind the plate - receiving and blocking. That helped get him on the high school team in 8th grade (private school that goes K - 12). We'll see what happens. Pitchers like throwing to him better than the other catchers, but they hit a heck of a lot further and have stronger arms. (there's that whole age and puberty thing again)

I'm always down for a catching topic!

PW posted:

So here's a new topic. How many of your sons play catcher? If they do, what are their pop times? I'm a catcher coach that has a 2020 son that catches. He hasn't gone through puberty yet, he still has baby fat and a squeaky voice. (We are anticipating it's arrival like a kid at Christmas) He consistently throws a mid 2.4 and mixes in a high 2.3 or low 2.5 every now and then. His weak arm hurts him some but he works hard on his foot work and accuracy. His strengths are his blocking and receiving for sure. 

I like talking about catching and kids that play there. Just thought I would bring it up!

My son is a 13u 2021 catcher (primary position). He's always been a tall kid (90+ percentile height all the way through elementary school age years). He's just under 6 ft now. His voice is no longer squeaky but apparently his foot his still growing as I just bought new turf shoes for him mid season . 

He has a strong arm but I honestly don't know his pop time. 

A good goal for 14u is 2.15 to 2.25.  Most if not all of this can be achieved with good footwork and quickness out of the crouch. Strong arm is the cherry on top. 

2020dad posted:

A good goal for 14u is 2.15 to 2.25.  Most if not all of this can be achieved with good footwork and quickness out of the crouch. Strong arm is the cherry on top. 

I've been coaching catchers at the middle school and high school level for 10 years and I've never seen a catcher throw a 2.15 as an 8th grader. I've seen some high 2.2s, but these were from players that looked 16 or 17. Early puberty kids for sure. If you put a clock on a varsity catcher that is getting recruited by D1 schools he will be around 2.1 with game his game pop time. I'm not saying it can't happen in a rare case, but IMHO this is not a good goal for an 8th grader. Unless you set lofty goals that won't be reached by 95% of the catchers you coach. Or maybe if youre not on a 60/90 field.

PW posted:

2020dad posted:

A good goal for 14u is 2.15 to 2.25.  Most if not all of this can be achieved with good footwork and quickness out of the crouch. Strong arm is the cherry on top. 

I've been coaching catchers at the middle school and high school level for 10 years and I've never seen a catcher throw a 2.15 as an 8th grader. I've seen some high 2.2s, but these were from players that looked 16 or 17. Early puberty kids for sure. If you put a clock on a varsity catcher that is getting recruited by D1 schools he will be around 2.1 with game his game pop time. I'm not saying it can't happen in a rare case, but IMHO this is not a good goal for an 8th grader. Unless you set lofty goals that won't be reached by 95% of the catchers you coach. Or maybe if youre not on a 60/90 field.

Around here if you are being recruited as a catcher (assuming 11th or 12th grade), even for a low level D1, you have to have a sub 2.0 pop. 

CaCO3Girl posted:

PW posted:

2020dad posted:

A good goal for 14u is 2.15 to 2.25.  Most if not all of this can be achieved with good footwork and quickness out of the crouch. Strong arm is the cherry on top. 

I've been coaching catchers at the middle school and high school level for 10 years and I've never seen a catcher throw a 2.15 as an 8th grader. I've seen some high 2.2s, but these were from players that looked 16 or 17. Early puberty kids for sure. If you put a clock on a varsity catcher that is getting recruited by D1 schools he will be around 2.1 with game his game pop time. I'm not saying it can't happen in a rare case, but IMHO this is not a good goal for an 8th grader. Unless you set lofty goals that won't be reached by 95% of the catchers you coach. Or maybe if youre not on a 60/90 field.

Around here if you are being recruited as a catcher (assuming 11th or 12th grade), even for a low level D1, you have to have a sub 2.0 pop. 

Most of the time in between innings or at showcases yes they throw sub 2s. But game pops are usually .1 or .2 slower. Sit in the stands at a MLB game and put a clock on the game throws. 2.0s are pretty typical. Ask most catcher coaches and they will agree. 

I have a 2020 son from TN (6', 155 - RHP 72-75 mph, 1B)  and a 2015 LHP (6'2", 160 lbs. 79-82 mph) that chose to give it up instead of play DII or DIII so I have been through this once somewhat with him and looking forward to the journey with 2020 now.  Have been reading posts for years but this one peaked my interest enough to join.  Also, I must say this site has been a great source of information for the past couple of years. Great idea 2020Dad. I'm in!!