Conditioning at Practice.

[undergroundga]

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.

We began our indoor practices Jan 4. We just completed week 8. From the first practice we have dedicated 50 minutes of our 2 hour practice to conditioning and agility work. We use a conditioning circuit and ladder drills.
It is absolutely amazing how much our players have improved athletically!
As we move outside we will phase the conditioning out. But it has been a valuable part of our indoor workouts.
We will also make players run if they are late to practice. Had a girl that was constantly late by a few minutes. Not really the kids fault. But after the kid spent a couple practices making a couple laps guess what happened? Kid is no longer late.
If during practice we believe the girls are lacking in focus and making foolish errors we will have them do burpees or push ups. It's amazing how fast they regain their focus.
The key to discipline is to be fair and balanced. Discipline is not about punishment. It is about discipline.
Then again we just coach a small team that has never won anything so take it for what it's worth.

 

[slingnit]

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?

I guess it would also depend what level they play and what age. Because a 10u rec team that has 2 practices a week would have a totally different practice/conditioning regimen than 18u "Gold" team that is trying to get kids in college. And time of year would be a factor as well.

 

[sluggers]

Softball/baseball are so skill oriented as compared to the other games. It is hard to justify taking practice time away to do conditioning.

Conditioning in college is not done during practice.

 

[slingnit]

Let's make it clear. As a HS coach, I can't make them run laps or do conditioning as punishment. It is against the law. It also has been shown to be ineffective and it creates more obesity to use conditioning as punishment and not something you want to do. So I do have a process: You are told, then if you don't follow instructions, you are warned. Next you are removed from practice (and your parents are called), then benched, then suspended. (Only the AD can remove players.) I have never even gone to the removed from practice step.

You can do whatever you want out there in the world.

Not sure where you found that little tidbit of information but I suspect that is your warped opinion not an actual fact. And being against the law? Guess your in a more liberal state than I am!

 

[slingnit]

Softball/baseball are so skill oriented as compared to the other games. It is hard to justify taking practice time away to do conditioning.

Conditioning in college is not done during practice.

Absolutely correct! When you get them for couple of hours in the morning and a couple more in the afternoon it's amazing what you can accomplish. lol

 

[KCPRK]

Let's make it clear. As a HS coach, I can't make them run laps or do conditioning as punishment. It is against the law. It also has been shown to be ineffective and it creates more obesity to use conditioning as punishment and not something you want to do. So I do have a process: You are told, then if you don't follow instructions, you are warned. Next you are removed from practice (and your parents are called), then benched, then suspended. (Only the AD can remove players.) I have never even gone to the removed from practice step.

You can do whatever you want out there in the world.

\

What OILF is trying to say is if you place a negative connotation on conditioning (punishment) kids will subconsciously avoid conditioning and/or quit the sport due to how it makes them feel as a young lady. This in turn can lead to obesity. I addressed this earlier in the thread with sources.

As an family of educators who are part of the law/rule making process at the state levels everything OILF said is correct. Whether you like it or agree with it or not it is the way of the worlds now in many states.

If you research it youll find this behavior of isolating kids, punishing them in front of their peers, embarrassing them to correct negative behavior (using negative behavior to correct negative behavior-two wrongs don't make a right) etc is contributing to the suicide rate in teens. The world is MUCH different now guys-we don't have to agree with it but we have to be open minded to it to protect the kids were charged with protecting.

We wonder why we are losing kids in this sport-we tell ourselves they aren't tough enough in this generation. Reality is we are trying to project our feelings of how things should be while ignoring how things really are (Culture).

 

[FP26]

\

If you research it youll find this behavior of isolating kids, punishing them in front of their peers, embarrassing them to correct negative behavior (using negative behavior to correct negative behavior-two wrongs don't make a right) etc is contributing to the suicide rate in teens. The world is MUCH different now guys-we don't have to agree with it but we have to be open minded to it to protect the kids were charged with protecting.

This post caught my attention. I will not state that I disagree with anything in this quote. However, as a coach, where are we supposed to draw the line? As a youth and high school athlete, I was raised in an environment that running was utilized for discipline and punishment. Not only for the player that did something wrong, but in many cases the entire team would run because one player screwed up. I did not view that as a positive motivational tool when I was 13 years old and I don't see it as one now. We do not utilize conditioning as punishment for our team. When I played sports, the worst thing a coach could possibly do to me is take playing time away. Sit me on the bench. Take me out of the lineup. But isn't that also "isolation" and "punishing them in front of their peers"? You don't think the other athletes on the team know why Sally is not playing? So how do we manage sitting someone on the bench without worrying about the situation triggering a potential suicide?

By the way, our team's view on conditioning in general has changed over the years. At 10u and 12u, we spent a good deal of time on conditioning during practice but would typically practice 3 days per week. At 14u the number of practices started to fall due to school sports and therefore our focus on conditioning started to fall as well. Now at 16u our entire team is involved in high school softball. Many of the players also play high school basketball, soccer, or field hockey. So in general, they are involved in conditioning a large part of the year. Right now many are involved in high school practices 5 days per week. So anything we do during our once weekly practice is not going to have a huge impact on them. We start each practice with some dynamic warm ups and try to keep our drills as active as possible. So the conditioning occurs during the drills instead of as a separate function.

 

[Easton33]

\

What OILF is trying to say is if you place a negative connotation on conditioning (punishment) kids will subconsciously avoid conditioning and/or quit the sport due to how it makes them feel as a young lady. This in turn can lead to obesity. I addressed this earlier in the thread with sources.

As an family of educators who are part of the law/rule making process at the state levels everything OILF said is correct. Whether you like it or agree with it or not it is the way of the worlds now in many states.

If you research it youll find this behavior of isolating kids, punishing them in front of their peers, embarrassing them to correct negative behavior (using negative behavior to correct negative behavior-two wrongs don't make a right) etc is contributing to the suicide rate in teens. The world is MUCH different now guys-we don't have to agree with it but we have to be open minded to it to protect the kids were charged with protecting.

We wonder why we are losing kids in this sport-we tell ourselves they aren't tough enough in this generation. Reality is we are trying to project our feelings of how things should be while ignoring how things really are (Culture).

I swear I have been transported to a Bizarro World. Let's fight obesity by not making kids run in the hopes they will run on their own. Yeah that's going to happen just as soon as the videos games, phones, and basically the rest of technology goes out the door. I understand the logic of the argument but the baby is being thrown out with the bath water. Sure running them as punishment puts a negative connotation on running but everything you MAKE a kid do, does that as well. So do we pass laws prohibiting reading in the classroom in hopes the kid will read on their own at home? Do we show just show them how to work math problems in the hopes they will want to try sometime and pick it up? The last line of your response is absolutely correct, the problem is that have it flipped. The real REALITY is that the players that work harder reap all the benefits (whether voluntary or not) by the time they realize this it may be too late. That is what parents should be there for and yes, coaches.

If any of you have been coaching for any significant amount of time then all of you have had that really talented player, you know the girl that was on the team that had it all and you couldn't wait to see what she was like in a few years. Skip ahead a few a years and then you see the same girl still wanting to play but looking horrible on the field... Why is that? She wanted play, still wants to play, yet this kid that had all the motor skills and athleticism to be a great player, just sucks. The reason that happens is because no one pushed her and showed her how to be a better athlete. If your logic is sound and you have applied to your kids then try this experiment. When little Sally comes home with all A's REWARD her with a few wind sprints for every A. See what that report card looks like next time. Running and pushing yourself to the limit is not fun, it's hard. (Running and jogging are 2 different things) Regardless of how you present it or try to frame it, kids don't like to run and push themselves. Especially when there is something going on with the twitter acct.

I would like to add I am speaking about kids in a general sense and not about softball exclusively. Sure we all have those kids that play every sport and are always active. These kids will remain active, it is primarily the 1 sport kids or the PE only kids that I am talking about. Where do the kids in band get their physical activity from? You want to combat obesity, besides diet, you are gonna have to start requiring kids to do things they don't normally do. (If they did the majority would not be obese) Running is a good place to start. To combat obesity, you will have to do at least 1 of 2 things. 1) cut caloric intake or 2) exercise more. Preferably both and what kid has the self discipline to do either? By the time some kids get to an age where they really want to play a sport they body is in such disrepair it is too difficult for them to catch up. I would almost guarantee to you those kids, at a later age, would prefer someone making them run for whatever reason.

 

[KCPRK]

Easton-Seems we all agree that conditioning is a good thing and using it as punishment is a bad thing. Using conditioning in practice or outside of practice has it benefits.

IMHO your overanalyzing my statement. We are agreeing on about everything. I just don't agree with using physical punishment such as running AND in school systems in many states its illegal. You don't have to like it but u cant argue with an illegal activity.

 

[KCPRK]

This post caught my attention. I will not state that I disagree with anything in this quote. However, as a coach, where are we supposed to draw the line? As a youth and high school athlete, I was raised in an environment that running was utilized for discipline and punishment. Not only for the player that did something wrong, but in many cases the entire team would run because one player screwed up. I did not view that as a positive motivational tool when I was 13 years old and I don't see it as one now. We do not utilize conditioning as punishment for our team. When I played sports, the worst thing a coach could possibly do to me is take playing time away. Sit me on the bench. Take me out of the lineup. But isn't that also "isolation" and "punishing them in front of their peers"? You don't think the other athletes on the team know why Sally is not playing? So how do we manage sitting someone on the bench without worrying about the situation triggering a potential suicide?

By the way, our team's view on conditioning in general has changed over the years. At 10u and 12u, we spent a good deal of time on conditioning during practice but would typically practice 3 days per week. At 14u the number of practices started to fall due to school sports and therefore our focus on conditioning started to fall as well. Now at 16u our entire team is involved in high school softball. Many of the players also play high school basketball, soccer, or field hockey. So in general, they are involved in conditioning a large part of the year. Right now many are involved in high school practices 5 days per week. So anything we do during our once weekly practice is not going to have a huge impact on them. We start each practice with some dynamic warm ups and try to keep our drills as active as possible. So the conditioning occurs during the drills instead of as a separate function.

Sad thing is if a parent decides to sue the school because her child suffered mental trauma or even teasing/hazing from being benched then your question would be our next conversation. The world we live in has changed, being an educator/coach is more difficult as you have to worry about more than losing your job-you have to make sure your not personally sued for your actions. Not saying I agree with it but this is where we are at so I have to acknowledge it and address it.