What to do with Brand New Player to fastpitch

[mradosevic]

This is not just a matter of too much org control or politics, it's a matter of safety.. If you mix in girls with no experience with A-ball players bad things are going to happen. It won't be too long before the girl with no experience tries to catch a hard throw from on of the A-ball girls and she is going to take it right in the face...

 

[Bishop]

Rather than slam your organization or yourself, both of which I know nothing about, I'll just offer you the advice I gave myself since I'm in a similar situation. 14u with a player who first touched a bat and ball back in May and another couple who played a little town and school ball for a couple years. Yes, I know my organization is a bunch of money grubbing control freaks just like OP. Yes I put myself in this situation. I made the best choices I could for the team at tryouts and since to get the best roster I can.

Take this opportunity to hit the fundimental skills as hard as you can. Use this as a chance to help correct the fundimental flaws that still exist in the experienced players and give the newer players a solid foundation to build upon when they decide to continue to play. That's my primary goal for this season. Lucky mine is a summer ball team and I'll have many months and lots of practice time to get it done.

Best of luck to you and your girls.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Take this opportunity to hit the fundimental skills as hard as you can. Use this as a chance to help correct the fundimental flaws that still exist in the experienced players and give the newer players a solid foundation to build upon when they decide to continue to play.

What he said. Fall ball should be about stressing fundamentals and expanding the playing experiences of your players. I move the girls around a lot in the fall and look to see if I have overlooked any hidden talents in the players, and I personally think it is a good time to get new girls to come out for the first time. You have to stress to the player and the parents the work they should do outside of practices and games to make the experience worthwhile. Don't just stick her in RF and hope for the best - at 14U you're going to get balls hit to her anyway.

 

[#10]

You need to teach her how to play, not 'how to get by' You will not make a good softball player out of her unless she is taught what to do.

First off, maybe a bit obvious, but have you made sure she is putting the glove on the right way, has she been shown how to throw properly, how to catch properly?

I have seven year olds able to do this within a lesson. They don't catch it every time, but they have the basics right.

Second, have you spoken to the parents and asked them to work with her outside of practice? Maybe have a chat to some of the more experienced girls and see if they're willing to help her? Her team needs to help her get up to scratch.

It's hard but it can be done. Hopefully her parents are willing to help her get caught up.

Thank God, a voice of reason. To write a new player off after one practice is incredibly shortsighted.

dld56, more information regarding the new kid would be helpful. Is she athetically inclined? Play other sports? Does her glove fit, and if it does, is it broken in properly? Is she coachable?

I've coached youth baseball for years, and my first softball team last fall, and I've witnessed things from well-intentioned, yet clueless families that boggle the mind. A 10U player wearing a 9" glove, for example. After a month of watching their kid not get any infield time, the parents finally bought their DD a properly fitting glove, and she magically started catching the ball and earned PT at first and third.

I had a brand new, first-time player last fall who ended up being our starting shortstop by the end of the season. All she needed was to be taught the proper fundamentals, and it certainly didn't hurt that she was more than willing to apply the lessons taught at practice in game situations.

Rather than looking at this kid as a dilemma, view it as an opportunity - a fresh slate to work with, rather than a kid who already has bad habits that need to be undone. To me, helping a kid like this succeed is far more rewarding than any won-loss record.

 

[CoachKevin]

Thank God, a voice of reason. To write a new player off after one practice is incredibly shortsighted.

dld56, more information regarding the new kid would be helpful. Is she athetically inclined? Play other sports? Does her glove fit, and if it does, is it broken in properly? Is she coachable?

I've coached youth baseball for years, and my first softball team last fall, and I've witnessed things from well-intentioned, yet clueless families that boggle the mind. A 10U player wearing a 9" glove, for example. After a month of watching their kid not get any infield time, the parents finally bought their DD a properly fitting glove, and she magically started catching the ball and earned PT at first and third.

I had a brand new, first-time player last fall who ended up being our starting shortstop by the end of the season. All she needed was to be taught the proper fundamentals, and it certainly didn't hurt that she was more than willing to apply the lessons taught at practice in game situations.

Rather than looking at this kid as a dilemma, view it as an opportunity - a fresh slate to work with, rather than a kid who already has bad habits that need to be undone. To me, helping a kid like this succeed is far more rewarding than any won-loss record.

There is a huge difference between 10U and 14U ball. Typically if there are "A" players on the team chances are they have been playing for several years. There is a safety concern, even during warm ups. Do you tell your studs to take it easy throwing to the inexperienced player? Honestly, the best action is to place like players on the same team so they can develop.

 

[mradosevic]

There is a huge difference between 10U and 14U ball. Typically if there are "A" players on the team chances are they have been playing for several years. There is a safety concern, even during warm ups. Do you tell your studs to take it easy throwing to the inexperienced player? Honestly, the best action is to place like players on the same team so they can develop.

Exactly my point...To be clear I never meant to give up on them, but like you said, just put them on the same team with other players that are still developing. It's the mix with the "A" players just that's an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you, #10. I respect your perspective, but CoachKevin is correct in saying that the organization should've made more of an attempt to group players by ability. The exception would be if the 3 teams were only going to play one another this fall season, but he described them as 'traveling', so I presumed they would play teams from outside their organization.

Our team is the younger of the 2 10u teams from our town league, which will play against teams of similar ability from other towns during the fall. The other 10u team has a couple of players who could play on our team and we've got a couple who could play on theirs, but for the most part, they're the older, more talented team. Even though we're much younger than the other 10u team, we originally had a player who was not quite ready for this level. Sure, I could coach her up and that was my goal, but knowing the level of play and competition she would see in 8u, I knew that was a much better fit for her, especially considering that her mother wanted her to pitch. I respectfully shared this observation with her mother (and explained it to the father by email) and as a family, the parents and player agreed to go with my recommendation and the league president signed off on the roster move. It wasn't about improving my roster, it was about getting a player into a position where she will be able to have some success as a player and to develop as a pitcher. That's going to provide a benefit to her and to the league if she continues playing next spring, fall, etc.

I get what you're saying about the gratification you get as a coach or mentor when you're able to help a young person achieve success, but organizations and teams have a responsibility to act in the interests of all the players involved, not just one.

 

[Momo'sDad]

dld56, I have some players who get more one-on-one or small group time in practice than others. The advanced players get individual instruction, too, but while we do have general drills that everyone does, the majority of our practice time is kept skill-level appropriate. I have an 11yo who just picked up a bat for the 1st time ever in February. I've also got 2003s with 4 seasons of experience and then my DD is an '02, but already played All-Stars and there's another player (catcher) who's almost as good as she is and our SS is pretty special, too.

Everyone is challenged differently at practice because we want to continue every player's progression. The 7yo player's parent doesn't have to worry about the fact that older players may not be as talented as his DD. When when game time arrives, the expectation is that everyone will actually play above what they may have shown in practice.

I think an effective practice almost requires no less than 3 coaches in the action, and if you've got 4 or 5, even better. When we've got 3 plus our volunteer PC, we click like clockwork and the players are all worn out but bummed (except for 1 girl! lol) that the 2-hour session is over.

Remember that everyone started somewhere. Give her things to work on at home, but don't neglect her at practice out of a fear of holding the rest of the team back. She just might surprise you. Good luck, Coach.

 

[#10]

I still think a lot more information is needed to give the best advice. Is the organization a town league or travel squad? My guess, based on the fact that there's more than one first time player, is it's a town/rec league. In either case, loading one team with all of the pitching and catching ("A") prospects is going to result in a pretty crappy experience for the other two teams. It sounds like the organization is spreading the talent as best they can to benefit all of the players involved.

I realize that 10U is different than 14U; I've coached Pinto, Bronco, Mustang and Pony baseball. Last fall, I coached a travelling rec 10U team that included two seven-year-olds. I had to switch partners in pre-game warmups due to better players trying to take it easy throwing to less skilled teammates. In trying to make it safe, these better players aren't reaching their potential by altering their game. It's a balancing act between player safety and player development.

However, I disagree in separating "A" players from the others - those kids can help bring the overall team's game up, provided that they truly want to help their team reach their potential. As much as I like to believe the things I teach kids help them improve, my experience is that having a stud player demonstrate a technique or drill helps drive the lesson home, provided that kid isn't a prima donna.

 

[Momo'sDad]

We have a lot of softball to teach in a very small amount of time, so at the start of practice, it takes a few minutes to go over the lesson plan and then we run with it. 4 (3 + PC) is the perfect number for us.

When organizing a team, knowing who the parents will be is a major consideration for me. I have already sorted out my AC for spring (her DD is playing with me now and we'll have her husband part-time) and 2 other dads have also stepped up already to assist, if I'm able to get their DD's should the league force us to re-draft.

My hat's off to those coaches who can run practice or pregame solo or with just 1 assistant, but the wide range of skill in our rec program demands that I use more people in order to do the best possible job for each of my players. I do not foresee coaching beyond the 10u level myself, but if I did ever take on a 12u HC assignment, I think I would still need 2 regular assistants.