tryouts. how to?

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Aug 2, 2008
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I'm putting together a 10-u select team for 2009. We are holding tryouts at the end of this month, what are your ideas on how to structure them. Example, should all the girls be there at the same time, or have them show up for there scheduled time then leave. And what kinds of drills do you have them perform.

Thank you
Mike
 
Jul 28, 2008
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Mike,

First off, I like to have them all check in and assign each girl with a number. I like to go their league age followed by the order in which they signed up. For example, you would have 9-1, 9-2, 9-3...and 10-1, 10-2, 10-3... I get them together and have them take a short warm-up jog and then stretch. Usually it's nice to have an older girl here to help run the stretching routine. Then I will have them line up at home and time them from home to 1st twice and home to 2nd twice. I make sure they know this is an all out sprint an run as hard as they can, because they will be judged on these times. It's nice to have someone run a stopwatch while you write down times. Make sure this is the same person for all tryouts so that your times are consistent.

After this, I like to line them up at SS and hit to each kid about 5 times and throw to 1st base. Line drives, left side, right side, etc. I will choose one girl to start at 1st then just rotate her to the end of the line and replace her with the kid who just fielded.

Then I like to hit them some fly balls and have them throw to a cutoff, who then throws back to home. Same rotation here as I used for the girl playing 1st.

I give them a short water break at this time and set up my pitching machine.

Now it's time for hitting and have them bunt the first two and hit the next six pitches, while the rest of the girls are shagging. After all have been through, I bring them in and give them a talk about choosing and how I will go about contacting those who make the team. I also let them know at the first tryout that if they felt they did poorly, they're more than welcome to come to the 2nd tryout and do it again. At this time I invite pitchers and catchers for s short workout and evaluate those girls.

Not too much to it. I feel that routine gives me enough to look at to evaluate whether or not the girls have speed and athletic ability. The one thing that's tough to evaluate is the "coachability" of each kid without knowing them from past experiences. I think many of us who have coached for any amount of time have gotten stuck with the non coachable kid.

Good luck
 
May 9, 2008
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How To

Hi Mike,

There are a couple of factors to consider. How many girls will be trying out? How much time do you have for the tryout? Weekend or Weekday? If you have less than 20 girls two hours should be enough if you have more than 20 it could go 3 or even 4 hours in order to see everyone and make decisions. With a larger group it's probably better limit it to 20 and schedule a follow-up try out for the rest. 2 hours is a long time to hold the attention span of a 10 year old.

The following is an agenda from a try out that was held recently.

1. Warm-up = stretching, short jog, and throwing.

2. Speed Drill = timed base running from home to first and from home to home.

3. Fielding and throwing = infield drills.

4. Fielding and throwing = outfield drills.

5 Hitting, bunting, and slapping

6. Pitching and Catching drills = for pitching, we will gun for speed and check for accuracy on hitting the corners. Catching, we will be looking for the ability to block and accuracy on throw downs to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Also on proper technique.

For this tryout there were 30 girls and it took 4-1/2 hours to complete. It started at 11am and ended at 3:30pm. As you can imagine in the 90 degree heat of late July by the time the pitchers got a look they were pretty drained.:mad:

You might want to think about either an early morning start or an evening start after the heat of the day. You might also consider doing the pitchers and catchers before the general tryout.:D

Don't just look at the stats. Look for personality and how they relate to the other girls. Look for leadership skills as well. A lot of the girls will be at their first tryout and will be nervous. When you introduce yourself make eye contact and try and help them relax by telling a story about yourself or making a joke.

The best try out I've seen had the coaches actually instructing and encouraging the girls at the same time they were observing. That's the team my daughter wanted to play for because she liked the coach and the girls were friendly.

I'd also recommend that you supply water and snacks. :)

Good Luck,

Pops
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
It might be a good idea to find out their commitment level for next season at this time. Give a questionnaire to their parents asking about vacations, availability for practices, whether they will play rec league, etc.
 

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