Five hour practice Saturday and Sunday at 12u

[Bigflipdaddy]

Just curious if you were ever informed of the practice schedule when you signed up for the team? Mind you my DD's are a little older (16's), but even when they were younger, a practice schedule was ALWAYS discussed any if there were any changes, we were notified with ample time (pending any last minute emergencies). I hate to say if you signed up for this knowing well what the schedule is, it's pretty much "suck it up buttercup!" We've lucked out that the last couple of teams my DDs have been on have been great with a solid practice schedule (2 days/2hrs each & a Sat every other month for 4 hrs) and a projected tournament/friendly schedule at least 6 months in advance. It allows us to plan family trips/events...and not have everything evolve around softball...even though it does sometimes!

 

[Westwind]

Yea but back to back 5 hrs on weekend AND additional weekday practices has nothing to do with the talent of the staff... the issue isnt just the length of the practice. It the frequency... I can’t think of a single perspective or situation where this makes sense for a 12u team during school - I’ll tell you it wouldnt make sense for my kids 16u, 14u or 12u teams



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It is a lot. In pretty much any setting.


Anybody know what kind of success this coach/team has had historically?

 

[FP26]

In my opinion this is too much. If done properly, I'm sure a 5 hour practice can be done, and can be effective. But it could also be a disaster. Really depends on the coaches, facilities, etc. But when you are looking at doing this on Saturday AND Sunday, I think it is too much. We typically had 3 hour practices throughout the winter, but that was the only practice we had all week. Honestly, I think we could have extended it to 4 without much issue. 5 may have been pushing it.

 

[Silver 2200]

The only way I could see this being a good idea is if this was a very good PGF team that had a bunch of players driving from a long distance (3 hours or more). In that case you could do a 2.5-hour practice, take a break for a 1/2 hour, and then do a live scrimmage for the last two hours.

My daughter plays for arguably one of the top organizations in the country. We practice 3 hours on Sundays. Everything else is expected to be done on your own.

 

[uncdrew]

I don't even know what you can do for 5 hours straight. Too much imo.

5 hours with a gaggle of adolescent girls? I'm not sure they could even tell you what they did for 5 hours.

 

[hearingmommaJV]

How much practice is too much? Is 5 hours with no break (of course water) too much? Team also practice on 2 weekdays(2 plus hours). THese are not easy practices either. High intensity, max reps, 4 coaches, non stop.
Thoughts?

depends how many weekends per month. In birmingham -- we do "clinics" with this type of schedule once a month; but most of our team is also out of town. We have practices in addition 2x a month at our facility and those are 5 hours each, but not both sat/sun. There should be a snack break for fruit, get out of the heat, etc.

 

[julray]

Way too much, a very good way to kill a kids interest in a sport, or just plain burn out. No matter how much kids love ball, this is a disaster in the making. Every kid has a life outside ball, that coach is taking that away.

 

[rtb]

Oh forgot to mention, players are expected(required to) have private hitting lesson and/or catching lesson midweek by an approved instructor. (one of the coaches)

Also no weekends off. Play or practice every weekend.

Also a added caveat, my DD is pre puberty. Don't want be graphic but I think that makes a little difference too.

You should get out now before you ruin your relationship with your DD

 

[erniekru]

Teams always say 1 weekend off a month, I've never seen a team follow through with it. We do get occasional weekends off, but very much not the norm.

Not a fan of weekday practices. Our team does not run them and honestly the coach doesn't care if you work on the side. If you don't work on the side, there will be another who is and they'll get the playing time. (Everyone works on the side, though)

We are mandated to do 2x Strength and Conditioning 1 hr sessions per week, whenever fits each families schedule.

Weekend practices are 3.5hrs each day Sat and Sun (without batting). This was last year on a top level 12u team

FWIW, there is a coach in our org that runs 5hr practices, but no weeknights, and gets very good results from his teams, so not unheard of at all.

Only you can read your DD and decide if it's right. Softball is no joke when it comes to putting work in. Good luck!

 

[acoach2]

Most college teams don't practice that many hours at one time. It's simply not an efficient use of time. At a certain point, mechanics start to break down and skills begin to suffer.

A college may require it's athletes to be up early and hit the weight room and report later in the day for a practice session of a couple of hours, however, these are college athletes and not 10 to 12-year-olds.

After having coached for many years privately, and at travel ball, and high school level that practicing for 5 hours at a time is not productive and MOST kids do not like it.

Please don't put your kids through that misery. At the end of the day, it is the relationship that you have with your daughter is the thing that matters most.

At some point, softball will be over for both of you and be a distant memory. Make it a good memory.

A little off-topic here but I've got to mention this. The biggest mistake most parents make is not realizing where or what kind of talent their daughter actually has. They desperately try to force them onto teams or situations that are not good for them.

A lot of times kids will say they like something just to please you. Don't be surprised when the day comes after years of paying for travel ball related expenses, lessons, and all the other related stuff to get them ready for college softball they say to you "Gee dad/mom I never wanted to go to college I just want to cut hair."