Corporal Punishment

[GOINGDEEP]

Watch a football game, you see any big people on the field there?????

I don't see many overweight running backs, or wide receivers. You don't see many overweight basketball players, or in soccer. That's because they are exercising in the simplest form of conditioning. Running/jogging.

I apologize if I came off as picking on heavy people. That was not my intentions, I was trying to make a point that this country and a lot of it's youth have obese problems. Some are hereditary, some from poor diets, some from being lazy. I have a few extra pounds around the ole mid section, but not when I was young because I was always playing ball, working out, running, hiking, etc.

My daughter has a heavy friend. She was probably close to 200. This girl has started eating right, walks every night, goes to something called "Zumba" at the local gym 3 nights a week, and has lost 45 pounds since November. Amazing what the human body can do when motivated.

On this thread, no we shouldn't make the extra exercise as an embarrassment to the DD. But it won't hurt them one bit to run 1/2 mile when handled the proper way at the proper time.

I wish someone had "made" me run the last few years, might not have to loosen up the belt so much after a big meal.

 

[Rooster98]

I don't see many overweight running backs, or wide receivers. You don't see many overweight basketball players, or in soccer. That's because they are exercising in the simplest form of conditioning. Running/jogging.

I apologize if I came off as picking on heavy people. That was not my intentions, I was trying to make a point that this country and a lot of it's youth have obese problems. Some are hereditary, some from poor diets, some from being lazy. I have a few extra pounds around the ole mid section, but not when I was young because I was always playing ball, working out, running, hiking, etc.

My daughter has a heavy friend. She was probably close to 200. This girl has started eating right, walks every night, goes to something called "Zumba" at the local gym 3 nights a week, and has lost 45 pounds since November. Amazing what the human body can do when motivated.

On this thread, no we shouldn't make the extra exercise as an embarrassment to the DD. But it won't hurt them one bit to run 1/2 mile when handled the proper way at the proper time.

I wish someone had "made" me run the last few years, might not have to loosen up the belt so much after a big meal.

I want to make myself perfectly clear so as to not offend anyone.......getting in physical shape/conditioning=very good, my point being was some girls are bigger than others and some grow out of it as they age, some is due to lack of physical activity some don't due to genitics or poor eating. Running=good.

Every girl at my practices has plenty of conditioning. That is different than making a girl run for making an error.....that is plain out the coach calling the girl out and in my mind a jackass!!!! Can he play 80+ games a summer and not make an error or lose a game....not going to happen. If my team runs, I run. I feel part responsible as a coach if errors are made and we use it as a teaching moment, not a time to throw a girl under a bus.

Bad attitudes/poor sportsmanship......to each their own. The girls on my team know we are here for 2 hours of business every time we practice. If they are not ready to work, they can go home. And they wont be playing much if at all or be on my team next year. I would gladly give a parent their money back than have a bad seed. Running as a form of punishment for that.....I am not cool with....

A coach running his girls in 95+ heat during a tournament with 5 games left to play.....jackass!!!!!

Agree to agree or disagree, just my coaching style. Money is a lot easier to give back than to deal with a season of problems. Done it a time or two in my days and well worth it in my mind. Making someone run as punishment is just a tatic coaches use to get a trouble girl out of their hair for 20 minutes. Deal with this issue with playing time or refund the parents the money.

Making kids run in between games because of errors.....what a joke. Again.....my opinion only

 

[GOINGDEEP]

I've already said I disagree with running during a weekend tournament. Too demanding.

I've said I would never have a player run for a mistake, only if they are lazy mistakes in the plural.

There is a fine line between physical punishment and insanity. ( I would never be as hard on my girls as my coach was on me, I was hard headed and enjoyed pain, not so much now )

This is not the article I was looking for, the one I had seen a few months ago was on baseball discipline drills. But every sport I've played, baseball, basketball, football had some type of discipline.

Running With Pads

Forcing players to run is a common punishment drill in sports. In football, making players run with pads on adds another dimension to the punishment. Bulky shoulder pads, a helmet and other protective gear weigh about 13 pounds. A one-mile run or simple lap around the field in full pads is not a desirable activity for football players. This is a powerful punishment and coaches should not overdo it by making the players run excessively long distances. Be sure the athletes have access to water after the run.

Up-downs
A common football drill is the up-down. In this drill, players run in place and, on command, drop flat to the ground on their stomachs. Without their knees touching the ground, players must then bounce back up quickly and resume running in place. This drill is used during football practices to improve endurance and agility. Because of the rigorous nature of this exercise, up-downs also serve as an effective punishment drill. No player enjoys performing up-downs. Ordering an athlete to perform multiple up-downs lets him know his actions were unacceptable.


Sprints
With or without pads, sprints are an effective form of punishment. The yard markers on a football field provide an easy way to measure the distance of the sprints. Have a player start on one goal line, then sprint to the 20-yard line and back. Next, have him run to the 40-yard line and back. Continue increasing the distance in 20-yard increments until he runs the entire 100-yard football field and back. Increase the number of repetitions if you need to increase the severity of the punishment. As with all running drills, however, be sure the athletes are in no danger of severe health problems. Do not force players to overexert themselves in hot or humid conditions and ensure players are properly hydrated.

Head-to-Head Drills
Sometimes a pair of players miss their assignments on a specific play or fail to work together on a play requiring cooperation. One way to punish them for these mistakes is to pit them against each other in a physical challenge. These drills have many names. The San Francisco 49ers called one of these drills "the Nutcracker." Players line up facing each other in their three-point stances. On the whistle, both players engage in a straightforward physical battle with each player trying to drive his opponent back. This is not the type of drill players look forward to at the end of a long, hard practice.

 

[Ken Krause]

We had a thread on this last year after I fielded complaints from some parents on the 12U team of the organization I belonged to for a similar issue. At a tournament, between games, running a sprint for every error, every strikeout looking and maybe a couple of other things. The coaches of that team were young females, not fat old men (like me).

It's foolish and counter-productive. As has been stated previously, punishing players for mistakes just makes them uptight, which causes them to make more errors. At younger ages it makes them feel bad about themselves and lose confidence -- and/or hate the game. Fastpitch softball is tough enough without having to look over your shoulder every time you have problems. The time is much better spent working on the skills that will prevent such problems in the future. At a tournament it's inexcusable. Why wear them out and embarrass your players? Make notes of what to work on and get ready for the next game.

That's not to say I would never use laps, sprints or other forms of physical activity in practice. Not as punishments but as consequences to help players learn how to play under pressure. Or in extreme cases to help them focus. Having two teams compete, with the losers running or doing jumping jacks or sit-ups or whatever gives players some skin in the game. My High Five hitting game ends with someone doing pushups - either the hitter or me. Makes it more fun, especially for the player if she wins.

I do remember one particular time I used sprints for punishment. It had to do with a lack of focus in practice. We were practicing bunts off a pitching machine and the girls were putting little effort into the technique -- which of course makes it a waste of time. I was asking them to perform a skill I already knew they could do. So I told them we had to have everyone lay down a bunt in a row. Every time we missed a bunt everyone would run a spring and the count would start over. The focus level went up after the first few misses and we finished the drill. But part of the reason it was effective, I think, was it was unusual for me to do. And it was specific to that particular drill, not a general punishment.

 

[Sparky Guy]

It happens. Frankly I think it is stupid. Making girls do pushups etc. for losses and mistakes is dumb in my opinion.

Now for not paying attention, disrupting practice, not following directions etc., I have no problem at all with pushups, laps, etc.

That is exactly what I do. I NEVER punish a player for making a physical error, provided I see a "best effort" to make the play. It's part of the learning process. I always tell my players if you're going to make a mistake, make a big one so there's no doubt in my mind you're trying. Then we'll fix it from there.

Working on game situations in practice last week. I hit a ball to a girl and she just stood there after she fielded it. I asked why she just held the ball. She confidently said she had no idea what to do in that situation for everyone on the field to hear. It was GREAT!!!!! I explained her options and made sure she understood all of them, then we went back to work. What happened after that was the other kids realized that not knowing something was not the same as making a mistake. They started asking intelligent questions after that once they realized they would get help, not a butt chewing.

Heck.. I was looking at the stats for my DD's college alma mater today. They have 67 errors in 36 games this season. One pitcher has 36 unearned runs allowed in 87 innings worked. It would seem someone sold the team a bunch of gloves with bricks built into the pockets. It never stings to "catch" one there.


Now... Going brain dead, not paying attention, excessive talking or screwing around.. They will have arms like a world class body builder if they keep it up. I've never had a complaint from a parent. In fact, I even have a name for a specified run at the field we practice on. It's named after the first girl I ever made do it. Her last name was Thompson. So all I have to do is tell an offender "Take a Thompson." and they know exactly what it means.

 

[chinamigarden]

Instead of running them, sit them down I say. A player continues to make mental errors, replace her in the field in the next inning. A girl continues to watch strike 3, move her down the order.

Running kids at the next practice is like spanking a dog for something they did 5 hours ago. They don't remember what it was you are mad about.

 

[PEPPERS]

Mistakes are how you learn, being punished for a mistake is counterproductive IMO.

That’s how I got so smart all them misktes!!!!!!!

 

[Mylil32]

My DD had to run 2 laps because we were late to practice, totally my fault and I felt almost bad enough about it to go run with her but then I thought "nnaaa" and sat and watched.

LOL

 

[InsidePitch]

I'm not sure how I feel about running kids that are late. I do make a point of telling them they are late in a loud enough voice that the parent can hear.

I never thought about making a kid run for a mistake. Taking during a demonstration, basically not paying attention, YES but even then it's after the first "does she know the play I am showing you?".

 

[02Crush]

We run sprints and banks, we do pushups, we run foul poles and do sit ups. We stretch....All at every fielding practice twice a week. Our girls know it is for fitness. And as coaches since we started this addition we have seen a marked improvement in their ability to last the entire day of play and finish with energy to spare. We DO NOT use Running as punishment as it then negates why we do it for getting them into shape. We merely tell them the truth. If we are not happy with their effort or a play then we let them know. We are not critical but we do let them know what we expect them to do in order to fix the problem. If it is something really bad we pull the entire team together and work on it between games. This past weekend we worked on two things we fell short on....In the next game we saw a difference. If you want better results then work on what you expect to get better.
We constantly tell out players that no one is perfect and mistakes are made when you are trying. We then tell them that when mistakes are made we expect them to work harder to find a way to fix it. We do not expect immediate results....We just let them decide what timeline to put on the "fixing". I find they all work hard and ask questions if treated like you care about them as people and do not sugar coat or over react to things. Consistency...Stability and Patience..Hard to have all the time bit remember it and you will be this most of the time.