14u fall ball help

[dld56]

I have a team of 14U girls that would probably be rated a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-10. 1 girl has never played fastpitch before and 2 girls have only played one season of fall ball (2 years ago). The rest of the team is made up of various skill level. I want these girls to enjoy their short season(5 weekends) and come back next summer and play. I need help in designing practices and game plans to allow them to be successful. I do not think I need to have everyone play every position (especially at 14u) and besides I really don't have the time to work on this. Some of the girls still have difficulty catching a ball and fielding grounders. To me at this age, practices should be on based on defense and offense situations.
Unfortunately only a few on the team should really be playing infield, but I just don't feel right puttting the rest of them in the outfield. Have had 4 practices already and spent a great deal of time just on basics, and hardly even touched on game situations. I am in my 4th year of coaching and have coached all levels of teams. Do I have each girl learn a couple of positions and practice that way or just put them where they should be. Most of the girls I have coached at some point over the past 4 years and they are happy to be on my team. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I used to be an elementary school teacher, so I routinely pulled the beginners off to the side and worked one on one with them. Then, one girl said "I feel bad enough, without being pulled out." I was glad that she told me, because I never would have thought anything of it.

So, now I spend a lot of time on throwing and catching. Everyone needs that anyway. I start by giving them each a tennis ball and having them throw it up in the air (to themselves) and catch it 25 times. I let them take some tennis balls home with them and I try to get the parents to throw with them.

Any parent can sit and toss a tennis ball to a kid. I have them catching it bare handed, using both hands. Then, move on to the glove. You can introduce lite flite balls or something similar, too.

I know you don't have much time. With little girls, I give them a blank calendar and ask them to fill in each day with a sticker, that they practice. They can even throw the tennis ball against the garage or something.

Unless the girl is in danger of getting hit, I would attempt to teach them one position and OF.

By the way, I teach OF, with the tennis balls, too. A parent can hit them really far with a racket.

Don't forget that Fall Ball is for learning and if your team does improve in these 5 weeks, that is what you are there for.

 

[jacketsfan]

go for small individual victories with them - getting down a bunt for the first time, fouling off a pitch, making an out on a throw to first, hitting a home run, whatever applies to their individual abilities.

the key is for them to be motivated, have fun, and learn. winning should be secondary.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

Never downplay the importance of the basics, even with experienced players. A key hit will win a game but solid fundamental defense will win a championship. Even the pros work on the basics.

 

[dld56]

Thanks all for your input. I appreciate it. I always work on basics as part of my practices but need advice on how to incorporate fundamental defense for practices and where to place the girls. I agree that winning is secondary and have told my team that if they give 110% and still loose, I would be happy.

 

[jacketsfan]

What I do in LL, especially with a team of mixed skill levels like you describe, is this:

During the first 2/3's of the season, I rotate them all around to about whatever position they want to play. Of course, if you have safety concerns, that should be paramount. During the last 1/3 of the season, I will try to focus more on 1 or 2 spots for each player. When the end of the season championship tourney rolls around, we have everyone pretty well locked in to 1 or 2 spots.

Make sure, no matter how painful, that you work hard to develop several pitchers. For one, you'll need them in the spring. Maybe you can motivate some players to work on pitching over the holiday break. For two, with sitting rules, you'll need more than 1 pitcher on staff.

For drills, depending upon their skill level, you probably need to work on hitting mechanics. I spend alot of time on this with beginning players. Also, throwing and catching mechanics. Since you said you work on basics, there's no need to go into that too much.

Work on bunts and bunt defense. I have beaten better teams with less experienced players by bunting them to death.

As for outfield, you need to have the "outfield is not for losers" talk. Many new players think that, until they realize they saved a game by making a critical catch. I had one player who always pouted when I put her in OF. Finally, she told me that her dad told her "outfield is where they park the losers, especially right field". I told her that, on the contrary, I needed faster players (which she was) in the OF, and I needed her strong arm in RF. That kid ended up throwing out several runners at second on backups of overthrows at 1B. I made sure to tell her dad that she saved our bacon in a couple of games with those plays, and it wouldn't hurt him to be more supportive.

The new players most want acceptance. Staying positive with them, and getting them pumped up, will do wonders for them coming back.

If you have more specific q's, we'll try to help.

 

[PA SB Dad]

I've coached rec league Fall Ball for the past few years, and have come to recognize that with the limited time you have, it is important to have each player set some goals they want to achieve for the short season. Skills and fundamentals are important, and should be the main focus, but also give them a sense of accomplishment by setting these goals. For some it may be learning to play first base or shortstop, for others, catching flyballs and hitting, still others working on their pitching, and give them ample opportunities in game situations (I have them switch positions every 2 innings so that they get some opportunity to make a play each game). I also emphasize the importance of outfield play and that everyone on my team has to learn each of the outfield positions and stay involved in every play of the game.

I usually split practices with the first half on fundamentals - throwing and catching, long toss, relays, techinque on grounders and fly balls, and the second half on game situations, base running, soft toss games and offensive/defensive strategy. I have qizzes that I print out and give to the kids to take home and discuss with their parents, and try to get the parents involved as much as possible, especially working on things outside of practice and games. That is absolutely the hardest part, because most parents see practice and games as "sufficient" for their kids, when it is really just the frosting on the cake.