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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| CaCO3Girl |
Posted - 05/05/2015 : 13:44:49
In the 13u thread In_the_know brought up a point while talking about changes on the field/team when you get to High School:
" Some are going to have some glaring holes at certain positions. There will be some shallow pitching depth on some...."
This begs the question....what problems did you see with your kid, or with the team in general, moving to the 54x80 field, how about the 60x90 field? What are 13u/14u teams generally weak on? |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| mar1dxt |
Posted - 05/11/2015 : 11:53:07
The biggest difference I have seen at 14U so far is the BBCOR bats. Fly balls that were extra base hits at younger ages are now frequently outs. Line drives and sharply hit ground balls are essential. Consequently, it is a bit tougher to score runs as it is difficult to string together a number of hits in a row. |
| hshuler |
Posted - 05/11/2015 : 09:51:13
@jahannah - Yeah, we've been through this before, the 13U GA Jackets alone have three kids that have touched 80 but are consistently 77 - 79...unless the guns at Perfect Gane are crappy? According to PG, a 13U kid from Alabama hit 83 weekend before last. I am not saying that every kid is doing it but I would encourage you to come watch the 13U PG World Series, July 24 - 28 and see if your opinion changes. I would bet that most team have at least one kid...and most likely multiple kid who can touch 80.
By the way, I was at a 6A high school playoff game last Wednesday and one of the pitchers was upper 70's so I get your point. I am not knocking the kid, because he was a good pitcher but I know the difference between 70 & 80.
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| jahannah |
Posted - 05/11/2015 : 09:22:43
quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
@Nastycurve - We've played both this year and several of my players say 60/90 is easier to play...especially hitting. Although curve balls break more, they say they're easier to recognize. 80mph fastball are very tough to hit at 54/80 (even when pitchers miss location) but the better hitting 13 year-olds are teeing up 80 like it's batting practice from 60/90. We have five more tournaments (3 @ 60/90 & 2 @ 54/80) and I have to say I prefer 54/80 because it's more of a challenge. I prefer the faster/more challenging game.
Some say why not play on the bigger field but most of the 54/80 fields that we play on are 300+ so we still get to work double cuts anyway. By the way, teaching double cuts is not Chinese mathematics although some will try to make you think that...lol!
My guess is that a lot of those 80 mph fastballs are closer to 70. I have run across only a few kids at 13 that are touching 80 with their best fastball. Even at 16U, kids have problems catching up to an 80-83 mph fastball with movement. That said, I agree completely about moving to 60/90 as soon as possible. |
| hshuler |
Posted - 05/09/2015 : 08:13:31
@Nastycurve - We've played both this year and several of my players say 60/90 is easier to play...especially hitting. Although curve balls break more, they say they're easier to recognize. 80mph fastball are very tough to hit at 54/80 (even when pitchers miss location) but the better hitting 13 year-olds are teeing up 80 like it's batting practice from 60/90. We have five more tournaments (3 @ 60/90 & 2 @ 54/80) and I have to say I prefer 54/80 because it's more of a challenge. I prefer the faster/more challenging game.
Some say why not play on the bigger field but most of the 54/80 fields that we play on are 300+ so we still get to work double cuts anyway. By the way, teaching double cuts is not Chinese mathematics although some will try to make you think that...lol!
My son just told me last night that after playing two straight 60/90 tournaments that it looked like the pitchers was on top of him from 54ft.
zwndad - Agree 100%. |
| watchingbaseball |
Posted - 05/09/2015 : 00:14:23
quote:
Originally posted by CaCO3Girl
In the 13u thread In_the_know brought up a point while talking about changes on the field/team when you get to High School:
" Some are going to have some glaring holes at certain positions. There will be some shallow pitching depth on some...."
This begs the question....what problems did you see with your kid, or with the team in general, moving to the 54x80 field, how about the 60x90 field? What are 13u/14u teams generally weak on?
13-u and 14-u are too big for temp mounds
Get off the temp mounds and play baseball 60x90 |
| gtown71 |
Posted - 05/08/2015 : 22:20:17
Went from 12u to 14u to give an additional year to get acquainted with the big field. There's a transition but seemed to help in the long run. |
| zwndad |
Posted - 05/08/2015 : 13:25:55
Having been through it 3 times, my personal opinion is that it just doesn't matter. Play the best competition that you can be competitive, regardless of field size. |
| nastycurve |
Posted - 05/08/2015 : 13:11:35
I do advocate skipping the 54x80 field, as I dont believe it heps your player any. The only thing is, when you go straight to the 60/90 field at 13u, there has to be understanding that there will be a learning curve, and a plan in effect to minimize the hurdles that some of the players will encounter. As long as parents, coaches and most of all players themselves dont give up because they "arent what they used to be", then the players will be fine, and they will advance quicker than those who took baby steps.
It breaks down to you can have one adjustment period by going to straight ot 60/90, or two adjustment periods, going to 54/80 and then next year going to 60/90.
I prefer people to suck it up, take the challenge of 60/90 and play on the big field from here on out... Once you get there, the field doesn't get any bigger, but the players continue to grow so they catch up ;-) |
| CaCO3Girl |
Posted - 05/07/2015 : 09:36:07
Thank you nasty curve, over 350 people have read this and you are the only response...so I take it from your response you do not advocate skipping 13u if they are presented with the 54X80 option? |
| nastycurve |
Posted - 05/05/2015 : 17:42:20
My boy is 17u now, but when we moved from 12 to 13, we used the fall to transition. At the end of 12u year we started practicing on a HS field, full dimensions. For 13u fall we started out and did a 2-3 54/80 tourneys and then finished our fall doing 60/90 tourneys. With continual work on the 60/90 field at practice and tourneys, as well as an understanding that there would be some bumps during the transition we saw that the boys adapted rather quickly. At 14u, we picked up a few guys who played 54/80 at 13u and the adaptation was MUCH harder for them. You could see it mainly in their pitching(ball seemed to slow down around 55 feet) as well as stealing bases(that 10 feet was huge).
Is there a huge difference in kids that skip 54/80 vs those who dont? At 14u, yes. 15-18? probably not. You can argue that a kid who is trying to play at the highest level needs to advance as soon as he is capable, so for that type kid, I would say play on the big field as soon as possible.
Either way, adjustment period is going to have to be dealt with, you can take it as a 13u playing 60/90 or a 14u playing 60/90. I chose to go 60/90 at 13u and it worked well. |
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