Fairly New 10U team

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Feb 28, 2011
8
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My DD's TB team just moved up to the 10U division officially in January. They played together in 8u for about a year and a half and the last year they pretty much dominated in every tournament they played. In 8u coach pitch we had some amazing hitters and everyone knew their position. Now it seems like all the girls forgot how to play softball. Girls that were super stars in 8u aren't hitting and are constantly making mistakes in the field. They have only won one game since they moved to the new division and you can see the frustration in the parents increasing with every game. We had no established pitchers when we moved up so most of the girls pitching are true beginners. The hitting is non existant. All of the girls are swinging late since they are not used to the timing of an actual FP pitcher. And it seems to me that the girls are not ready in the field because the pace of the game has slowed a bit. How do you make the successful transition from 8u to 10u? How much time does it take? how do we get these girls hitting? I fear that some of the players/parents will leave because of the losing record. :confused:
 
Apr 1, 2010
1,675
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Do you have a pitching screen? If you have a parent or parents who can throw a ball underhand with some speed and accuracy, they could start throwing bp to the girls. More pitching lessons for the pitchers and more batting practice for all? It's hard moving from a coach pitch division up to an older girl pitch division. The girls just have to take their licks, hang in there, keep practicing and wait for their turn at being the older experienced girls.
 
B

BROBO

Guest
Become very good at bunting and even better at running the bases aggressively. At 10U baserunning can win you lots of games.
 
Oct 13, 2010
666
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Georgia
It's tough to go from coach pitch where coaches are trying to pitch to the hitters strength, to player pitch where girls are trying to pitch to hitters weakness. I agree with lots of batting practice, but use the full arm circle from about 20 feet or so with speed compairable to, or a little faster than, what you're seeing at tournaments.

If you don't have any girls that have pitching experiance, you may have a tough time this year. Get at least 3 in pitching lessons asap.

Sounds to me like they feel 'over matched' at the plate and perhaps in the circle and this is carrying over to their play in the field. Be patient and work on hitting and pitching. Also take notes during each game of things you see other teams doing that your team is not. Pick one or two of these to work on at every practice. It wont happen overnite, but if you don't panic, stay calm, and work on a little progress at a time, you will start seeing results. Tell the girls that they dominated last year and they can do it again, but it's going to take some work. Try to keep them motivated by pointing out progress at every game. Don't tell them, but second year tens are always better than first year. Progress is fast at this age.

Good luck happens when preparation meets opportunity so, Good Luck!
 
Feb 28, 2011
8
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Most of the girls do play in a 10u rec league but not on the same team because the rec league would see that as unfair. They seem to play better in rec and I'm not sure why that is. My DD is the youngest on the TB team therefore she plays up on her travel team but due to league rules must play 8u is rec. I think it is hardest for her going back and forth, but luckily she is one of the few girls on the 10u travel team that has gotten hits in games. As for the pitching, 3 girls are in pitching lessons, but out of those 3 only 2 have been given the opportunity to pitch. One of them has done pretty well but the other has bombed both times at the mound.
 
May 25, 2010
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Are you coaching this team?

The majority of 9- and 10yo's who've never pitched before are supposed to bomb. If the other parents are struggling as badly as you suggested in your first post, then it would be a good time for you all to sit down without the kids and have a light talk about developing some realistic expectations. Coach pitch is glorified t-ball. It's possible to have a legit 8u TB team, but not with coach pitch. So, what you've done is taken a tournament t-ball team and moved them to 10u tournament play, something they shouldn't be ready for and based on your evidence, they are not.

I wouldn't suggest playing B-level tournaments until this team has at least one full 10u rec season under their belts. If there are no rules against practicing together, then continue to do that in addition to what they do with their rec teams. But, if the goal is to keep this team together for tournaments this summer and fall, then use the spring for skills development and rec play and forget about doing any spring tournaments. You're welcome to do so, but there's no need to waste your money or time on something you're not prepared for, when you could be using those resources to work on the skills you need most. In 10u tournament play, even part-time TB teams are pretty knowledgeable about making their plays.
 
Feb 28, 2011
8
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No I'm not coaching the team, my DD and I have been with the team from the beginning so I see and hear a lot that is going on. I am looking for an outsider's opinion because I have heard frustration from several parents and the manager looked like he was at a loss after our last tournament games. I keep telling myself and others that they just need time to grow. However, I don't want to make excuses for the girls. I want the parents and coaches to be realistic as well. Most of the girls do have a full "fall" (instructional) season under their belts. This is their first spring competitive rec season that they are currently playing in. The TB team is playing in the winter TB league which is simniliar to a rec league for TB teams. Is it common that girls who played well in the coach pitch 8u league will not necessarily do well in 10U? Personally, I take my DD to a hitting and a pitching coach hoping to make the transition easier for her. She hasn't been given the opportunity to pitch yet but that is a totally different discussion. I just wonder how long to stick with a team if it's level of play does not show inprovement. How can the manager handle a situation like this?

Sorry for the long winded responses...I finally got the nerve to post my thoughts and now they just keep coming :)
 
Nov 4, 2010
21
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You have come to the right place!!

Congratulations!! You have come to the best place for good opinions. And so far you have gotten good advice.

Our situation is/was very similar to yours. 2 years ago we had a 8u coach pitch AllStar team. We were very good winning all star tournaments and winning in travel tournaments after we figured out all star was not challenging the kids. We had a mix of 8's and 7's on the team. That fall we introduced the kids to fastpitch by having local round robins where we invited local/area travel teams to come and play against us. We got killed!!!! Our pitchers were terrible, we couldnt field the ball for anything and honestly looked like we had never played the game before!! When you add the ability to bunt/steal it changes everything and now there are alot more decisions to be made defensively, escpecially when you are walking everyone. We decided, as coaches, the best thing for them was to have them play rec ball the following spring and do allstars in the summer. A couple of the kids went on and played travel ball elsewhere and rec ball locally. Come summer, they played allstars and done okay. Last fall we played locally against the travel teams and done quite well winning all but 1 game!! We are currently out of rec ball this year and going travel full time.
Bottom line, it just takes time. Hopefully all your parents can be patient and wait it out without moving on to other organizations. With good positive coaching and a parents such as yourself trying to keep things positive when talking to other parents I do not see why you shouldnt have the same success.
Bunting is a great way to start out your struggling hitters, it will give them confidence that they are not just going up there to strike out and for some reason they seem alot less nervous about getting popped by the ball.
Good luck and most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!!
 
May 18, 2009
1,314
38
Is the team working with a pitching machine? I would make sure they are learning to hit faster pitches off the pitching machine. Sounds like you guys are doing the right thing with your pitchers. If these girls are first timers to other girls pitching it takes an adjustment period. Younger pitchers tend to be erratic and that can scare some of the girls if they've never been hit before. Plus the girls will be seeing pitches that are in all kinds of different locations.
 

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