Conditioning at Practice.

[SoCalASABlue]

Few things here: Mistakes and errors are part of learning and running won't help that; again that assumes there was intent in the mistakes. Learning and repeating the skill (and other techniques) will help the learning process. Stop taking it like some personal attack and once that goes, it is amazing how things improve.

Disruptive kids who don't follow repeated instructions or have a bad attitude (this is different than making a physical mistake) can be handled in three strikes and you are out, once they have been told once to correct something: needs to be gone for the day, needs to be benched for the game, and needs to be kicked off the team. What happens at home is not your responsibility. It will eat you up, so let it go.

Making kids hate running or push ups makes things worse. Look, if you have time, go for the conditioning, but many of us don't have the time, but my drills will make you breathe, hurt, and gasp for air. I have another week to get ready for games, with only two hours a day practice....

The drill we use involves the whole team making the throw and/or fielding play, etc. in a row up to a certain number, or start over. This has helped us a lot.

Weight training is what college players often lack, BTW.

Well said.

 

[4 girl's dad]

Being physically worked also helps mental work from my experience. If they can remain focus during physical exhaustion, then being focused when not physically exhausted is that much easier.

I don't run my girls for punishment all the time but at times it is used to help regain mental focus. And, for me, it has worked well.
But I'm a nobody in nowhereville, USA.

 

[slingnit]

There are several reasons for conditioning. And one's definition will vary from another's. To me jogging countless laps around the field is not conditioning. Softball is a sport of short powerful bursts that is repeated over and over throughout the game. So to me softball conditioning would resemble that, with some endurance training. This being done either after the ball aspect of practice or on separate days at least 3 times a week. This also includes weight training. In TB it may be unrealistic to have practice and still get conditioning and weight training in 3 times a week but one can dream. But conditioning is definitely part of the game and should be addresses by the coaches. Conditioning does not solely lie as the players' responsibility.

In TB you could be playing back to back for up to 5-6 games in a day. That takes a toll on the kids and coaches are responsible for them being prepared. Now in college you are not playing 5 games but a college game would be equivalent to 1 1/2 to 2 TB games. You are going 7 innings(2-2 1/2 hours) double headers, more time between games, more catcher/pitcher time outs, batters will generally see more pitches per appearance,...... DD had a 9 game in 5 days stretch. So having the endurance is also important in college.

 

[slingnit]

Almost forgot where I was going with this. Conditioning, running or whatever you want to call it also serves another purpose, dedication to team/sport. This maybe does not apply to college players in quite the same way as it does for middle and high school kids. But they have "Hell Week" for a reason. Who wants to be here bad enough? Who will pick their team mates up when they fall? Who may not have all the talent but has the determination. It can be used used to weed out those that may be looking for a free ride. JMO

 

[Jquick823]

Few things here: Mistakes and errors are part of learning and running won't help that; again that assumes there was intent in the mistakes. Learning and repeating the skill (and other techniques) will help the learning process. Stop taking it like some personal attack and once that goes, it is amazing how things improve.

Disruptive kids who don't follow repeated instructions or have a bad attitude (this is different than making a physical mistake) can be handled in three strikes and you are out, once they have been told once to correct something: needs to be gone for the day, needs to be benched for the game, and needs to be kicked off the team. What happens at home is not your responsibility. It will eat you up, so let it go.

Making kids hate running or push ups makes things worse. Look, if you have time, go for the conditioning, but many of us don't have the time, but my drills will make you breathe, hurt, and gasp for air. I have another week to get ready for games, with only two hours a day practice....

The drill we use involves the whole team making the throw and/or fielding play, etc. in a row up to a certain number, or start over. This has helped us a lot.

Weight training is what college players often lack, BTW.

The question was. What is the correct action for a player that after 5 stoppages of practice and explaining to the players that if they miss a ball they need to hustle after it, misses a ball and instead of doing what you have instructed them to do since August and now in March decides to get a ball out of the bucket instead of chasing her ball down?

3 strike rule is better than some extra conditioning??? I would beg to differ kind sir/Ma'am.

 

[TMoney]

Making someone run a lap isn't going to make them a better player, and certainly isn't going to help them make the next play! Complete waste of time IMO.

 

[Eric F]

Always found it interesting the thought and emphasis on physical conditioning when it is mental conditioning that wins ball games. How often do you see players run out of gas or lack the physical ability to make a play versus screwing up due to a brain fart?

I have found that players in better physical condition also stay mentally sharper for longer. In a long day filled with multiple games, this can make a big difference at critical moments. A tired body is very often accompanied by a slow brain.

 

[CoogansBluff]

It's an asset to be well-conditioned. But IMO, the question is use of practice time. You have only so much of it.

If you have two 90-minute practices, how much conditioning would you do? And what would you do less to accommodate it? Are teams that use 20 percent of their time on conditioning better than those that use 5 percent? Or 0 percent? Theoretically, those that use 100 percent of their time on hitting, pitching and defense will be better at hitting, pitching and defense than those that spend 80 percent of their time on hitting, pitching and defense - until fitness becomes an issue.

So, yes, being a better-conditioned team is great. But what price are we willing to pay for it?

 

[Eric F]

It's an asset to be well-conditioned. But IMO, the question is use of practice time. You have only so much of it.

If you have two 90-minute practices, how much conditioning would you do? And what would you do less to accommodate it? Are teams that use 20 percent of their time on conditioning better than those that use 5 percent? Or 0 percent? Theoretically, those that use 100 percent of their time on hitting, pitching and defense will be better at hitting, pitching and defense than those that spend 80 percent of their time on hitting, pitching and defense - until fitness becomes an issue.

So, yes, being a better-conditioned team is great. But what price are we willing to pay for it?

That certainly is the magic question, and I don't have a specific answer.

Generally speaking, if I had some time to prepare a team before games start (4-6 weeks), I would have a higher percentage of practice time dedicated to building fitness and agility early on, and would taper it off as the season got closer.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

Just have Them run a bunch of base running drills