has anybody attended any of the impact workouts, tryouts for their teams, or showcases?
If you have any useful information would be greatly appreciated.
How was the competition? Did it run well? How did players stick out? Anything else that stuck in your mind or that would be useful would be great. I plan on attending one at some point and would like to get a feel for what im up against.

Its the standard pro style work out. All inf players go to SS and take a few ground balls. One to the backhand side one to the glove side and one slow roller. 1b go to first and field the throws from the inf at first. All of go to rf and make about three throws to third base to evaluate arm strenth and accuracy. Pitchers throw a short bull pen to get loose and then throw a few fbs on the hill with a gun and a few breaking pitches. Catchers catch the pitchers on in the pen and then on the field. Catchers then throw down about four times for their pop times. Each guy gets about 8 swings and take two round each for a total of about 16 swings while they are evaluated. The first thing you will do is run the 60 for time twice.

Heres how you stand out. Arm strength. Good gun reading velocity. Speed in the 60. Hit for power and or make solid consistent contact. Have a good pop time and handle the pitchers well. Three things that will make you stand out over everyone else.

1. Velocity from the hill - Arm strength from your posistion.
2. Hit for power
3. Speed in the 60

Kids that show well in games but might not show well in tryouts are at a disadvantage here. Some kids can mash in bp run fast and have a good arm but are not really good players. Some kids look avg in bp have an average arm and have average speed but can flat out play. This type of tryout lends itself to the first type of player. Now some would say if you mash in bp can throw the piss out of it and can run you are a player. Alot of times that is true. And sometimes it is not true. Good luck

Coach May

Question for you....... when you evaluate a player do you prefer to see him in drills or in game situations?

thanks for the AWESOME reply. I really appreciate it.

Without question if I am evaluating a player I want to see him in game situations. There are a ton of bp heroes. There are a ton of bullpen aces. And there are a ton of track stars that dont have a clue on the bags. Then there are baseball players. Guys that just know how to play the game and know how to beat you. You cant measure grit and heart unless you see a kid playing to win a game. I want to see a pitcher pitch. I want to see a kid hit in a game situation and with a count. And I want to see a baserunners instincts. I dont run showcase events or evaluate for showcases. I have been to a ton of them and work a few. But I know a ballplayer when I see one (play the game). Sometimes the kid that has the avg arm the avg size and the avg speed is the best player out there. You would never pick him out of one of these other type of work outs. Im not knocking them they serve a purpose to ID kids that have talent. But they in my opinion do not ID the fact that a kid can actually play the game or not. JMO

Very well said Coach! My son, Grier, is exactly the type of player you discribed. This past Tuesday he threw his first high school no-no. It was j.v. but still a no hitter is a no hitter. He hasn't given up a run in his last 3 starts. He was never even considered for varsity this year, which is okay (to me, not him) because up there he would have probably just collected splinters, not wins!

Its like I tell all our players - Its not where you start the race its where you finish it that counts. Good luck to your son thats a great accomplishment at any level.