8u batting order suggestions, no bunting or base stealing allowed

[Jr10234]

It's 8u. Rotate the girls around the order. Develop those girls so five years from now you have a group of highly talented players not jsut " the best at 8"

 

[4 girl's dad]

Jr, that is the ultimate goal. And to have all the girls enjoy playing the game as much as I enjoy watching them grow with game. I do plan on changing up the order for pool games. I tell the girls we're here to have fun and it's fun to win so we will play to win most games. I have a decent group of girls that can hit in practice except for maybe the bottom 4 on the team (14 players). And they are improving. We've only had four practices and our first tourney is in 2 weeks.

Thanks again for the ideas.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Jr, that is the ultimate goal. And to have all the girls enjoy playing the game as much as I enjoy watching them grow with game. I do plan on changing up the order for pool games. I tell the girls we're here to have fun and it's fun to win so we will play to win most games. I have a decent group of girls that can hit in practice except for maybe the bottom 4 on the team (14 players). And they are improving. We've only had four practices and our first tourney is in 2 weeks.

Thanks again for the ideas.

So this is a travel team? I thought it was rec. ... My advice would be the same regarding how to maximize runs. But the tough thing for you will be whether tournaments allow you to bat all 14 and how to manage that.

 

[4 girl's dad]

Yes it's a travel team. From what I am told by the other coaches is that we can bat the line up in pool but only 10 in bracket. I've been reading through the rules but it seems that each tourney has a little different set of what they can and cannot do. Some are coach pitch and some are machine pitch.


It's my first time with this age and travel ball. Learning as I go. FYI this is a Texas based team so if any one has any other helpful ideas you can pm me here if you don't want to post it. Looking for any info for what to expect. All of my assistants have older dd's that play or have played and that has been where most of my info has come from. My dd has only played travel ball for one year in 10u so my 8u experience is limited to league games, but one AC says our travel rules are the same as league. So we shall see!

 

[Eric F]

I would describe it as 'more developed' talent as opposed to 'real' talent.

I don't know that I'm more experienced than you are. In fact, I've never been part of a rec league that had kid-pitch in 8U. I've just seen how bad it can be at 10U and wouldn't want to inflict that on 8U. It's a good debate. I coached 8U for 2 years, then helped administer that rec league for another 4. Coached a travel team for 4, which gave me perspective on what players develop and what players don't. I've come to believe that the players' enjoyment of the game is a better long-term predictor of how they'll do than how advanced they are at age 8. But that might've just been our league. You're in a league with kid-pitch all-stars at the end. Sounds like your league has a good setup to be competitive in that. I'd be curious what your retention rate is from season to season, whether you lose some players who struggled and found it not fun, who would've been pretty good if they'd had more success early and stuck with it.

I'll agree that "more developed" is a fair description.

I'm a dad of an 8yo who just started playing rec league in March, and became part of a District Champ All-Star team. I got involved with helping coach both the teams she's been on, and have made an effort to learn as much as I can about the game. Compared to your experience, I'm a complete noob, and my opinions are based solely on my limited exposure. I could be completely off base with everything I'm saying.

While my DD's All-Star team was filled with 12 "more developed" players, her Spring rec league team had a healthy dose of new and "less developed" players. With the hybrid coach/kid pitching of 8U, it seemed to me that the coaches of all the teams in did a good job making sure that enjoyment of the game was one of the priorities on the field. At the end of the Spring season, every kid on my DD's team was enthusiastic about coming back for Fall Ball - except the one girl who was moving away.

Based on what I saw in our All-Star experience, there are a LOT of "more developed" 8U girls. IMO, it's good to see that they have a place where they can stretch the limits of their abilities and continue their development. What we often see is that these are the girls who often end up in TB because rec ball isn't enough of a challenge.

I know there are other DFP'ers who are in ASA-B/C leagues. I'm curious to hear how their experience has been in comparison with mine.

 

[CoachBroker]

We had very good success this year with similar rules. #1 batter was a consistent contact hitter. #2 constant hitter with power, # 3 consistent power hitter, #4 extremely consistent power hitter, #5 contact hitter, #6 contact hitter, #7 power hitter, #8 contact hitter, 9, 10, 11, were our weaker batters , #12 was weakest power hitter. When our 8,9, & 10 battes hit we usually dominated. We tried to get multiple runners on base the have a power hitter ready to bring them in.
The other crucial thing for us was some kind of batting practice before every game. We had two games that we skipped BP and those were our lowest scoring games. Also be ready to move girls around when their average goes up or goes down.
I have watched some coaches keep the same line up all season and felt it hurt them at times.

 

[vcackerman]

Yes it's a travel team. From what I am told by the other coaches is that we can bat the line up in pool but only 10 in bracket. I've been reading through the rules but it seems that each tourney has a little different set of what they can and cannot do. Some are coach pitch and some are machine pitch.

For me, I disagree with this from a philosophy standpoint especially in 8U. At 8U, I don't understand why you wouldn't just use a continuous batting order at that age. I can understand at the higher ages going to a set lineup and sub in and out but at 8U the push should be developing a love for the game and getting a chance to push themseleves. If you sit #11 and #12 and they don't get hit or see the field much, they will learn to not like the game.

On the flip side, if you continue with your plan, you better explain that to the parents up front so you don't have an unhappy parent when Sally doesn't see her name in the lineup.

 

[CoogansBluff]

For me, I disagree with this from a philosophy standpoint especially in 8U. At 8U, I don't understand why you wouldn't just use a continuous batting order at that age. I can understand at the higher ages going to a set lineup and sub in and out but at 8U the push should be developing a love for the game and getting a chance to push themseleves. If you sit #11 and #12 and they don't get hit or see the field much, they will learn to not like the game.

Depending on the tournament, he may have no choice but to sit #11 and #12 (and #13 and #14). ...

Interesting thing you say about the continuous lineup, however. That's what some rec leagues do. And frankly, if it's really about player development, why not consider that in travel as well for this age division? I'm sure there is something to be said about reward for success and competition within the team. But interesting idea.

 

[Eric F]

Depending on the tournament, he may have no choice but to sit #11 and #12 (and #13 and #14). ...

Interesting thing you say about the continuous lineup, however. That's what some rec leagues do. And frankly, if it's really about player development, why not consider that in travel as well for this age division? I'm sure there is something to be said about reward for success and competition within the team. But interesting idea.

For all the tournaments my DD played with her 8U All-Star team, all 12 players hit. Generally speaking, players were rotated in such a way that no player ever sat out more than 1 inning per game. For ASA-B, it's not until 10U that DP/Flex comes into effect.

 

[cmustangsfp]

We still machine pitch in our 8U, BUT we start developing our pitchers outside of game time so they they are ready come 10U. We teach them the basics of flick drills, follow throughs, K-Drills, correct footwork, etc. Towards the end of 8U we let them face live pitching in practice so we hoepfully avoid the dreaded Walk-a-thon at 10U.