How much running does you team do?

[kibadbo]

DD is on a 12U team that is part of a club that goes up to 18U. They run constantly. They run at least 30 minutes every practice. One practice a week is dedicated to running. They don't touch a ball. They have daily homework that usually includes 20-25 minutes of running.
DD likes to run, and always leads the pack. But I feel like the team needs more time to learn the game. I admit at first I liked the idea of them being in great shape. But they get out hit every game. How much running is expected from your DD, and what would you do if it was delaying her development?

 

[Gambler Bob]

We practice one time per week. No time for running at practice unless we are doing base running. Run on your time.

We don't do any long distance running on our own time. 20-30 yard sprints are 95% of my dd running drills, 1-2 times per week.

 

[Hawk_]

A couple laps around the field. We work on "skills" a lot. We do run bases, through first and to 2nd sliding into second. Sometimes hook slide into 3rd.

 

[efastball]

They run at least 30 minutes every practice. One practice a week is dedicated to running.

Good Lord. Change teams. That's nuts.

 

[Strike2]

If the running isn't part of the basic warmup or a baserunning drill, it's wasting time. It's not basketball.

 

[Quigs10]

If the running isn't part of the basic warmup or a baserunning drill, it's wasting time. It's not basketball.

Agreed. You can get all the aerobic conditioning you need doing drills that incorporate sports specific skills. Running just to run is a waste of time in certain sports.

Never understood the idiotic coaches who run their players after a game (usually a loss..but Ive seen some run their team if they had too many errors or had mental mistakes). Im in my 50s and Ive had many past old school coaches do this "back in the day"... along with the ignorant belief that "no water = makes you tougher" crap from back then.

Have a good quick set of drills with nobody waiting in lines and you'll get your players well conditioned. Any more than 2-3 girls waiting in a line is poor coaching and poor practice planning.

 

[kibadbo]

Good Lord. Change teams. That's nuts.

Ha! Their rationale is the kids need to be in shape for the tournaments when they have to play 5 games in a day. But they play exactly one game, because they can't field or hit.

 

[chinamigarden]

sorry, DiscussCrossCountry is a different forum.

That's a lot of running for a softball team. Time that can/should be spent on other skills. Kids can do conditioning on their own.

 

[CoachJD]

Our high school team does some running during tryouts (all sprinting/no long distance), but nothing unreasonable. There's a conditioning/athleticism section of our tryout that involves running, agility drills, etc. And those who make the team do jogging/running during the daily warmup.

The only other running we do is all skill-based (base running, etc.). Do some of our players need to get into better shape? Sure. But it's much more important that they learn how to actually play softball, so I spend practice time doing that.

If I want to get them running, I come up with some kind of competition/game. We have a few that are just different versions of sprints/relays, but they all have an objective and it fosters competition. I'm not going to just stand there and watch the team run for the sake of running. What a waste of time.

 

[kibadbo]

sorry, DiscussCrossCountry is a different forum.

That's a lot of running for a softball team. Time that can/should be spent on other skills. Kids can do conditioning on their own.

She ran CC a few years ago. Last week, she beat her best mile time from her CC days.Its crazy.