How many games can you play in a day?

[ignition]

Seems like the number for our 12's is exactly three games. The fourth game always kills us. Doesn't matter if its four in a row, four with a few back to back, or four evenly spaced. We have a set of four great pitchers, and use them in rotation so it's not like we're getting fatigued there. Our defense makes about the same amount of plays/errors as they did in previous games. We also place well in pool play, so we're not typically overmatched for the first bracket game.


Touching on another thread about keeping players sharp, I'm wondering how many games your team can play before they just lose it for the day? Beyond that, how many games is too many to play in a day?

 

[CoogansBluff]

I'll play amateur psychologist and suggest that much of it is mental. When you get tired, then whatever you're doing must hold a higher promise of reward then when you're fresh. Forrest Gump said it best - "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now.'' He'd run from coast to coast, and finally his fatigue was more pressing than what he might see if he kept running.

So in softball, it's partly related to whether the players and coaches think something good is going to happen if they keep running. If they're a good team that expects to win, then the promise of winning will keep them going. If they're not confident in themselves as a team - of if they get off to a bad start in a game in which they are tired - they are more likely to give up. That's when you see the wheels come off.

A few weeks ago, DD's team (14U) won 5 straight games on Sunday to win a tournament, shutting out the final team. Everybody was tired, but they played fine from start to finish. Not bragging, because DD has been on all sorts of teams, from good to terrible, and this is the first time she or I have experienced anything quite like that. But I think what held them together was their belief that they were the best team in this particular tournament and that there was something to play for beyond just the difference between 5th and 6th place. In fact, I remember watching the parents of a team that lost before us being happy they lost because they'd already played 3 games and didn't think they could win another game. I think the kids think those things, as well.

 

[YOCOACH]

Yesterday we won a tourney and played 4 at the 14u level. They played the first game 75 minutes TL, had an hour and a half break, played the next three back to back to back with the last one being a full 7 inning game. After the last one I pretty much think they were done.

I think that there are many variables to this question. The amount of time in between games to rest, heat/humidity/weather, athleticism/conditioning of the girls themselves, if they drink plenty of water during the preceding days and stay hydrated during the tourney, same could be said about proper nutrition before, during and after, attitude of the girls and a myriad of others. I've had teams that had to come out of the losers bracket in a double elimination tournament to play 7 and win it all.

 

[InsidePitch]

DD has been on teams that would become a train wreck after 3 games. Seeing our team fold due to what looked like fatigue related errors or effort I wondered what made some other teams less likely to fold. I began watching what the winning teams were doing during the day. Overall it seems like they insisted on keeping the team together, under shade and resting between games. Hydration was very important as well as being able to sub out those kids who put in more effort. P, C and whoever else seems to be working harder than normal during the heat of the day.

Eating healthy during the down time was a priority as well as keeping the sodas and junk food out. This was at 12s and 14s. One of the best run teams had a very stern dugout mom that took care of this task.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Most at 14U was 6. If you are in the loser bracket it can be a long day.

 

[Jojo]

Most we ever did was 7. And did that several times.

Once we had a rain out at an out of town tournament. We stayed at the park all day and the tourny kept getting delayed. Finally decided to resume about 7:00pm. We played all through the night and were playing when the sun rose the next morning.
The coaches were crashed in their chairs, only lost one player crashed in the dugout. Rest of the team was go - go -go! Worst part was, we never stayed in our hotel room! Lost that $!