Brain over load

[quincy]

They need to learn there spots. They are good enough to start this. Any other ways of working in this?

I am not sure how good they are but put a plunger upside down in a batting tee so it can hold a bigger ball. Place a basketball or larger ball on it. If they can hit it off the tee X times out of 10 move to a smaller ball, like a volleyball, then 16” softball etc. If they cannot hit the smaller ball move back up a ball size.

You can move the ball around the zones for the players to hit. Like you mentioned a horse or pig type game can be played. For the low pitches you might need to swap out the tee for another ball holding device like a cone.

 

[cdolson00]

Love that. I have soccer balls I use for working on strong follow throws. But I can use out for that to. Thanks.

 

[Ken Krause]

If you focus on having pitchers learn proper mechanics they will learn to hit their spots. They'll also know how to correct themselves if they don't.

I always tell my students that accuracy isn't a goal, it's a result. If you do the right things, the ball will go where it should - because it doesn't care where it goes. It goes wherever you tell it to go.

That being said, occasionally I have a student who just can't quite seem to get it. At that point, we make it simple - just work on one single spot over and over and over until she understands how her body needs to move to do it. I had one student last year who was having that issue, and that's what we did. We worked on low and out, which I believe is the most important spot, especially for young pitchers, because it's the pitch young hitters are most likely to let go by for an easy strike.

The pitcher in question got it after that. Not sure if it was the repetition or just her desire to not spend another half hour doing one thing, but either way it worked. She hits all her spots a lot better because her mechanics are more consistent - and when she misses, she knows how to correct it.

 

[Ken Krause]

I have been coaching for a few years now. The more I learn , the more I realize I need to know more.
I am going to work on my plan. I will let you know how its going. Thanks

So do I. It's kind of like walking toward a mountain. When you're far away it looks pretty manageable. The closer you get, the bigger it looks. Just remember the old adage how about to eat an elephant. You do it one bite at a time.

As for where to start, place your emphasis on teaching your girls to throw and catch. Not just to chuck the ball at one another and grab it, but how to throw and catch properly. The figure I've heard is that 80% of all errors are throwing errors. Eliminate those and you'll have a lot less ground to make up elsewhere. Throwing is a skill that is severely under-taught.

One of my favorite challenges is what I call the one minute drill. Set your players into two lines facing each other - one along a foul line, the other an appropriate distance away from the first. At 10U, you may want them at 40 feet, which is enough to be challenging without making it impossible. Pull out a stopwatch (the visual of a stopwatch is very important to the whole process) and tell them you want them to throw and catch without a throw-away or a drop for one minute. No set number of throws or speed involved, just throw and catch. If there are any drops or throwaways, stop the watch and start over. You'll probably be surprised at how difficult it becomes when they HAVE to do it.

Here's a quick sample structure for a two-hour practice:

First 10-15 minutes: warm-ups, team meeting to discuss what you will be learning or input from last game/tournament
Next 15 minutes: throwing and catching (emphasis on proper technique)
Next 25 minutes: Defensive drills/techniques; have pitchers pitch;
Break for 5 minutes
30 minutes in second hour: Split team; work on hitting and baserunning together with half the team; other half work on position play until everyone has gone through it
Next 20 minutes: Bring everyone back together, work on defensive sets or plays, plus baserunning
Last 10 minutes: challenge or game to finish up

Hope that helps.

 

[cdolson00]

Thanks.it does help. I am working on my list of drills.

 

[cdolson00]

Here is what i have so far. Can you think of what i am missing. Remember these are 10u girls. Aobut half my team have only played coach pitch ball or have very limited experience at a traveling level.

1. Accountability- Girls will make “team” and Personal Goals. Want to get ownership of team success.
2. Throwing- Accuracy and efficient at short, med and long range ( 6/10)
3. Catching- two hands, pop fly’s, grounders, glove side, back hand, short hops (6/10)
4. Pitching- 4 corners with top 2 pitchers (Violet and Emma) high/ low with Emily and start on another pitcher or two if possible.
5. Catchers- knowledge, speed of reaction, accuracy of the throws to pitcher, 2 and 3. Blocking, and controlling the runners. Start to build at least two back-ups to Emily.
6. Hitting- Fundamentals, bunting
7. Baserunning- aggressive, timing, knowledge, speed
8. Measuring- testing the girls at every practice and keep records on their progress. Test on Hitting, throwing, catching, pitching, and baserunning. ( not everything at every practice but at least two per practice)
9. Knowledge: increase knowledge base for all girls.

 

[vdubya]

Sue Enquist talks about this in the beginning of this clip, its really the entire hitting strategy we should teach hitters.

^^^Good right there. I NEVER say 'protect the plate' but instead remind players NOT to 'protect' but rather to BE ON OFFENSE. "Protect the plate' and 'killer instinct' are contradictory terms. One suggests to go on the defensive (goalie) while the other is an offensive mindset. When I coach, I don't allow 'protect the plate' quotes out of the parents regardless of the number of strikes. JMO

 

[coach james]

Thanks for the Enquist link. The comment about saying
"go on offence" and never saying to protect makes alot of since to me, never thought of it like that.