12u winter practice frequency & intensity

[shelbysdad]

DD joined up with a new 12U team with an established area TB organization. This is our first year in TB and I have coached her rec / rec all star teams up to now. I have stepped back and let new TB coach have complete control. I have kept opinions and comments to myself about kids, parents, coaches etc. as this is all new and sort of foreign to me.
We played in an indoor friendly recently and the team looked rough and only 3 kids got hits. Coaches DD, My DD and another one. That's 3 hits in 3 games. Fielding wasn't much to look at either, my DD booted a ball, A catcher that cant catch, everyone booted balls everywhere. You get the jest.
On way home, DD was upset and commenting on the likelihood that they will be getting the same treatment all summer because they never practice and when they do nothing is accomplished. Unfortunately I agree with her. There is plenty of talent on their team to work with and the girls know they need more frequent and demanding practices to play at the level they want to play at. I have decided this is a life teaching moment and I am directing DD broach the subject personally with her coach and let him know their concerns. As of tonight they do not have a scheduled practice for 12 days. What should I be expecting for indoor 12u TB practices?

 

[Westwind]

1 per week minimum.

That is a well planned practice with hitting, fielding and pitching for the pitchers.

There are lots of people who can coach. Few of those know how to practice.

 

[FrozenRope]

I just started a new travel team. We formed in August of last year. We have been practicing once per week for 2 hours in an indoor facility since the end of October. We have limited funds available, so we "Charge" $5 per player per practice. The practices up until about a week ago have been all about hitting, and fundamentals. We just started working full infield sesions. Winter is the time to improve the fundamentals.

 

[FrozenRope]

1 per week minimum.

That is a well planned practice with hitting, fielding and pitching for the pitchers.

There are lots of people who can coach. Few of those know how to practice.

We do VERY little pitching at practice. I have a pitching setup in my basement, as does the other coach. He has 1 session per week where he invites 2 of the pitchers (plus his DD) and I have one where I invite the other 2 (plus my DD). They all see a pitching coach and do short range work into a net on their own. Our catchers also participate in "Coach House Practices", so they are getting the extra work as well.

 

[FP26]

If this is an established organization, your coaches should be able to lean on coaches at the other age levels for advice and guidance. The organization I coach for has 5 teams. It is not uncommon for one of the 18u or 16u coaches to assist us at one of our practices. Likewise we will often help the 10u and 12u coaches. Just this past weekend I helped the 10u team at one of their practices. We feel that we have a good group of coaches, but none of us are above learning. While my primary focus is with the 14u group, we all have the desire to see the entire program do well. Therefore we are willing to help each other.

FrozenRope brings up some excellent points. Right now our practice time is limited because it is so stinking cold, but we are focusing on fundamentals at this point. 1 indoor practice per week with voluntary side practices for hitting and pitching (a good portion of the team is consistently attending these in between other winter sports). Once the spring comes, we will be outdoors 2 to 3 times per week until tournament season.

 

[FP26]

We do VERY little pitching at practice. I have a pitching setup in my basement, as does the other coach. He has 1 session per week where he invites 2 of the pitchers (plus his DD) and I have one where I invite the other 2 (plus my DD). They all see a pitching coach and do short range work into a net on their own. Our catchers also participate in "Coach House Practices", so they are getting the extra work as well.

More very good points! Most of our pitching practice occurs away from team practice. However, we do have our pitchers throw to our catchers when this is possible. We like to build the chemistry and familiarity between the two positions. But it many ways this is more for the catcher's benefit than the pitcher's.

 

[Westwind]

As long as you have a plan for the pitchers and they pitch regularly, fine.

Plenty of kids/ parents don't have a place to practice away from lessons in winter. They need to be throwing more than once per week at a lesson. If you don't have pitching you are..... Well, you get the idea.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Your DD is learning a great lesson about the value of practice and repetition. However, she should not focus solely on team practices. A coach can only accomplish so much the first year with a new team. Most practices are consumed with teaching fundamentals, and less about strategy, base running, bunting/bunt coverage, cut offs, all of the things you need to get better as a team. This is a great opportunity to teach her that if she wants to do more of the "higher level" work at the team practices, she and the other players need to do more on their own to work on fundamentals. The more work she puts in to improving her fundamental skills, the more a coach can concentrate team practices on all of the higher level stuff you need to do to win games.

My first year with a new team I spent a lot of time teaching throwing mechanics, proper fielding mechanics, getting rid of the ball quickly, basics of hitting and bunting, and the few essential things that can help you win games at the younger age groups against less prepared teams (bunts, steals, delay steals, taking 1st to 3rd on a bunt, taking the extra base, etc). I also spent a lot of time working on developing my catchers (pitchers took lessons on their own, so I spent less time on that). The first few games were ugly, and we took our lumps, but as the players' fundamental skills improved, we had more time to work on team skills and less individual skills. One you have the foundation of kids with good individual skills, the rest is easier to implement, and the players need to work on their own. It's like having a kid play an instrument in the school orchestra. If none of the kids practice at home, the teacher spends all their time teaching them how to play the instruments, rather than how to play together.

 

[medicpelle]

I can give you my prospective as a HC for a second year 12u team. Our last fall tournament was the first week of November. Team was given a month off then indoor workouts/practice started up the first week of December. During the break I preform an overall assessment on each individual player on paper. The assessment includes strengths and weakness in regards to defense, offense, base running, game knowledge, catching/pitching if applicable, intangibles, short game, leadership, accountability, as well as secondary positions. I put together an individual off season practice plan for each player after my assessments are completed which include goals and bench marks. I then email these to every parent then visit in person or by phone and go over the assessment.

Through the off season we practice four hours every Sunday with pitchers and catchers coming in one hour earlier. Our focus during the off season workouts is continuation of fundamentals, focusing on individual needs based on the assessments, implementing new and refreshing on previous game plans/strategy, etc. All three of my pitchers have the same instructor which they see during the week and most everyone is hitting during the week either with myself or a second individual. I also offer individual Saturday lessons to spend additional time on the individual specific needs based on the assessments. I prepare a practice lesson plan every week before practice. After each practice I make notes of the practice and use them to help formulate next weeks practice plan. Our schedule does change once tournament play starts.

 

[ScottyDont]

My 12U team practices twice a week in the winter, one 90-minute hitting instruction and one 2-hour full team practice. Both sessions are pretty intense.

Pitchers and catchers also have their own practice once a week, in addition to their regular pitching lessons.