general consensus # of practices for now and in between tournaments for tournament / club teams ????

bowmer

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how often do all you tournament / club teams practice per week during off season, spring (right before start of season) and during tournament season do you practice? and also is it a good to have a practice the day after your weekend tournament? i would like to get a general consensus.
thank you
 

Freeze Mizer

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I really depends upon the makeup of your team. If the team team is an 18u team that's been playing together since 12u, they probably won't require as much practice.
If it's a younger or new team, I think it is necessary to practice often before and during
the tournament season.
Of course, it's a good idea to have the Monday after a long weekend off ( parents need to do laundry, mow their lawns,etc).
Our 10u team will practice once a week and we play in a weeknight summer league with other travel teams. We will use practice to work out kinks from the previous weekend and to identify things we want to improve upon. The mid-week league is also an opportunity to give the 2's and 3's on the depth chart some quality work in a competitive setting.
 

bowmer

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we are a second year 12u team , thanks for your input, i was just thinking that we should practice twice a week in between tournaments.
 

Fairman

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After your team is selected I would enter a few Fall tourneys to see what we had and what needed worked on. Going with twice a week. Outside on the weekends if possible and in a cage during the week. Reduce practice between Thanksgiving and Christmas to minimal and maybe a few get togethers that have nothing to do with softball. In the off season we usually practiced twice a week after the holidays. One Weekday and one weekend practice

In season:
If you are playing in the bigger tournaments with 5-game guarantees that run Friday, Saturday and Sunday and your girls have to travel to the practice any distance then one practice on a Wednesday/Thursday is about all you'll get in. These practices could last 2 to 3 hours.

You have to be careful that you don't hurt your players by not giving them enough rest and that you don't burn them out physically and mentally. The summer season is a time for games and performance. You need to let them be little girls and back off being a crazy dad.
 

CARDS

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At 10U through 14U we played a league night in the spring and fall and practiced 2x a week. Summer just practice Tuesdays and Thursdays.At this age most of our ladies were local with a coupe less than an hour away so it worked.

At 16 and above there are many factors. Half of our ladies came from a 4 hour radius of Cincy, and a lot of the ladies are now working at this age. I was off in the summers so we would practice once a week during the day noon to 3 so the players could still work. The ones way out would practice with other travel teams and I would also have ladies from other clubs practice with us. In the winter we would practice one time for 4 hours on a Sunday.

There are teams and leagues for all. If a parent prefers to have vacation time play a couple events naturally there is no need to practice as much. Those a little more serious or playing more of a national schedule has to have the game as a priority and this should have been discussed prior to a team taking on players.
 
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FastBat

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I think they need mid-week practices between weekend tournaments. Even with that practice, I think by the end of summer, their skills look sloppy. But, they are becoming better game players, so game playing is still a good thing. I personally prefer a very long practice (weeknight 3-4 hours is fine with me and possibly longer is better) vs. multi-short practices during the week, but I'm the driver!
 
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Shane

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Just for comparison, my DD is on an 11U team (2nd year with the same group), during the off season (November to April) we have practiced 2 x per week. Once we enter outdoor tournament season we reduce team practice to one per week. This coming off season will be our first experience of having girls involved with junior high (aka middle school) sports. I could see our off season (indoor) practices condensing into one event per week.
 

wow

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having girls involved with junior high (aka middle school) sports. .

Please tell me if middle school ball has EVER helped a travel kid? Middle school ball should be prohibited for travel kids. And lets not start talking about JV...
 
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