Coming full circle!
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First practice last night.....rained out! 
Practice number 2 rained out today, at this rate maybe I will get that 12U team I originally wanted?
- Dec 11, 2010
- 4,723
- 113
This is so cool.
I love the idea of a bunch of little monsters in the making!
I have run through this idea in my head many times including wide open practices between our town and the town our high school co-ops it’s sports with.
I love the idea of a bunch of little monsters in the making!
I have run through this idea in my head many times including wide open practices between our town and the town our high school co-ops it’s sports with.
Then I should easily fit right in!
Trying to remember back that far We started with some foam softballs that had some weight for pop ups , nose to knuckle drills , throwing progressions to net or coaches to start, one of the local colleges gave some throwing instruction teaching young players to make a smile while going back with the throwing arm, the longer the throw the bigger the smile, kinda putting the throwing sway into 10u speak. Ended some practices with throwing game, storage tote on bottom, 5 gallon bucket, and cone on top, more points for the higher target, The team was called lightning, I bought a stuffed toy basset hound as a mascot that they took turns taking home, probably not covid proof, but they love the thing, make sure to email parents for food allergies, but lots of post practice / game cupcakes and snack if possible.Really miss coaching that age.
We started with some foam softballs that had some weight for pop ups , nose to knuckle drills , throwing progressions to net or coaches to start, one of the local colleges gave some throwing instruction teaching young players to make a smile while going back with the throwing arm, the longer the throw the bigger the smile, kinda putting the throwing sway into 10u speak. Ended some practices with throwing game, storage tote on bottom, 5 gallon bucket, and cone on top, more points for the higher target, The team was called lightning, I bought a stuffed toy basset hound as a mascot that they took turns taking home, probably not covid proof, but they love the thing, make sure to email parents for food allergies, but lots of post practice / game cupcakes and snack if possible.Really miss coaching that age.
1. Talk less. "We're going to work on X. This will help us do Y. Here's what it SHOULD look like (short demo) - but it may take us a few times to get there - and that's OK, b/c most of you have never tried X or Y before." Then shut up and get them working in as small a group as possible for max reps.
2. Encourage them to ALWAYS ask you questions. 10U rec could mean 50% brand new players. Maybe more as this could be the first real season the league has held since Fall'19.
3. I've heard multiple college coaches say this, so I think it's pretty safe to apply to 10U - Start from the beginning, assume nothing.
Example 1 - 11U tryouts last year - we were timing players from H-1B, then brought them out to 2B. "OK - when we say go, we want you to run home". First girl in line takes off from 2nd, and heads for home - straight thru the pitchers circle. Granted - she was nervous, and not very experienced, AND realized what she did right after - but still funny to see, and a good reminder.
Example 2 - This is going back to my 2nd or 3rd grade rec team - we were practicing tag plays - aka "if the girl is running right at you, just tag her - you don't have to race her to the base". So to start the drill, I have one of the girls be a runner - roll the ball to fielder, she scoops it up, runner just runs right up to her to get tagged. "OK - let's try that again - runner, you're trying not to get tagged." Roll, field, runner goes 2B-3B, but via the OF grass. "OK - so I guess I haven't explained the concept of the basepath". Roll, field, 2 steps, tag. Success! Except... "Hey - that was great - and thank you for reminding me of the OTHER important rule that applies here - whenever you tag a runner with your glove, it doesn't count unless the ball is also in the glove".
I believe that if you start with the little things, it gets everyone on the same page, and helps everyone know that the little things are important. (Softball is life, lesson #143)
4. As Eric said earlier - teach them the RIGHT play to make, not the safe one. Runner on 2B, grounder to the pitcher - an aggressive coach is going to send the runner home if the throw goes to 1B. There's a 50/50 chance the throw or catch is going to be less than perfect, so the runner will score anyway. If the P throws to 3B, yes, you give up the "easy" out at 1B, but if you get the out? That's guaranteed smiles from the whole team and a confidence boost for at least 2 of the players involved.
5. Fielding "everydays" - I don't think I did this enough with my 10U TB, and gave up on them to quickly with my rec teams. They take time. They'll take more time with new players. (and you'll quickly realize that being able to ROLL a ball is apparently a learned skill). But I think the benefits outweigh the early frustration. And it gives you a chance to show off your glovecollection work.
The above is probably nothing new to you - you're several thousand posts ahead of me. So the last suggestion will just be about coach pitch (last Fall was our final season of using it):
6. Beware the drop ball. I think most of us realize that those soft lobs are harder for the girls to hit. I've always encouraged coaches to throw "quick, but not fast". But I still felt like more girls were striking out in CP than should have. And while I never confirmed this with video, I think in my effort to throw it straight, I was a) putting too much topspin on the ball, and b) throwing TO the catcher, rather than THROUGH the catcher. So the spin + gravity was causing a lot of them to swing just over the ball. The simple fix, that I wish I started using back in Kindergarten, was to use my momentum when releasing the pitch. Sounds dumb, but there's a difference between stepping THEN throwing (like throwing an egg), and stepping AND throwing (somebody save me - I think I just brought up FSR while discussing Coach Pitch). Sorry - overexplaining things again (I haven't learned #1 above) - I should have stuck with the external cue of "throw it through the catcher" vs. "to the catcher".
With my youngest son unlikely to try LL again due to lack of /other interests
, I'm secretly looking forward to returning to Rec coaching when my older daughters are done playing.
Keep us updated!
PS - OK - one more suggestion:
7. Just b/c they're not paying attention, doesn't mean they're not listening. I had one girl who you would swear was just clueless to the world around her - picking daisy's in the OF, building dirt mounds at 2B, not remembering a teammates name even after multiple seasons of playing with them. But several times a year, she'd get that ground ball, and immediately know where to throw, or which base to run to or cover.
7.1 Related to the above, and if it's not a genuine safety issue - find the girl with ADHD, and put her at catcher. You'll never have to ask her to be "softball ready" again, and she'll have something to focus on with every pitch.
2. Encourage them to ALWAYS ask you questions. 10U rec could mean 50% brand new players. Maybe more as this could be the first real season the league has held since Fall'19.
3. I've heard multiple college coaches say this, so I think it's pretty safe to apply to 10U - Start from the beginning, assume nothing.
Example 1 - 11U tryouts last year - we were timing players from H-1B, then brought them out to 2B. "OK - when we say go, we want you to run home". First girl in line takes off from 2nd, and heads for home - straight thru the pitchers circle. Granted - she was nervous, and not very experienced, AND realized what she did right after - but still funny to see, and a good reminder.
Example 2 - This is going back to my 2nd or 3rd grade rec team - we were practicing tag plays - aka "if the girl is running right at you, just tag her - you don't have to race her to the base". So to start the drill, I have one of the girls be a runner - roll the ball to fielder, she scoops it up, runner just runs right up to her to get tagged. "OK - let's try that again - runner, you're trying not to get tagged." Roll, field, runner goes 2B-3B, but via the OF grass. "OK - so I guess I haven't explained the concept of the basepath". Roll, field, 2 steps, tag. Success! Except... "Hey - that was great - and thank you for reminding me of the OTHER important rule that applies here - whenever you tag a runner with your glove, it doesn't count unless the ball is also in the glove".
I believe that if you start with the little things, it gets everyone on the same page, and helps everyone know that the little things are important. (Softball is life, lesson #143)
4. As Eric said earlier - teach them the RIGHT play to make, not the safe one. Runner on 2B, grounder to the pitcher - an aggressive coach is going to send the runner home if the throw goes to 1B. There's a 50/50 chance the throw or catch is going to be less than perfect, so the runner will score anyway. If the P throws to 3B, yes, you give up the "easy" out at 1B, but if you get the out? That's guaranteed smiles from the whole team and a confidence boost for at least 2 of the players involved.
5. Fielding "everydays" - I don't think I did this enough with my 10U TB, and gave up on them to quickly with my rec teams. They take time. They'll take more time with new players. (and you'll quickly realize that being able to ROLL a ball is apparently a learned skill). But I think the benefits outweigh the early frustration. And it gives you a chance to show off your glove
The above is probably nothing new to you - you're several thousand posts ahead of me. So the last suggestion will just be about coach pitch (last Fall was our final season of using it):
6. Beware the drop ball. I think most of us realize that those soft lobs are harder for the girls to hit. I've always encouraged coaches to throw "quick, but not fast". But I still felt like more girls were striking out in CP than should have. And while I never confirmed this with video, I think in my effort to throw it straight, I was a) putting too much topspin on the ball, and b) throwing TO the catcher, rather than THROUGH the catcher. So the spin + gravity was causing a lot of them to swing just over the ball. The simple fix, that I wish I started using back in Kindergarten, was to use my momentum when releasing the pitch. Sounds dumb, but there's a difference between stepping THEN throwing (like throwing an egg), and stepping AND throwing (somebody save me - I think I just brought up FSR while discussing Coach Pitch). Sorry - overexplaining things again (I haven't learned #1 above) - I should have stuck with the external cue of "throw it through the catcher" vs. "to the catcher".
With my youngest son unlikely to try LL again due to lack of /other interests
, I'm secretly looking forward to returning to Rec coaching when my older daughters are done playing.Keep us updated!
PS - OK - one more suggestion:
7. Just b/c they're not paying attention, doesn't mean they're not listening. I had one girl who you would swear was just clueless to the world around her - picking daisy's in the OF, building dirt mounds at 2B, not remembering a teammates name even after multiple seasons of playing with them. But several times a year, she'd get that ground ball, and immediately know where to throw, or which base to run to or cover.
7.1 Related to the above, and if it's not a genuine safety issue - find the girl with ADHD, and put her at catcher. You'll never have to ask her to be "softball ready" again, and she'll have something to focus on with every pitch.
- Jun 8, 2016
- 16,118
- 113
I’ll be happy if I can get all of my 7U coach pitch baseball team to be able to catch, with their barehands, a tennis ball thrown at them....
A lot to absorb there Gags, let me go through it again and respond on a few points! Thanks for the well thought out post!1. Talk less. "We're going to work on X. This will help us do Y. Here's what it SHOULD look like (short demo) - but it may take us a few times to get there - and that's OK, b/c most of you have never tried X or Y before." Then shut up and get them working in as small a group as possible for max reps.
2. Encourage them to ALWAYS ask you questions. 10U rec could mean 50% brand new players. Maybe more as this could be the first real season the league has held since Fall'19.
3. I've heard multiple college coaches say this, so I think it's pretty safe to apply to 10U - Start from the beginning, assume nothing.
Example 1 - 11U tryouts last year - we were timing players from H-1B, then brought them out to 2B. "OK - when we say go, we want you to run home". First girl in line takes off from 2nd, and heads for home - straight thru the pitchers circle. Granted - she was nervous, and not very experienced, AND realized what she did right after - but still funny to see, and a good reminder.
Example 2 - This is going back to my 2nd or 3rd grade rec team - we were practicing tag plays - aka "if the girl is running right at you, just tag her - you don't have to race her to the base". So to start the drill, I have one of the girls be a runner - roll the ball to fielder, she scoops it up, runner just runs right up to her to get tagged. "OK - let's try that again - runner, you're trying not to get tagged." Roll, field, runner goes 2B-3B, but via the OF grass. "OK - so I guess I haven't explained the concept of the basepath". Roll, field, 2 steps, tag. Success! Except... "Hey - that was great - and thank you for reminding me of the OTHER important rule that applies here - whenever you tag a runner with your glove, it doesn't count unless the ball is also in the glove".
I believe that if you start with the little things, it gets everyone on the same page, and helps everyone know that the little things are important. (Softball is life, lesson #143)
4. As Eric said earlier - teach them the RIGHT play to make, not the safe one. Runner on 2B, grounder to the pitcher - an aggressive coach is going to send the runner home if the throw goes to 1B. There's a 50/50 chance the throw or catch is going to be less than perfect, so the runner will score anyway. If the P throws to 3B, yes, you give up the "easy" out at 1B, but if you get the out? That's guaranteed smiles from the whole team and a confidence boost for at least 2 of the players involved.
5. Fielding "everydays" - I don't think I did this enough with my 10U TB, and gave up on them to quickly with my rec teams. They take time. They'll take more time with new players. (and you'll quickly realize that being able to ROLL a ball is apparently a learned skill). But I think the benefits outweigh the early frustration. And it gives you a chance to show off your glovecollectionwork.
The above is probably nothing new to you - you're several thousand posts ahead of me. So the last suggestion will just be about coach pitch (last Fall was our final season of using it):
6. Beware the drop ball. I think most of us realize that those soft lobs are harder for the girls to hit. I've always encouraged coaches to throw "quick, but not fast". But I still felt like more girls were striking out in CP than should have. And while I never confirmed this with video, I think in my effort to throw it straight, I was a) putting too much topspin on the ball, and b) throwing TO the catcher, rather than THROUGH the catcher. So the spin + gravity was causing a lot of them to swing just over the ball. The simple fix, that I wish I started using back in Kindergarten, was to use my momentum when releasing the pitch. Sounds dumb, but there's a difference between stepping THEN throwing (like throwing an egg), and stepping AND throwing (somebody save me - I think I just brought up FSR while discussing Coach Pitch). Sorry - overexplaining things again (I haven't learned #1 above) - I should have stuck with the external cue of "throw it through the catcher" vs. "to the catcher".
With my youngest son unlikely to try LL again due to lack of /other interests
Keep us updated!
PS - OK - one more suggestion:
7. Just b/c they're not paying attention, doesn't mean they're not listening. I had one girl who you would swear was just clueless to the world around her - picking daisy's in the OF, building dirt mounds at 2B, not remembering a teammates name even after multiple seasons of playing with them. But several times a year, she'd get that ground ball, and immediately know where to throw, or which base to run to or cover.
7.1 Related to the above, and if it's not a genuine safety issue - find the girl with ADHD, and put her at catcher. You'll never have to ask her to be "softball ready" again, and she'll have something to focus on with every pitch.
One thing you won’t have to worry about is how hard I throw while throwing front toss, I’ve been fussed at many times years ago from some moms for throwing too hard.....until their little sweetheart started hitting line drives to the grass! Oh how quickly they shut up, I don’t lob pitches!
