How to stop walk-athon in 10u?

[angispeds]

I'm a fan of very big strikezones for 10U rec. Let all coaches, teams and parents know before the season starts. Make them swing, and avoid the walk-a-thons.

Flip side of this is creating really bad batting habits and really bad swings trying to swing at things that are not strikes. I like the 6 ball idea or no walks 4 balls and then machine or coach pitches.


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[uncdrew]

Flip side of this is creating really bad batting habits and really bad swings trying to swing at things that are not strikes. I like the 6 ball idea or no walks 4 balls and then machine or coach pitches.


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Kinda sorta, I guess. But teaching the girls to swing and be aggressive might eclipse that concern. We're talking rec, where most of the girls aren't really practicing or taking lessons. At least our rec, that is. I'm not saying calling strikes on balls over their heads. Just not the tiny strike zone we sometimes see.

 

[BucketDud]

It was hard for some parents to accept, but after a half a season the parents who had older kids were telling everyone how great this was that their current kids were learning more quicker and having more fun playing the game. This made it much easier to find players who wanted to play on tournament teams as well because the kids were having fun. It made a huge difference. No increase in strikes. We also begged the coaches to not ask the kids to not swing at pitches to get a walk. Recreation leagues should be made for the kids to have fun and to learn so that they want to play the game. After the first year parents really accepted because we made that part of the packet during sign ups so that parents could understand what was going to happen. It was great!! We also asked the coaches to ask the umpires about rules and calls after the game as to not embarrass the teenage umpires especially. A teenager will more likely accept criticism when you are trying to help them learn.

In 10u game many years ago our pitcher was struggling with command, but we were ahead and needed a couple more outs. Batter had 3-0 count and then took two straight fastballs down the middle. Other coached yelled: "we are here to hit and get better, not win a game with walks".

Always remembered that comment. Turns out she was also the local HS coach and this was her 4th kid going through softball so had better perspective.

 

[CoachCeetar]

I'm a fan of very big strikezones for 10U rec. Let all coaches, teams and parents know before the season starts. Make them swing, and avoid the walk-a-thons.

Flip side of this is creating really bad batting habits and really bad swings trying to swing at things that are not strikes. I like the 6 ball idea or no walks 4 balls and then machine or coach pitches.


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I want to revisit this thread since we're struggling with it, and it seems like it's (besides the obvious age/experience situation) because the umps are calling a normal strike zone. The ball is smaller, the strike zone should be bigger, they're learning! As to bad batting habits, I'm not suggesting we call strikes at their eyes or in the other batters box, but even if they swing at this stuff, they learn WHY you shouldn't swing at them. They see the results. They learn, by actual trial and error, where you want to hit the ball versus just learning "don't swing at those" from the coach saying it.

But also most of them aren't actually comfortable at taking good swings in all parts of the strike zone anyway, so by learning HOW to hit the outside pitch (Even if it's way outside) or how to properly hit the low ones goes a long way.

we do 2 walks max an inning in rec, but we get 'serious' in travel and don't, but we probably should. Some of these kids would legit crush it most times in that situation, and I guess you hate it to come down to the luck of the lineup and who gets the coach, but I dunno. Maybe a combined 6-ball, 2 walk then coach thing would work?

I don't like just the 6 balls though, I feel like that would make it drag longer for the pitchers that struggle. And some of these pitchers that are actually learning stuff can throw HARD but they still don't have enough reps to be consistent, so you get a lot of full count walks where they slung one in there at like 35mph+ and the batter doesn't even think fast enough to swing, or they're sorta lulled into complacency by the first three balls being three feet above their head, or bowled in. And the ones that are greener seem to mostly lose it halfway through an inning, because they don't have the skill or knowledge to self-correct or reset their mechanics. See quite a few girls who'll get a K, or get a few balls in play early and then walk the final six batters on like 21 pitches to get run-limited.

I feel bad yelling at these kids to be ready on each pitch when it's 95 degrees out and there's like 1 ball in play all inning.

 

[RADcatchers]

Rec. how about more creative design...

Get the game moving

Batters get 2 or 3 pitches each.
Thats it.

2 pitched strikes or two swing'n'miss
= out.

Maybe add batter has to swing at least once ?‍


The outcome will probably be the same as if calling all balls and Strikes.

Did I mention Get the game moving
Yeah this
Get the game moving!


( could also help with pitch counts/ limitations)

 

[ArmWhip]

Does it make sense to move the pitching rubber up another 5 feet? Most of the 10U pitchers that I see have no velocity. I understand that those who can throw with some speed are going to get an advantage but if it results in more actual softball being played it might be worth it.

 

[earlg3]

I think 45mph+ at 30 feet from some 11 year old rec pitchers in 10u would absolutely terrify batters into picking a different sport.

 

[ArmWhip]

Many other sports are now using small sided games for young players, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, football

I think 45mph+ at 30 feet from some 11 year old rec pitchers in 10u would absolutely terrify batters into picking a different sport.

That is the potential downside, but 45 mph from 35 feet does the same thing now.

 

[ArmWhip]

Many other sports use small sided games and smaller equipment for younger players. Maybe an 11 inch ball and a 35 foot pitching distance doesn't go far enough. If what we're doing right now isn't working then make some changes, or at least experiment.

 

[ninthgirl]

Many other sports use small sided games and smaller equipment for younger players. Maybe an 11 inch ball and a 35 foot pitching distance doesn't go far enough. If what we're doing right now isn't working then make some changes, or at least experiment.

I am the parent of a current tiny 9 year old who pitches. Our league is a 4 balls then coach pitch rec league, so there's zero walkathon. Strike zone is batter's box inside line to batter's box inside line and top of shins to shoulders. We also run a winter pitching clinic that is 1-2 day per week from November to March every winter. Any kid who comes to pitching clinic and puts in at least 2 days of work (ideally more, but finding practice space in the winter as a rec family is a pain) can get that ball 35', including my tiny kid who is absolutely not a fabulous pitcher.

I would say hard no on 6 balls. 4 ball then coach pitch is long enough for the infield to fall asleep, and outfielders are long gone before then.

Pitching in rec is tough, because nearly any girl who is going to be willing to work hard enough to really do well (and has a bucket parent who will keep up with the obsession) is likely going to be willing to put in the work to go travel. Our league has a good thing going with the winter pitching clinic, but even then we seem to have fewer girls throwing strikes every year it feels like.