All Star Practice

[SD DAD]

Hi Everyone,

Long time lurker, first time posting.....

DD plays in San Diego. League had no one step up and take All Stars, you would assume everyone would want to but guess not. I went ahead and took the manager spot and am in the process of picking up coach and assistant coach. This is for the 8u division.

Here's my problem i'm hoping you can all help with. We will be practicing three times a week with practices ranging between 3.5-4.5 hours. I would like to start with conditioning to prepare them for the long tourneys they will be playing in the next few weeks.

Can you experienced coaches assist with laying out a nice practice plan incorporating conditioning and whatever else you feel.

Do pitchers and catchers work separately from the team?

Any tips and pointers?

Thanks!

Robert

 

[SoftSocDad]

We will be practicing three times a week with practices ranging between 3.5-4.5 hours.

This is for the 8u division.

You need to do a quick reset. Quickly.

You'll be lucky to keep 8- and 9-year-olds engaged for 1.5 hours. If you can get 2 hours, you're playing with house money. Relax and allow the girls to enjoy the experience. Try to make it too much like boot camp and you're in for a long summer. Good luck.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Having coached 8U all-stars in SoCal, here are my two cents:

- 2 or 3 hour maximum practices (Tues - Fri.)
- no practices on Monday once tournament's start. Even g_d rested on the 7th day!
- Develop 2 or 3 pitchers and only have them pitch in practice every other day but encourage them to continue to see their private pitching coaches once a week.
- No need for additional conditioning. We always started practices with warm-ups and a light run. If they are practicing or playing softball almost everyday for 6 weeks (typical all-star schedule) and having just finished the regular season, they should be in decent shape.
- I assume you are playing under ASA rules with stealing 2B and 3B (home plate is cold)? If so, you need to practice your catcher making the long throw to 2B on the steal.
- Walks are basically doubles at this age (because of the steal to 2B), so I would work a lot with your pitchers to limit the walks.
- However, I would not segregate your pitchers / catchers from the rest of the team too much. Its also developmental at this stage so you want to teach softball fundamentals to ALL of the players.
- Hitting is critical. Work on it almost every practice. Especially front toss and live pitching.
- Make sure you incorporate a lot of fun softball drills into each practice, you want to make sure the players have a great time and want to continue to play softball in the future.
- Some of the teams you will face are very competitive, even at this age, so you need to prepare yourself as much as possible and ask lots of questions of the other coaches in your league who have gone through the process. They will have some great insight, leverage off of their experience.

It's a wonderful time and a joy to work with some talented players. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

 

[InsidePitch]

I'll second SoftSocDad....I didn't get involved until DD was 10 and expecting kids that age to want to practice 3-4 hour x 3 is wishful thinking. At that age you should probably have less than 5 in a group and each exercise should be only about 5 minutes or you will lose them. Good luck.

 

[sluggers]

dd plays in san diego. League had no one step up and take all stars, you would assume everyone would want to but guess not. This is for the 8u division.
...
We will be practicing three times a week with practices ranging between 3.5-4.5 hours.

must resist urge to post snide comment...
must resist urge to post snide comment...

 

[chinamigarden]

Hi Everyone,

Long time lurker, first time posting.....

DD plays in San Diego. League had no one step up and take All Stars, you would assume everyone would want to but guess not. I went ahead and took the manager spot and am in the process of picking up coach and assistant coach. This is for the 8u division.

Here's my problem i'm hoping you can all help with. We will be practicing three times a week with practices ranging between 3.5-4.5 hours. I would like to start with conditioning to prepare them for the long tourneys they will be playing in the next few weeks.

Can you experienced coaches assist with laying out a nice practice plan incorporating conditioning and whatever else you feel.

Do pitchers and catchers work separately from the team?

Any tips and pointers?

Thanks!

Robert

4 hour practices? Unless 8u all stars is code for DI college, I think you need to rethink your plan. At that age 2 hour practices are pushing the attention span and bladder control of a typical 8 year old. But here are my first 4 thoughts.

1. I didn't know they had 8u all stars
2. I didn't know they had 8u pitchers
3. I didn't know anyone put 8u kids through conditioning.
4. Please tell me this was a joke.

 

[chinamigarden]

must resist urge to post snide comment...
must resist urge to post snide comment...

You're a stronger man then I am

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

4 hour practices? Unless 8u all stars is code for DI college, I think you need to rethink your plan. At that age 2 hour practices are pushing the attention span and bladder control of a typical 8 year old. But here are my first 4 thoughts.

1. I didn't know they had 8u all stars
2. I didn't know they had 8u pitchers
3. I didn't know anyone put 8u kids through conditioning.
4. Please tell me this was a joke.

With all due respect, unless you live and breath fastpitch in SoCal you really don't know how dedicated the players are and how competitive the teams are in tournaments, even at this age. Some 8U all-star teams ("B" Gold) will even have players that play winter travel ball and then come back to play rec ball in spring and all-stars in summer. Most tournaments play the regular 60ft base paths, you can steal 1B & 2B, and the top 2 teams from Districts move on to the State championships and play other teams from the Western region. Many 8U all-star players have been playing softball since they were 5YO, have private pitching and hitting coaches, attend softball camps in the off-season, and absolutely love the game.

 

[EP Dad]

Being one of the northerners around here I just sit in awe of what Californians do at age 8. My daughter in 12U doesn't even come close to what these girls do at 8.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

U of AZ. doesn't even practice for 3 hours. If I can't get it through to them in 1.5 hours, they aren't going to get it after 2 hours. Yes, pitchers and catchers can put in additional practice time.

Good luck and it is super, that you are coaching the girls.