Bat them all unless the rules prohibit it.
Bracket lineup
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FiveFrameSwing
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Consider multiple goals.
Consider setting a target that each player receives a minimum of 50% playing time.
Also consider a goal of winning. Keep your top 6 batters in the game. That means batters 7, 8 and 9 are targeted to share time with batters 10, 11 and 12.
Consider setting a target that each player receives a minimum of 50% playing time.
Also consider a goal of winning. Keep your top 6 batters in the game. That means batters 7, 8 and 9 are targeted to share time with batters 10, 11 and 12.
my $0.02
12u should first and foremost primarily be about developing the players. As a coach, if you take a player, to me that is a commitment to develop them. that means the 1st girls on your depth chart and the 12th or 14th or whatever. to develop, they have to play, no substitute for game experience, situational awareness and knowing what to do comes from playing and attempting the wrong play several times (same as learning how to execute a certain play comes from failing at in game situations multiple times) way more than having someone explain it 50 times in a practice. I have seen firsthand have seen a coach wasting nearly all the valuable practice time on situational work, then the team desperately needed to get more sound on fundamentals.
that said, assuming you got the bottom half of your depth chart meaningfull experience in pool play, nothing wrong with tightening it up for bracket play. If you are near top of bracket (ie highly ranked), you can probably still lean towards pool play pattern for first game or two, but if you are near bottom, need to go all out to win, and same if you make it to last game. but also, keep in mind, meaningful experience does not mean the 7/8/9/10/11/12 all split ABs in pool play. note, you have to switch girls around in the order some, it mattters almost as much as being in batting order or not . it is very hard for a player to be relaxed at the plate when they are fairly certain it will be their only AB of the game (seen this happen with time limit games, 8,9,10 batters often had one at bat per game, and you could see they were tentative).
I know some here will rip into this, saying earn it, etc., but at 12u, development needs to be primary goal, and every coaching decision should reflect that. that doesn't mean equal playing time or everyone gets to bat leadoff or cleanup every so many games, but it does mean getting all the girls as much experience as possible while still rewarding performance. this is not HS, NCAA, or professional. these girls (Ok parents) are PAYING for them to play, not be an insurance policy.
12u should first and foremost primarily be about developing the players. As a coach, if you take a player, to me that is a commitment to develop them. that means the 1st girls on your depth chart and the 12th or 14th or whatever. to develop, they have to play, no substitute for game experience, situational awareness and knowing what to do comes from playing and attempting the wrong play several times (same as learning how to execute a certain play comes from failing at in game situations multiple times) way more than having someone explain it 50 times in a practice. I have seen firsthand have seen a coach wasting nearly all the valuable practice time on situational work, then the team desperately needed to get more sound on fundamentals.
that said, assuming you got the bottom half of your depth chart meaningfull experience in pool play, nothing wrong with tightening it up for bracket play. If you are near top of bracket (ie highly ranked), you can probably still lean towards pool play pattern for first game or two, but if you are near bottom, need to go all out to win, and same if you make it to last game. but also, keep in mind, meaningful experience does not mean the 7/8/9/10/11/12 all split ABs in pool play. note, you have to switch girls around in the order some, it mattters almost as much as being in batting order or not . it is very hard for a player to be relaxed at the plate when they are fairly certain it will be their only AB of the game (seen this happen with time limit games, 8,9,10 batters often had one at bat per game, and you could see they were tentative).
I know some here will rip into this, saying earn it, etc., but at 12u, development needs to be primary goal, and every coaching decision should reflect that. that doesn't mean equal playing time or everyone gets to bat leadoff or cleanup every so many games, but it does mean getting all the girls as much experience as possible while still rewarding performance. this is not HS, NCAA, or professional. these girls (Ok parents) are PAYING for them to play, not be an insurance policy.
This is 12u fall ball, play them all. They all need to play to get better and the only way your team gets better is if your players get better. At 12u we only batted 9 when the rules required it, which was one state championship tournament. We did the same at 14u, and are doing the same at 16u. We like winning and we do quite a bit of it. We won five tournaments last year and batted the roster in three of those. The only two we didn't bat the lineup were two state championship tournaments and everyone played in every game of both of those. Winning is great, but we know our job is to develop softball players.
This. You have a new team I'm not sure why you would obsess over winning bracket games to the detriment of player development. You took them on the team. Play them!
Well with the fact that the rest of the season will be rained out, you might not have to worry about.
But my two cents.:
In the fall season I would split time as much as possible. With a new team you don't know what you have until you see it live. Some girls will preform under pressure and some will fold. All of a sudden your 8 hole hitter is your 5, or 3. It happens. But also with new parents comes new drama. You will need to start feeling out people's reactions when their dd sit. Are they going to walk at first opportunity or do they understand where their DD is sitting for every tourney.
Generally I have an idea of who I will rotate in, where. But some crunch time I don't want to see a girl on deck or playing a position and not have faith in her.
But my two cents.:
In the fall season I would split time as much as possible. With a new team you don't know what you have until you see it live. Some girls will preform under pressure and some will fold. All of a sudden your 8 hole hitter is your 5, or 3. It happens. But also with new parents comes new drama. You will need to start feeling out people's reactions when their dd sit. Are they going to walk at first opportunity or do they understand where their DD is sitting for every tourney.
Generally I have an idea of who I will rotate in, where. But some crunch time I don't want to see a girl on deck or playing a position and not have faith in her.
Thanks to the good information here and open-minded coaches wanting to have a fun, engaged group of 10U girls, we've made big improvements. Thank you all.
For other new TB coaches:
We went into our first tournament and started our best lineup for pool games and bracket games. We finished second, girls were ecstatic, we all had a great time. Then the phones rang, with a few parents upset their DDs didn't get infield slots and batted too low in the order. We told them (before they joined the team and again after the tournament) that this isn't rec ball and we're playing girls at their best positions and positioning the team to win.
But we recognized we could do better.
Last weekend we used what some here called "The Wheel" for the batting order. Game 1 ends with batter #6 making the last out, so Game 2 starts with batter #7 leading off. We did this in pool games and we even kept this going through the bracket games. And we told the parents how this gets girls essentially equal number of at bats and lets different girls lead-off, bat fourth, etc.
Also, in pool games we had our secondary position players play the position at least half the innings. Yes, our errors went up (both physical and mental, especially). But they were learning opportunities and really let us coaches determine our talent. And the girls had fun and I imagine the parents are appeased some.
And we won the tournament.
Feeling pretty awesome from the coaching side. Again, this message board (and having fellow open-minded coaches on the team) helped a ton.
For other new TB coaches:
We went into our first tournament and started our best lineup for pool games and bracket games. We finished second, girls were ecstatic, we all had a great time. Then the phones rang, with a few parents upset their DDs didn't get infield slots and batted too low in the order. We told them (before they joined the team and again after the tournament) that this isn't rec ball and we're playing girls at their best positions and positioning the team to win.
But we recognized we could do better.
Last weekend we used what some here called "The Wheel" for the batting order. Game 1 ends with batter #6 making the last out, so Game 2 starts with batter #7 leading off. We did this in pool games and we even kept this going through the bracket games. And we told the parents how this gets girls essentially equal number of at bats and lets different girls lead-off, bat fourth, etc.
Also, in pool games we had our secondary position players play the position at least half the innings. Yes, our errors went up (both physical and mental, especially). But they were learning opportunities and really let us coaches determine our talent. And the girls had fun and I imagine the parents are appeased some.
And we won the tournament.
Feeling pretty awesome from the coaching side. Again, this message board (and having fellow open-minded coaches on the team) helped a ton.
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Great work Drew!
way to go on the win! you give a child an opportunity, and they very often rise to the occasion.
i really like the wheel approach. another idea I have is to have two or three groups of batters, girls stay in order within the group, but order of the groups rotate game to game. still kind of lets your batting order have a strategy (ie couple of hitter with good OBP and speed, but little power, followed by a couple of hitters with more power, rinse repeat), and also really helps eliminate the dreaded inning with your 9-10-11 hitter (if you simply put all your poorest hitters at the bottom) coming up. can change the groups weekend to weekend if desired, but I also know some kids do not like to lead off (including my DD, she wants RBI opportunities
).A lot of good information, thank you for everyone who shared an opinion. I see merit in almost everything proposed. Here are a few thoughts:
1. I like the wheel method since it is "fair" to basically every player on paper. However, I think that it hurts the kids that put in extra work, hustle more, and are always trying to earn more time. We have emphasized earning your way with our new team, and several girls are stepping up to the challenge, and a few are not. Is it a coincidence that performance and working hard are directly connected. That doesn't mean that we don't keep trying to help those girls.
2. I also agree that growth/learning is our primary goal. We practice a lot, and we give every girl equal time at many positions, trying to truly help them get better and learn different spots. We also offer to help any girl outside of practice on specific things they need help with (fielding, throwing, hitting, bunting, pitching, catching). We are here to develop girls. On the flip side, girls/parents have to accept our help. Some do, some don't. Do we hold it against the girls that truly want to improve.
3. We move girls around a lot in League play and in pool games, but I have witnessed "weaker" players get completely demotivated when they don't make a play in certain situations.
4. We have moved girls that would be considered "weaker" into prominent roles based on practice performance, game performance, attitude, etc. Playing time can be earned many different ways. We have let girls know that solid OF rarely sit, and good bunters are usually in the line-up. This has motivated at least 2 of the 'weaker' girls to work harder and earn their way into the line-up. The self-satisfaction and new confidence they carry around is contagious.
5. We also do not punish girls for performing poorly. We reward girls for working hard, improving, and having a great attitude while doing it. We help provide the roadmap to success, but sometimes the girls have to do some things on their own. This game should be fun. And this game should help teach life lessons. We do not leave anyone behind ever.
I do like FFS suggesting have several goals based on winning, playing time, and growth. That seems like a good plan. Ultimately, we are there to coach and guide, and find ways to help every girl get better and love the game.
1. I like the wheel method since it is "fair" to basically every player on paper. However, I think that it hurts the kids that put in extra work, hustle more, and are always trying to earn more time. We have emphasized earning your way with our new team, and several girls are stepping up to the challenge, and a few are not. Is it a coincidence that performance and working hard are directly connected. That doesn't mean that we don't keep trying to help those girls.
2. I also agree that growth/learning is our primary goal. We practice a lot, and we give every girl equal time at many positions, trying to truly help them get better and learn different spots. We also offer to help any girl outside of practice on specific things they need help with (fielding, throwing, hitting, bunting, pitching, catching). We are here to develop girls. On the flip side, girls/parents have to accept our help. Some do, some don't. Do we hold it against the girls that truly want to improve.
3. We move girls around a lot in League play and in pool games, but I have witnessed "weaker" players get completely demotivated when they don't make a play in certain situations.
4. We have moved girls that would be considered "weaker" into prominent roles based on practice performance, game performance, attitude, etc. Playing time can be earned many different ways. We have let girls know that solid OF rarely sit, and good bunters are usually in the line-up. This has motivated at least 2 of the 'weaker' girls to work harder and earn their way into the line-up. The self-satisfaction and new confidence they carry around is contagious.
5. We also do not punish girls for performing poorly. We reward girls for working hard, improving, and having a great attitude while doing it. We help provide the roadmap to success, but sometimes the girls have to do some things on their own. This game should be fun. And this game should help teach life lessons. We do not leave anyone behind ever.
I do like FFS suggesting have several goals based on winning, playing time, and growth. That seems like a good plan. Ultimately, we are there to coach and guide, and find ways to help every girl get better and love the game.
