Practices during Fall Ball Season

[CoachCeetar]

he specifically asked about the players that ARE showing up.

 

[RADcatchers]

My issue is out of the 24 players on the fall ball team my last 3 practices I've only been having 4 - 5 players showing up for practice making it real difficult to make practice plans.

This part of situation.
Responding to sort through solution.

 

[CoachJD]

I used to get real upset when I had situations like this during our summer season, but I now look at it as an opportunity.

When you have 20 players show up, you're doing very little individual work.

When you have 4 show up, you can do exactly what those 4 need the most to help them get better (and with a lot more reps).

If you know your players well, you can really help them in a setting like this. And if those 4-5 end up being starters and they bump people who didn't show up, well, you might have better attendance next year.

 

[Cannonball]

In my state, Illinois, I wouldn't use the term "practice." Also, in my area, teams know what other teams are doing so anything mandatory is a violation of IHSA rules. Attendance can not be taken in open gym offerings.

For the OP, having four or five players show up allows you to work individually. Those numbers work well in cage work. They also work well in situations of infield and outfield. For example, in our practices, we have our players hit balls to fielders. That serves two purposes. The infielder gets work and the hitter gets to practice skills critical to hitting. You can then "coach" if that is allowed in California.

Slow and steady wins the race. I entered a situation a couple of years ago where I coached a team that didn't know how to work hard. Leadership skills are tested in that situation. Be creative on how to get other players to want to come.