Senioritis

We often forget just how much is going on with these HS seniors outside of baseball.  Preparing for huge changes, going off to college, leaving their best friends, their family, trying to milk every bit of the last days of their HS experience, specific graduation events, senior events, the end of HS baseball, the end of HS everything, the coming of summer...  just a huge transition time for young adults to deal with.  

I have tried everything in the book to keep our teams focused coming down the home stretch.  100% is impossible.  

Agree with Cabbage.  One other possibility, if you're talking about hitters, is that  sometimes the D1 studs just don't see any good pitches to hit.  They may get frustrated or bored with that, and then make outs swinging at pitches they should be watching.

Kids that truly love the game don't get Senioritis.  They play with a killer instinct and look at younger, inferior opponents the same way an Eagle looks at a Mouse

3and2Fastball posted:

Kids that truly love the game don't get Senioritis.  They play with a killer instinct and look at younger, inferior opponents the same way an Eagle looks at a Mouse

 

I would like to nominate this for 'best post of the year.'

3and2Fastball posted:

Kids that truly love the game don't get Senioritis.  They play with a killer instinct and look at younger, inferior opponents the same way an Eagle looks at a Mouse

 

conceptually I could agree with your comments. in reality I don't think it is near a clear cut you may think. I see the same from some Seniors on my sons college team, they are concerned about jobs, graduating and life moving on...it is human nature.

freddy77 posted:

3and2Fastball posted:

Kids that truly love the game don't get Senioritis.  They play with a killer instinct and look at younger, inferior opponents the same way an Eagle looks at a Mouse

 

I would like to nominate this for 'best post of the year.'

It is hardly that, not even post of the week (see Coach May on a weekly basis for that).   My post paints with too broad a brush but certainly contains some kernels of truth and hopefully a bit of entertainment value.

I've coached & observed long enough to see exceptions, but if there is one thing I see consistently here on HSBaseball Web, it is parents who fail to grasp just how quickly the funnel closes in the levels above high school.

It is rare to see the Senioritis kids get very far in Baseball.   Sure, some might have the "Come to Jesus" moment at some point or are simply otherworldly talented.   

From the view of where I'm seeing, the vast majority of kids who start at Power Fives are the kids who either live breathe dream Baseball or are otherworldly talented.

If you run a 6.5 sixty and have the reflexes of Kobe Bryant you can afford all the "Senioritis" you can indulge in.... For the rest of us, such a thing plants a seed that grows into the ability to make excuses as the funnel continues to close.

Yes they get senioritis!  Whether it be on the field or in the classroom, for many, it's time to move on. I think that is why they took away pitcher only from son and made him a position player as well.  He also had finished ALL of his required classes. 

Senioritis hit him summer going into college. He was so disinterested in playing. 

Not true if you really love the game you get senioritis because mine loves the game playing as well as coaching.

I think you give teenage boys to much credit.  They are lucky to be thinking about much more than the next few hours.

I think it has something to do with age/maturity. My 2018 will turn 19 in September. Every year,  he has played spring travel ball, done some showcases, etc. He's committed now, but has been invited to some predraft showcases and spring teams. He has refused almost every invitation, and runs every single one past his HS coach before accepting. He is working his fanny off at all the HS workouts/practices/bullpens. He is all in for his HS team this year and says so.

One of his his good friends, on the other hand, won't be 18 until June or July. He still sometimes gets distracted by the opportunity to chase butterflies in the outfield. 

Have to agree with those that disagree. I see this happen all the time in high school classroom and on the field. Some of the brightest, hard-working students find themselves struggling with some form of senioritis as we enter the spring months. Many of these same students will move on and do great things. Some won't. In football, I tell players all that time that football should never define them and that they should put just as much, if not more, effort into their academics, family relationships, etc. However, when we are on the field, practice or game, it is all about focus and effort on being the best possible football player they can be. This is a lesson that will benefit them greatly as they continue to progress through life!

I think that good coaches that understand how to motivate young people can minimize senioritis. Simple things like reminding them that successful people in life; start what they finish, follow through with all commitments, use life's challenges as opportunities to learn, etc.

Think it is sad that so many of us forget what it was like to be a teenager. Think it is sad that so many of us don't take the time to understand how much has changed for today's teens!

I guess I'm not sure of the direction here. Do you mean because they just don't play well or because they check out.

My son so looked forward to his senior year. It turned out to be a disaster. Statistically at the plate the worst of his HS career by far. He made excuses (only one really) and I blew them off. I told him he was just pressing and trying to hard. He was up for state player of the year and also being looked at for the draft. I was sure it was just a matter of him relaxing and playing his game. Never happened.

On the mound was a different story. He was basically unhittable. That provided a little hope. Looking at the playoffs if the team just took care of business and we made it to semi-state I figured he'd be hard to beat and a state title would take a little sting out of the way the year went. The game before playoffs he tore a muscle in his bicep and that was that. Just a crap year.

Now as to his excuse. He wanted to use his Baum bat but the HS coach said no. Putting himself before the team he said. So I found him a end loaded 34" LS on JustBats for $99. When the bat arrived we weighed it (like we always do) and it was 33 oz. He voiced his doubts he could swing it and I was like "BS, it's only HS pitching and your a strong kid". Was it the bat, IDK. After the season he told me he just couldn't control the bat through the zone or react to pitches. He told me that throughout the year and I blew him off. He played four tournaments that summer on a team full of collage players, a requirement to be on the team. Played pretty high level tournaments. Used his Baum, and was his old self. He raked, just absolutely raked. One week after he couldn't hit a baseball to save his life you couldn't get a ball past him.

The one good thing about the year was, I always worried whether the kid really loved baseball or loved being a "star" while playing baseball. Through it all he never wavered in his desire to play. Never once was he like "I don't need this".

We had our starting pitcher and 2nd baseman miss our game Monday against our rival. They were stuck in traffic returning from Coachella. We lost, and the other guys were pissed. Life lessons.

I see it more on the academic side with my committed Junior. We're on him constantly about keeping his grades up for another year.  Not worried about the baseball side.

Yeah, it's all about the grades, for my son. He has taken the,"Just don't flunk, and you're good" to heart. 

Baseball is easy.