Does 8U typically go coach pitch?

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Feb 8, 2019
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We have a new organization under USA Softball. Historically we have been participating in the softball division of Little League softball. In Little League farm, were you had 6, 7 and 8-year-olds, we had kid pitching with Coach back up.
Now we are in USA Softball, and it looks like the 8U division should be coach pitch.
If the kids don’t learn to pitch in 8U or at least start learning, what does that do to the 10 U division? Or does it work out ok because The batters have developed a better eye and better coordination, and the fielders have developed their skills farther than they would have, waiting for a batter to hit a struggling Pitcher.
I’m wrestling with this, so I’d love to hear experiences. Thanks!
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
We have coach pitch in 8u but also start pitching lessons in the age group to get them ready for 10u. If we have enough, we will go some mixed kid/coach pitch in 8u or our 8u teams will play up in 10u later in a season.

8u kid pitch can bore you and the players to death, so we try to find a reasonable balance.
 
Aug 17, 2019
89
18
Our league is USA and at the 5-6 year old range, it is coach pitch. If the batter is unable to put the ball in play after 4 pitches, a ball is teed up and batter hits off tee. For the 7-8 year olds, kids will pitch. After 4 balls to a batter, the batting team's coach will come and pitch with current count. All pitches by coach are considered strikes. For example, if the count before coach was 4 balls and 2 strikes. Batter only gets one pitch from coach. If the pitches has "walked" 4 batters in an inning, the coach pitch comes in to pitch for the rest of the inning. Most of the city leagues around us do the same thing.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
As I recall, 7/8U was a mix of "no walk rule" kid pitch for the first two innings, and coach pitch for the rest of the game.
 
Aug 23, 2016
359
43
USA Softball rec leagues around here (Southern California) are kid pitch in 8U. I think most of the local leagues are like DD's former league - at the beginning of the season, coach comes in to pitch after ball four but about midway through the season walks are allowed. All-Stars are all kid pitch.
 
Mar 20, 2019
115
28
We switched ours up to match up with other local leagues so we could interleague. 4-5 is teeball, 6-7 is coach pitch, 8-10 is kid pitch. It gets the 8 year old pitching sooner but keeps the 6 and 7s more interested since there are more actual hits.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
 
Apr 16, 2010
924
43
Alabama
Our league when DD was that age used both. It was a local league rule for helping develope kids. All stars was all coach pitch.

We had player pitch the first two innings then went 100% coach. A pitcher was pulled after 4 walks/hit batters in an inning and a coach took over. It could be frustrating. DD had several 9 pitch innings with 3 k's. She had more 16 pitch or less innings before getting pulled. I think she hit every left handed kid she faced.
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
I was against it when I first saw it, but if ever given the option again, I'd favor / encourage machine pitch (w/the spring-loaded arm) over coach pitch. Very, very few coaches pitch "correctly" (flat, with pace). You can't beat the consistency of the machine pitch, and that means more balls in play, which also means your fielders get a TON more experience (it's not just dribblers back to whoever's playing the pitcher position).

Saves parents from having to strike out their daughters with the bases loaded...

Kid pitch in 8U seems to be mostly a SoCal thing, as it sounds like even FL still uses coach pitch part of the time.
 

TMD

Feb 18, 2016
433
43
Way back when my daughter played 8U, it was kid pitch with one modification...no walks. After ball 4, a pitching machine was used (something like the LS Blue Flame) and the count was reset to 1 strike. It worked well at that age to keep the game moving, allow young pitchers to work on their game, and give batters something good to swing at.
 

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