designating infield and outfield positions

ANNASDAD · May 5, 2021

I know I've said this here several times before. When Anna was in 12U, me and the other coach had a long history of playing, along with 3 other dads in the bleachers. And me and the other coach could pitch hard from around 25/30'.

So we dedicated the last 45 minutes of every Tuesday & Thursday's practice to play a scrimmage with us 5 adults on the field. We played hard and at game speed, no kidding around! That team learned more about game situations in those scrimmages, and us coaches learned more about our players from putting them in live game scenarios! Just a thought?

Looking back, it's one of my fondest memories from travel ball! And with getting close to 45 minutes left in practice, all those girls would ask "is it scrimmage time yet??" And all the smack talk.....nothing in the World like making a diving play up the middle and throwing your own DD out at first....."now sit your little a$$ down!!"

AW95SY · May 5, 2021

One more thought. Challenge yourself as a coach to figure out more effective ways to teach the skills you are looking for, see a deficiency? come up with a new drill to target it. Kids aren't smiling as much as you'd like? Add some competition to the practice. How do you make those couple of hours the best part of their day AND prepare them for the big game. Be the coach that all of the girls point to on their signing day as the one who cultivated their love of the game and got them to this point. Coaching is hard, that's what makes it worthwhile, and trying to take short cuts to get a successful team rarely pays off in the way you'd hope. Parents understand that you may not win your first tournament, or even the 5th, but if the girls still want to show up and play their hearts out every day then you are doing it right.

_MIA_ · May 5, 2021

AW95SY said:
Parents understand that you may not win your first tournament, or even the 5th

_MIA_ · May 5, 2021

Everybody gets taught the basics of fielding ground balls and fly balls in the IF/OF. Not sure I would try and teach everybody the proper footwork , arm slots, etc for DP feeds/turns in the MI....

heman1202 · May 5, 2021

I’m not really sure what the coaching experience is of everyone replying but I am on the other side of the popular opinion here.

There is a difference between developing fundamental IF/OF skills and thinking that you can teach every girl on your team every position seems a bit too far.

I think it also really depends on the skill level of players from top to bottom. Putting a kid in the infield who may not be the best while working game specific situation is a huge waste of time. If they can’t even field 25% of the balls hit to them then how does that benefit the team? You’re wasting time.

Even at 12U, there is an indication for who can play what position. P, C, 1B, and SS are pretty skill specific. There is a little wiggle room at 3B and 2B is definitely a rotation IF position.

Every player should learn how to play OF, not every player on every 12U team has the skill set to play IF. It seems like everyone’s mindset is that all the girls on a 12U are close in skill set but in reality there may be a big difference in even half the roster.

There has to be a fine line of development and fielding the most competitive team to keep a good balance for everyone (players and parents). Ideally most everyone can rotate between IF/OF but that is not always the case.

Hawk_ · May 5, 2021

I see the benefit of doing this like the practice before a tourney where you know pretty much where everyone is going to play.
Overall I think reps in both are more beneficial

Strike2 · May 5, 2021

heman1202 said:
There is a difference between developing fundamental IF/OF skills and thinking that you can teach every girl on your team every position seems a bit too far.

Don't believe anyone said that.

heman1202 said:
If they can’t even field 25% of the balls hit to them then how does that benefit the team? You’re wasting time.

If you have someone in that situation, you sure can't put them in the OF if you have anything more than a Rec team. Better get them some more reps fast.

heman1202 said:
Every player should learn how to play OF, not every player on every 12U team has the skill set to play IF. It seems like everyone’s mindset is that all the girls on a 12U are close in skill set but in reality there may be a big difference in even half the roster.

Are you saying that OF is somehow easier or doesn't require a "skill set"??? Not everyone has the skill set to be a starting IF or OF on a HS or college team, but if they have some fundamental competence, they can most certainly play an IF spot at some level of 12U. If you as a coach selected them, you should be able to train them to field a ground ball and throw it to the right place. On DD's 18U team, some are better than others, but most everyone (including pitchers and catchers) can play both IF and OF, and we can compete with most anyone. Yeah, when it's crunch time, everyone is in their best position.

Filterbing · May 5, 2021

I pretty much agree with all points presented. My older daughter was relegated to the outfield at second year 12u when we started travel. I worked hard with her away from practice and now she is a fairly solid middle infielder and primary starter for her travel team and school. Not every kid can get that help from their parents away from practice.

Some more info on the team, they are about 1/2 first year 12u and first travel team players. maybe 2-3 are second year 12u and about 3 are 10u eligible that we needed to fill roster spots to get off the ground. (2 teams folded and we had to start up this last Jan crazy story). We are very raw in the talent department. I don't want to pigeon hole players at this stage. I think with the feedback I'm seeing that it may be better to go with a primary position assigned by coaches and a secondary position of their choosing to work on. As heman1202 said, We can't teach them every position. We want them to hopefully develop drive to compete and work at home to earn the spot they want.

softballparent60 · May 5, 2021

heman1202 said:
I’m not really sure what the coaching experience is of everyone replying but I am on the other side of the popular opinion here.

There is a difference between developing fundamental IF/OF skills and thinking that you can teach every girl on your team every position seems a bit too far.

I think it also really depends on the skill level of players from top to bottom. Putting a kid in the infield who may not be the best while working game specific situation is a huge waste of time. If they can’t even field 25% of the balls hit to them then how does that benefit the team? You’re wasting time.

Even at 12U, there is an indication for who can play what position. P, C, 1B, and SS are pretty skill specific. There is a little wiggle room at 3B and 2B is definitely a rotation IF position.

Every player should learn how to play OF, not every player on every 12U team has the skill set to play IF. It seems like everyone’s mindset is that all the girls on a 12U are close in skill set but in reality there may be a big difference in even half the roster.

There has to be a fine line of development and fielding the most competitive team to keep a good balance for everyone (players and parents). Ideally most everyone can rotate between IF/OF but that is not always the case.

At 12U, can you really determine who will be an IF or OF in HS or college? We had the girls practice at one IF position and one OF position in 10u and 12u. We also made sure that everyone got situations work at both their IF and OF positions. My daughter at 12U was an OF. Come second year 12U, we lost some IF and she was put in there out of desperation. Turned out she was able to pick up the nuances of MI that year because I believe that the IF practice she had prepared her. Come 14U, she gets on a team that traveled nationally playing MI. She plays 2B today on a 18U team and HS team. If she had never gotten reps at IF in practice, I don't think she would be an IF today.

I think 12U is too early to pigeon hole girls into a specific position. If you had asked me at 12U if I thought my daughter would turn out to be an IF, I would not believe it.

Greatdaytobeawildcat · May 5, 2021

heman1202 said:
and 2B is definitely a rotation IF position.

This train of thought, that 2B is the dumping ground rotation position, is among the reasons (not the only one) my DD moved up to 14U.

designating infield and outfield positions

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ANNASDAD

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