tryouts planning etc.

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Nov 26, 2019
65
8
hi all. I am wondering if anyone has a practice plan or template of sorts so I can think about using tryouts as a time to gauge potential positions for folks, etc. What should I be assessing most to look for the best spots for folks? What kind of activities have you had kids do? We will not be making cuts. And obviously the one or two pitchers we have we will need to be there. Outside of that, though, this is a very inexperienced group...
 
Jan 10, 2020
10
3
Taylor,
Below I will list some stations that I recommend using in the tryouts, as well as what to look for. How I recommend evaluating the children is when they register, give them a number and have them wear it on their back. Then put the numbers on a clipboard. When they are doing the drills, ask for their number so you can rate them on a scale of one to ten. I would also recommend having more than one person at each station evaluating the kids so you can get a good mix of opinions. Here are the stations:
  1. Four corners: put kids in even groups of four and put them in a square about 60 feet apart (the length of a basepath). Have them throw to eachother in a rotation around the square. After they throw they run to the back of the next line. Look for form in throwing, power in throwing, and stamena in running.
  2. For inflied/outflied if would simply suggest splitting the group up into groups of two, and taking one onto the inflied and one onto the outfiled. Do crossfire with the group on the infield and hit pop-flies to the group in the outfield. Then switch after your desired period of time. I’m sure these kids are not entirely decided on their sole position, so testing them on all of them is a good idea. In the infield, look for form and throwing accuracy. In the outfield look for form, footwork, and path to the ball.
  3. I would also suggest timing them from home to first and home to home in order to evaluate their speed. Record this on the clipboard as well.
  4. For hitting, set up some warm up stations using soft toss and tee work. Don’t evaluate them on this, and don’t evaluate them on exit velocity. It sounds like they are very young. After they get through the warm up stations, you can do front toss behind the net and evaluate them on how far they are hitting the ball, and whether they are hitting line-drives or not. Make sure they don’t drop their hands. It is a very hard habit to fix.
  5. Lastly, I am unsure whether you are evaluating for pitching/catching, but if you are, I would suggest pairing the pitchers and catchers up, and evaluating the pairs one by one. Make sure they warm up together first. Have a radar gun and clock the pitcher’s speeds. Record their pitches if they have more than one. Rate the catcher’s blocking/framing/overall catching abilities.
Don’t forget to let the girls get water a lot and have fun. Be good leaders. Maybe play some music. Sounds like it’s not a travel tryout so just be sure to keep their nerves down.
Hope this helps. Good luck!! <3
 
Taylor,
Below I will list some stations that I recommend using in the tryouts, as well as what to look for. How I recommend evaluating the children is when they register, give them a number and have them wear it on their back. Then put the numbers on a clipboard. When they are doing the drills, ask for their number so you can rate them on a scale of one to ten. I would also recommend having more than one person at each station evaluating the kids so you can get a good mix of opinions. Here are the stations:
  1. Four corners: put kids in even groups of four and put them in a square about 60 feet apart (the length of a basepath). Have them throw to eachother in a rotation around the square. After they throw they run to the back of the next line. Look for form in throwing, power in throwing, and stamena in running.
  2. For inflied/outflied if would simply suggest splitting the group up into groups of two, and taking one onto the inflied and one onto the outfiled. Do crossfire with the group on the infield and hit pop-flies to the group in the outfield. Then switch after your desired period of time. I’m sure these kids are not entirely decided on their sole position, so testing them on all of them is a good idea. In the infield, look for form and throwing accuracy. In the outfield look for form, footwork, and path to the ball.
  3. I would also suggest timing them from home to first and home to home in order to evaluate their speed. Record this on the clipboard as well.
  4. For hitting, set up some warm up stations using soft toss and tee work. Don’t evaluate them on this, and don’t evaluate them on exit velocity. It sounds like they are very young. After they get through the warm up stations, you can do front toss behind the net and evaluate them on how far they are hitting the ball, and whether they are hitting line-drives or not. Make sure they don’t drop their hands. It is a very hard habit to fix.
  5. Lastly, I am unsure whether you are evaluating for pitching/catching, but if you are, I would suggest pairing the pitchers and catchers up, and evaluating the pairs one by one. Make sure they warm up together first. Have a radar gun and clock the pitcher’s speeds. Record their pitches if they have more than one. Rate the catcher’s blocking/framing/overall catching abilities.
Don’t forget to let the girls get water a lot and have fun. Be good leaders. Maybe play some music. Sounds like it’s not a travel tryout so just be sure to keep their nerves down.
Hope this helps. Good luck!! <3
You hit all of my suggestions. If you have access to a pitching machine. Set the speed at the average speed you will be facing to see where they are. 10 pitches hit or miss to see if they attack it or are a little gun shy. 10 pitches for bunts
 
Nov 26, 2019
65
8
Taylor,
Below I will list some stations that I recommend using in the tryouts, as well as what to look for. How I recommend evaluating the children is when they register, give them a number and have them wear it on their back. Then put the numbers on a clipboard. When they are doing the drills, ask for their number so you can rate them on a scale of one to ten. I would also recommend having more than one person at each station evaluating the kids so you can get a good mix of opinions. Here are the stations:
  1. Four corners: put kids in even groups of four and put them in a square about 60 feet apart (the length of a basepath). Have them throw to eachother in a rotation around the square. After they throw they run to the back of the next line. Look for form in throwing, power in throwing, and stamena in running.
  2. For inflied/outflied if would simply suggest splitting the group up into groups of two, and taking one onto the inflied and one onto the outfiled. Do crossfire with the group on the infield and hit pop-flies to the group in the outfield. Then switch after your desired period of time. I’m sure these kids are not entirely decided on their sole position, so testing them on all of them is a good idea. In the infield, look for form and throwing accuracy. In the outfield look for form, footwork, and path to the ball.
  3. I would also suggest timing them from home to first and home to home in order to evaluate their speed. Record this on the clipboard as well.
  4. For hitting, set up some warm up stations using soft toss and tee work. Don’t evaluate them on this, and don’t evaluate them on exit velocity. It sounds like they are very young. After they get through the warm up stations, you can do front toss behind the net and evaluate them on how far they are hitting the ball, and whether they are hitting line-drives or not. Make sure they don’t drop their hands. It is a very hard habit to fix.
  5. Lastly, I am unsure whether you are evaluating for pitching/catching, but if you are, I would suggest pairing the pitchers and catchers up, and evaluating the pairs one by one. Make sure they warm up together first. Have a radar gun and clock the pitcher’s speeds. Record their pitches if they have more than one. Rate the catcher’s blocking/framing/overall catching abilities.
Don’t forget to let the girls get water a lot and have fun. Be good leaders. Maybe play some music. Sounds like it’s not a travel tryout so just be sure to keep their nerves down.
Hope this helps. Good luck!! <3
Great stuff. Thank you. With this year one and super mixed crowd, it’s like building the plane while flying. I also don’t have much help yet, so I keep thinking about ways to minimize standing around and maximize lots of reps, etc. And for not killing their arms in 2-3 days. Any other tips for ways to do this?
 

Axe

Jul 7, 2011
459
18
Atlanta
They are only going to build up their arm strength by throwing so don't shy away from it. That said, if you feel like you need to back off adjust infield and outfield drills to simply drop balls in buckets after they make the play rather than making a throw. Add more baserunning, teams chronically under practice this skill.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
Great stuff. Thank you. With this year one and super mixed crowd, it’s like building the plane while flying. I also don’t have much help yet, so I keep thinking about ways to minimize standing around and maximize lots of reps, etc. And for not killing their arms in 2-3 days. Any other tips for ways to do this?

To build up arms you have to throw, but if arms aren't in shape, really limit the long-distance throwing reps. Lots of good suggestions above, but some of that requires more than just you to make happen. For infield, consider sitting on a bucket near the circle and rolling balls for a quick throw. After fielding, player gets in line to receive throw with ball going into bucket near the base. Can be done by one coach with players working multiple positions. Lots of reps, little standing.

Introduce drills at early practices that your kids can actually do without driving you nuts. Don't attempt higher tempo throwing drills until they can play catch effectively. Don't attempt IF/OF drill until they can catch / stop a well hit ball.

I'd rethink the "no cuts" thing to not putting up with bad attitudes or lack of effort. You can tell them that you'll work with everyone who will work, but you're not going to coach effort.
 
Last edited:
Nov 26, 2019
65
8
Just a question, if you're not making cuts then why have a tryout?
Frankly, to reserve the right to if there are folks with horrible attitudes to make a cut if need be. No cuts is very much the philosophy of our school, so it is unlikely that I will be allowed to make any per the AD. Additionally, many, many of our students will become ineligible over the course of the season, so we can't really afford to yet. But the format of tryouts sets the tone for how we want the program to shift, and to set up mechanisms for difficult conversations with returning players who are not yet on-board for those shifts. Dynamic as of pre-season stuff so far is eager but completely inexperienced 9th and 10th graders, and crabby (putting it nicely) upperclassmen who have never been pushed.
 

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