12u travel team first practice.

I'm getting ready to have my first practice with a 12u team. I have coached HS softball for 3 years and I'm working on building my youth program. However, I have never coached a 12u team and don't want to overwhelm them with advanced skills and drills. What are your guys' advice on starting off one the right foot with a younger group of girls?


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I think there should be a more fun drills at that age. I ask for one hour of work, and then we clown around the last 30 minutes, hopefully with something that develops skills without them realizing. Ultimate Softball (like U. Frisbee, with a helmet on a bucket at two ends of the field, recommend helmets be worn), Queen of the Dirt, Guard the lines (we play with 2 teams, one guarding between 1st and 2nd, the other between 3rd and home, balls must contact the ground once before crossing the line), sometimes football or kickball if we need to just team build.

Setting the tone for the season in the first practice is important, I think. How well do you know the girls? How well do they know each other? Spending a lot of time getting them telling stories and chatting it up the first practice may be a priority if they're semi-strangers. Have them do some of their dugout cheers may be an ice breaker, if they know each other and don't know you.

I struggle with how much conditioning they need at this age. I often feel headwinds when I spend indoor winter workouts working on legs, core, explosiveness, but building that lifetime habit of how to train in these areas is important, I think, even at the expense of losing softball drill time. I try to carve out 10-15 minutes early on, especially if it allows for stragglers that are late to warm up throwing as a team.

I tend to be easy going by nature, but I think it's easier to go from strict, authoritarian early to easy-going later (can't go the other way). So if you're going to have policies like double-timing to your positions, always helmets on with bats, etc. set that tone early. I'm thinking about showing that UConn BBall coach clip on body language to the team this year. I think it's a message they should all hear at this age.

12u is where drama begins to rear its head......I start out with a process to develop team covenants and action steps to meet them, a la proactive coaching (i believe involving players in the creation creates buy in, vs top down "team rules")


we are starting that process today for my middle school team, and will go through it day one with my travel team

haha and i also showed Geno's body language clip to my MS girls already

I think that interview clip will be the catalyst for change in youth sports. My baseball boys are having a hard time with. They really struggle with body language.


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Robert Pannell said:

I think that interview clip will be the catalyst for change in youth sports. My baseball boys are having a hard time with. They really struggle with body language.


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Click to expand...

which is why i love coach miller's core covenants with action steps to achieve, and his 3 tiered process to deal with transgressions/slip ups.......i love his idea of simple, physical/non-verbal reminders when players begin to display attitudes/body language we don't want.....especially in that they are simple, quick, and can come from anyone, including players......

tim_s said:

haha and i also showed Geno's body language clip to my MS girls already

Click to expand...

I couldn't find the link to that.

Would you mind posting?

4KidsDad said:

I couldn't find the link to that.

Would you mind posting?

Click to expand...

Especially if you're dealing with experienced players (which I assume you are, since it's TB), don't be afraid to teach your 12U players the same "advanced" skills that you would teach your HS players. You might have to change your approach, or repeat the lesson a few extra times until they get it, but don't dumb down the skills. Teach them well, and they will learn. If you set the the bar high, they will rise to the level of your expectations - same is true if you set the bar low. Don't underestimate their sophistication and capabilities.

Sincerely,
A 12U TB Coach

Go to Toys R Us and get a WWE Champion belt.

At the end of every practice we play a game of Survivor. The girls line up with bats and helmets in front of the 3rd base dugout. One by one they go to the batters box. They get one pitch from the coach. If it's a ball they go back to the end of the line. If it's a strike they have to hit it in fair territory. If they swing and miss the are out. The line will dwindle down until you have one batter left. That person is the Champ and takes home the belt!

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