8U First-Timers

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Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Hello all!

This is my first time posting on this board, but will hopefully turn into a regular.

This spring, it's looking as though I will be coaching my daughter's 8U team. She played T-ball last year, and definitely showed some potential. As of now, I know 8 of the girls that will be joining her on the team. None of the girls have ever played before, so I'm going to have a team full of first-timers (Including myself). I've coached baseball at the High School level, but this will be my first time working with just girls and softball.

My question to you experts on here in this...

Best hitting approach/drills for girls brand new to the sport?

Best defensive approach/drills for girls brand new to the sport?

I'm actually pretty comfortable with the approach I'll take to teaching hitting, but would like some drill ideas from those with more experience.

Defensively, what I'm worried about most is teaching the girls to effectively catch the ball. That seemed to be the biggest challenge at the T-ball level.
One techinque I thought of trying out on my daughter this winter is slow-tossing a smaller ball (tennis ball maybe) and having her catch it bare-handed in order to get more comfortable with the motions before re-introducing the glove. Any thoughts? Additional ideas?

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to being a member on this board!
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Sorry:



I like the tennis ball idea.

You are probably going to have players all over the place, try to pair them with someone with their same ability. If someone cannot catch put them with an adult so you do not penalize the players that can throw. You are going to have more parents then players at practice.

DD can throw the ball, I credit it all to our Dog. If we started over Dog would come to practice.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Keep things fun. When you can, make a game out of learning a skill. Focus on simple fundamentals, and don't spend a lot of time working on one thing.
 
Aug 26, 2015
590
16
Try to give them "homework" to work on for the next practice. Something simple like "play catch with your parent for 20 minutes". With a bunch of new players, you're going to need parents to help out at home.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Our 8u coach did an angry birds drill the kids loved. He'd put an angry birds doll on a bucket. Have 2 teams and the girls would try to knock it off with accurate throws. 1 point for hitting the bucket, 3 for hitting the bird. They LOVED that game.

I've noticed for girls who love softball, make as many things into contests as you can. Try to divide the teams so your strongest aren't always on the same team and both have a fair shot. They love the competition.
 
Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Try to give them "homework" to work on for the next practice. Something simple like "play catch with your parent for 20 minutes". With a bunch of new players, you're going to need parents to help out at home.

I think this is huge key to success! I plan talking to the parents about this on the first day. Just hoping they're all on-board!
 
Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Our 8u coach did an angry birds drill the kids loved. He'd put an angry birds doll on a bucket. Have 2 teams and the girls would try to knock it off with accurate throws. 1 point for hitting the bucket, 3 for hitting the bird. They LOVED that game.

I've noticed for girls who love softball, make as many things into contests as you can. Try to divide the teams so your strongest aren't always on the same team and both have a fair shot. They love the competition.

Sounds like a fun game! I'd probably want to play with them!
 
Aug 26, 2015
590
16
I think this is huge key to success! I plan talking to the parents about this on the first day. Just hoping they're all on-board!

Parents, even the crazies at this age, will generally work with you so they don't appear to be "the crazy ones". They're all new so you all get to grow together. It's a pretty cool situation to be in if you look at it that way. Just make sure everyone knows to cancel the reservations to PGF or Orlando for the summer. :p
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
At this age I wacked tennis balls to DD in the OF with a tennis racket. It needs to be caught on the fly, if it bounces just ignore it.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
I like the suggestions above with just one tweak. With young ones it definitely helps to have them throw and catch with a coach rather than each other. But don't just bring parents out, even at that age the girls need to break from their parents at practice (and probably more importantly, the parents need to let their kids get out on their own a bit). Have at least two regular assistant coaches. Work in small groups with throwing back to the coach and catching ground balls, throws and pop-ups from the coaches. Don't let them do things "wrong" ie, basket catch everything. That means starting with no-glove whiffles, tennis balls with gloves and eventually softie softballs. Group better players and lesser players together so no one gets bored and everyone gets the level of instruction and challenge they need.

In my mind, games are great but in my experience young players don't get "bored" with repetition on the basics as long as you are having fun with them. Really get the basics of catch and throw down. When they have a baseline down, start to work on a few common infield and outfield plays. Find a few girls that can play first base with confidence and go from there.
 

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