The Big Field

If they play 54/80 before it shouldn't be too hard of an adjustment. If they are going straight to 60/90 w/o playing 54/80 you may have a problem at first. All it is getting the reps. Do more defense than offense at first and get them used to making the longer throw. Make sure your players play a good amount of long toss so that they can allow their arms to get stronger and make it easier to make the throws. Pitchers need to throw at least two bullpens a week during the pre-season to allow them to adjust to extra 5 1/2 feet. It will take a week or two for them to make the adjustment but they will come around, they always do.

The kids who have been doing well on the small field with innate athleticism only will start to crumble --- the move to the full-sized field takes a good foundation in the fundamentals.

The run to a base is half again as long --- not only does it take the runners a while to get there, but the ss has time to fumble, drop the ball and still throw the hitter out!

But the biggest difference will be in hitting. Pitchers with good mechanics will still be able to throw strikes...pitchers with questionable mechanics will have those flaws magnified by the additional length...and a whole lotta walkin' will be going on.

Hitters have been facing the best the league has to offer from a shorter distance -- they're used to "heat". But that wicked 70 mph fb takes a lloooonnngg time to get to the plate from 60'6". Watch your guys hitting out on their front leg, teach some patience techniques, anything ---- but that radical drop in reaction time at the plate is the biggest challenge they'll face.

I'm gonna add a new one that I found. Don't try to go back to 46' 60". My 12 year old is playing with us in 13U ball at 60/90 and is trying to play Little League. He can't pitch from the small mound at LL from the wind up and throw full speed because it goes too high. He has thrown so much from the real mounds at 60' that he is struggling bringing it down to the 46'.
I know this is a fluke but it took a while for us to figure out what was going on.

My son will also be moving down to 54/80 for summer ball. 14u summer league with no HS bat restrictions. As a team we decided we were still going to use the -3 bats they used in school ball(just bought em). The whole team has done well on the big field, a little sloppy at first. We have been throwing bullpens from 54', and haven't had any problems yet. Me personally, I like the extra 6' for the pitcher to react to comebackers! But my son likes pitching from 54', says makes his fastball look even faster. Should be interesting!

Rob

My son is one of the middle infielders. He is now 14 and playing on 60/90. He, and a lot of other kids that I've watched, are making errors on infield bouncers that in the past were routine.

One of his old coaches came to the game tonight and gave me this explanation for the errors.

On a regulation diamond the grass infield is larger then they are acustomed to and are therefor reacting to quickly to the ball, then once realizing that they are early, stopping and getting caught with their weight back on their heels letting the ball take another hop in the grass. They have their glove down but then sometimes get hit in the chest since they are now stuck in no-mans land.

Is this a good explanation? My son, and I'm sure many of the other kids we know on our team and the teams we are playing, don't seem as confident in their fielding as they have always been in the past. All of them appear tentative and uncomfortable.

Need help. Need comments on your past experiences with this especially those in the south who have been playing longer.

Nothing beats an old fashion bucket of groundball. It a matter of getting the reps. They should be getting as many groundballs as they can a day or practice. They don't even need to be on a baseball diamond. They can do it in the outfield or on the side. Most 60/90 fields will have a grass infield. They need to make the adjust to the baseball coming to them a little slower. When playing 54/80 on a all dirt infield the baseball comes to them quicker and all they were doing was reacting. Now they have a little more time and are probably thinking to much. They need to play the ball and not let the ball play them. Make sure when they are taking groundballs they are working on reconizing the hops. A low groundball (hugger), high bouncer (chopper,) high bouncer (in between hop) which they should try to advoid, and slow rollers. They should have some sort of rythme on the field and should be fielding the ball the same way every time. They should be fielding it right left field then right left throw. Getting the reps should help. I sometimes throw runners out there and just hit the ball to the infielder any of them and make them make the play and get the out with a live runner running to first. Try to build confidence if they can do it in practice there is no reason why they can't do it in a game.