Difference in 10u softball and 10u baseball?
- Thread starter CaCO3Girl
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In addition to "Uncle Drew's" comment (sorry - I know it's probably UNC - it's just how I keep reading it in my head) - this was the perfect role for my AC who had no baseball or softball experience. He would circle the girls up for warmups to start practice, but also be the one to call out "softball ready!" during games. In our league, a defensive coach is allowed on the field for K-3 grade games. So I'd usually squat behind the pitcher or behind 2B to help remind them where their next play was (not during the play - well, mostly not during the play - nobodies perfect!). Since I couldn't always see the whole field, "Softball ready" just became his thing - it was one less thing for me to worry about, and was effective b/c it wasn't always just my voice the girls were hearing (and/or ignoring).
So if you have a volunteer/coach that's not up on the nuances of positioning your MIF's to maximize your chances of turning a 4-6-3 DP (that was sarcasm font, btw), give them the role of calling out "softball ready" a few times an inning when it seems like their focus is lagging.
In 10U Rec, we rotated our girls positions as much as we could. We had some fairly stable positions. One of our best gloves was also a bit slow footed, so she mostly stayed at first. Only a couple of girls were willing to take the punishment at catcher.
We rotated a steady stream of OF's through 2nd base. We only had a few girls that could accurately throw from 3rd to 1st, so they rotated at 3rd and SS.
The pitching was horrrrrrrible. Any girl that could as much as throw a strike was generally snatched up on a select team, so we had coach pitch after ball 3, and any batter hit by a ball that hit the ground before hitting the batter was not awarded first base.
Our goal at 10u Rec was really to not bore half the girls to death in the outfield, and to try to instill a love for the game. I don't think that at 10u each players abilities and body type are written in stone. If there's a parent that is convinced that his girl should play SS all the time and that she's the best at it, it's time for her to go try out for a select team and win that position.
Side Note: At 10u especially, I have witnessed the catchers get brutalized by the crowd in both baseball and softball. No one wants to yell at the terrible pitchers, but they all expect the catchers to be collegiate level athletes. If little Janie can't get to the backstop to retrieve the wild pitch and turn to make the throw to the pitcher covering home before the runner makes it in from third base, you'd think she'd just run over a puppy with a golf cart.
We rotated a steady stream of OF's through 2nd base. We only had a few girls that could accurately throw from 3rd to 1st, so they rotated at 3rd and SS.
The pitching was horrrrrrrible. Any girl that could as much as throw a strike was generally snatched up on a select team, so we had coach pitch after ball 3, and any batter hit by a ball that hit the ground before hitting the batter was not awarded first base.
Our goal at 10u Rec was really to not bore half the girls to death in the outfield, and to try to instill a love for the game. I don't think that at 10u each players abilities and body type are written in stone. If there's a parent that is convinced that his girl should play SS all the time and that she's the best at it, it's time for her to go try out for a select team and win that position.
Side Note: At 10u especially, I have witnessed the catchers get brutalized by the crowd in both baseball and softball. No one wants to yell at the terrible pitchers, but they all expect the catchers to be collegiate level athletes. If little Janie can't get to the backstop to retrieve the wild pitch and turn to make the throw to the pitcher covering home before the runner makes it in from third base, you'd think she'd just run over a puppy with a golf cart.
- Jun 8, 2016
- 16,118
- 113
As long as softball ready doesn't mean glove on the ground for all infielders I am good...
We may have been a unique team, but we often played our best SS at 3rd in 2nd year 12u and 1st year 14u. It's because she was the best 3rd baseman. A really good 3rd baseman can help a team so much against the bunt game, especially if you have a less than athletic pitcher. We still had a solid SS, but the playmaker was at 3rd.
It's morphed over the years. In kindergarten and 1st grade, I was fine with the "feet apart, glove on knees" stance. Static but at least they looked like ballplayers! The nice thing about "softball ready" is that I can always change the definition as needed. More recently my emphasis has been to incorporate pre-pitch movement. Unfortunately, 9YO's are very, very resistent to re-defining existing words - I may get a "creep" or some other movement only a few pitches per inning. It's a start, at least.
Yup. Most of the girls will already know "softball ready". It's a thing.
It's 10U rec. Plan that they don't know anything at all. Some won't.
Yup. Most of the girls will already know "softball ready". It's a thing.
But some of them may think it's code for "when are snacks?"
- Aug 12, 2014
- 647
- 43
Our rule is they have to be 15 feet behind the baseline. We play on a lot of multi-use fields and the grass is ridiculously far back for softball on some of them.
Y'all have been great with the suggestions. Very happy I found this board. My plan in the draft was to go after fielders....assuming I could teach them how to throw, and hit, but catching is much harder. After that I went for Catchers since they usually have the best arm strength. Strength is another thing I can't teach.
I've heard from all my parents now. I have 4 girls that have dabbled in pitching, 3 catchers with gear and all, 3 that have never played. I got my one good pick in the draft. Because I didn't have an assistant coach I got another good pick while the other coaches had to pick their assistant coaches. At the end of the draft we drew names for the girls that didn't come to assessments. I have two of those. One has been taking pitching lessons (score) but had a basketball game that day. The other had two basketball games, and has been playing with the idea of travel softball.....SCORE! I am SOOO excited for this team.
I promise that softball ready will not mean glove on the ground....nor will I use my 4th OF'er as a MIF.
What are y'alls opinions on walks? We all know that if they throw you absolutely nothing there is nothing you can do. But what if it's close. My gut says to instruct the girls to swing at anything close, to get the ball in play. Logic says a walk is as good as a base hit, and I should just instruct them to take the walk. What are your thoughts?
I've heard from all my parents now. I have 4 girls that have dabbled in pitching, 3 catchers with gear and all, 3 that have never played. I got my one good pick in the draft. Because I didn't have an assistant coach I got another good pick while the other coaches had to pick their assistant coaches. At the end of the draft we drew names for the girls that didn't come to assessments. I have two of those. One has been taking pitching lessons (score) but had a basketball game that day. The other had two basketball games, and has been playing with the idea of travel softball.....SCORE! I am SOOO excited for this team.
I promise that softball ready will not mean glove on the ground....nor will I use my 4th OF'er as a MIF.
What are y'alls opinions on walks? We all know that if they throw you absolutely nothing there is nothing you can do. But what if it's close. My gut says to instruct the girls to swing at anything close, to get the ball in play. Logic says a walk is as good as a base hit, and I should just instruct them to take the walk. What are your thoughts?
