obtaining equipment

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May 6, 2015
2,397
113
little league 10u coach here (4th year total for me this spring, 2 yrs 8u coach pitch prveiously), with 8yr old DD, who is showing some proficiency. basically very athletic (DW and I have no idea where it comes from:, does well in every sport she has tried. thinking soon she may want to do travel ball.

basically, I want to help her team as much as possible this coming spring, as this will help her. I have come to the conclusion that I need some gear in order to do this, but this is little league, so it will all be on my dime (silver lining to this is it will be mine, so I keep it for use with DD). Have already a couple of buckets of 11 inch balls (from my previous years coaching) obtained a skils lightning bolt machine, dozen 12 inch wiffle balls (for soft toss), other items I think I want are:

bucket of tennis balls (say 24) and racket (can be crappy/used), saw LL baseball coach using these for fly ball practice, though it was great for basic mechanics, as players will have less fear of getting under it
measuring tape (significant number of practices are at local schools, back stop is about all that is there, want to measure off pitching distance and base paths)
swing training stick (ie like skilz target trainer)
Tee
Catcher's Mitt

was going to ask parents in spring to maybe donate/loan first two items

Also, DD likes to catch, DW and I thinking of getting her her own gear.

1-does anyone have any other suggestions for gear
2-anyone know of any good websites for gear, new and/or used?



need to do this on a budget (ie low enough to be under DW's radar:cool:)
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
The missing item that jumps out at me is a portable hitting net.

Ebay, craigslist, Play-It-Again Sports (or similar used sporting goods reseller).
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
Do you have throw-down bases? Those can be helpful for setting up a field and they're not too expensive. You can probably make some out of an old vinyl runner or something like that too.

See if you can round up a couple of empty buckets. You can hit balls to players and have them toss them in the bucket. Then when you're out you can just switch up the buckets. A construction site where they're doing drywall can probably yield a couple of freebies.

Don't say where you heard this, but large traffic cones with the tops cut off make pretty good tees. They're not adjustable, but they can supplement real ones. Those are available on the side of the road courtesy of your local utility companies.

You'll want a stopwatch, both to see how fast (or slow) your runners really are, and to put some game-like pressure on your fielders. A lot of times kids have no sense of elapsed time so they take too long to field ground balls and throw them to first (or wherever). With a stopwatch you can set a goal of 3 seconds or less from the time the ball hits the bat to the time the ball hits the first baseman's glove, which puts some pressure on. A cheap whistle will add to it as well - they're trying to beat the whistle. I also like to use an air horn, because it makes it really obvious if they beat the three second time or not. At 10U, if your kids can do three seconds they should be able to handle just about any runner.

If you can go to your local Staples and buy a white board you can hang it up during practice and use it to diagram plays, show how coverages and keep track of scores during various games. That and a set of dry erase markers will do you well. I got one from my old company when they were tossing it, and drew a field on it. It actually came in pretty handy. You can also get a clipboard that does the same thing. It's just tougher for 12 kids to all see well.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
Thanks for the suggestions!
Gonna go to our area play it again within next few weeks, figure off season is great time to get stuff, and fall garage sales are just about done in our area. I actually thought I had heard that they went out of business, glad to hear they are still around. Older DD is into FH, and plays keeper, looking to get her her own gear soon!
I realized bases are essential, and left those off my list of what I have bought a set of those when still doing coach pitch (cheap set, only about 1/3 inch thick, but they do the job.
Gonna get all the buckets I can as well, need them for bolt balls, wiffle balls, etc., bases, etc.
Already have stopwatch (both DDs swim competitively, kinda essential for that), but don’t see too much for use for it for 10u LL; at this age, day to day times for all but fastest girls vary I have found, and they always run either faster or slower in games than practice (depending on psyche of particular girl), and the faster more athletic girls stand out (usually only 2-4 per team). As for speed in making play in field, I want to keep pressure off on that at this level, rather have the throw late and in 1Bs glove than fast and in the stands. Speed in making play will come with repetition, but if they are scared of making mistake, it will be slower anyway, and more likely to be off target. I stress to do it quickly but do not hurry/rush it, Do it in rythym (catch it, gather it, footwork, throw it)
Gonna pass on my own nets as well for now, when we practice on our fields we have hitting and pitching nets on the fields already. when i practice at local schoolyard, everything must fit in trunk of my 2004 Jetta (surprising big, but still limited). Schools have backstops, and with lightning bolt machine, I can have them hit right into school building (balls are soft, safe for indoor use).
As for diagramming plays, this is 10u little league, gotta keep it pretty simple for most of the girls, always a number of first time players. My plan is to nominate an infield captain every inning (always an experienced player), to call out play to rest of infield. I will tell captain nominated each time that if they are confused, to look to me, I will discreetly tell/signal them the right play. I stress at this level going for simplest play, no worries about looking back runners, Ok to go 1B with runners on, etc., with some exceptions (had situation last season where we were tied, runner on third, bottom of last inning (time limit) I had to call out that any ground ball in infield was coming to HP, explained why when they gathered in the dugout afterwards – of course all my yelling about going to HP did not matter, 2 Ks and a caught pop fly in infield) . I will sacrifice runs for outs normally, with run limits half our innings end via runs, would rather the girls get an extra out, since run total for inning ends up being max about half the time anyway. Successful plays are great building blocks at this level
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I had trouble reading your post but get a net, it can be used for fielding, batting and pitching. For me a million balls, a tee, then a net.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
our league fields have pitching screens and sock nets on each field, but I only practice there 1 / 3 times. 2 / 3 times I am at locally elementary school, got a back stop, weed strewn infield, and lots of grass. But I must haul all my gear in my 2004 VW JEtta. Trunk is surprising roomy, but 4 buckets (balls, bases, my glove), team duffel (5 league issued helmets, catchers' gear), lithning bolt machine eat into it pretty quick. Also, checked them out, a little on pricey side. maybe if I can find one used.

I do have a whistle (great for getting their attention mostly).
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
so I have finalized my wish list, but financially gonna be difficult to swing all this (or at least hide the expenditures from my DW, who would probably think this is excessive), so need help prioritizing, below is my first stab at prioritizing based on importance vs cost

1-reel type tape measure ($10-$15) (for measuring base paths and pitching distances at practice field that have backstop only
2-thick rubber base set (not full thickness, but not just a sheet either) ($20) (thought I had these, but I can only find one now, at least with a new set of three I will have a HP as well)
3-12 SKLZ bolt balls (I already have the machine, but I did not realize it did not come with balls)($25)
4-Batting Tee (unless I can borrow one from shed of our local defunct LL)($25)
5-2 dozen tennis balls (for popfly and possible soft toss practice)($15)
6-Tennis racket (for hitting said tennis balls to simulate pop flies, so quality not an issue really)($15)
7-Cones (20) for all types of drills ($20)
8-SKLZ Target Swing Trainer ($45)
9-Youth Fastpitch Catcher's Mitt ($60) (funny our league issues catcher's mitts for baseball as team gear for most division, but not softball)
10-Mag Lineup Board ($25) (so I do not have to keep repeating myself every inning as to who is where, and the girls have a visual reminder of batting order (we do CBO)

list totals approx $265, can probably not justify this (or hide) from DW, so I need to prioritize. My main goal for season is progression of the girls, not winning ( was quite pleased last season, we won about 45% of our games, but I was very happy with development)

leaving nets off due to trunk space and $ limitations, can normally use backstops (or buildings with wiffle, tennis, or bolt balls). Have 12 wiffle softballs for soft toss. buckets I will scrounge, as well as anything else on this list I can find for free or second hand.
 
May 22, 2015
410
28
Illinois
If it were me I would drop 5-9 I think. I can hit pop flies like nobodies business lol. I tried a Fungo racket thingy last year and couldn't do squat with it, so it was back to the bat. I use tennis balls for some work with DD, but we never used them that I can remember at team practices. Cones we never really used much that I recall. Swing trainer could go either way. We had one but did more side toss, wiffles, and TCBalls and it rarely came out. As for the catchers mit, I believe in 10U most girls weren't sure if they wanted to catch yet, so they just used their regular glove.
 

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