Varsity VS. JV Baseball

Nicholas,
You have a better view than most, coaching both at the same time. From my observations, there are SO many variables here - size and strength of program, cycles of good crops of players, etc., etc.

To simplify, I'd say the average V player is 17 y.o. that is closer to a man than a boy while the average JV player is 15 y.o. and still closer to a boy than a man. So, the tools of the V player typically include a stronger arm with a higher velo range, better quickness, speed, overall strength and athleticism/coordination. This player is also more experienced in playing the game. To compete with this player, you must share similar skills and you cannot get away with some of the sloppy mechanics that allow for success only at the lower levels.
The sloppy mechanics issue (i.e.- long loopy swing, poor throwing arm angle) is one area in particular where I typically see the "good JV" player fail at the V level.
Another, of course, is recognizing the necessity to continue to ramp up workouts, practice and competitive play.

quote:

how big is the gap between Varsity and JV Baseball

5 mph

Hitters - the difference in being able to hit 80 vs. 85 mph pitches, consistently

Pitchers - the difference between throwing 80 vs 85 mph, consistently

Your mileage may vary on the exact mph.

I'll add that the JV field of play is smaller (not literally) because the average JV player can't hit further than an OF positioned at short-to-medium depth.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicholas25:
I am a Varsity assistant and JV head coach. I have had some pitchers and position players have nice JV careers, but then struggle to come close to duplicating that on the Varsity level. To you, and I know each situation is different, how big is the gap between Varsity and JV Baseball?

I’d like to know how you can be the JV HC and still be a V asst. The only way I can imagine it being possible, is if you’re talking about being the V Asst during the summer.

As for your question, as has already been said, just about everything depends on the situation, but in general it’s a matter of physical and mental maturity, the same way it its between say LL Majors and LL Jrs.

I am a Varsity assistant and JV head coach because we either play JV games on the same field after the Varsity games or we play JV on days we do not have a Varsity game. We often have V/JV doubleheaders. Today, Saturday, April 7th we had a JV doubleheader at home and the Varsity was off.

I think a big difference between the two is the fact that you do not know who you are playing in JV. When you play a Varsity game you assume you are getting their best (other than the variable of the pitcher). JV is so different from program to program. We have kids who play both Varsity and JV. Some programs have seperate teams, so the top players dress Varsity and do not play JV. Some programs really value JV and treat it like a real feeder. Others treat it like a dumping ground.

Real easy to be jv head/v assistant at lower levels here. All jv games precede the varsity game. And if they are single games, they are scheduled on a night the varsity does not play. Not everyone has luxury of a 4-8 man staff. Our staff operates with 2 coaches. That's varsity and jv.

Usully the gap is pretty big. Where we live their aren't very many schools that have freshman teams. So, typically, there are about 5 good players on the JV team and the rest are kids who struggle in general even at the JV level. Most of those kids will play 2-3 years on the Jv level and thenn be brought to the varsity level their senior year. The 4-5 good kids on JV usually play one year on JV and feed into the varsity program.

The biggest difference in JV and varsity is the pitching difference. Around here, with so few teams having a freshman team, a lot of the JV pitchers are freshman and so the velocity at the JV level averages around 70-72 mph. On varsity, the average velocity is around 80 mph. The biggest difference though with pitching is the quality and control of the various pitches they throw. Breaking balls are thrown hard, fastballs are placed with control, etc. For the better teams you will see even more difference with the better varsity teams having several pitchers throwing mid to upper 80's while their JV teams still have pitchers only in the low 70's on average.

If one were to compare from school to school around here and have the varsity teams play the JV teams, 9 out of 10 times the varsity would ten run rule the JV teams. I doubt that any JV teams could beat even the weakest of the varsity teams without changing classification (school size)

quote:

Originally posted by coachjo:
Real easy to be jv head/v assistant at lower levels here. All jv games precede the varsity game. And if they are single games, they are scheduled on a night the varsity does not play. Not everyone has luxury of a 4-8 man staff. Our staff operates with 2 coaches. That's varsity and jv.

I don’t understand what “levels” means, so its difficult to understand what bearing it would have on the question.

I’m trying to understand how y’all can play 2 games back to back before the time change without starting the 1st one at around noon, and that would mean for away games, letting the players out of class at around 10:00 in order to get to a game that took at least a half hour to get to. I can’t envision the school board here even entertaining that thought. What’s “normal here is, the V and JV play at the same time on different fields, while the FR team, if there is one, plays on the V field of the team that’s away.

But, it all depends on the situation. Here in greater Sacramento, there isn’t even 1 large school with lights, while in Clovis, about 150 miles south, there’s only a couple schools without lights. There are lots of other factors as well, and that’s what make HS ball so different from all other venues.

Here in North Texas I can only think of 1 school that doesn't have lights...all the schools (I am sure there are some that don't) have Jv/V doubleheaders.