Need help convincing league to use "Coach Rescue"

[kjs23]

This is my first year as AC for a rec level team of U10 boys fastpitch in Ontario, Canada. It is a rural league with 8 different centers participating. We have kept the focus on skill development and worked hard with the kids. They are all 8YO with no prior experience and they have improved greatly in all areas except one...pitching. It seems that this is a common problem because a typical game has an average of 5-7 walks per half inning (on both sides). It is not uncommon for a team to reach the 6 run limit without having a hit There are a couple stronger teams with one consistent pitcher but that is the exception.
Anyway, I would really like to see the league go to Coach Rescue to keep the games moving and the batters/fielders in the game. Has anybody out there been through this process with a league. I'm hoping to be able to provide some good examples for how it has been applied in other places and justifications for the change. It is not a common practice in these parts.

They have some other odd rules that I believe hinder the game.
1. Runners may only advance one base per pitch unless the ball is in play by a hit
2. Runners may only advance home on a force or hit (ie. no stealing, WP, PB). The runner cannot even advance if the catcher throws the ball away attempting a CS or pickoff. This leads to endless throws around the bases (no penalty to defense for missing). Is this type of rule common? Somebody must have thought it was a good idea but to me it is just keeping the kids from playing the actual game. Some nights 1.5 hours barely gets them through 3 innings.
Thanks

 

[NVfishing]

This is my first year as AC for a rec level team of U10 boys fastpitch in Ontario, Canada. It is a rural league with 8 different centers participating. We have kept the focus on skill development and worked hard with the kids. They are all 8YO with no prior experience and they have improved greatly in all areas except one...pitching. It seems that this is a common problem because a typical game has an average of 5-7 walks per half inning (on both sides). It is not uncommon for a team to reach the 6 run limit without having a hit There are a couple stronger teams with one consistent pitcher but that is the exception.
Anyway, I would really like to see the league go to Coach Rescue to keep the games moving and the batters/fielders in the game. Has anybody out there been through this process with a league. I'm hoping to be able to provide some good examples for how it has been applied in other places and justifications for the change. It is not a common practice in these parts.

They have some other odd rules that I believe hinder the game.
1. Runners may only advance one base per pitch unless the ball is in play by a hit
2. Runners may only advance home on a force or hit (ie. no stealing, WP, PB). The runner cannot even advance if the catcher throws the ball away attempting a CS or pickoff. This leads to endless throws around the bases (no penalty to defense for missing). Is this type of rule common? Somebody must have thought it was a good idea but to me it is just keeping the kids from playing the actual game. Some nights 1.5 hours barely gets them through 3 innings.
Thanks

Walking runs in is no fun for the kids and doesn't teach them anything. Plus some kids learn to not swing if they are going to get walked. We implemented a balls and strikes rule. Pitcher pitches until four balls or they strike the player out. At four balls, instead of walking, the ball is placed in a pitching machine until stirke three or a hit. We started using the pitching machine instead of coach pitch to more accurately represent the speed of the game. Coaches tend to soft toss and that doesn't teach how to hit a fastball.

 

[casedawg51]

Walking runs in is no fun for the kids and doesn't teach them anything. Plus some kids learn to not swing if they are going to get walked. We implemented a balls and strikes rule. Pitcher pitches until four balls or they strike the player out. At four balls, instead of walking, the ball is placed in a pitching machine until stirke three or a hit. We started using the pitching machine instead of coach pitch to more accurately represent the speed of the game. Coaches tend to soft toss and that doesn't teach how to hit a fastball.

This is how we do it also. Lets the pitchers develop while not letting the games grind to a halt or turn into a walk fest. Some girls will still wait and try to get to the machine though.

 

[Lozza]

1. Runners may only advance one base per pitch unless the ball is in play by a hit
2. Runners may only advance home on a force or hit (ie. no stealing, WP, PB). The runner cannot even advance if the catcher throws the ball away attempting a CS or pickoff. This leads to endless throws around the bases (no penalty to defense for missing). Is this type of rule common? Somebody must have thought it was a good idea but to me it is just keeping the kids from playing the actual game. Some nights 1.5 hours barely gets them through 3 innings.

Both these rules are fantastic. I coach in a comp without them and I watch older kids always taking two bags because the younger kids can't get them out. At that age they shouldn't be advancing more than one bAe on a walk. Make them earn it. Same with the second rule.

 

[kjs23]

Both these rules are fantastic. I coach in a comp without them and I watch older kids always taking two bags because the younger kids can't get them out. At that age they shouldn't be advancing more than one bAe on a walk. Make them earn it. Same with the second rule.

I agree with what you are saying. My description of the rule is actually more detailed than the rule itself. The exact wording is "Only steal one base per pitch and no stealing home". This does not prevent the two-base walk (which has only been tried a couple times). I've played this game for 30 years at a competitive level and I've always felt that the runners baiting a throw is an unnecessary part of it. In a men's game you would want to check with your insurance agent before performing that manoeuver because your next at-bat would not be fun.

I also like the no stealing home rule but IMHO the interpretation that the coaches have taken goes too far. We are new to the league and have an inexperienced HC so we just go along with what the other teams are saying. As far as I'm concerned when a catcher throws to put out a runner and the ball gets away that play is no longer a steal and if the runner is able to advance further they should be allowed. That is how the game works and should be learned. Runner can still run, catcher can still throw but there are consequences. Defense must be aware and in the game. Our team actually executes the steal defense fairly well and have thrown out a few runners.

Along with the request for "Coach Rescue" I would like to suggest a clearer wording of the steal rules.

 

[Axe]

We basically use the same rules, coach pitch after 4 balls (3 pitches, inherit the strike count) and 1 steal per pitch with no stealing home. The 1 steal per pitch just limits things like the 3 bag overthrow that causes a run to score. You want to encourage throws by catchers and not encourage coaches to tell them to just hold the ball because they might overthrow it and the runner will probably be safe regardless.

You won't have to worry about the 2 base walk if you implement coach rescue.

 

[quincy]

I like the steal 1 base per pitch. It encourages the catchers a make a play on the runner, if you remove this rule Teams are going to just leave the runners go because they probably are not going to get the runner out anyways so why risk a throw?

There are a lot of different ways to do coach rescue and I agree with you any of them would be better than having everyone stand around watching the run limit get walked in every inning. If you can get the League to agree to coach rescue I bet you can sort out the details. Will it be perfect and everyone happy, no, but any system is better then walk after walk.

Pitchers need to get better only works if the League takes “ownership” of the pitching and really works on it. This is the best solution if they are willing to do this.

 

[David Carter]

There are rules that can help... but I think we are missing the most important part that is the problem. You have 8 yr olds playing 10U. If you had those 8 yr olds playing a machine pitch or coach pitch division you would not have this problem. Also why are they ALL 8 yrs old if you had a couple 10 yr olds on the team one of them could probably become consistent after practicing for a while when selecting team you should have put at least one kid on each team that could demonstrate the ability to get the ball over.

During our selection even before talking coachs kids or deciding who was going to pick first we identified the pitchers and made sure every team had at least an ace and a just get it over pitcher, you simply don't really have a team unless you have a pitcher.

 

[Axe]

During our selection even before talking coachs kids or deciding who was going to pick first we identified the pitchers and made sure every team had at least an ace and a just get it over pitcher, you simply don't really have a team unless you have a pitcher.

That's right, you basically need a "pitcher's draft" before the actual draft.

 

[kjs23]

There are rules that can help... but I think we are missing the most important part that is the problem. You have 8 yr olds playing 10U. If you had those 8 yr olds playing a machine pitch or coach pitch division you would not have this problem. Also why are they ALL 8 yrs old if you had a couple 10 yr olds on the team one of them could probably become consistent after practicing for a while when selecting team you should have put at least one kid on each team that could demonstrate the ability to get the ball over.

During our selection even before talking coachs kids or deciding who was going to pick first we identified the pitchers and made sure every team had at least an ace and a just get it over pitcher, you simply don't really have a team unless you have a pitcher.

I understand your points but this is a different animal than what you are used to.
In Canada our age brackets are one year below yours. This is U10 (not 10U) meaning "UNDER 10 YOA Jan 1 of the playing season" so there are only 8 and 9 YO eligible. In a 10 team league there are only about 4 pitchers who are capable of keeping the ball in play the majority of the time.
It is a rural league where each town is represented by one or possibly 2 teams. You must live within the radius of your community to play for that team so there is no sharing of pitchers.
We had very competitive softball when I was that age but about 10 years ago soccer swallowed it up and it disappeared. The program was restarted from scratch and I've been spending the last couple years developing coaching manuals, running clinics and doing technical teaching for all players in the minor program. Kids as old as 14 are just now learning proper mechanics and the finer points of the game. Unfortunately I was never a pitcher but I've learned much from this site among others and have set up pitching clinics and invited experienced adult pitchers to fill the gaps that only experience can teach. All of this takes time but we are slowing improving.
There is no interest in changing the nature of the player distribution in the league but I'm hoping to change the rules of the game to encourage more development and understanding of fastpitch.