- Jul 28, 2008
- 1,084
- 0
So I often wonder why coaches at the younger levels teach this. Girl on 3rd. Batter gets a walk and runs straight to 2nd. It works at 10U and most 12U levels but against good teams you're not going to get this given to you. So what is the point? Is it to beat up on lesser teams? You're going to have to stop when you get to 14U, because this turns into a double play and you look like an idiot as a coach when this happens to you. It's really not teaching the game, IMHO, if you cannot do this at the upper levels. We had it attempted against us once this weekend, and got the out at 2nd, but not home because of a hard tag by my SS.
Our last game was against a team that was doing this all weekend and running the scores up by 15+ runs. Fortunately my pitcher didn't allow any walks that game and he couldn't do it against us. This coach also had taught his girls to swing at strike 3 in the dirt and take off running to 1st for a DTK, and they were doing it all weekend. Again, is this type of coaching teaching the game of softball or playing for the win at younger levels? I just don't see the sense of it.
I look at it as a marathon and not a sprint. I am very, very adamant about teaching the fundamentals of the game and look at it as a marathon and not a sprint. It's not necessarily about now, but next year, the year after that and after that. Turn the girls into sound ball players while teaching the game.
Am I one of the few who looks at it this way, or am I a bit nuts?
Our last game was against a team that was doing this all weekend and running the scores up by 15+ runs. Fortunately my pitcher didn't allow any walks that game and he couldn't do it against us. This coach also had taught his girls to swing at strike 3 in the dirt and take off running to 1st for a DTK, and they were doing it all weekend. Again, is this type of coaching teaching the game of softball or playing for the win at younger levels? I just don't see the sense of it.
I look at it as a marathon and not a sprint. I am very, very adamant about teaching the fundamentals of the game and look at it as a marathon and not a sprint. It's not necessarily about now, but next year, the year after that and after that. Turn the girls into sound ball players while teaching the game.
Am I one of the few who looks at it this way, or am I a bit nuts?