Clock management...what would you have done?

Great, people are encouraging clock management.

quincy said:

Great, people are encouraging clock management.

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Yup. They are called tournament directors.

quincy said:

Great, people are encouraging clock management.

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Clock management is part of every sport that includes a clock. Softball is no exception.

We already have 4 run limits, for the first 3 innings. I really want to just play the game, like in HS. We had the clock come into play, once this season. My batter said "I already have my shoe untied." I said "No, don't do that."
We were visitors and my team did what they needed to, but I generally don't play the clock.

Eric F said:

Clock management is part of every sport that includes a clock. Softball is no exception.

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Except in every other sport there are ways to stop the clock. No other sport except soccer plays running time so you can save timeouts to get some extra time. Even in soccer the ref will add on time to each half. The Warriors can't make sub after sub at the end of the game to run out the clock, they have to play with the same 24 second they did the same game.

canyonjoe said:

Except in every other sport there are ways to stop the clock. No other sport except soccer plays running time so you can save timeouts to get some extra time. Even in soccer the ref will add on time to each half. The Warriors can't make sub after sub at the end of the game to run out the clock, they have to play with the same 24 second they did the same game.

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There is more clock management when you can stop the clock. The rules of the game define what you can and can't do. Hockey, basketball, football, etc...it's common practice to slow down, maintain possession, and burn the clock to avoid giving the other team an opportunity (or as much of an opportunity) to score. Quickly fouling the other team in basketball in order to save time on the clock and give yourself another possession is also clock management.

The bottom line is that once a clock is introduced, not paying attention to how the time may affect the outcome of the game is poor game management (IMO).

Ignore the clock as this will make your players stronger in the long run. Use it as a learning experience for your girls to learn how to close out games. It won't be long and you find yourselves in games with no time limits.

The fact that you're talking about an All-Star tournament means that the event is probably important to some of the girls and since it's only a 4-inning game, my guess is that you're talking 10u, which means that the event is very important to some of the parents.

As long as they're cool and polite about it, I see nothing wrong with rec parents who want their kids to win during 10u All-Stars.

I don't think there was a wrong call to make here. If you think your best shot is to run the clock out and move on to the next game, do it. If you want to just play the game and let the chips fall where they may, then do that. Either way, your team made it to a semi-final and got themselves in position to get into the championship, so they've got plenty to be proud of regardless of the outcome.

I prefer to play, but it depends on what's at stake. Maybe a hard-luck team is really thirsting for a win and requesting and taking a legal conference would preserve it for them. You're ok, Coach. You played it straight, and banked some karma for the future.

DD2 team was playing in a Qualifier this past weekend. Game was close to over (hour and 40 min game). Other team had 2 outs and runner on 2nd. Their coach had runner step off so they could start a new inning. Well even though we were up 7-1, the run rule was in effect and the game was over. Kind of sucky way to end the game.

Yellowjacket said:

Ignore the clock as this will make your players stronger in the long run. Use it as a learning experience for your girls to learn how to close out games. It won't be long and you find yourselves in games with no time limits.

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Imagine you are coaching a basketball team and you tell your players to "ignore the clock" as it will make them stronger in the long run.

Silly.