Can you keep pitchers (and catchers) an extra half hour?Curious if anyone has thoughts or good ideas. How do I incorporate pitching into my practice plans?
Taking over a 10u rec team (rec level play but travel around the county). League is kid pitch, but no walks so when it gets to 4 balls (routinely), the coach comes into pitch. Team is a mix of experience and brand new. Once the season starts (April 2) we will have a single 90-minute practice per week. I'm trying to get the team together 4 times before the season starts though, 90 minutes at a time.
I have 4-5 assistants which is great for stations and drills. My plan for practices 1 and 2 is to focus almost exclusively on fundamentals; practices 3 and 4 will incorporate position specifics and game situations. However, I assume the weather will cancel at least one practice and I can't guarantee the team will all show up for a session (otherwise I'd set aside one whole practice for hitting work).
With so much focus needed on fundamentals and basic game situations, any ideas for incorporating pitching work? There are 2 girls returning from last season that were ok (generous) pitchers but everyone else will be starting from scratch.
Thanks
I don't do P&C during team practice even at the HS level. No time, limited space, and all my pitchers play other positions/hit. P&C do their thing either before or after practice. Unless your pitchers are pitching to hitters, and I think that's a bad idea in your situation, make additional time for them. The extra half hour won't be a big deal to a kid (and her parents) who is committed to a position that's going to require a lot of extra work.