Practice questions

[Littlewoofy]

I currently help coach a second year 12U B level travel team, moving to 14U next season. As we move through 14U we are looking to become more competitive and compete with A level teams. My question is, if we practice from October through April before games start, how many hours per week is appropriate? My current thinking is 2 hours of fundamentals on a week night. One hour hitting instruction on a week night. Then a 2-3 hour practice on the weekend (1 hour for pitchers/ catchers, 1 hour hitting, 1 hour fielding). Thoughts?

Second question. We have an indoor field, cages and pitching lanes rented for the weekend practice. What are some other locations people use for practice? Rent a high school gym? We can rent the indoor field for the other sessions but it's $200/hr so we're taking cost into account. We're in NY so outdoors isn't an option for quite a few months.

Thanks in advance!

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[Rolling Hard]

I think you're thinking is close to optimal. Encourage? Demand that all players have a bownet/ bucket of balls/ tee.

 

[Bullseye]

Demand that all players have a bownet/ bucket of balls/ tee.

Demands after players already have a spot on a team is entrapment.
Asking if players already have their equipment to train with before offering a spot on a team is planning.

 

[krazykat]

I would suggest a break in your schedule. The months of December and January would be a good time to stop all softball activity. Conditioning and strength training can continue. I believe that after a decent break, the improvement jumps significantly more than continuing the grind week after week month after month. It also gives arms a chance to rest and heal.

 

[Strike2]

Demands after players already have a spot on a team is entrapment.
Asking if players already have their equipment to train with before offering a spot on a team is planning.

Perhaps the word "demand" is too strong. The word "entrapment" definitely is. Any player of any age expecting to perform well on any team beyond Rec should be working outside of team practice. The performance difference between those who do and don't is quickly apparent.

I do think that six hours of team practice per week for 6-7 months is going to get old. Perhaps 1-2 combined sessions per week in Oct-Nov, and then taking a break from Thanksgiving through New Year's, is a better idea. Even the professionals take time off. You can start to ramp up again in January.

 

[Northball]

Demands after players already have a spot on a team is entrapment.
Asking if players already have their equipment to train with before offering a spot on a team is planning.

I like the idea of feeling out the level of commitment to the craft at home, including what they have for equipment.
Working with pitchers, I try to find out who's helping them at home and how much. I never tell a kid "you can't", but the cream doesn't rise to the top without a supporting base.

 

[Bullseye]

Perhaps the word "demand" is too strong. The word "entrapment" definitely is. Any player of any age expecting to perform well on any team beyond Rec should be working outside of team practice.

Working outside of team practice is not a common expectation. Nor an implied expectation just because it is travel ball might think it should be but it isn't.

This again comes around to why our family only selects coaches who are upfront about their management of the roster.

 

[Strike2]

Working outside of team practice is not a common expectation.

You live in a different softball world than I did. Whether or not it's an "expectation" is secondary to the fact that those who work outside of team practice develop faster and are easy to spot. Unless someone possesses some freak natural gift, there is no way they'll become a competent, much less proficient hitter, pitcher, catcher, or even a fielder without extra work. Often, it's a LOT of extra work. You'd have a tough time finding a current college player at any level who didn't practice on their own as a developing player. From what I've seen, it's not a stretch to say that many college players get extra work either with coaches, PC's, or on their own.

 

[Gambler Bob]

I think you should just take a break in November and December. Start back up the 2nd week of January. My daughter plays for one of the top organizations in the country, they are off from Mid November through the 2nd week of January. I would recommend giving the girls some time off from club softball. The girls can use that time to enjoy school sports or other school activities. Even the parents can use some time off from running their children around to activities every night of the week.

 

[injnyr]

For my 14U team, we do one 2-hr practice during the week and one 4-hr practice on the weekend. It is up to each player to put in their specialty work on their own time. With the majority of girls starting high school in August, I'm debating whether to do away with the weekday practice...