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!!

First Weekend of Fall

Last year at this time so many things were different.  This first weekend of fall ball was the first time that I would play with the Danes. I can remember being so nervous and worried about how things would go. Driving up to Hudson this year was completely different.  I was still nervous but it was excited nervous, the way you get before you step into the box for your first at-bat of the day. I felt completely comfortable and was excited to continue learning and improving. 

Another huge difference was in the way I played. Looking back over the year I see how much the Danes have shaped me already anf how much I have improved.  Coming into the fall season when I hit, I didnt even stride. I was a squash the bug kid! After my first day in hudson I can remeber thinking man these guys are crazy! They want me to change the way I hit and do all these weird things! But I decided that for the fall I would try it. Try to do something new and if it didnt work out we can always go back to where we were. Back in those days I was actually the crazy one. Once I was exposed to the different ways the danes hit, field, and communicate I never went back. Its incredible that in one year I have learned so much and come so far. But I know I can keep improving so much more.

We kicked off the first weekend of fall ball with 8 games in two days! The first day was in Hudson Wisconsin.  It was a great day to meet all of the new players and start to step up as one of the leaders on the team. It is a lot of teaching which is very good for us because as you teach something you also relearn it. We saw a ton of progress on the first day and had me excited for the next day. Our second day was in Shoreview Minnesota.  We haf another four games which left me wiped after the weekend. But it was definitely worth it. You learn a lot ehen your body is fatigued and especially that you really can keep going even when you think your tank is empty. It always suprises me how I learn in just one weekend of playing even though ive been playing for what feels like my whole life. It was a great weekend and definitely a step in thr right direction for not only my teammates but for myself.

Playing with the Danes a huge part of the message is not only to learn about softball but to also apply it to your life as well. One thing I learned was that when you do things the right way, you will get the results you want. I learned this from one at-bat. During the day I have been struggling with pulling my shoulder off the ball and needed to stay more linear. So in one at-bat Tim says do reverse top hand.  I try it once and foul a ball straight back. Then I go back to hitting normal. I pull it foul once again, so back to reverse top hand. On the next pitch I connect and hit the ball over the fence. Doing my mechanics the right way gave me the result that I wanted.

The biggest lesson I learned was to appreciate all the things people do for us. Our coaches take their own time to help us learn and get better, our teachers give us extra help outside of class when we don't understand, and our parents.  Our parents take care of us, bring us everywhere. Not everyone has the benefit of having two parents like I do. I won't ever take my parents for granted again. Make sure you tell your parents that you love them, im sure it means the world to them that you care almost as much as they care about you.

The Fall Begins

This past week I recieved a very inspiring email talking about starting to write your own story.  It got me thinking about all the things that have happened to me over the last few years and how the next chapter of my life will turn out. Ever since I was little I have been chasing my dream to become a very good softball player, that has dominated my storyline so far.  Each day with all the hard work that I put in, I feel like I get closer to my overall goal. This fall I have 3 main goals. 1. Continue to clean up the mechanics of my swing and become more consistent with proper mechanics.  2. Polish up my glove work. 3. Figure out what I want in a college and what to major in.

Many people have told me yes you are talented and have potential but you are still raw. By focusing and working hard I want to reach that potential and become a polished athlete.

1. To clean up my mechanics I am hoing back to the basics. I am focusing a ton on tee drills as well as front toss to put everything together.  I have also increased the amount of days a week I go to the field to work on hitting.

2. To polish up my glove work and increase my range we have set up full workouts based just on fielding.  Last fall that was not a common thing. People say the difference between me and a girl from California is 10,000 ground balls. Well hete is my chance to make up the difference.  I may be at a weather advantage but I will just work harder to get my reps in. I hope to be faster and smoother on defense along with working on my release time.

3. College. I am nearing that age where college is only two years ahead and approching very quickly.  By doing visits and touring campuses I will get a feel for what I really like. The other part of college besides for athletics is school. I am going to look deeper into what I really want to do for a career. I love science and the human body so currently I am leaning towards the health sciences field. (Kinesiology, physical therapy)

There are so many other things along with these goals that I want to accomplish this fall, but most of all I want to comtinue to try and get better every day.

Three Weeks of Craziness

The past three weeks of my life have been absolutely crazy! I managed to spend only 4 nights at my own house! In the past weeks I have played in three consecutive national tournaments the first in Kansas City, Kansas, second in Rochester, MN, and the third in Sterling, Virginia.

The first two weeks I was playing 16u with my Rochester Royals team. The last week was 18u with the Danes. As I have talked about before, there is a big difference between the two levels. I was forced to adjust very quickly in order to succeed at a higher level.

 During these three weeks my family has put close to 4,000 miles on our car. The drive to Kansas City was about 6 hours while the drive to Virginia was just over 18. It gave us lots of family bonding time, even when that wasn't such a good thing. Since the drive from Sterling was so long we decided to break it up by making a stop in Louisville and also spending a day at Noah's Ark in the Wisconsin Dells.

Since the past month of my life has been focused on all softball all the time I feel that I have learned a ton not only as a hitter but also on defense. On offense I learned how aggressive you need to be early especially when facing good pitchers. Once they give you a pitch to hit, you aren't going to see another one. On defense I learned that I need to play lower and always be moving through the ball. Using these mechanics I saw improvement on my range and my reaction time.

Reflecting on those three weeks, they were my favorite of the summer. I got to do what I love every day, I got to stay at a hotel with my teammates, and I had so many chances for improvement. I can't thank my parents enough for carting my butt all over the country this summer. They have given me the opportunity to play this game all the time and give me full support, what else can you ask for? Even though I tell them every day, thank you guys, I love you so much :)

Perspective

After our loss today we had an amazing opportunity, to help someone learn. The people we got to teach were players from the Bahamas who also were in the tournament and did not win a single game.  As a person who hasn't ever experienced anything like this before it was a great life experience.

Last year the Danes ran a full day clinic to help teach the Bahamians, which I did not attend. This year we did not have a full day, only a matter of 30 minutes to help them with pitching.  All of the girls were so eager to learn to pitch.  My partner was Diva, and man could she throw heat once she had the slightest amount of instruction. We went threw simple drills like the power drive, progressive pitching, pitching with your eyes closed, and pitching from one knee. The girls did great and blossomed under the attention and help of our pitchers. I cant wait to see how much they have improved next year when they see them at this tournament.  

While we were teaching the Bahamians to pitch they were also teaching me. The difference between us and the Bahamians is how eager they are to work hard and learn, how extremely grateful they are, and how much fun they have.

Most kids from the states playing sports work hard for a couple reasons, but the big ones being money and the payoff at the end. The kids from the Bahamas want to work hard simply because they want to get better and don't know any different.  There isn't a big payoff at the end for them, most won't even go to college. 

Second, they are extremely grateful for everything that they have and are given.  That may come from them not having a lot but still. At the end of our clinic they couldn't express how grateful they were. But the huge smiles on their faces were all the thanks that I needed. 

If you watch the Bahamas play you will notice how much fun they have while playing this game because that is exactly what this is to them, a game. The have the perspective that so many of us lack.  They see that not everyone gets the chance to play this game, but they do. They enjoy every opportunity. 

Working them made me gain a better perspective of our whole week.  I realized that yes you can be upset about losing because it is not the result that you wanted. But it is inspiration to keep working hard and getting better. It also reminds me of how grateful I should be. I have a very blessed life that others do not, for that I am extremely thankful. 

I learn tons about softball from the Danes.  But the biggest thing I have learned are life lessons. Lessons that teach me to be a better person, and how I can impact the world in a positive way.