My son will be attending his first showcase. He is a catcher. How will he be evaluated? What types of drills will best prepare him for the showcase?

Is this strictly for catchers?

Although there are variables depending on whose showcase you are attending, they all try to cover the following at a minimum:

1. Speed in the 60
2. Catchers "POP" time
3. Hitting ability

Scouts/Coaches/Evaluators will also watch while your son receives the ball while catching. They will also look for arm strength and accuracy while making throws. When hitting they will look for mechanics and the ability to hit for power.

Just remind your son to do his best and enjoy himself. Since it's his first showcase, he will be just as interested in watching everybody else!

Let him attend and be himself---just follow the directions given by the showcase staff---make sure he stretches for a good time before and just stay relaxed


Let his talent do the talking

quote:

What types of drills will best prepare him for the showcase?

OK2GO says: "Just remind your son to do his best"
TRHit says: "Let him attend and be himself"

2 different approaches here. I not saying OK2GO is wrong I just think TRHit has it "more" right.

I suggest you don't focus on drills. Don't make this into a huge event in your son's mind that will make or break his career because it's not. But there are a lot of things you can do to make the event more successful for your son. You're the support person. You can set the table to where he is physically and mentally prepared. You can make sure his arm is the best shape possible. See to it that he gets a good night's rest. Good breakfast. Get to the showcase at the right time. Not too early --- not too late. Make sure his equipment is organized, pre-wrap tape, gloves, batting gloves. If you do all this without him realizing why, then he will be more relaxed and will perform better. You want to arrive with a confident, relaxed player that is ready to play ball not a player that is nervous that he can't perform to your expectations.
Fungo

Wow - I am agreeing with TR! And Fungo, too.

We're just starting the showcase thing, but the "relax, be yourself, and have fun" approach has been working so far. It works for us parents, too - he is the one on the field being evaluated.

quote:

You want to arrive with a confident, relaxed player that is ready to play ball not a player that is nervous that he can't perform to your expectations.

Yes! The key here is your expectations. Relax and have fun! It's his show, and he will do fine.

We didn't expect our young sophomore to get a 9 or 10 ranking at his first big showcase, and were extremely pleased with the positive eval and the 7. And we had a blast at each of showcases we went to.

In terms of preparation, I guess it depends on the player. Some probably would very much appreciate Fungo's approach. Ours insists on doing everything himself - he's been that way the last year or so. He has a certain way he places his glove in his bat bag, etc. He wants to see for himself that everything is together and not depend on mom to do that for him. But that may be kind of strange for a 15-year-old who only cleans his room when it becomes a fire hazard. Plus catchers have a lot more stuff to get together than MIFs.

Good luck - and have fun!

I agree completely Fungo. When I said do your best what I probably should have said was give it you best effort. Players at these events tend to perform much better if they are loose and having fun. The kids that have stressed themselves out with worry are the ones that generally don't give a good accounting for themselves.

One other thing that was important in our experience, one showcase will neither make or break your future career. It's just one more step in a process. So be sure to remember to enjoy it!

What OK2Go said.

Thaks for all the good advice.

Silver Spikes - the showcase includes all positons. My son also pitches, plays the corners and outfield. Should he particpate in all areas or is it best to concentrate in one?

Hi go-2, others may have more experience with this question, however, my son went to a college camp in Nov. and as young men are want to do, he did too much, and everything he did he did as hard and fast as he could. He was asked to play all IF pos. except 1st because they were short MI. and then pitched. Without going into details, he's still paying for it and going to PT twice a week.

With that said I would suggest that he focus on one position. That way he can stay with that group, get comfortable, relax, and perform when it's his turn.

It will get crazy if he tries to do too much, not to mention the risk he's taking.

Regards, Mike