Practice reps for your starters and backups

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Sep 23, 2018
61
8
I made a small practice change this week, and it caused some AC issues.

First some background:

We are a 2nd year 12u team with 13 girls. We have kept 100% of our girls from the fall. In the fall we would run through practices in one area together as a team. We would have stations, but they would all be focused on same area (outfield, or infield, or hitting, etc). Everything went well, and i saw improvement in most of the team.

This past weekend I wanted to make some adjustments and I split the team into 2 groups (infield starters and immediate backups and outfield starters and immediate backups). We ran stations and drills separately for about 30-40 min. After that time, we switched infield/outfield and ran through drills for the other girls, but for only about 15 min.

My thinking was that we would get the girls practicing working together as units similar to game situations. In fact, our entire practice was focused on communication and game situations.

Here is the problem. Te AC parent of "Sally" thought that his dd should be getting equal practice time at infield even though his dd plays 85% of her innings in OF. She is also the weakest player on the team and clearly does not practice outside of team practices. My thought was that she needed A LOT of OF reps since that is where she typically plays. I think it is a waste of time for her to be spending a lot of time practicing 3B when she will MAYBE get 3-4 innings there this spring.

Do you split practices like this?
 
Jun 1, 2015
500
43
I generally have all my players take infield practice - we do a "rapid-fire" infield (half the girls at 3B, half at 1B - go through a bucket, then switch, then repeat for SS/1B and 2B/1B), then when I do stations or split the girls up, I just do it randomly. I think doing it by starters/subs gives off that indication that some girls are more important than others, and this might cause a shift in attitude. I tell all of my girls, "Eyes are on you at all times - prove right now you deserve a spot at the table of 9". I'm not a coach that guarantees ANYTHING to any player (I'm also not a parent, have no kids on my team, or have any ACs with kids). Every girl is forewarned that they will practice EVERY type of situation (infield, outfield, baserunner, bunter, slapper, etc) because THEY may be the key that unlocks success that THEY did not know they had.

As for AC's situation, I'd have a frank conversation with him and say, "I understand your opinion, but she's played most of her time in the OF and (phony it up) been successful there. For right now, this is the position I need her to be in to help this team, and if I see great improvement in her time working in practices, I'll give her IF consideration." You cover ALL bases and put the ball in HIS court to respond/react.
 
Sep 23, 2018
61
8
I generally have all my players take infield practice - we do a "rapid-fire" infield (half the girls at 3B, half at 1B - go through a bucket, then switch, then repeat for SS/1B and 2B/1B), then when I do stations or split the girls up, I just do it randomly. I think doing it by starters/subs gives off that indication that some girls are more important than others, and this might cause a shift in attitude. I tell all of my girls, "Eyes are on you at all times - prove right now you deserve a spot at the table of 9". I'm not a coach that guarantees ANYTHING to any player (I'm also not a parent, have no kids on my team, or have any ACs with kids). Every girl is forewarned that they will practice EVERY type of situation (infield, outfield, baserunner, bunter, slapper, etc) because THEY may be the key that unlocks success that THEY did not know they had.

As for AC's situation, I'd have a frank conversation with him and say, "I understand your opinion, but she's played most of her time in the OF and (phony it up) been successful there. For right now, this is the position I need her to be in to help this team, and if I see great improvement in her time working in practices, I'll give her IF consideration." You cover ALL bases and put the ball in HIS court to respond/react.

Thank you for the reply. I should also add that we do have everyone run infield drills at the beginning of most practices. We work on exactly everything you said. And we did do that as a team first. Right after that, I split the team and "starters/non-starters" isn't truly accurate. We split by primary positions. We worked primary positions (working on situations and communication) for 30-40 minutes and then swapped to work on secondary positions. Some girls stayed in infield (never ever play outfield), and all outfielders came in to their secondary positions. I don't think anyone felt excluded or punished except for my AC. i like your suggestion on how to handle it though.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Where I have an issue.

Coach's have not worked DD in OF so we have did, she wants to play IF.. She practiced though outside of practice in OF, have a bunch of Orange cones. She thinks she was penalized because she did.

You mentioned they did not practice outside of practice, I think it will catch up to them.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Do you split practices like this?

I sort of do once they are in high school and the girls are closer to who they are going to be and many have made that decision themselves, but I don't at 12U. You have ZERO idea who these girls are going to be when they mature over the next few years and to start pigeon holing them now is not doing a real service to anyone. Developing their whole game at practice should be the goal. Those extra 5-10 ground balls you got your current starting SS isn't going to matter that much if she is working outside practice anyway and may actually help the girl who 'wants' to play infield but isn't regularly at the moment (even if she doesn't).

Same with starters/backups - you want to be REAL careful making that an identity for any player. Sure, Sunday bracket games against equal or better competition you are going with what is currently your best lineup, but with 13 you better be moving girls in and out a lot. Our goal even in bracket games was to make sure we emptied our bench - we always play DP/FLEX and we will pinch run/courtesy run equal speed or even slightly faster and slower runners all the time because you can re-enter players. IMHO if you didn't get everyone into the game some way, you should at least be very disappointed (it happens). But it isn't baseball - everyone gets ONE reentry so sub early and often.

Pool games we rarely run the same lineup out in consecutive innings (unless we need the win to avoid the 8am game).

Making sure they DO come back next year is a big goal (even if it is not on your team - just keep them playing)

I will also say that at some point they will all play for someone else - be it another travel team or school ball - and they will likely be asked to do something they are not doing on their current team. On good teams they may have many players in front of them so the only opening on the field may be something they never have played. On bad teams they may be asked to step up to positions they have never or rarely play. "Coach, I am a great XXX, but I can play anywhere you need me that most helps the team" is what you want to be turning these girls into.
 
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
I think you have to develop all of the players equally.

On DD's first year 16u team, there are some players that always play infield and some that always play outfield. All of the players get the same reps infield and outfield. DD and another pitcher only play 1B when they're not pitching and they still take outfield.
 
Sep 23, 2018
61
8
I think you have to develop all of the players equally.

On DD's first year 16u team, there are some players that always play infield and some that always play outfield. All of the players get the same reps infield and outfield. DD and another pitcher only play 1B when they're not pitching and they still take outfield.

I appreciate the feedback. I also think I did a bad job explaining and a really bad job with post title. Here is how the practice went:

1. warmups (stretching, throwing, etc)(15-20 min)
2. infield drills with whole team (all girls positioned at SS and they take straight hits, short hits, backhands, rakes, one hopes, line drives, short pops, pop flys, over head, etc and make play to 1st. (20-30 min)

this is where we split into primary infield and primary outfield positions (8 girls IN - 5 OF).

3. Work on IN and OF situations, communications, and simulations while getting reps in your primary position (30 min)

Then we switched to Secondary positions, so ALL OF came into the IN and most IN went out to OF. (ran same drills)(15 min)

4. OF stations for whole team (drop steps, footwork, and a lot of pop reps)

moved to hitting and base running stations for whole team.


The conflict was specific to #'s 3 and 4. AC's dd is primary OF, but wants to be part of starting IN. They were upset that they were not taking reps with the IN group. I specifically wanted his dd to get more time and reps in OF. She needs a lot of work, and does not practice outside of organized practices. We got every girl IN/OF innings in the fall and that will continue, but quite honestly, his dd specifically is difficult to fit in because of skill level.

Maybe it is the wrong way to handle, I'm willing to admit mistakes and move on, but the entire purpose of splitting like this was to get the girls that will play side by side a lot a little more comfortable with each other and to get a few extra reps as a unit.
 
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
I don't really think you did anything wrong, but I can see how some parents would especially at 12u.

I think you do bring up a good point, too. If this player wants to be a starting IF, then they need to put in the work to get better. Sounds like they are relying on your practices when that's not going to be enough.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Even taking into account this is 12u and we shouldn't be typecasting girls at specific positions (or even "infielder" or "outfielder"), I see no problem with how you did this at all.
 
Sep 28, 2015
150
18
I think that sounds like a perfectly acceptable way to handle getting reps in as a group. There will likely be practices when you will focus on the corners or MIF and somebody will be left out.

The trick is to keep the line fuzzy between the “starters” and “subs” by mixing in kids within the groups so nobody gets too comfortable. It sounds like the AC DD is at the bottom end and won’t be in that mix so a frank conversation is probably the only way to handle that situation.



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