winning vs teaching

I coach 8u rec ball and just like any rec team you have half the team can throw and catch and the other still learning. My Question is what should i do because we have a strong first base and i want to teach her to start throwing the ball to the catcher if she sees a girl running home. Now the girl is fast enoguh to just run to home and make the tag, she has done it before and she has been doing it since 6u but i want to break her from that habit but yet some parents and assistant coaches would like her to just make the tag and get the out instead of risky the girl throwing it and the catcher missing it. I want to win just as much as the next person and just as much as the team but i fell that i am not really helping her or the other girls by just her do that. We have worked on it in practice and you know how it can get during the game when everything is going on and the girls are pumped, mistakes happen.

what would you do or what have you done

If the catcher can catch at all, or even pay attention and try, I'm in favor of teaching it the right way. We've done both though. In rec ball we've had girls at catcher who were completely oblivious and throwing them the ball would not have been a good idea. My DD mostly played first and would run the ball across. I think it depends on who's catching.

catcher can stop or catch ball pretty good, but first base can sometimes make a bad throw during the heat of the game. Practice they do great but game its like they forget

If it is the 1st baseman is throwing it sideways, I would have her keep throwing it.

I normally like keeping the P in the circle but get her backing up home.

Throw home, IMO.

bleacher coach said:

I want to win just as much as the next person and just as much as the team

Click to expand...

Actually, it would be unusual for players, coaches and parents to have the exact same level of desiring to win at 8U. In general, players would rank #3 in that regard, and it is they that the coach is serving, so let's try to make challenging, fun plays and worry less about the score, IMHO.

teach them to play the game right and forget about winning. Winning an 8U rec league game is just not important. If you keep coaching you will find that the girls you see years later that credit you with teaching them something is 1000X more valuable than any wins....this is from a guy who thought winning in 8U rec ball was VERY important when he was an 8U rec league coach...now I can't wait for my girls to be in College so I can go back and totally focus on fun and learning and forget about winning all together.

I would have your 1st basemen throw it. 8u rec my 2 best players usually played 1st and 3rd. I had my 3rd basemen cover home with a runner on 2nd. She already played way up. It worked like a charm.

you said they have no problem making the throw and catch in practice soooooo it appears they need to practice making the connection while under game pressure. The only way to do that is make them do it during a game. Its just one of the skills that can only be taught during a game. Tell the parents to give them the space and support to learn to perform under pressure. During practice instead of having them just throw add a base runner coming in from 3rd and make them beat it. Then they get used to the pressure and gain confidence.

You need to get the fundamentals right at that age, she needs to throw home, the catcher needs to learn to be ready for the throw, the pitcher needs to back it up. Yes they will fail lots of times, they still do at 14u. They need to be able to learn the correct timing, when to throw and not when to throw. I do see way to much wildly throwing the ball around the bases. The kids need to be able to get the idea of how long the runner takes to get to a point vs how long their throw takes to get to that same point. Practice it, demonstrate it. Let them play.

Pretty sound advice so far. Teach fundamentals as early as possible. If the parents don't like the fact that the first baseman sailed the ball 10 feet over the catchers head or the catcher couldn't catch a cold if she tried. Politely remind them that the learning process is greatly sped up if they work with their children at home as well. Once you throw that out it generally shuts them up for a little while.

The learning curve is pretty steep from 8u all the way up to 14u and beyond. At that young of an age there is plenty of time to be superstars and win lots of games. Nail down the basics now. Trust me the doubters will thank you for it later. Best of luck to you.