Son pitched one inning last night at the season opener. He threw 14 pitches - 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 pop up, and 1 ground ball out. He said he his glove hand was shaking. He did good. He will play tonight at SS for the JV team.
My son, 2023 C, will be making his first HS start behind the dish tonight on varsity. He developed a severe case of the yips about 2 weeks ago. Can't throw the ball back to the pitcher. This is a kid that walked 2 batters in 31 innings over the past 2 years. He can normally put the ball anywhere he wants. It hurts to see him struggle. We've done a done of drills and worked with his pitching coach on his throwing mechanics. He's great when it is just us, but he is really struggling on the field. for some reason. The head coach told him he's not going to take him out if he struggles in the game and he's going to have to work through it.
So, with that in mind, any positive vibes, mojo, or prayers are greatly appreciated.
TerribleBPthrower posted:My son, 2023 C, will be making his first HS start behind the dish tonight on varsity. He developed a severe case of the yips about 2 weeks ago. Can't throw the ball back to the pitcher. This is a kid that walked 2 batters in 31 innings over the past 2 years. He can normally put the ball anywhere he wants. It hurts to see him struggle. We've done a done of drills and worked with his pitching coach on his throwing mechanics. He's great when it is just us, but he is really struggling on the field. for some reason. The head coach told him he's not going to take him out if he struggles in the game and he's going to have to work through it.
So, with that in mind, any positive vibes, mojo, or prayers are greatly appreciated.
That sounds really difficult. Best of luck to your son, and please post after the game to let us know how it goes.
Chico Escuela posted:TerribleBPthrower posted:My son, 2023 C, will be making his first HS start behind the dish tonight on varsity. He developed a severe case of the yips about 2 weeks ago. Can't throw the ball back to the pitcher. This is a kid that walked 2 batters in 31 innings over the past 2 years. He can normally put the ball anywhere he wants. It hurts to see him struggle. We've done a done of drills and worked with his pitching coach on his throwing mechanics. He's great when it is just us, but he is really struggling on the field. for some reason. The head coach told him he's not going to take him out if he struggles in the game and he's going to have to work through it.
So, with that in mind, any positive vibes, mojo, or prayers are greatly appreciated.
That sounds really difficult. Best of luck to your son, and please post after the game to let us know how it goes.
Thanks Chico. I'm thankful he has played with most of the kids on the team for a year now, so they know what his usual play is like. They have been very supportive and encouraging while he is working through it.
Never actually seen the yips in person, but I would recommend reviewing previous threads to get some ideas. From what I have heard/read over the years this condition is almost completely mental, and is cycle of anxiety producing thoughts. If what you are describing as Yips is truly that, then looking into a sports psychologist may be a good thing to consider. Guys like Blass, Ankiel, etc.. tried to "work through it" and didn't find much success on their own.
ReluctantO'sFan posted:Never actually seen the yips in person, but I would recommend reviewing previous threads to get some ideas. From what I have heard/read over the years this condition is almost completely mental, and is cycle of anxiety producing thoughts. If what you are describing as Yips is truly that, then looking into a sports psychologist may be a good thing to consider. Guys like Blass, Ankiel, etc.. tried to "work through it" and didn't find much success on their own.
The sports psychologist is the next step. There are some mechanical things going on when it happens. This is the first time he's ever worked exclusively on catcher throwing mechanics and he is getting stuck with the scap load which is throwing everything else off. However, once the first bad throw happens it goes downhill pretty fast.
TerribleBPthrower posted:My son, 2023 C, will be making his first HS start behind the dish tonight on varsity. He developed a severe case of the yips about 2 weeks ago. Can't throw the ball back to the pitcher. This is a kid that walked 2 batters in 31 innings over the past 2 years. He can normally put the ball anywhere he wants. It hurts to see him struggle. We've done a done of drills and worked with his pitching coach on his throwing mechanics. He's great when it is just us, but he is really struggling on the field. for some reason. The head coach told him he's not going to take him out if he struggles in the game and he's going to have to work through it.
So, with that in mind, any positive vibes, mojo, or prayers are greatly appreciated.
We dealt with this a few years ago. We were at a tournament at OU in front of quite a few coaches and late in the game he airmailed one to the pitcher. Then he did it again. I think he had a few more but the game ended and we won so no one really paid any attention to it. We got in the car and it was clearly in his head. Between games we went to a park and worked on him throwing it back to me. Thought it was fixed but it reared its ugly head again. The more he thought about it the worst it got. Here is how he got through it and then out of it. To manage it we developed a count. I think it was something like knee to the ground was 1, arm up 2, throw to pitcher 3 or something like that. It helped. What we learned was that the harder he threw it back to the pitcher the better he was and the more he tried to aim the worse it got. The count evolved into fire it back to the pitcher and eventually the yips disappeared. He also tried taking a few steps and shortening the distance but that just seemed to make it worse.
It was hard to watch, but the other players and parents didn't really notice. I can remember telling a dad about it and he said he had no idea. The only time they will really notice is when it costs you a base runner, a run scores or if it is happening every throw. Not to add to the pain, but it is probably going to be rougher on a 2023 playing HS ball than it was for my kid playing on a showcase team with kids his own age.
Now for the good news. He made it through it. The year before we had a 2021 kid play on our 2020 team and he developed something pretty close to the yips. He ended up lobbing everything back to the pitcher. The next year he committed to a solid D1 school. He made it through it too. I hate that your son is going through it but he will also get through it. Be positive, patient and give him a hug when he needs it.
I used to be a competitive amateur golfer but then in my late 30's developed the "Y" wordwhichshallnotbenamed when putting. In a tournament round once I hit 13 greens in regulation and three jacked 8 of them. Pretty embarrassing. Everyone knew what was happening. It was a tough thing to overcome. I went to cross handed putting, big grips, long putters. Quit playing competitively for awhile. It is an interesting phenomenon. Usually occurs when people get fairly accomplished at something after many years.
So for a young kid, I think he can overcome it! I bet he doesn't have the problem when he is really active. Usually happens with fairly stationary acts like putting or free throws. Similar to what Dmac said: Have him work on a set routine that he will use when he throws back to the pitcher; in addition to what he said, maybe: pop the glove once so his hands aren't static and shuffle hard; point shoulder at target and GO.
It helped me to not give a flying F about my score or what anyone thought of me. Ultimately though, grooving my routine so I was process oriented instead of results oriented is what resolved it.
Good luck and many positive thoughts your boy's way.
So he made it through the game without his throws being too noticeable to anyone else. Before the game while the pitcher was warming up in the pen he sailed a couple way off but was firing balls back to the pitcher. Somewhere around the 3rd inning something happened and he started to lob the ball back. He tried to throw it hard a couple of times and you could see the discomfort. Had one terrible throw while the pitcher was warming up between innings.
It is crazy to watch knowing what is going on. He threw a kid out with a perfect crisp throw to the inside on a bunt play, threw out 2 kids trying to steal with great throws, but that throw to the mound is just awkward right now.
First day of the official season in Southern California. Beautiful 70degree weather. Most teams played double headers. Was able to catch our son’s games plus most of another local HS where friend’s son was starting for first time as a varsity pitcher. It’s my favorite time of year! Next week Orange Lutheran (3-peat National High School Invitational winners) are rumored to start Max Rajcic against La Mirada’s Jared Jones game is being held at Cal state Fullerton. Both pitchers are expected to get drafted early. Lefty is going with some friends to watch some outstanding pitching. I may go to watch the scouts. Did I mention this is my favorite time of year?
Son’s team won their first regular season game. He started out throwing with confidence but the yips came back around the 3rd inning. He did make a couple great throws when it really mattered. Also blocked a ton and receiving was spot on.
The varsity lineup had 5 freshman, 3 sophomore, & 1 junior. Super young team but if they stick together they will be really good
Meanwhile, in Georgia.... ☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
Senna posted:Meanwhile, in Georgia.... ☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
😔
The rain in Georgia has been unreal but fortunately, son’s team has been able to get all four games in.
3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
hshuler posted:3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
SoCal? Do you mean they go to California? From Georgia?
My son's team never travelled anywhere like that, I'm always amazed when I read about such things on here.
hshuler posted:Senna posted:Meanwhile, in Georgia.... ☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
😔
The rain in Georgia has been unreal but fortunately, son’s team has been able to get all four games in.
3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
Saw that walkoff. Definitely didn’t see that coming.
3-1 for V here as well. Son had been dressing V to catch pens while waiting for a JV game to actually take place.
We’ll have to arrange to meet when we play in April. Good luck in SoCal.
anotherparent posted:hshuler posted:3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
SoCal? Do you mean they go to California? From Georgia?
My son's team never travelled anywhere like that, I'm always amazed when I read about such things on here.
Our state had a rule if teams traveled out of state for a tournament it only counted as one event/game. So instead of being locked in to 22 games four or five games at Myrtle Beach counted as one game.
hshuler posted:Senna posted:Meanwhile, in Georgia.... ☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
😔
The rain in Georgia has been unreal but fortunately, son’s team has been able to get all four games in.
3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
Ha! I saw a school name I didn't recognize come through my gamechanger feed. I'm guessing it's your son's school. Only saw one game, but it's against a school just down the road, Lefty has several friends on that team. Boys are going to be lucky. Next weekend is supposed to be 80 and partly cloudy. Perfect baseball weather.
Wet snow yesterday that didn't stick, a hard frost overnight, but this afternoon was sunny and around 50 degrees here in the Carolinas for the first game of the season--a scrimmage against a HS with about 4x the enrollment of my son's. He got the start, was told he was limited to 3 innings. Jr. looked pretty good for this time of year: 3 IP, 3 K, 1BB, gave up 2 singles, one of which was a fly that the CF and SS let drop between them. First real game is Thursday.
Senna posted:hshuler posted:Senna posted:Meanwhile, in Georgia.... ☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
😔
The rain in Georgia has been unreal but fortunately, son’s team has been able to get all four games in.
3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
Saw that walkoff. Definitely didn’t see that coming.
3-1 for V here as well. Son had been dressing V to catch pens while waiting for a JV game to actually take place.
We’ll have to arrange to meet when we play in April. Good luck in SoCal.
It happens. Couldn’t catch a break.😂
Thanks and same to your son and team! Let’s definitely arrange an introduction in April.
LousyLefty posted:hshuler posted:Senna posted:Meanwhile, in Georgia.... ☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️☔️
😔
The rain in Georgia has been unreal but fortunately, son’s team has been able to get all four games in.
3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
Ha! I saw a school name I didn't recognize come through my gamechanger feed. I'm guessing it's your son's school. Only saw one game, but it's against a school just down the road, Lefty has several friends on that team. Boys are going to be lucky. Next weekend is supposed to be 80 and partly cloudy. Perfect baseball weather.
You have no idea how much it’s rained in GA. In fact, because the kids haven’t been able to practice on the field in weeks, they had a light practice after today’s game.
RJM posted:anotherparent posted:hshuler posted:3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
SoCal? Do you mean they go to California? From Georgia?
My son's team never travelled anywhere like that, I'm always amazed when I read about such things on here.
Our state had a rule if teams traveled out of state for a tournament it only counted as one event/game. So instead of being locked in to 22 games four or five games at Myrtle Beach counted as one game.
Technically, it’s not a tournament. GA high schools get to schedule 30 regular season games.
anotherparent posted:hshuler posted:3-1 after a tough loss last night. Next game Saturday followed by three in SoCal next Friday and Saturday.
SoCal? Do you mean they go to California? From Georgia?
My son's team never travelled anywhere like that, I'm always amazed when I read about such things on here.
Yes. The program takes and out of state trip every year. This year it’s SoCal and Cary, NC.
Chico Escuela posted:Wet snow yesterday that didn't stick, a hard frost overnight, but this afternoon was sunny and around 50 degrees here in the Carolinas for the first game of the season--a scrimmage against a HS with about 4x the enrollment of my son's. He got the start, was told he was limited to 3 innings. Jr. looked pretty good for this time of year: 3 IP, 3 K, 1BB, gave up 2 singles, one of which was a fly that the CF and SS let drop between them. First real game is Thursday.
Best wishes on a good year!
Off to a 2-0 start here in FL. A few more games then they head to Hoover AL for a PG tournament beginning of March. Hitting the PBR HS Showcase tournament at Lake Point at the end of March. Son is excited to travel again. I'm excited to tag along and watch! Hoping things will have dried out in both places before we go. Been very dry here in Florida. Keep posting updates!
I'm jealous, my kids team in PA has tryouts next week and the home opener is a month away.
First district game tonight. Last high school season. It’s bittersweet. Got the win. Hopefully one of many but we will see how it plays out.
Velo From The Stretch posted:I'm jealous, my kids team in PA has tryouts next week and the home opener is a month away.
Just as a reminder, here in Iowa, first HS game takes place around Memorial Day.
Tryouts not till the week of Mar 16-19. First game sometime in April, if the snow melts, and the fields drain. Lot of work being done in cages, domes, and weight rooms. Great for technique, not so great for game sense. Up in MN, baseball really is a summer game.
Iowamom23 posted:Velo From The Stretch posted:I'm jealous, my kids team in PA has tryouts next week and the home opener is a month away.
Just as a reminder, here in Iowa, first HS game takes place around Memorial Day.
Doesn’t school get out shortly after Memorial Day? So a senior can graduate and still be playing HS ball? This has me totally befuddled.
Arizona 6A starting games this week! We are off with a bang - 4 games 4 days in a row 😳 pitching will be a challenge... then hosting/playing the Boras Classic during our spring break week in March!
LousyLefty posted:Iowamom23 posted:Velo From The Stretch posted:I'm jealous, my kids team in PA has tryouts next week and the home opener is a month away.
Just as a reminder, here in Iowa, first HS game takes place around Memorial Day.
Doesn’t school get out shortly after Memorial Day? So a senior can graduate and still be playing HS ball? This has me totally befuddled.
Yep! My son actually graduated Memorial Day weekend, played HS ball through mid-July, then participated in a couple of all-star state tournaments and then moved into college in August. To some degree I think it helped him in the school's fall practices and games since he was up and running, while guys from out of state had had a pretty long break.
Apparently we're the only state in the country to play summer HS baseball.
@Swampboy, @ClevelandDad, or any other admins. Can we get this pinned to the top of th e page? Just like the 2019 season is now?
Thanks
Done.
My son's team is 5 games in. He's been starting the district games at C for varsity. He's sat a couple of non-district games because the coach says he doesn't want to wear him out. He also played SS and pitched in a JV game. I'm not really a fan of him playing those positions because we felt like he could finally just focus on the catcher arm path. However, the other way to look at it is at least he's playing and starting. There are a lot of kids in the dugout who would trade places in a heartbeat I'm sure.
TerribleBPthrower posted:My son's team is 5 games in. He's been starting the district games at C for varsity. He's sat a couple of non-district games because the coach says he doesn't want to wear him out. He also played SS and pitched in a JV game. I'm not really a fan of him playing those positions because we felt like he could finally just focus on the catcher arm path. However, the other way to look at it is at least he's playing and starting. There are a lot of kids in the dugout who would trade places in a heartbeat I'm sure.
It sounds like your son is versatile and off to a great start. But... I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know when I say that playing three positions that put unusually high demand on his arm could put your son at risk of injury. For a long time my son played 3B in games when he wasn't SP. It took several incidents when he had a sore arm after making a side-armed throw on a bunt or some other awkward throw before he finally moved to 1B and then became a PO. Lots of factors come into play and I expect you are well aware of the issue. Just my $0.02 based on my son's experience.
+1 on Chico's post. If they need their starting catcher to pitch a few innings to help win a championship, that's one thing. But having him pitch JV?? That is nuts, or at least shortsighted. As for SS, I differ a bit on that. I've seen plenty of #1 pitchers (though not catchers) play SS without issues. There usually aren't really that many 100% throws in a game. If the player takes it easy during practices and warm ups, the risk of injury should not be that great.
Chico Escuela posted:TerribleBPthrower posted:My son's team is 5 games in. He's been starting the district games at C for varsity. He's sat a couple of non-district games because the coach says he doesn't want to wear him out. He also played SS and pitched in a JV game. I'm not really a fan of him playing those positions because we felt like he could finally just focus on the catcher arm path. However, the other way to look at it is at least he's playing and starting. There are a lot of kids in the dugout who would trade places in a heartbeat I'm sure.
It sounds like your son is versatile and off to a great start. But... I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know when I say that playing three positions that put unusually high demand on his arm could put your son at risk of injury. For a long time my son played 3B in games when he wasn't SP. It took several incidents when he had a sore arm after making a side-armed throw on a bunt or some other awkward throw before he finally moved to 1B and then became a PO. Lots of factors come into play and I expect you are well aware of the issue. Just my $0.02 based on my son's experience.
Thanks Chico. His coach is really watching how much he is throwing. It's frustrating to watch him sit out a game, but I know the coach doesn't want to abuse him. He caught last night and will likely catch tomorrow night. There is a JV game on Friday that I doubt he will play in.
JCG posted:+1 on Chico's post. If they need their starting catcher to pitch a few innings to help win a championship, that's one thing. But having him pitch JV?? That is nuts, or at least shortsighted. As for SS, I differ a bit on that. I've seen plenty of #1 pitchers (though not catchers) play SS without issues. There usually aren't really that many 100% throws in a game. If the player takes it easy during practices and warm ups, the risk of injury should not be that great.
I don't think it's quite as bad as it seems. He only caught a few innings last Tuesday against a bad team. Game on Thursday was cancelled. JV game was on Friday. This week we have varsity games Mon, Tues, Thurs. I don't see him playing the JV game on Friday unless he doesn't play in the Thursday game for some reason.
Well, here in NYC we're waiting to see if the schools close down from this Corona virus. First and likely the last time my kids will get to play on the same team for a season, and son's senior year so hope it doesn't happen.
Looks like my 2023 C is going to get the start at SS on Tuesday for varsity. The starter is injured and no idea how long he’ll be out. Guess I better take him out and hit some balls to him.
I guess a positive is we won’t have to worry about him throwing back to the pitcher 😜
TerribleBPthrower posted:Looks like my 2023 C is going to get the start at SS on Tuesday for varsity. The starter is injured and no idea how long he’ll be out. Guess I better take him out and hit some balls to him.
I guess a positive is we won’t have to worry about him throwing back to the pitcher 😜
Will be interested to see if any of the same problems rise up from SS. It has always amazed me that the yips are normally just pitchers and catchers. I did have a 1B that developed something like them one time and we said just never throw the ball. We would get an out and he would airmail it into LF. He didn't do it before an inning but would when the inning started. If there were runners on base he would always walk it to the pitcher or the pitcher would come get it. We played it off by him slapping him on the butt when he handed it to the pitcher so hopefully no one would realize he couldn't throw. Best of luck to your son.
PitchingFan posted:TerribleBPthrower posted:Looks like my 2023 C is going to get the start at SS on Tuesday for varsity. The starter is injured and no idea how long he’ll be out. Guess I better take him out and hit some balls to him.
I guess a positive is we won’t have to worry about him throwing back to the pitcher 😜
Will be interested to see if any of the same problems rise up from SS. It has always amazed me that the yips are normally just pitchers and catchers. I did have a 1B that developed something like them one time and we said just never throw the ball. We would get an out and he would airmail it into LF. He didn't do it before an inning but would when the inning started. If there were runners on base he would always walk it to the pitcher or the pitcher would come get it. We played it off by him slapping him on the butt when he handed it to the pitcher so hopefully no one would realize he couldn't throw. Best of luck to your son.
He played SS for the JV team on Friday and made a bunch of highlight plays that quite honestly I didn't even know he was capable of. Coach pulled him aside to talk about the potential need to move him until the starter is better. The coach then ran into my wife at the gas station and told her how happy he is to have my son on the team.
This yips thing sure has been a wild ride. He threw 2 buckets to me yesterday while I stood on the mound in the backyard. Every ball was right in the chest. I took some previous advice and read some old threads on the topic. Reached out to a guy named Dr. Crowley and that has helped a little, but not completely. I decided to try something new and I'll let you know if it works. We were on the school field and he was struggling to throw it back to me. Big difference from what I saw in the backyard. So I gave him the 3oz Driveline baseball and had him try to throw that back. As you can imagine, it didn't go well. After 10 throws I had him pick up a regular baseball and he was letting it rip right back to my chest. It's the biggest smile I've seen on him in weeks.
I understand. It was not my kid but it was still frustrating/scarey. The weird part was this kid could pitch with no problems and was great in practice but fell apart when he had to throw it in a game from first to anyone.