10U pre-game warm ups

[SoftSocDad]

Wrist snaps are something I like as a progression towards throws. This is part of dynamic warm up of their arms. IMO they are valuable because they are a dynamic warm up. Its takes 1 minute of our time and again its all part of a progression.

I disagree firmly that the balls HAVE to be hit to them. I have talked with NUMEROUS D1 college coaches and they themselves use hand rolled grounders as part of their progression. Our girls take plenty of reps at practice with grounders hit to them, but this allows us to condense the warm up into a faster pace( with limited space) and IMO when it comes to most of the girls at this age playing rec ball, building up some confidence in early reps and grdaually increasing difficulty is pretty important. I see a lot of coaches just nailing balls at their girls and they forget they are grown men hitting to 9 years olds who 70% of them in rec ball are pretty intimidated. I feel when the girls dont have a very good pre-game warm up, your kind of setting them up to play bad in the game.

The most improtant thing for me in warm ups and pre-game is to establish and practice our good fundamental mechanics and positioning. Doing it right and re-establishing that muscle memory before the game is very important IMO. Plus last and not least.........one of those coaches I have talked with is Mike Candrea and if this infield drill is good enough for him and Arizona it is certainly good enough for me and my 3rd , 4th and 5th grade girls as a pre game progression.

If all your teaching principles have been taught to you or validated for you by 'NUMEROUS D1 college coaches' including Mike Candrea, I suppose I'm not really sure what you hoped to gain from this thread.

 

[southwestsoftball]

Never stop learning is my philosophy. There are lots of different ideas that may work for my girls and my team. More than one way to skin a cat and maybe learning or hearing somethingg different will be a more efficient way. Im just a nerd when it comes to learning something Im passionate about. If I can gain one small insightful thing, I will feel it wa smore than worth the effort.

 

[Hoover's Dad]

Not to hijack your thread but what good are wrist snaps? I find no benifit in them ,overhand or as a warm up for pitchers. I just would like to know what others think?

I feel the same way about wrist snaps. We have our girls warm up by throwing rolls of athletic tape. They are to throw them with no wobble, if they come out looking like a duck flapping, they know they did not use good mechanics. The goal is to throw 5 in a row with perfect spin, then they go to the softballs. Arizona State uses the rolls of tape in their warm ups.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I understand that your area has enough travel players, but you should send good RESPONSIBLE players from rec, and not just from travel.
A lot of this is on the parents and it is probably them allowed to run amok.

The difference between rec versus travel is only experience and schedules, but per usual, we all think you either do it all the way with rules (travel) or not at all (rec); you either have fun/are not competitive (rec) or you are miserable/competitive/win; softball be the first priority (travel) or who cares (rec), etc.

This is a false division and hurting softball as a sport. Both rec and travel should have rules, commitment, boundaries, etc. The priorities and who we are beholden to are just all out of whack in both rec and travel.

We have a very relaxed rec league and are 1 of the fastest-growing leagues in northern California. We don't do everything right, far from it, but we're moving in a direction that people like and staying true to the spirit of recreation softball is paying dividends for the kids in our league and for the community as a whole.

We do have a few coaches who will use bench time as a disciplinary tool, but there are even those who will use it to discipline the parents for being unable to have the players at practice or games on time. Most coaches, however, understand and accept that most 11-year-old girls are dependent on their parents to get them to team functions at the prescribed time.

You have to keep in mind that rec is NOT travel or select. When a player tries out for a travel team, the parents can find out all they need to know about the team schedule in advance. If the coach has practices set up for Tuesdays and the parent knows Tuesdays won't work at all for them, then they know not to sign their player up for that team. But in rec, players sign up for the league, get assigned to a team, and are then subject to whatever schedule the coach sets. For the most part, you don't get to pick your coach in rec ball, so it's not possible to say 'my player can only practice Mondays and Thursdays' and then be assigned to a team on that basis.

The main difference between rec and TB are the goals of the respective programs, which is why both exist under their own separate standards and practices.

 

[Jesse]

Another huge difference is with rec, you don’t get to choose your players/parents. Heck, you barely get to choose your assistant coaches. To make a cake, you need the right ingredients. Better ingredients, better cake.

I’m coaching a 10U team this year without any pitchers. That’s like trying to make a cake without sugar. Fortunately for us, in 10U rec ball even the good pitchers are pretty wild, so we’ve managed to hold our own and the girls are having fun. I’ve only got 9 on the team, and they’re all first year. My main goal is to get them through this season without losing any of them. If I can do that, they’ll come back as one of the stronger teams next year. So far we’ve had a blast and the girls are improving every week. We’ve won about half our games and spirits are high. That's a pretty good season in rec.