Good practice

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Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
It's Spring Break in our area so 1/2 of DD's TB team have left but HC still had practice for girls that were in town.

Practice was supposed to start around 2 but DD wanted to go early. Got there around 1230 and did some fly ball, pop-up practice. Then did some catching work - mostly blocking. About that time it was around 2 so other girls showed up.

HC likes to make the girls run poles - and he'll measure how many times they get back to the right side in 20 minutes. He's done it since we first started practicing back in December and DD has always done the most out of the team. Even after doing blocking work with her knees hurting and in the heat (it was a little over 70) she still did the most of her team and even improved from her last time. HC will run with them and he'll usually run with DD since she's the only one who runs the entire 20 minutes. They were together the majority of it but she kind of slowed down a bit and he ended up beating her by about 1/2 a length. When he finished, he said he was so tired and was going to feel it the next day ;)

After running, they did some field work and then practice was technically over but DD and a few others stayed behind to do some batting. Proud of her for putting in extra effort - first to get there and last to leave..
 

TMD

Feb 18, 2016
433
43
Sounds like your daughter had a good practice...but I question the value of running poles for 20 minutes.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
They do it to build up endurance.. this is a rec to TB team that is used to one game a day..

That would be fine if it was a cross-country team, but distance running has little value in softball.

Interval training would be more effective.
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
It works for our team..also a good motivator for them. They do all types of training. He usually does the 20min run at the start to have them be able to field while tired..

TBH..I have a hard time thinking of a sport where 20 minutes cardio is not beneficial in some way. Elite comp cheer will have their teams go outside and run at practices and they only perform for 2 1/2 minutes..
 
Last edited:

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
It works for our team..also a good motivator for them. They do all types of training. He usually does the 20min run at the start to have them be able to field while tired..

TBH..I have a hard time thinking of a sport where 20 minutes cardio is not beneficial in some way. Elite comp cheer will have their teams go outside and run at practices and they only perform for 2 1/2 minutes..

Lol...whatever works, but it doesn't seem terribly motivating. I don't know what kind of softball you play, but I don't know of any version where players need to field balls after running a couple of miles. Softball demands bursts of energy of typically less than 10 seconds, followed by a minute or more of recovery. Distance running builds slow-twitch muscle groups which help endurance over long distances, but you want to the build fast-twitch muscles that provide power and speed over short distances. Interval training provides great cardio, but also strength and speed training. In fact, my DD ran a 5K a year or so ago having done ONLY interval training, and placed second in her age group.
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
I wouldn't call running for 20 minutes "distance running" ;) As a runner, 20 minutes is merely a warm-up..
He typically only has them do poles 1xmonth and it's to see how well they are progressing - it's motivating for them to improve. Again, I'd rather have a group of girls who can run for a while than girls who can only run for short bursts before getting winded.
He also has them doing speed & agility as well..
Anyway - for the "type of softball" we play I guess, I'm still proud of DD for improving as it's been a while since they've done poles..
 
Last edited:
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Instead of running poles our team does agility (though he will have them run the field after practice sometimes). Ladder work, box jumps, jump rope, etc. On the field he'll have them run through the ladder to field the ball at the end, things like that. Our indoor workouts were heavy on strength and agility which also builds endurance. Or he'll pair them up and have them race around the bases, which they think is great fun (weirdos) and also is more quick bursts of speed.
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
Yea during cages while they are waiting to hit, he'll have groups doing more agility work. We do different types of races at the end of practices as well - either racing to first/3rd or two groups (one at home and one at 2nd) and they race.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Isn't it funny how if they have to run the field, it feels like work to the majority of them. But you make it a race and they all want to go again. In first year 12U, anyway.
 

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