10u Tournament Protocol on Sundays

[CoogansBluff]

It's important to remember every pitching staff is different. Some teams have 3 pretty equal pitchers, and so it's not really a question. Others (especially at 10U) may have 1 competitive pitcher, and the rest = almost certain defeat. Some have outstanding + good + adequate. The strategy depends largely on what you've got. The toughest is having one very good pitcher and the rest non-competitive. You need to develop your staff, but your choices could mean the different between playing 6 games and playing 3, and 3 games and a bunch of walks are not good for the development of the other 8 players on the field.

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[Snotbubbles]

If you have depth at pitching at 10u, pitch the #1 until you are through the line-up once and switch to the #2 to finish the game (vice or versa). This keeps them fresh and you can see who is pitching better that day. Most bracket games only go 1 hour 20 mins no new anyways (something like 5 innings on average) and then in the championship game pitch your best pitcher. Nothing wrong with trying to win games and learning how to win which is an important skill. You get deeper in the tournament by winning which means more experience for all players. If your #3 pitcher is significantly behind in talent, pitch her more in pool play and/or use her in blow-outs in bracket play, scrimmages, and friendlies until she improves.

By the way, no team should have 5 pitchers unless you are a showcase team. Not fair for any of the pitchers, especially for the #1 pitcher who works her tail off to get better and she splits time evenly with the #5 pitcher. What message are you telling these players, doesn't matter how hard you practice to get better, you will pitch the same amount of innings no matter the skill level or dedication to the position.

We're a 10u team, almost every kid wants to be a pitcher at this age.

 

[KneeHighSocks]

Your team sounds exactly the way our team is run. Saturdays are simply glorified scrimmages. Sundays, we play to win, but not at all costs (meaning we don't over use our pitchers).

sounds like you are doing things right. Like others have said if you have a outstanding+good+ adequate pitcher then this scenario runs much more smoothly. If you have only one really good pitcher and 2 developmental pitchers this isn't going to work as well and some tweaking would be needed.

 

[Rocketech1]

We're a 10u team, almost every kid wants to be a pitcher at this age.

If 5 kids want to play catcher, you give them equal time throughout the season? My suggestion is you evaluate the 5 kids and let the top 3 get the most time and if the other 2 really want to pitch they need to work extra hard at it away from practice to see if they can out work the others?

When DD was in 1st year 8U, she was the youngest and most inexperienced pitcher and the coaches wouldn't give her much playing time. So I got her lessons and worked with her almost every day to get better. By the end of the season she was the #1 starter and hasn't looked back. Had she had a coach who played her equally during the season she would not have put in the time and effort to improve. While it was difficult at the time for her not to get much circle time, it was the best thing that has happened to her for her pitching "career". Sometimes we as coaches try to make everything fair and equitable but it does a disservice to the kids in the long run.

 

[grcsftbll]

I checked our breakdown in iScore out of curiosity. We have a clear, strong #1. We have an adequate #2 with potential (oh, if only she'd change pitching coaches). 3 and 4 are reasonably close to each other. One has better speed, one has better accuracy. We use them to throw off batters if they catch up with 1 or 2, who are both faster than 3 and 4 by a good bit.

Innings pitched so far this year:
#1: 28 - 58%
#2: 13 - 27%
#3: 4 - 8%
#4: 3 - 6%

I rounded so it only adds up to 99%. There are some .333s in there.

On our team last year, #1 and 2 were very close. One pitched 44% of the innings and the other 42%. The #3 got 29%. And we had a distant 4 who got 1 inning one time when we were up something like 14 to 0. That one is now one of the main pitchers on her new team. Fun to see how it breaks down differently for different teams.

 

[Snotbubbles]

If 5 kids want to play catcher, you give them equal time throughout the season? My suggestion is you evaluate the 5 kids and let the top 3 get the most time and if the other 2 really want to pitch they need to work extra hard at it away from practice to see if they can out work the others?

When DD was in 1st year 8U, she was the youngest and most inexperienced pitcher and the coaches wouldn't give her much playing time. So I got her lessons and worked with her almost every day to get better. By the end of the season she was the #1 starter and hasn't looked back. Had she had a coach who played her equally during the season she would not have put in the time and effort to improve. While it was difficult at the time for her not to get much circle time, it was the best thing that has happened to her for her pitching "career". Sometimes we as coaches try to make everything fair and equitable but it does a disservice to the kids in the long run.

We have 3 catchers and yes, on Saturday they get equal playing time even though one is clearly behind the other two.

My DD was the #1 pitcher at 8u, had a PC and still worked her butt off and hasn't looked back. Seems like some people are just wired differently.

 

[GoCaboNow]

We have 3 catchers and yes, on Saturday they get equal playing time even though one is clearly behind the other two.

My DD was the #1 pitcher at 8u, had a PC and still worked her butt off and hasn't looked back. Seems like some people are just wired differently.

We have 5 kids getting paid instruction for pitching but only one catcher.
I am hoping we can develop another catcher, or two, soon...


Brackets, our named #1 gets the first game with #2 the 2nd game and back to #1 for the third with #2 to back up as needed.

#1 pitches 35% of the innings, #2 40% and our other 3 combined for 25%.

 

[Sweet Lou]

It varies. In my opinion a 10U coach will have a rotation not a stud but I've certainly seen my share of 10U teams that run a pitcher til her arm falls off. Sometimes on Saturday as well as Sunday.