Biggest Dislike of Travel Softball

coachjwb

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Lots of good ones I like including Stay to Play, timed games (or at least too short of timed games), and the parents/coaches who think it's D1 or bust.

One comment ... I get the 11 player max but on older teams 12 often makes more sense, and even on some younger teams depending on the level of commitment, etc.

One question for Streak ... why are wristbands such a dislike for you? In full disclosure, as most people here know I have been doing systems for teams for going on 5 years, and I get so much positive feedback and so much return interest that this surprised me a little. I get that some coaches prefer not to use them, but I just haven't heard anyone say it's a big dislike, other than perhaps systems that aren't designed right and which could slow down the game. Again, just curious.

One other dislike ... any rule or person that takes fun away from the game. This is a great game, and anything that takes away from that is something I dislike.
 

wow

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BTW LOVE wristbands. Its not the wristbands that are the problem. Its the coach who incorporates color/number/shape/font for 3 pitches. Then has 2,345 plays on the backside of the band. If you use them right its so simple and EZ to change if you need to. Actually speeds up the game when used properly.
 

streak2010

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I’ve seen many missed signs with wristbands and they do slow the game down. Coach looks at wristband, calls play, players look to see and then play begins. Coach provides old school signal - play begins. Meanwhile while giving signals “old school” a coach can also look at defense or strategy for pitcher.

You’re down 1 run and need to start another inning in under 5 minutes - ditch the wristbands.

We have generic signals early but once in season we don’t have a signal stolen the old school way.

Just my opinion and I don’t care if others wear them. Just an un-needed additional cost in the sport for us.

Does feel better to beat teams that wear them though.
 

tschromm3

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75 minutes, revert back. 80 minute drop dead. 60 minutes, finish inning, plus an inning..... too many time variations!
Never enough space to get ready for a game.
And not having fields touched up between games.
Thank god there is so much to like about the game!
 

coachjwb

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Streak ... thanks for replying. I still say that if they slow down the game, they either aren't properly designed or properly used. When I used them myself at least for hitting and baserunning, they definitely didn't slow the game. Maybe it was because I was always thinking about the next pitch. The ones I use/design make it easy to find what the coach wants to call, sign or call or a 3 digit number, and then easy again for the players to find that number. Should absolutely be faster than how long it takes the pitcher to get ready to throw the next pitch. But again, thanks for the response.

Definitely have to add the revert back as to one of my biggest dislikes!
 

Xrayaries

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Wrist signal system. Or even worse someone learning how to use it in a game you are at.

The parents that do not know the rules and try to make them up as they go.

Umpires that make up rules on the fly.

Rude, pompous, children that do not respect the time and effort their parents make towards their softball career.
 

coachjwb

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A couple of quick points about the wristband systems. For hitting and baserunning, and probably defensive plays (e.g., 1st and 3rd plays), they're a slam dunk and should never slow down a game if they're designed right and the coaches have at least scrimmaged with them a couple of times in practice. For pitch-calling, that is potentially a different issue. I do about 10 hitting and baserunning systems for every one pitch-calling system, at least partially because I talk a lot of lower aged group coaches out of them if they're trying to do much with them and they could potentially slow down the game.

Part of the reason they became popular to begin with is we all started seeing them in college softball, and my sense is that college use has only increased in the last 5 years. I have done about a dozen colleges myself over the last 3 years, and I had one 18U gold coach tell me a couple of years ago that he wanted to go to them because some college coaches he talked to told him they wanted the players getting used to them before they got to college.

I know another annoyance for some coaches who don't like them is if the opponent coaches yell out a sign every single pitch. A good system shouldn't have to be yelled out at all (can be done with one hand) and there's just no sense in having a sign in a lot of situations. I would always tell my teams to look down at me, but if I just clap my hands you're on your own, which was probably at least 1/3 of the pitches.
 

SOFTBALLS14

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Oh yeah Wrist bands!!!!!!!!
They are killing the sport!!
Making it so players no longer have to think .... Just read a number....
Have them learn the game and use there brains... Call there own pitches, call their own plays, learn the situations...
Just slowing the game down, cause they can't find the number or the coach is distracted & has to delay the game to give them a number!!
Its not hard to figure you are stealing when you have a runner a first and third!!
Keep the game moving!!
Get more innings in so the players can get used to going 7 innings or more!
That will get them ready for college ..... No time limits when you get there!
Teach the game!
 

22dad

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Drop dead
Intentional delays.
Not sure how good a 4 game guarantee is if you only get 12 innings in. The girls need to play more ball in these tournaments. Win or Lose
 

travelball

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I agree with a lot of others here...no coolers at the park, walking a mile for a cruddy bathroom with no TP, parking situations sometimes can be a bummer, and my biggest (although there isn't much that can be done about it) rain reducing a tournament to 60 minute games. But we keep coming back because we all love the game and watching our kids play their hearts out!
 

wow

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Oh yeah Wrist bands!!!!!!!!
They are killing the sport!!
Making it so players no longer have to think .... Just read a number....
Have them learn the game and use there brains...
\!
Yep its those stupid wrist bands.....

Wrist bands speed up the game. I guarantee the only time the bands slow down the game is what some coach is out there screaming the Dewey decimal system to call a fastball down the middle. The kids actually speed up the game because when they are used properly, memorize the number sequence. I think we started using fortune cookie parables in ours to slow the game down....
 

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