coaching a 12U team...advice please

[coachtucc]

Hey coaches and players:
I am high school coach and in two weeks I am coaching a 12U travel team (not traveling off of Long Island...just Nassau and Suffolk counties). I have never coached a team younger than JV before so how do I proceed...what are the major differences I should be aware of and so on...Thanks everyone...by the way this team is a brand new 12U team!!
Coach Tony Vertuccio

 

[Bishop]

Hey Coach.

Focus on the basics. Throw the ball, catch the ball and hit the ball. Teach them proper mechanics and get them doing as many reps as possible with supervision to address the mechanics flaws that are going to constantly creep back in. Depending on where your players are coming from you might be shocked at the level of polish on the basics.

If your team can reliably catch, throw and hit they will do fine. Spend the time in spring when you can get back on the dirt working on game situations with more reps on the big 3. Coverages, backups, bag responsibilities, base running, etc.

Once you have all that covered and they are performing at reasonable level you get to hit the hard part. They are 12. Get ready for the mental lock ups, brain farts and emotional tidal waves. Plays that have been executed a 100 times will get blown. They will at times completely fail to execute. The most painful of all, sometimes the most professional and polite correction of a problem is going to result in tears.

Enjoy the heck out of it, I did this year. The really cool thing about this age is how much they can improve from beginning to end. It seems at 12 they are mature enough to reall 'get it' and start taking responsibility for thier skills, the ones that click on and put in the effort can make huge gains. As a coach, that was the most rewarding thing.

 

[druer]

Girls in 12U are VERY impressionable. They are just about to start wrestling with who they are as "women." Beyond building softball players you have the opportunity if you take it to help form a solid foundation for what they are going to go through in 1 - 2 years. They are VERY geared towards trying to hit the expectations that you establish for them. So if you can clearly communicate your expectations of each and every one of them, they will move mountains if necessary to try and meet those expecations.

Physically girls at this age very greatly, but they don't (for the most part) have the strength that high school girls have. So even though they may have a ton of athleticism they aren't going to have the strength needed to do certain things that you may be used to, so realize that up front.

Huge emotional range between the younger 12U's and the older 12U's. Those that are 13 already (after Jan 1 birthday) and those approaching 13 may well just be starting a phase of life where they want to have a "best friend" and start forming cliques. They don't want to be friends with everyone on the team anymore like most of the others will. That doesn't mean you can't establish boundaries of proper behavior on/around the field, but it can be trying to deal with.

Honestly I've worked with girls at all ages, and I can't think of an age group that I enjoy working with more than 12U. They have nearly all of the physical skills necessary to play the game at a high level, are still young enough to fear you and behave, and have such a heart to want to do well and support each other. I think you are really going to enjoy the change of pace.

 

[Coach JV]

It seems at 12 they are mature enough to reall 'get it'

This is the best part of all! The 12U is the age where the players develop rapidly and you can
clearly see the difference between those who can play very well and those who are going to
have rec ball only mentality. The older 12s want better competition and are intrigued by the opportunity
to play TB. It is a great age and lots of fun to coach-

 

[3'sDad]

Coach: Do you have the opportunity to have a co-coach or assistant coach who is female? Maybe one of your former or current players? Girls this age enjoy working with and taking direction from someone who is or has "been there, done that".

DD's travel coach is a very well respected HS softball coach here in NJ. "Coach" is an excellent teacher of the game and a great game coach. The girls all enjoy playing for her.

 

[InsidePitch]

12U is a great age. Kids really start to get the game. They begin making catches that surprise you. Plays you were sure they never would. They play act on a delayed steal and you will have kids that given any opportunity will steal their way from first to home regardless. You will come to have a love/hate relationship with the dropped 3rd strike when you win or lose by it.

IMHO, Stealing is a very large part of the 12U game. I know no DD's from this board do it but pitchers are still kind of wild and will walk a number of girls and give stealing opportunities by putting balls in the dirt. Catchers don't always block and often don't have the stamina to give you a whole game especially when it's hot. Their reaction time to get a ball at the backstop becomes slower and their arms often don't make a good throws to second. Better have more than one competent catcher.

Enjoy the enthusiasm for the game and refinement you can achieve.

 

[jacketsfan]

Just remember that they are young girls still. They will respond to instructions and criticsm (postive and negative) MUCH differently than your HS kids. They generally truly look to you as an authority figure. If you are harsh with them, they will shut down. The tone and demeanor you take is as important, if not more so, than the words you choose.

I lose my mind when I hear people say things like "start hitting, and I'll put you in the lineup", or "make less errors, and you'll get more field time". While this may in fact be true, these are not inspiring messages to girls this age.

They are not made of glass, but they are not emotionally mature enough to deal with a whole lot of criticism either.

As others said, they progress quickly, and it is extremely rewarding. It requires a saint's patience sometimes. But, remember that they are younger than they seem, and they are looking to you for inspiration.

From a playing perspective, I worked hard with my catchers on picking runners off at 1st and 3rd. Stealing 2nd is sometimes hard to prevent, but we erased a lot of base runners from the corners, because most other teams were not expecting it. Be prepared for the occasional throw to left or right field in the beginning, but once your corner players and catchers get used to it, it's deadly.

 

[amanda_cake]

As others have said, remember your tone. They aren't at the level yet of the HS softball players where they know it is your way or the highway. Give them a little leeway, you can't expect the same demands out of them as you do the older kids. Push them, but not too hard. They just aren't at that same level yet. Remember that many of them probably won't like/love softball as much as your HS girls do. Some might be just starting to play, others might have played for a long time--not because they wanted to, but because mommy and daddy wanted them to. You're going to have to remember that not all of them are going to share your passion about softball.

 

[fastpitch]

The one thing that may be new to you with this age group is managing the parents expectations as well. Some of these parents will be relatively new to travel and their girls may have been the better players on their LL or rec teams so they may not be used to their DD only playing outfield. Set rules for them as well. Parents should not be yelling instruction to their kids or speaking to them in games.

You will probably also have a few girls on this team that are not as good as the others. They need to play also. You may already do this but you need to make sure girls get adequate playing time. At this age its very important to them. The level of travel you are playing sounds more developmental (as opposed to competitive since you are only staying on LI) which again should not be a win at all costs attitude. Play the weaker players. They may surprise you.

Good luck!

 

[starsnuffer]

Great advice in this thread!

I love the 12u age range. While it is true that you have to deal with a lot more emotional "girl stuff" then 10u or 16u, I find that the abilities and drive girls have at this age pays off.

One thing to keep in mind when going from the HS to TB mindset, especially in this age range, is to understand that winning is pretty pointless. Sure, you'll want to play your best players Sunday morning so you get more then 1 game in, but your main purpose is to teach softball. By teaching softball I mean not only to teach mechanics and fundamentals, but to provide an environmental that fosters the girls ability to fall in love with the game.

Give them the tools, instruction, and chance to challenge themselves and love the sport, and do your best not to "break them" and simply be your little group of well-behaved automatons, and you will have made the world a better place. It's very easy to lead by fear in this age range, but ask yourself if that's something you really want to do to a group of young ladies who will more then likely be mothers with kids of their own someday.

-W