Coaching Controversy

[CoachFP]

CoachFP: Getting them warmed up is a pretty good reason. You are talking about 12U girls. They aren't going to be able to throw for five minutes and get on the mound and throw strikes. If they need 30 minutes to warm up and you have two pitchers, that means 4 players are going to miss 25% of practice.

I'm not a big fan of specialization, and certainly not at 12U. Everyone needs to learn how to field ground balls, catch fly balls, cover 2nd base, etc. By pulling the pitchers and catchers out for 30 minutes to warm up, you are penalizing them.

30 minutes to get loose and they are 12yo? I coached 12U and it doesn't take that long and any time you lose warming up the pitcher is only with the first one because the second one is loosening up while the first one is pitching. I don't understand how you run a practice but it is not that hard to warm up pitchers when you are doing BP.

The other posts regarding pitching against your own team mates don't make a lot of sense either. It is batting practice and I stress throwing strikes and mixing up pitches. If the hitters can't hit our pitchers are they going to be able to hit opposing pitchers? I think some coaches overthink this game.

 

[3'sDad]

DD is 12 and a pitcher.....it takes her a minimum of 15 minutes to get properly loose.

We tried player pitch last year with our team. Here's the problem we had:
The pitchers didn't want to pitch BP to their team mates, especially early in the season - Why ? They were afraid they might ht their team mates and hurt them. Hitting the other team is ok, but hurting their own team was a no-no.

We did/and continue to do coach pitch for live hitting. What we do is move the screen closer to the girls to simulate the increase in speed - I can't get much above 30-35 MPH from 40' but at 30' that looks faster and speeds up the bat. Reaction time to duck behind the screen is reduced for me, so I need to be on my toes.

DD's school team uses pitchers for BP, but they only pitch an inning each, as they had 4 pitchers this past season...worked for that team.

 

[alexander58]

30 minutes to get loose and they are 12yo? I coached 12U and it doesn't take that long and any time you lose warming up the pitcher is only with the first one because the second one is loosening up while the first one is pitching. I don't understand how you run a practice but it is not that hard to warm up pitchers when you are doing BP.

The other posts regarding pitching against your own team mates don't make a lot of sense either. It is batting practice and I stress throwing strikes and mixing up pitches. If the hitters can't hit our pitchers are they going to be able to hit opposing pitchers? I think some coaches overthink this game.

At the younger age groups, having your own pitchers throw to their teammates is terribly inefficient. Set up a screen with a hole in it. Do short toss from a shorter distance. Batters get to see a ball move and have to react to it. They'll get a chance to get a lot of good swings in. Younger girls do tend to struggle against their own teammates in practice in a live batting practice setting.

 

[WinThemAll]

In our 10U practices, the pitchers do not throw batting practice, however they do throw in simulated games at practice against our hitters. This is scheduled toward the end of practice and only is done at about every third team practice.

Pitchers pitch to three hitters twice and then are switched out. (I carry at least four or more pitchers at this age.)

I also have had the pitchers pitch and have had a coach at the side that soft tosses to the hitter.

We also rotate those parts of practice with "T-Ball", coach pitch and just soft toss.

During our pitching practices, at the end, I usually have extra kids--be a "hitter"--stand with in the box (with helmet and bat) but not swing and watch the ball all the way into the mitt and tell if it was a ball, stike, high, low, etc.

At 10, they need to see a lot of pitching.

 

[DonnieS]

How about these reasons:

1) if your hitters are hitting off of your pitcher all of the time, the pitchers confidence can be damaged

2) if your pitcher is blowing it by the hitters all of the time, the hitters confidence can be damaged

Dont know your age group, but for reason 1) recruit a new pitcher and for reason 2), if that goes on, recruit new hitters.

 

[calgofo]

Dont know your age group, but for reason 1) recruit a new pitcher and for reason 2), if that goes on, recruit new hitters.

Agreed. Simple ,consice and well presented.

 

[alexander58]

Dont know your age group, but for reason 1) recruit a new pitcher and for reason 2), if that goes on, recruit new hitters.

You must have the finest hitters and pitchers in the country, with none of the usual psyche issues most adolescents possess. How do you find anyone worth playing?

 

[coachmark]

Not having the time to warm up is a poor reason to not have your pitchers throw live batting practice. Live pitching is VITAL to having your team become successful hitters AND pitchers.
I have my pitchers and catchers show up 20 to 30 minutes early those days and they warm up before the first round of girls show up (yes, I have the others show up in groups-usually 4 to a group). By the time the first group arrives the pitchers are ready and we are off. By the time the last group arrives, I am working a group on tees, one on soft-toss, one live-pitching and one bunting. This entire process takes less than 90 minutes (including the warm-ups) but you can make it longer if you like. When every batter - including the pitchers - have rotated we work on team defense, base-running or whatever we need to cover for that day.
What I do differently than most coaches - and differently than I did for years - is I plan practice time. I no longer show up at the field with a bucket, a bat and a net and figure I can get through this practice. Doing so is short changing everyone - including myself. In order for my team to really improve I have to plan out my practices - ON PAPER. I carry a half sheet of paper on the field with the entire plan scribbled out so I know what I am doing every minute. Cindy Bristow's website has a ton of practice tips - as do many other websites.

 

[calgofo]

Another suggestion would be to hire a post-college pitcher to come throw BP. My DD makes a little spending money doing this now that her college career is over. Several teams around town pay her to throw BP for them.

 

[Mark H]

And no doubt she can cruise at the speeds they need to see all day long.