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This should be in every parent/player contract - possibly even before the "24 hour" rule - and with it's own acknowledgement / signature line.
Coach chooses to bat 9
- Thread starter Mboynay
- Start date
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This should be in every parent/player contract - possibly even before the "24 hour" rule - and with it's own acknowledgement / signature line.
I think the OP needs to ask him or herself if they are ok with playing on a team that puts value on doing well and or winning tournaments.
Because as many/most have pointed out, a coach is going to play the best 9 during bracket play in the vast majority of cases.
Even though the coach had the option to bat 9 i'm sure he felt batting 9 gave them their best chance to win. Like others have pointed out, the difference in batting 9 vs 10 could mean the the hottest hitters getting that one last AB that could make the difference.
TB is not rec. it's as simple as that. Nobody is guaranteed playing time although most coaches try and get everyone into the action during a tournament in most cases.
Because as many/most have pointed out, a coach is going to play the best 9 during bracket play in the vast majority of cases.
Even though the coach had the option to bat 9 i'm sure he felt batting 9 gave them their best chance to win. Like others have pointed out, the difference in batting 9 vs 10 could mean the the hottest hitters getting that one last AB that could make the difference.
TB is not rec. it's as simple as that. Nobody is guaranteed playing time although most coaches try and get everyone into the action during a tournament in most cases.
How would I like the coach to respond? I would like to hear "I should not have done that. Players can't develop while they are sitting on the bench, so I should try to get everyone into the game. If I do that, then the team and all of the players will be stronger in the long run. From now on I will make every effort to get all of the players into the game." How would the coach probably respond? "I am the coach and I make the decisions based on what gives the team the best chance to win." How would I respond to that expected answer? "I'm sure my money will be better spent joining a team that will help my daughter be a better player and actually... play."
I didn't read the whole thread. I got to page 2 and Eric said it all. His paraphrased advice "Have your DD get UNDENIABLY BETTER than the other players/hitters."
Have DD watch videos (Mike Candrea are old school but they are very informative) on how to field her position. Practice more. Hit more. Get 2 or 3 dimpled pitching machine balls. Go to a racquetball court (most parks have them). Throw ball against the wall and field the ball, throw the ball, field the ball, throw the ball, field the ball. Short hops, long hops. Throw it against the short wall and field the ball and practice side arm dish, then field the ball, practice the pivot, throw, field. In 20 minutes she will field 200 gbs. She can throw herself 50 backhands in 5 minutes. If she struggles with the backhands, there is a video for that too.
Eric, I think there is a practice tee shirt or team motto/slogan idea in there. BE UNDENIABLY BETTER on the back and I"M GETTING UNDENIABLY BETTER on the front. Calling my tee shirt guy today. LOL
Have DD watch videos (Mike Candrea are old school but they are very informative) on how to field her position. Practice more. Hit more. Get 2 or 3 dimpled pitching machine balls. Go to a racquetball court (most parks have them). Throw ball against the wall and field the ball, throw the ball, field the ball, throw the ball, field the ball. Short hops, long hops. Throw it against the short wall and field the ball and practice side arm dish, then field the ball, practice the pivot, throw, field. In 20 minutes she will field 200 gbs. She can throw herself 50 backhands in 5 minutes. If she struggles with the backhands, there is a video for that too.
Eric, I think there is a practice tee shirt or team motto/slogan idea in there. BE UNDENIABLY BETTER on the back and I"M GETTING UNDENIABLY BETTER on the front. Calling my tee shirt guy today. LOL
- Jun 8, 2016
- 16,118
- 113
When I had nobody to hit me balls I used to do this at the local LL field against the cement dugout backing..the fact that the ground was rocks/gravel made it that more challenging
That all sounds great, but you left out the parenthetical caveat.
(then find another team)
Displacing a current, established starter on a travel team is hard to do. If your DD is putting in all that extra effort, I'd hate to see it go unrewarded because of team history and politics. One of the great things about TB is the chance to improve and then move on if you need to.
In my opinion, much of this starts when the team is constructed. When we first started on our travel ball journey, there was a very distinct difference in talent and experience from our top 3 players to our bottom 3 players. As a result, we often had difficult decisions to make on Sundays. On Saturday we typically played everyone. We didn't do the bat 9 or 10 thing, but if someone sat in game 1, they typically started game 2. Regardless, everyone played on Saturday. Sunday was a challenge. In some cases the bottom 3 actually played more on Saturday because we knew their time may be more limited on Sunday.
As we started to age up, tryouts became more selective. Our goal was 12 players, but we would not add someone just to give us that 12. Our focus was reducing that gap between skill levels. And then during practice we did what we could to help that bottom 3 progress even more. By 14u we had a roster of players that we would not hesitate to put on the field. Sure, we still had a "top 9", but the drop off to #10 or #11 was much smaller and not an issue for us. We could literally pull 9 names out of a hat if we wanted to, and field a competitive team.
Eventually we stopped having tryouts completely. Any openings we had were filled strictly by invitation.
As we started to age up, tryouts became more selective. Our goal was 12 players, but we would not add someone just to give us that 12. Our focus was reducing that gap between skill levels. And then during practice we did what we could to help that bottom 3 progress even more. By 14u we had a roster of players that we would not hesitate to put on the field. Sure, we still had a "top 9", but the drop off to #10 or #11 was much smaller and not an issue for us. We could literally pull 9 names out of a hat if we wanted to, and field a competitive team.
Eventually we stopped having tryouts completely. Any openings we had were filled strictly by invitation.
The OP's DD played. She was a starter in the Flex position. We don't have any information about how the coach handled the next game. Based on the information we do have, the OP's DD has been in the starting batting order in other events.
If you're going to freak out about how your DD was used in one game, I won't try to change your mind if you want to find another team.
Spero Koulouras
Coach in Training
- Aug 15, 2014
- 27
- 3
A lot of coaches just don't know how to use dp/flex for competitive advantage. Since the DP is a free defensive substitution for any other player why not consider always listing your 9th best hitter as the do? That way the flex might split at-bats with them strategically based on the game situation. Usually the delta between the 9 & 10 hitter is pretty small, or one may be a better hunter. Playing it smart the flex can get at least 1AB per game AND have it benefit the team. Players 11&12 become courtesy runners and subs for the 7&8 hitters. Wanna play more? Gotta be top six.
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