I have read many great discussions on here and hoping someone might can give this new coach some advice. Got a 10u Rec team that was just put together new from player pool for this season. Three other teams have been together for several years and play tournaments together and one other team had six players before drawing from new player pool. We can not get any offense going and I have been working hard on it since the first practice. I have a few decent hitters and most have never played at all or never faced any kid pitch. The defense is not very good but my DD is a very talented pitcher at this age. Last game in 5 innings she had 12 Strikeouts only 2 walks and only gave up 3 hits. With her pitching and a few others on defense we can hold all the teams to very low runs. But how is it best to go about setting the line up with this being Rec league. I hate to always have certain players at the bottom of the lineup and I've tried sprinkle in my better players throughout the lineup and that has not worked. My struggle is I know at this age and at Rec level it's not all about winning but there is a fine line between a young player being upset from batting order and from not winning. Anyone want to share some advice on keeping most girls happy and still giving them the best chance to win?
10u coach looking for advice for Rec team
- Thread starter Agbracing
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
- Aug 26, 2015
- 590
- 16
Does your league have coach relief after 4 balls or do they walk after 4 balls?
Not a fan of sprinkling your good hitters throughout the lineup. I would bunch up all your good hitters one after the other. Not saying you have to bat them at the top of the lineup in a rec league where your goal may be to get all the girls a similar amount of at bats but bat them all close together. When you spread out all your good hitters it is difficult to have a big inning.
You are fighting to be better by end of year, the reps you can get all the batters the better.
I also hate bunching weaker hitters together and giving the defense free innings.
I also hate bunching weaker hitters together and giving the defense free innings.
If your league limits runs per inning you may want to sprinkle your weaker hitters into the lineup. If you stack them together your chances of a couple of 1-2-3 inning goes up tremendously.
I used "who got to the field first" with great success. Others think shoe size is appropriate.
But, you're a new coach, so:
Rec leagues are designed so all kids get equal time and equal chances to bat. Therefore, you can't "hide" weak hitters in a rec league.
The great secret of successful batting orders in rec league: Spend more one-on-one time with your weak hitters than with your good hitters. (New coaches love to waste time with their best hitters. Five extra minutes isn't going to help a good hitter...but 10 extra minutes can really help a poor player.) Develop your weak players into better hitters. Set up hitting stations and run them like clockwork.
But, you're a new coach, so:
Rec leagues are designed so all kids get equal time and equal chances to bat. Therefore, you can't "hide" weak hitters in a rec league.
The great secret of successful batting orders in rec league: Spend more one-on-one time with your weak hitters than with your good hitters. (New coaches love to waste time with their best hitters. Five extra minutes isn't going to help a good hitter...but 10 extra minutes can really help a poor player.) Develop your weak players into better hitters. Set up hitting stations and run them like clockwork.
exactly, encourage and develop weaker hitters, that is where the most improvement will come (do not ignore good hitters, but chances are they are working outside of practice as well).
tee work can help tremendously to help with stance, swing, idea is to get stance and mechanics to be habit, so they can concentrate on ball. use wiffles, and you can have several going at once in relatively close proximity.
if they are late, move them back in the box, stance is important, most kids that age do not really set up well, especially weaker hitters, as they are nervous.
pitch selection - nothing in the dirt, nothing head high or above. little kids LOVE the high ones.
and I am one who does not bunch either good or bad hitteers, HC of DDs rec team basically does two groups of 4, with the 4 in each one being one of our best hitters (need to hit to drive in runs, no walking in runs in our league). with a mix in front of them, normally at least one or 2 baserunners on when one of the two 4s come up. really also helps to eliminate dead inning. really awful feeling when in last inning, you are down, and you have three or four poor hitters in a row
also, baserunning, many are probably still in base to base mode, try to get them thinking 2nd when the are approaching 1st, 3rd when approaching second, home when approaching third. hard to do, but worth it I think. might get some outs early in season, but by end I bet it pays divedends, and that is what it is about, improving. same thing with leads, got to get them getting big leads each pitch whenever they are allowed (our 10u rec is on ball crossing plate). Also, with two outs, if you have a savy baserunner on third, have them take bigger and bigger leads, baiting a throw, so they can go home (I will send them past half way even, want them to throw, we cannot steal home, but if catcher throws anywhere but P, all bets off.
tee work can help tremendously to help with stance, swing, idea is to get stance and mechanics to be habit, so they can concentrate on ball. use wiffles, and you can have several going at once in relatively close proximity.
if they are late, move them back in the box, stance is important, most kids that age do not really set up well, especially weaker hitters, as they are nervous.
pitch selection - nothing in the dirt, nothing head high or above. little kids LOVE the high ones.
and I am one who does not bunch either good or bad hitteers, HC of DDs rec team basically does two groups of 4, with the 4 in each one being one of our best hitters (need to hit to drive in runs, no walking in runs in our league). with a mix in front of them, normally at least one or 2 baserunners on when one of the two 4s come up. really also helps to eliminate dead inning. really awful feeling when in last inning, you are down, and you have three or four poor hitters in a row
also, baserunning, many are probably still in base to base mode, try to get them thinking 2nd when the are approaching 1st, 3rd when approaching second, home when approaching third. hard to do, but worth it I think. might get some outs early in season, but by end I bet it pays divedends, and that is what it is about, improving. same thing with leads, got to get them getting big leads each pitch whenever they are allowed (our 10u rec is on ball crossing plate). Also, with two outs, if you have a savy baserunner on third, have them take bigger and bigger leads, baiting a throw, so they can go home (I will send them past half way even, want them to throw, we cannot steal home, but if catcher throws anywhere but P, all bets off.
Thanks everyone. Some good ideals. We are working on all players at hitting as I don't have a single go to for my best hitter. We run several hitting stations every practice. Tee work, soft toss, weighted balls.
We do not have walks so to get on base you must get a hit or be hit. We work on base running and leading off every pitch in practice. I know it takes time and doing all we can to improve every player. But half my players swing at everything or nothing. And other half want to jump out of box as the pitch comes at them.
We do not have walks so to get on base you must get a hit or be hit. We work on base running and leading off every pitch in practice. I know it takes time and doing all we can to improve every player. But half my players swing at everything or nothing. And other half want to jump out of box as the pitch comes at them.
- May 10, 2017
- 2
- 0
I agree about working with weaker batters more. I have four girls on my team that play travel ball. First, I had a discussion with them before the season started and told them that the newer girls would be getting more reps at the plate. They understood why and I havent had any problems from them. That said, I made sure to give the newer girls two buckets of balls for every one that the travel girls got. It paid off. My weaker hitters have grown more diciplined in not swinging at balls and when they strike out, it's swinging at good pitches. They've started drawing walks and putting the ball in play more. I attribute it to the one-on-one that I give them.
As far the lineup, I might be lucky. My lead off is weaker hitter, but she has a good eye. She actually has an OBP over .600. My 2-hitter isa travel ball girl and an excellent bunter and slapper. My 3&4 are travel ball girls as well and are both power hitters. My 5-hitter has power. She's never played before but she's a natural athlete and has picked up hitting. That said, she can't wait for a changeup. Haha. My 6-hitter is a borderline all-star caliber hitter. She's actually a really good contact hitter who has played since coach pitch. I call her my quiet assassin. My 7-hitter is a travel player and she's a contact hitter who can bunt, hit, switch hit, and has the highest OBP at almost .800. My 8 and 9 batters are the weakest, but even my 8 hitters has started to get hits and my 9 hitter is putting it in play. But I might be lucky with the hitters I have.
Hope it helps a little
