Corporal Punishment

[GOINGDEEP]

I know the women's heads will spin around like the Exorcist but their is nothing wrong with girls doing a little extra running or push-ups for not knowing plays, rules, goofing off, errors, maybe even back talking a coach/parent/player/ump. It's exercise for crying out loud.

When I was a teenager you couldn't wear me down, can't tell you how many times I asked the coach " is that all you got ". Sure I had to run a few extra laps, front leaning rests, stadiums, push-ups, wall chairs, but I enjoyed watching his blood pressure go up. Just as much as he enjoyed punishing me. ( but it made me the best shape of my life and better than most of the players on the teams )

The exception is in Scottbev's example, that's just plain nuts.

 

[fastpitch5]

lots of good responses. thanks for your insights. i was really wondering how common this is, and if it's just something i should expect going forward. or did we just get hooked up with a drill sargeant (did NOT come across to me as a drill sargeant when we first discussed coming to the team)? it's not my style, but to each their own. there are always other options.

for what it's worth...i dont take issue with running or exercise. i just dont think it needs to be used as a punishment for a 10, 11, or 12 year old ground ball error, especially after you've been at the ballpark for 8 or 9 hours and played three games (winning two). if something happens during a game that warrants some push-ups, do them at practice.

personally, my DD does close to 100 push-ups a week as part of her personal softball/sports training anyway. she's in running club at school. so a few push-ups or laps are a cake walk. its more the attitude of the coaches with it that catches my attention.

and trust me, as a baseball coach, i don't have a problem having a boy drop and give me a few push-ups if it's warranted. pick weeds in the outfield and after a warning or two, you're paying the piper. bobble a ground ball after a good effort, we'll talk about what you did wrong and how to correct it. might have to do it over 4 or 5 times to get it right. if the boy is trying, i'll give him as many times to get it right as necessary. i would never punish the effort.

 

[Rooster98]

If you as a coach are not prepared to accept the same responsibility as your players for not teaching them the appropriate skill when they make an error, you got no business telling them to run, do pushups, situps or whatever. People.....put this into perspective.....when someone makes a mistake it is a teachable moment. The girl know she made a mistake, no need for further consequences. Call me crazy, when my team warms up, I warm up with them. When they run, I run. If you have a player being disrepectful to another team you got no one to blame but yourself. Lead by example and they will follow, act like an idiot expect the same. Some of these coaches are drinking 10,000 PBR's a year wearing a shirt that fit them when they were in college need to get with the program. Hey that shirt does not fit anymore, your beer belly is going to give you a heart attack you should be running too. Seriously......this post has kind of gotten me fired up a little. Lazy coaches sitting on their padded bucket barking orders. LEAD BY EXAMPLE!!!!!

 

[mosftballdad]

For our 12u team we use running as a refocusing tool during practice. Not to say we wouldn't run at the next practice if they were kicking at dirt clods during the game though. I am not a fan of punishments right after a game, especially in front of another team. We take notes on errors, missed plays, etc and will drill them hard at the next practice.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

You asked how common it is. I would say, that in my DDs experiences it was not common. You can incorporate running into your daily infield and outfield drills and it will benefit the ball player. The most we need to be able to run is 240 feet (and even that doesn't happen very often.) Heavy, athletic girls can play ball very well. They can run the bases, any more than that is not helping the girl.

When I was coaching at Springfield College in IL., a pitcher that I recruited, asked me how far she was going to have to run. I said "Out to the circle and back."

 

[jwalk]

Something similar happened over the weekend at our tourny. I won't go into details, but the coaches looked like tools. There was no excuse for it. I was embarresed for the team and the parents.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Now Screwball I have always felt you were "old school" and I mean that with respect in upbringing and not calendar years.

Of coarse you can't do this anymore without it being called "beating", but we use to be able to "spank" our kids. They stepped out of line, stole candy, tore something up, cussed, etc.........they get their tail tanned. I know for me ( young ) I'd be shaking like a leaf on a tree when dad would spank me, and he never did it without just cause. It got my attention.

These kids now-a-days would fall over dead with what we did in conditioning and practice. And don't even mention 2 a-day practices. Most of them don't even know what those are.

The running and push-ups are to get their attention. If they have the skills, and are giving me 50%, they are going to exercise a little.
Pretty soon it clicks that "if I hustle.....if I try....if I stay motivated.....if I make a good effort", I won't have to run.

I want to make it clear, I would not / have not ever made a girl run or do push-ups for a single infraction, a single error. But I will, if I feel multiple infractions are due to lack of motivation. If you don't do something about it soon, you will have a whole team with no motivation. It spreads like cancer.

Maybe if we didn't baby these heavier girls and make them run from time to time, they wouldn't be heavy.

 

[Rooster98]

Now Screwball I have always felt you were "old school" and I mean that with respect in upbringing and not calendar years.

Of coarse you can't do this anymore without it being called "beating", but we use to be able to "spank" our kids. They stepped out of line, stole candy, tore something up, cussed, etc.........they get their tail tanned. I know for me ( young ) I'd be shaking like a leaf on a tree when dad would spank me, and he never did it without just cause. It got my attention.

These kids now-a-days would fall over dead with what we did in conditioning and practice. And don't even mention 2 a-day practices. Most of them don't even know what those are.

The running and push-ups are to get their attention. If they have the skills, and are giving me 50%, they are going to exercise a little.
Pretty soon it clicks that "if I hustle.....if I try....if I stay motivated.....if I make a good effort", I won't have to run.

I want to make it clear, I would not / have not ever made a girl run or do push-ups for a single infraction, a single error. But I will, if I feel multiple infractions are due to lack of motivation. If you don't do something about it soon, you will have a whole team with no motivation. It spreads like cancer.

Maybe if we didn't baby these heavier girls and make them run from time to time, they wouldn't be heavy.

Not to belabor the point here as I have said my peace.....You sure are sterotyping a whole lot of girls here"Goingdeep". Girls mature at different rates than boys, there bodies grow differently than a guys, a "bigger" girl at 13 can be a "skinny" girl at 16. I will say this, i have "heavy" girl : as you say..... on my team. She is one of the hardest workers I have on my team. I would not trade her for anything. I don't care if she gets bigger or smaller, the girl is athletic. She hits bombs and plays her position very well. Some girls are not big just because they sit around and do nothing all day, some are big because they are built that way. Watch a football game, you see any big people on the field there?????

 

[redhotcoach]

Got to get to practice, but my one minute thought: Early or off season pt "punishment" is good, get the point and get in shape. In season punishment for errors especially batting, absolutely not! The more pressure put on not making errors, the more likely there will be errors. How would a coach feel if their player's parent yelled at her while on deck "you better not strike out or your grounded."

 

[Sweet Lou]

These kids now-a-days would fall over dead with what we did in conditioning and practice. And don't even mention 2 a-day practices. Most of them don't even know what those are.

Conditioning for the sake of conditioning - good

Conditioning as punishment for insubordination - OK

Conditioning as punishment for errors - not cool

Just my opinion, others have different views on the subject.