Tips for playing up

[Ariel116]

I would recommend that you have your fastest girls that can catch anything in the outfield because that is where most of the balls are going to go. You may get lucky in that it takes them some adjustment to hit off the slower pitching but it wont take them long and then it will be on. Another thing to remember is that some of these girls will look like they drove themselves to the game. Your 9 & 10yo players will be against girls that are already 13 or about to turn 13 and as you may know, there is a huge difference in size and strength. I think going from 10u to 12U is probably one of the hardest transitions for pitchers but if you are playing C teams, hopefully it won't be too painful.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Over half the challenge is the psychological part of it. If the girls hear the parents and coaches constantly talking about how big the other girls are and how they are worried then the girls will pick up on it. It doesn't matter if part of the girls are ok with it. If a group of the girls get it in their heads that they are in over their heads then the team will struggle. My advice is to sell it as a great opportunity to use it as a measuring stick for the team. Tell them look all the pressure is on the other team. Talk to the other parents and coaches and "ban" all talk about how big the other team is or how hard it is going to be playing against older girls. Turn the psychological part into an advantage. Keep it tight for a few innings and watch the other coaches come unglued about the possibility of losing to a younger team. Above all keep everything positive in terms of teaching and coaching the girls. Also try not to look to closely when your shorter girls are standing at first base next the opposing teams first baseman or when they go through the line shaking hands at the end. The growth spurt for most girls occurs between second year 10u and second year 12u.

Well said.

Most 10-year-old kids don't really notice or care about the other team. They usually have to be trained to care about size, age, level, 'name' organizations, things that adults get wound up about. When it comes to sports, most young kids follow Kipling's advice: ''If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same'' - that is, until adults spoil it for them.

I don't know that these kids are really going to be that much bigger or better. If you're a second-year 10U team, then you probably played plenty of older teams last year. Many of these 12u teams are probably 1st-year teams that aren't all that used to a bigger ball either. You've already played really good opponents in 10u like the vipers and impact, so if these 12U's are really B/C level, this won't necessarily be the toughest tournament you've ever played. And if it is, well, the players still aren't liable to care that much. They just play.

So as far as tips, same as always, IMO: Play hard every pitch, learn, have fun.

 

[softball dad 6]

For pitching I made a mistake at first and was careful to use my slower pitcher only against the bottom of the order and try and protect them from the top of the order. A friend of mine who had coached his kids through told me I was making a mistake and should target the top of the order with the slower pitcher. He was right and I was wrong. I would start my fastest pitcher and as soon as they have been through the line up once or at most twice then switch to the slower pitcher. Many of the best hitters will screw themselves into the ground trying to hit it a mile. It doesn't matter how well your starter is doing if it is a good team. Take them out. The temptation is to leave them in. Take them out. I have seen more mistakes made and a great outing and confidence builder ruined by leaving the pitcher in too long. You can always bring them back in or go to a third pitcher. Try and not get into a situation where your slower pitcher has to go through the line-up twice. Any good team will make the adjustment and be ready to tee off. All of this is just my opinion and what has worked best for me.

 

[BobInMadison]

Get used to saying. Holy crap are you sure those are 12 year olds.

My DDs have sometimes played against girls from the UP. They get really BIG. Same with the MN girls. EIther the cold weather or the Scandinavian blood.

I am sure you being in Michigan, you have seen some big girls from the UP

 

[tim_s]

bring in an older pitcher to throw to your girls before the tournament......takes the edge off

our last year in 10u we had an ex-student of mine who pitched D-2 come in and throw to our girls.....it was huge for them, they never were intimidated by another pitcher.....even now, two years late lol

 

[grcsftbll]

Here's an update if anyone is interested

We won our first game! 5-3. They played great. Our second game...well, it didn't go as well. It was our first shut out ever as a team (ever being since we formed the team in August, haha), 11-0. We started our slower pitcher this game, and the girls just had very disciplined hitting. They waited on it and hammered it. Pulled her and put in our #2, who has never practiced 12U pitching before this week & is even pretty new to 10U pitching (she's a natural, she's going to be awesome). She actually did really well considering, but was wild so we gave up a lot of those runs on wild pitches/stealing home. And we just did not hit, really in any game but the first one.

Game 3 was interesting. They beat us 2-0. DD got a strike out for the third out in what ended up being the last inning, only the umpire had lost track of the count and their coach (she was NOT a pleasant person) took full advantage. I had 3 strikes, our official score keeper had 3 strikes. The guy running the score board had 3 strikes. DD and her catcher had 3 strikes. The batter knew it was 3 strikes. They were home team though, and conveniently their book had 2 strikes. Blue told DH later he was pretty sure we were right but he had to go with the home book. So she went back to bat after 10 minutes of the coaches arguing over it, they wouldn't give DD any warm up pitches (fine, whatever). Girl walks. Another gets on base without any runs being scored, and they have the bases loaded (runner on 2 when the first strike out happened). Batter up, hits it back to DD at pitcher, out at first. No runs scored but it wasted enough time we didn't get another inning out of it.

We have got to work on hitting, for sure. They struggled with that a lot. We had only a few really good hits all day. The pitching was a little faster than they were used to but nothing exceptional. The game 3 pitcher they really should have hit at least some and just didn't.

Personal brag: DD pitched 2 full games, had 7 strike outs, and only gave up 1 earned run (a legit in the park homer in the first game, almost to the fence, ouch). Her change up with a 12" ball needs a lot of work but her fast ball and drop ball were working well. I was really proud of her, especially after having to get an extra out in the last game, loading the bases, then getting out of it. She doesn't get psyched out by having runners on but usually when things aren't fair is when she gets upset. I thought the umpire screwing up the count might get in her head and I think it did for a minute but she pulled out of it.

 

[Me_and_my_big_mouth]

Here's an update if anyone is interested

We won our first game! 5-3. They played great. Our second game...well, it didn't go as well. It was our first shut out ever as a team (ever being since we formed the team in August, haha), 11-0. We started our slower pitcher this game, and the girls just had very disciplined hitting. They waited on it and hammered it. Pulled her and put in our #2, who has never practiced 12U pitching before this week & is even pretty new to 10U pitching (she's a natural, she's going to be awesome). She actually did really well considering, but was wild so we gave up a lot of those runs on wild pitches/stealing home. And we just did not hit, really in any game but the first one.

Game 3 was interesting. They beat us 2-0. DD got a strike out for the third out in what ended up being the last inning, only the umpire had lost track of the count and their coach (she was NOT a pleasant person) took full advantage. I had 3 strikes, our official score keeper had 3 strikes. The guy running the score board had 3 strikes. DD and her catcher had 3 strikes. The batter knew it was 3 strikes. They were home team though, and conveniently their book had 2 strikes. Blue told DH later he was pretty sure we were right but he had to go with the home book. So she went back to bat after 10 minutes of the coaches arguing over it, they wouldn't give DD any warm up pitches (fine, whatever). Girl walks. Another gets on base without any runs being scored, and they have the bases loaded (runner on 2 when the first strike out happened). Batter up, hits it back to DD at pitcher, out at first. No runs scored but it wasted enough time we didn't get another inning out of it.

We have got to work on hitting, for sure. They struggled with that a lot. We had only a few really good hits all day. The pitching was a little faster than they were used to but nothing exceptional. The game 3 pitcher they really should have hit at least some and just didn't.

Personal brag: DD pitched 2 full games, had 7 strike outs, and only gave up 1 earned run (a legit in the park homer in the first game, almost to the fence, ouch). Her change up with a 12" ball needs a lot of work but her fast ball and drop ball were working well. I was really proud of her, especially after having to get an extra out in the last game, loading the bases, then getting out of it. She doesn't get psyched out by having runners on but usually when things aren't fair is when she gets upset. I thought the umpire screwing up the count might get in her head and I think it did for a minute but she pulled out of it.

Fantastic - sounds like it was a great learning experience for them, and your DD has a lot to be proud of!

 

[grcsftbll]

My husband made a video of all her strike outs. We are such nerds. It was fun though

 

[spleen1015]

Kind of off topic but I am a big proponent of playing up. If you're not on a 12u team that is really good and has a chance at a national championship and you're a decent player, I say skip 2nd year 12u and play up. Especially if you're a good B level player.

 

[grcsftbll]

We had a lot of fun doing it. We plan to play up in several more tournaments in the spring. Interestingly, DD's bicep was way more sore than usual. She's pitched a lot more in a day before. She threw just over 100 pitches in both games (plus warm up). I guess the bigger ball required more effort. I wish I'd thought to clock her. I'm curious how much slower she was throwing. It didn't look much slower to the naked eye anyway.