Anyone like outs at 2nd?? 10U

[FP26]

So is teaching kids to play the game the correct way..regardless of whether it may not be optimal in terms of W and L's at that age..

The travel ball coach in me wants to say yes. Get the out at 2nd.

The former 10u rec coach is conflicted. We had players on our rec team that were more interested in chasing butterflies than paying attention to the game. But for us 10u included 7 to 10 year olds.

 

[_MIA_]

The travel ball coach in me wants to say yes.

The former 10u rec coach is conflicted. We had players on our rec team that were more interested in chasing butterflies than paying attention to the game. But for us 10u included 7 to 10 year olds.

Yeah I might be biased..I just spent a season watching my 5 YO son's t-ball coach tell every kid to run the ball to the base instead of throwing it..everytime.

 

[marriard]

So is teaching kids to play the game the correct way..regardless of whether it may not be optimal in terms of W and L's at that age..

It has to be a balance.

It isn't even a matter of W-L - If you have a lower level team you can quickly lose the parents/players/others if they are fielding for 30 minutes per half-inning every time - especially in the heat of summer - and are losing ALL the time. Also I want game at-bats in their development so I want to get their swings in as well.

As the skills develop then you can move to making the 'better' or 'right' play as you move forward and they have a chance of success (even a small one). You will still get plenty of balls in the outfield - that is all OK. Moving them through these things are all part of good coaching in my opinion.

 

[radness]

Learning something is a winning moment!

 

[_MIA_]

It has to be a balance.

It isn't even a matter of W-L - If you have a lower level team you can quickly lose the parents/players/others if they are fielding for 30 minutes per half-inning every time - especially in the heat of summer - and are losing ALL the time. Also I want game at-bats in their development so I want to get their swings in as well.

As the skills develop then you can move to making the 'better' or 'right' play as you move forward and they have a chance of success (even a small one). You will still get plenty of balls in the outfield - that is all OK. Moving them through these things are all part of good coaching in my opinion.

Fair enough.

 

[Towny9]

So is teaching kids to play the game the correct way..regardless of whether it may not be optimal in terms of W and L's at that age..

It is always the right time to do the right thing. My coaching motto at 10U is that I will never teach them something that I will have un-teach them later on

 

[radness]

It is always the right time to do the right thing.
My coaching motto at 10U is that I will never teach them something that I will have un-teach them later on

This post deserves to be in the spot light !

 

[NBECoach]

Was talking with another local coach in the area discussing game strategies and wanted to get some opinions.

Girl up to bat..
Only runner is on first..
Girl hits a fast grounder to 2nd baseman(between 1st & 2nd plate)
Do you get the runner out at 2nd if its there? or do you throw to first and get that runner out and then immediately throw to 3rd to hold the runner that advanced to second?

My theory on this is after evaluating the opposing teams runners decide which game plan to go with.If they have average runners get the out at 2nd if the chance is available everytime.
If they have very fast runners then change to getting the runners out at 1st.

whats everyones thoughts??

Our rule is if the runner from first has passed the second baseman at the moment she fields the ball we go to first. Otherwise go to 2b for th out.

 

[LadyRangers2k11]

The force out at 2B is usually the easiest out.

At practice, the drill for the force at 2B is a great foundation for infield.

Split team into two lines, one at SS one at 2B. Put an empty bucket at 2B. Coach has a bucket of balls. Stand in the circle and hit ground balls to a player in the fielding line while a player from the receiving covers 2B. (Pro tip #1: Make sure the "receiving line" players don't cheat by moving closer to the bag.) Receiving player drops ball into bucket. Receiving player goes to end fielding line, fielding player goes to end of receiving line. Rotate hitting balls to 3B side and 1B side of 2B.

For variety, put a couple of players at 1B and have the receiving player thrower to 1B after getting the force out. (Pro tip #2: Teach the players to always try for the double play. As for overthrows...that is what a RF is for.)

By hitting the ball to different spots you can teach the fielders how to make different throws. You can also work on all the fundamentals.

Dang this is an awesome idea! I will utilize this at EVERY practice for sure!

 

[Gags]

This play (and the 4-3) is why I think an underhand toss is an underrated (and undertaught) fundamental at both the rec and TB levels.