Who are You?

[DrHeat]

That's a cool pic of Sammy ( I can't drive 55) Hagar!

[bucketboy]

I hope he is still alive when I don't have to fund dd's softball habit anymore as I want to go to the birthday party in Cabo as it is a don't miss from what I have heard.

Funny thing is both kids have his music on their Ipod's.

[Stubs]

Rock and softball. You brought them up right!

[coolstuff]

Hope this helps....

I think it takes a master's in English to understand it, but thanks!

[bucketboy]

I agree with y'all on the masters of english to read it, but I have learned very valuable information with the article and now feel as I can use it in the proper vernacular.

I think it would make an interesting topic for a research paper for the DD to do for an english class project that is upcoming.

[jag1]

daughter plays for the Indiana Pride #25, an all first year 16u team out of Pendleton. Unfortunately, she's a freshman and our high school program(Rushville) is the weakest team in a very strong HHC conference. ...(New Pal, Pendleton, Mt. Vernon, Greenfield..) we're really looking forward to June and playing travel ball again..!!lol!

[looking in]

Waiting till travel will be a surprise to alot of you!! It seems alot of your daughters are freshman, this school year will be a very interesting year for you! They are going to play 6 days a week!!(Games and practice) Yes, they play 5 - 7 games on a weekend, but they have 5 days to rest! Now they have one! They will be very tired coming off of school ball! May start strong, but you WILL see a decline! Especially the teams that have played every weekend this fall and winter!! Can you name them?? Will definetly be interesting to see who this effects at 16U!! With all the young teams jumping up! It'll will be the hardest on the parents though!!! Can't have a cold one in the parking lot!! So they say!!

[jag1]

That's an interesting point, I've been looking at high school ball as 3 months of rec league..! I'm hoping mine will be re-charged and pumped up to play some competitive softball come June 1st, I may be disappointed..

[gunshy]

Looking In is correct. High school is a different kind of pressure, even for the most competitive A level player. Conditioning goes 3 days per week for at least a month before HS practice begins, then practice 6 days per week until the first game. Once games begin, they play or practice every day but Sunday for 2 1/2 months. This schedule is unlike even the most rigorous weekend travel tournament, in that there is little or no recovery time for the mind or the body. A raspberry from sliding now takes weeks to heal, sore arms get more sore and a strained muscle may drag on for weeks because there just isn't a 5 day period to take off like there is in the summer. I agree that those teams who have played their brains out this winter probably did their teams more harm than good; I have never seen value in playing any more than once a month in the winter and that was just to augment practice.
Back to high school, do not expect your 16u travel team to look fantastic that first week back after high school. Most of the players will have played a different position for the last 3 months, faced different pitching and had completely different motivation than they will have in the summer. Teams should beware that their "stud" pitcher has probably had her arm thrown off by their HS coach who doesn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, it will be fantastic to get back to travel, but the stress level will be elevated when the first 2 tournaments out of the box are ASA qualifiers and your team doesn't look exactly like the team you saw in late February.

[coolstuff]

I have to differ slightly on the topic of HS ball. I once saw travel coaches pretty much diss a player during the fall and winter. She sat on the bench alot. Although this was a 14U team, the girl was a young HS freshman so she left to go play with her HS team in March. When she got back in the spring, it was like a completely different girl. The coaches could hardly contain themselves over how much the girl had improved. Of course, this begs the question, why didn't the travel ball coaches work with her during the fall and winter?