Just out of curiosity, what style of play is dominant in your part of the country? Ours varies by what part of the state you are in, but in my part is dominated by more of a station to station, hit the long ball type play.
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GREAT TOPIC! We live in the St. Louis Metro area. (East or in Illinois) We play a totally different style of ball than teams on the other side of the river. That may be a generalization but we've played some of the better programs on that side and so many of those teams are "power" teams and so, they don't use small ball as much as teams on our side of the river do. We also have different styles from conference to conference. The conference my team is in will BUNT YOU TO DEATH! WE ARE AN AGGRESSIVE BASE STEALING CONFERENCE. However, you won't find much "pop" or homerun power in our conference.
My philopsophy with regards to style. Offense = score one run every inning. Anything more is icing on the cake. Steal 2nd and 3rd all the time. Teach aggression and sometimes get thrown out at 3rd making the 1st out. WE WON'T BACK DOWN FROM ANYONE. Pitching = WE OWN THE PLATE AND THE BLACK. Pitch inside and if you can end the season without hitting a batter, you didn't throw inside. Throw 4 pitches for strikes in any given situation. With a runner on, throw to 1st until the cows come home. I have all night! Always get an out.
Well, enough on us. Is this what you wanted?
My philopsophy with regards to style. Offense = score one run every inning. Anything more is icing on the cake. Steal 2nd and 3rd all the time. Teach aggression and sometimes get thrown out at 3rd making the 1st out. WE WON'T BACK DOWN FROM ANYONE. Pitching = WE OWN THE PLATE AND THE BLACK. Pitch inside and if you can end the season without hitting a batter, you didn't throw inside. Throw 4 pitches for strikes in any given situation. With a runner on, throw to 1st until the cows come home. I have all night! Always get an out.
Well, enough on us. Is this what you wanted?
That is great....I have had to really work on trying to adjust to the kids that I have. Last year I had the slowest team I have had since I started coaching. So we adjusted and changed our style of play somewhat.
I am taking over a team this year with great athletes, but almost no baseball knowledge or skills. I think small ball may suit them better than over-powering other teams. I have heard it put this way....You have to do it better than everyone else, or do it different. I guess this year we will have to do it different.
I am taking over a team this year with great athletes, but almost no baseball knowledge or skills. I think small ball may suit them better than over-powering other teams. I have heard it put this way....You have to do it better than everyone else, or do it different. I guess this year we will have to do it different.
in north carolina i think we have a good mix of both small ball and long ball teams. (high school and college) i think alot depends on the talent and type of talent you have. i think we tend to be long ball early in the game and small ball the 2nd half of the game.
we are more lng ball at the beginning of the line-up and small ball at the bottom as well.
we are more lng ball at the beginning of the line-up and small ball at the bottom as well.
Our travel team this lacked the small ball that alot of the good Illnois teams have. The only time we were able to get runs was when we were hittin doubles or gapping singles. We didnt steal enough, not that anybody was really good at it besides me n maybe 2 others..but taht didnt help considering I was the #4 hitter. We went to Florida and saw a team from New York just kill the ball and didnt even have to play small ball. In the championship they faced another long ball team who beat them. Seems to me the longball teams are the best as long as they can pitch.
TP, I think you will find out very soon that the long ball you viewed in Florida is not the norm as you continue to develop. In high school you will probably find vast improvement in pitching and more depth also. People develop and mature physically and mentally at different times.
If you look closely enough even the majors leagues are starting to remember how to play small ball again. For an example I had the pleasure of being able to see a AA player in Tulsa this summer that will probably be the Rockies starting centerfielder in the near future barring injury or even more so learning not to swing for the fences all the time. He has what a lot of people call warning track power. He is a very good contact hitter and he also possesses a very good glove with excellent instincts in the field. His biggest problem is that sometimes he just wants to crank one out and it just ends up as a long out.
Focus on your own abilities and work on improving what you are weak at. You are probably a team leader so pick yourself back up and do your best to be as complete a player as you can be. Best of luck in your future playing ball.
If you look closely enough even the majors leagues are starting to remember how to play small ball again. For an example I had the pleasure of being able to see a AA player in Tulsa this summer that will probably be the Rockies starting centerfielder in the near future barring injury or even more so learning not to swing for the fences all the time. He has what a lot of people call warning track power. He is a very good contact hitter and he also possesses a very good glove with excellent instincts in the field. His biggest problem is that sometimes he just wants to crank one out and it just ends up as a long out.
Focus on your own abilities and work on improving what you are weak at. You are probably a team leader so pick yourself back up and do your best to be as complete a player as you can be. Best of luck in your future playing ball.
We play to the strengths of our team from year to year. We work on bunting and base running as well as situational hitting all the time regardless of the type of offensive team we have. No matter how good you are at the plate as a team there are going to be games where and situations in games when you have to be good at manufacturing runs. The better the opponent the more important it is that you be able to do this. I agree with the earlier poster from NC when he stated we have a good mix of teams around here. Some will small ball you all day long and some will try to play for big innings. We want to be able to do both. Sometimes it is not possible to sit back and play gorilla ball if you dont have the gorillas or the guy on the hill is shutting you down.
I realise this is a little off topic from the intended thread, but I think it seems that most areas have a mix of long ball and small ball.
I would like to know when you are coaching would you ever change your style depending on the style of the team you are playing? I know its probably the "go with your guns" approach of sticking with your style but Coach May's post mentioned that there are always some games where manufacturing runs is in order. Also the bunting game will become more pronouced later in the game, so sometimes does your style differ much early than late, ahead or behind?
Thanks in advance for all your input.
I would like to know when you are coaching would you ever change your style depending on the style of the team you are playing? I know its probably the "go with your guns" approach of sticking with your style but Coach May's post mentioned that there are always some games where manufacturing runs is in order. Also the bunting game will become more pronouced later in the game, so sometimes does your style differ much early than late, ahead or behind?
Thanks in advance for all your input.
i gave my philosophies above but you have to adjust by game, inning, opponent, hitter, baserunner, who the other team has on the mound etc. for example i said i dont like squeezing - that doesnt mean in the right situation with the right combo involved we wont. somewhere in the course of the season we will squeeze.
i think your everyday style and philosophy should be based on how does your talent need to play to get you on down the road come tournament time - how does your talent have to play to beat the good teams. that should be the basis of your philosophy. i dont think you go bunt and run crazy against a team that cant play dead if thats not the way you are going to play in a district championship game against a good team.
i think your everyday style and philosophy should be based on how does your talent need to play to get you on down the road come tournament time - how does your talent have to play to beat the good teams. that should be the basis of your philosophy. i dont think you go bunt and run crazy against a team that cant play dead if thats not the way you are going to play in a district championship game against a good team.
I think a big thing is that your team needs to be able to change according to the situation. It is difficult time wise to prepare for everything, but if you prepare for the most likelys you should be able to fall back on plan B or plan C. You have to realize to plan for those situations.
I coached under a guy that would change to plan B but never taught his players plan B. Used to get real upset at them too. I guess I reminded him too many times......
I coached under a guy that would change to plan B but never taught his players plan B. Used to get real upset at them too. I guess I reminded him too many times......
I have not suicide squeezed in a few years. I have gone to a version of the saftey squeeze. This allows our hitters to select the pitch they want, and we get a more quality bunt down without the worry of missing the pitch and getting our runner hung out to dry.
D8,
Are you talking safety squeeze?
BTW, Plan A for me is aggressive on the bases including Suicide squeeze, double steals, delayed steals, balk steals. A "Let's see what chaos will do to them.
Plan B is less agressive: straight steal, hit and run.
Plan C is station to Station, small ball.
I hate to get to Plan C, so I will suicide early. (I know that's not the right thing to do) and even bunt early to know what I have for later.
Are you talking safety squeeze?
BTW, Plan A for me is aggressive on the bases including Suicide squeeze, double steals, delayed steals, balk steals. A "Let's see what chaos will do to them.
Plan B is less agressive: straight steal, hit and run.
Plan C is station to Station, small ball.
I hate to get to Plan C, so I will suicide early. (I know that's not the right thing to do) and even bunt early to know what I have for later.
Sorry....either my typing or dyslexia got the best of me.
These posts bring us to another point. I know many of you won't agree with me on this one but then again, I don't blame you. We have established an "identity" for our program. That "identity" is a style of play that we nurture and instill at an early age beginning with our clinics as well as what we preach to our feeder system coaches via handouts etc. I would venture to say that a kid in our program knows what we are going to do in a given situation as soon as I know. In fact, a few years ago, one kid sitting in the stands of the State Championship Game reportedly called the winning inning before our at bat. I've heard enough tell the story to believe it. Is there anything wrong with "DOING WHAT WE DO BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE DOES WHAT THEY DO?"
We play a speed game-- we are fortunate that we select the players we want on our team so we can year to year play the same brand of ball--force the issue and be aggressive--we too have been known to get a guy thrown out at third in the first inning but it sets the tone for the rest of the game-- we are going to force the other team to make the perfect throw--most times we will win that battle
We like to put men in motion and hit behind the runners
Bottom line for us is aggressiveness and forcing the issue every chance we get--we may get burned once in awhile but we will take the chance and more than that the players enjoy playing the game the way we do
One last thing-- we don't change our mode of attack for any team--we want to do what we do best not what they want us to do
We like to put men in motion and hit behind the runners
Bottom line for us is aggressiveness and forcing the issue every chance we get--we may get burned once in awhile but we will take the chance and more than that the players enjoy playing the game the way we do
One last thing-- we don't change our mode of attack for any team--we want to do what we do best not what they want us to do
TR, I agree 100%. We had a catcher throw us out the first 3 times we attempted to steal. I walked by and asked him if he knew what his school record was for throwing runners out. He didn't. I told him to find out because he was going to get a chance to get a school record. LOL!
Down here in South Florida you will see both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. We preach a very agressive form of small-ball(taking the extra base, hitting behind runners, and the other little things that don't always show up in the box score.)
We try to make our guys realize that the homeruns will come, but its the best teams that can lay down the sac or get that clutch 2-out RBI. In our system we only look at a few stats: RBIs, 2-out RBIs, OBP, sacs, and runs scored. Basically, the offensive numbers that tell you how much you are doing for your team.
Don't get me wrong I love the .400 hitter as much as the next guy, but its the guy that is going to come up with 2 outs and get that big base hit that we are looking for.
We try to make our guys realize that the homeruns will come, but its the best teams that can lay down the sac or get that clutch 2-out RBI. In our system we only look at a few stats: RBIs, 2-out RBIs, OBP, sacs, and runs scored. Basically, the offensive numbers that tell you how much you are doing for your team.
Don't get me wrong I love the .400 hitter as much as the next guy, but its the guy that is going to come up with 2 outs and get that big base hit that we are looking for.
A lot of small ball in our area (southeastern michigan). I, like d8, change my style depending on the team I have. Two years ago, I had some big boys..not big HR guys, but guys that could drive gap-to-gap, but that ran like they had pianos on their back. This year, I FINALLY have some burners...and we're going to keep some catchers very busy this spring.
I feel that every good coach makes adjustments each season to accommodate the talent in the program at the time. We all have our favorite style of play (I call my "organized madness" - hit to gaps and run like hell!), but we can only do with what we have, right?
I feel that every good coach makes adjustments each season to accommodate the talent in the program at the time. We all have our favorite style of play (I call my "organized madness" - hit to gaps and run like hell!), but we can only do with what we have, right?
the biggest stats we look at is on base%, runs, contact%, avg. with runners in scoring position, strikeouts with runners in scoring position.
I firmly believe that when you take over a program..especialy one that hasn't won much that you need to begin by being very aggressive and have all the small ball tactics available to you. your kids need to be able to execute plays which keep the opponent on there toes..As my programs have developed we still have the aggressive label, but use it to our advantage to get more fastballs and put our team in better situations to swing it and drive them in. More prone to bluff and use fake bunt and runs, hit and runs swing thrus etc... Don't like to sac unless absolutely neccasary.. and so on.. Love being unpredictable though.
