Badger Camp

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Wisconsin Badger Camp. I had already attended one of their camps before in the beginning of summer. Both times I have learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it. Saturday was full of drills and breakdown work on hitting and fielding skills. Sunday was supposed to be scrimmaging but, as anyone around here would know, it was a Sunday when we had softball so of course it rained! We moved everything to the indoor facilities and still got some great work in.

Friday night I went to our high school football game and then made the drive over to Madison. Saturday morning felt kind of early but I always wake up a bit more when I hear that it is time to hit. We broke up into groups and headed to our stations. We went through different tee work, front toss and base running drills. A main focus during the drills was they called slot hitting. To perform the drill you load with your negative movement and then start your swing. You stop at connection or when your hands reach your sternum. After pausing for a moment you finish your swing hitting the ball wither off the tee or off front toss. This drill really works on getting connected and getting linear. I have a tendency to rotate too early and this causes me to pull of a lot of balls. In this drill I also learned to get my linear movement with my knee still facing the right way, because when I rotate my knee before my hands get to sternum I pull off the ball. I also worked on staying through the ball and getting more extension on my swing. Another drill that they do is throwing frisbees. During our classroom drill Coach Schneider explained how throwing a frisbee is just like hitting, and by throwing them, you can be a better hitter! He made several connections with other sports of things that will help you to be a better player. Coach Schneider also stressed how much hitting hasn't changed, it has always been the same. Tons of coaches just have had new ideas of "better" ways to do it. Their main goal was to be as efficient as possible. Another new thing for me was they connected hitting and throwing. They say that the kids that throw the best and the hardest will be good hitters. Things you do while throwing you often do while hitting. It amazed me how connected all parts of your game are to each other and how much the little things matter.

After a break for lunch we moved on to defense. First we started out with playing catch. While playing catch they stressed how important the receiver is. You always need to step to the ball, catch it chest height, and on your throwing shoulder. Yes, this means you actually need to work hard to move your feet and get in the right place to make the catch. Also it is your job to always stop the ball even on a bad throw. After a loosening up and going through part of their throwing progression we moved to a different kind of throwing. Both coaches believe that you should be able to throw from anywhere, especially the ground. In softball we play low and spend a decent amount of time on the ground especially on diving plays. To work on this we started with throws from your knees falling forward. We also did throws on your knees falling to the right, falling to the left, sitting criss cross applesauce and falling backwards, standing up falling to the right, the left and backwards, jumping into the air and then throwing. We also placed the ball behind us, dove on the ground to recover it, rolled over as fast as possible and then threw it from there. The last drill was for finishing plays. There may be times where you stop a ball but it ricochets off and you need to finish. They always finish the play because you never know when the runner may try to take another base when they think you will just give up. Through all of these drills especially when you are throwing from crazy positions they talked about keeping your head with your hands. If you do this you can throw from any slot and any position because you have the proper form. Along with keeping your hands with your head, they emphasized kinesthetic awareness. Kinesthetic awareness is knowing your body in space and knowing how to handle it. Next we moved into break down drills in diving, ground balls, short hops, and fly balls. We worked on their everyday drills that focused on coming through the ball and lots of short hops. We got tons of break down drills on the small parts of the overall skill that were very beneficial.

Sunday morning we had tons of rain and were forced to go indoors. Instead of scrimmaging we did more breakdown drills for fielding and hitting while also getting a lot of full reps. We warmed up playing catch then took grounders and fielded bunts throwing them to different bases. Today while playing catch instead of working on diving throws we did throws on the run. We threw running forward, 45 degrees to the right and left, running straight to the right and left side, then running backwards to the left and to the right. This was another drill that pushed me out of my comfort zone as I tried a new skill. All of these throws from yesterday and today have a time and place in our game where we need to be able to make them. It is much better to practice them and know what they feel like then to be in a pressure situation and all the sudden have to make a play and throw a way you never have before. Next we moved to hitting where we hit of the tees, off the small ball machine, threw frisbees, and hit live in the cages off of a machine and two different pitchers. Many of the same things on offense and defense were stressed again today as I continued to try new things and improve.

A huge piece that is different at this camp than others is that they really push you to get out of your comfort zone. To Coach Healy and Coach Schneider, you will never get better if you stay the same, you need to get out of your comfort zone to learn new things and improve as an athlete and as a player. This weekend I learned lots of new things to help me improve my game and had a great time doing it. A big thank you to all of the coaches at Wisconsin as well as their players to take the time to help me become a better player.

Fall Ball Week 3

Fall ball is a very short season, but a huge part of getting better each year. In fall you get to compete in live games while not worrying about winning or losing. All you focus on is getting better. On our Sundays during the fall we play quadruple headers. Playing four games you get tons of time to work on things to focus on during the week when we do not play.

This much time also provides so many learning opportunities.  This weekend the biggest thing I learned, was that I can be me.

Talking with my dad about the differences between playing with my Royals team and now transitioning to the Danes I noticed several things. 1.) I am not as much of a leader 2.) I am do not talk as much and 3.) I do not have as much contact with other players.

All of those fit into what I used to do as a Royal. First I am always the super positive person that gets people going and makes them smile. I like making people smile because I believe smiling is one of the most powerful forces in the world. One smile can change a persons whole mood and how they are thinking.  In the dugout I am always giving positive encouragement to the batter. As my dad says, there is a difference between being helpful and being a cheerleader.  Next, before every at bat of mine or the person ahead of me, I made some sort of contact.  Many of us had little handshakes, but really it just means, hey were in this together we can do it. You show you are there for them and share your positive energy with them. When teammates made a mistake or a pitcher was struggling I was always the one to go over and pick them up, or walk to the mound and settle them down.

Now for the Danes, I do not do many of these things. Because they teach how focused you need to be on the game I think people, and myself, have interpreted it as you cant have any fun or encourage your teammates.  That isnt the case at all. Today my dad started to get on us to celebrate successes more, give high fives to people when they score or get a hit, and encourage the batter. At first I was hesitant, I wasnt sure if this kind of behavior was allowed as it had been on the Royals. In our next team meeting after the game Tim (our head coach) brought up in the circle that my dad was right, we need to be doing that. He never had said we couldn't cheer, it was just a thing that we never did.

Now that I know I can, I can finally be myself. If you have ever watched me play for the Royals, you would notice that I always as smiling and look like I am having fun. All of the things that I used to do, I now am going to bring to the Danes.  As I player, I play better when I am talking and having fun while being focused on softball. Going the serious route is not as good of a choice as my play has shown over the short time in the quieter environment. 

Another huge thing we learned was the power of good touch and bad touch. You may laugh because that is something they teach you in fourth grade about strangers and other people haha, this is a different kind of touch. I am talking about the power of positive touch. We did a demonstration on how just thinking positively will help you perform better. It was amazing how much your thinking affects not only you but the people around you. As long as you are prepared, positive thinking and energy will allow you to play at your best.

Labor Day Tournament

For us Labor Day is the last weekend before school starts. Summer has come to an end and now it is back to school for everyone.  What would I want to be doing on my last day of summer? Of course play softball!!

This weekend was meant to be more of a showcase that attracted lots of coaches to come and see players at the 16u and 18u level. I definitely want to thank all of the coaches that took the time to come and watch the Danes and I play.

This weekend we played 6 great games of softball. On Saturday my mom barely let me ride in my seat when we got in the car because I was so dirty even after I took off my uniform.  For those who have seen me play, I am generally the kid with the dirtiest jersey because I love sliding and diving. 

Every weekend I feel like I learn so much about the game from our coaches. We have some of the best coaches around in Tim Husted, Randy Witthus, and Mike Carpenter. We are also training in several other coaches who are high school coaches of daughters on the team. All of them combined provide tons of one on one time and people to run drills. They take their own time to help us get better as players and as people. A huge thank you to all the coaches that have helped out with our team. Another big thank you is to all of the parents. Without you guys I would for sure starve playing three games seeing as I tend to eat every two hours! Also all the parents support us, love us no matter how we play, and cart our butts all over the place to do what we love!

On actual Labor Day I got to spend the day with my family and was remind how much I love them. As teenagers most of us are so worried about being with friends ect, that is all great but always make sure to have time to spend with your family. They are the people who love and care about you the most.

So a big thank you to everyone for a great Labor Day weekend and an awesome end to my summer!!