- Dec 30, 2011
- 47
- 18
I think an occasional 5 hour practice with a bunch of fun stuff mixed in is good for team bonding. That age needs to have fun. A challenge for a coach is to find ways to improve skills while having fun plus throw in a few non softball things now and then. Save the intense practice for regular practice times and limit to no more than 3 hours. The most difficult to work in but the thing the kids like most if batting practice. My belief is that batting practice must be done by the player on their own time. A knowledgeable and always learning hitting coach is a major plus but that can be over done as well so be careful. Too many of our very athletically talented athletes leave softball for other sports due to this type of over kill. Keep a little fun in every practice at all costs. They will develop their talents. They do not have to max out in the next few months. Do it all for the kids and to a certain extent for the parents too. Very little should be done for the coach. The coach should make the biggest sacrifice for the love of the kids and families. Maybe throughout the entire softball community too much is put into the importance of playing in college. That can be very important to some families but not to all families. Most players who live through this type of atmosphere week after week all year long never play college ball. Many just don't want to after high school ball now days. a few do and they will do what is necessary to become the best they can be. Many others will just go through the motions while pretending in order to impress their high school coach or their travel ball coach or even worse a parent. These types of teams have their place for players who are in love with the game, have the natural talent and he drive to develop that talent. Those need to play at the Gold level. Teams, coaches and parents need to allow the others to play at a lower level and let the game get back to where it once was. Organizations should be limited to how many teams they can have and how much they can charge per player and stop the money making machine that has gotten so out of hand doing its part ruining the game. After 22 years of coaching at a very high level with numerous players who are playing or have played in college including my daughter, this is my view on the subject.