Help!!! Growing pains!

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This thread has gotten slightly off topic from the purpose of the original post about where this coach goes from where he is at, but I do think there's been a lot of great advice given.

As for the topic of starting out in slow or fast, I think there are some pros and cons, though I know 95% of the people who post on OFC are going to be proponents of fastpitch all the way. Partially due to the fact that my area of the state was among the last to go to fastpitch, and partially because I didn't know any better at the time, my DD played slowpitch up through age 12 before going over to fastpitch, and she ended up having a pretty good career playing high school and D3 college, and is now involved with me in coaching herself. She absolutely did learn some things playing slowpitch, and it took a little bit of time to "catch up" but I think she got there by the time she was in high school. If I were doing it over again knowing what I know now, I would definitely have got her into fastpitch earlier, but only if I knew she had very good coaches and if that team was going to play competitively. I have seen some "rec" fastpitch that consisted of nothing more than the pitchers walking and/or striking out everyone, and the coaches yellling a lot, and I don't think a lot was being learned and many girls lost interest in the game ... so I guess my point is that I will disagree that any fastpitch experience at a young age is better than any slowpitch experience, but if one does their homework and gets the right team/coaches, the girls are more likely to be successful by going the fastpitch route.

 

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This thread has gotten slightly off topic from the purpose of the original post about where this coach goes from where he is at, but I do think there's been a lot of great advice given.

As for the topic of starting out in slow or fast, I think there are some pros and cons, though I know 95% of the people who post on OFC are going to be proponents of fastpitch all the way. Partially due to the fact that my area of the state was among the last to go to fastpitch, and partially because I didn't know any better at the time, my DD played slowpitch up through age 12 before going over to fastpitch, and she ended up having a pretty good career playing high school and D3 college, and is now involved with me in coaching herself. She absolutely did learn some things playing slowpitch, and it took a little bit of time to "catch up" but I think she got there by the time she was in high school. If I were doing it over again knowing what I know now, I would definitely have got her into fastpitch earlier, but only if I knew she had very good coaches and if that team was going to play competitively. I have seen some "rec" fastpitch that consisted of nothing more than the pitchers walking and/or striking out everyone, and the coaches yellling a lot, and I don't think a lot was being learned and many girls lost interest in the game ... so I guess my point is that I will disagree that any fastpitch experience at a young age is better than any slowpitch experience, but if one does their homework and gets the right team/coaches, the girls are more likely to be successful by going the fastpitch route.

We are heading down this road and I want to put a stop to it now!

 

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We are heading down this road and I want to put a stop to it now!

Guilty as charged..........
But seriously I thought we had this settled.
Keep it fun, get good coaches with a plan in front of the girls, and be nice...........girls do not like loud coaches........avoid the stare........LOL

And I would focus way more on fundamentals of catching, throwing, pitching, and hitting. My wife has coached all levels and sticking to a plan to develop the individual player verses how to win pays off over time. You may not kill it at 10U but by the time they hit 14U they will be great. You do not win anything at 10U, 12U, and 14U. You can burn them out if you focus on winning but no one burns out on having fun.

 

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Guilty as charged..........
But seriously I thought we had this settled.
Keep it fun, get good coaches with a plan in front of the girls, and be nice...........girls do not like loud coaches........avoid the stare........LOL

And I would focus way more on fundamentals of catching, throwing, pitching, and hitting. My wife has coached all levels and sticking to a plan to develop the individual player verses how to win pays off over time. You may not kill it at 10U but by the time they hit 14U they will be great. You do not win anything at 10U, 12U, and 14U. You can burn them out if you focus on winning but no one burns out on having fun.

This is why I LOVE this site!!!

 

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Speaking of coaches what are the opinions about type of coaches. Are teams coached by parents or younger former players better for developing a team?

 

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Give me an experienced coach any day with a former player as an assistant......until former player has experience......

I am watching 3-4 former college players coach 14U travel teams and they all seem to be struggling a bit. All are good teams just having hard time getting everything and everyone on same page. And that is the single toughest part. Getting complete buy in across the board.

 

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agreed! There is so much more to coaching this game then the game itself. Im learning that the hard way. Part of the problem is theese kids have played rec ball together for years and I think some outside talent and comp would help the team. We are basicly a rec/allstar team this year.

At the moment we dont have much to offer outside players. I have made many mistaked this year 1st was giving all the parents a free ride. My sponsor paid for everything unis, equipment, lessons, and instead of creating grateful parents it created the opposite, I have people who complain and about everything including the amount of tournie we are in. I have given no directon on code of conduct or excpetations from my parents. Needless to say things are changing next year!

 

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I have people who complain and about everything including the amount of tournie we are in. I have given no directon on code of conduct or excpetations from my parents.

I think you were onto the answer when you identified your biggest problem as being a lack of heart. Get to their hearts and I believe a lot of your other issues will fall into place, win or lose. Some parents are always going to be annoying. Others may change when they see what an inspiration you are becoming for their kids.

 

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I think you were onto the answer when you identified your biggest problem as being a lack of heart. Get to their hearts and I believe a lot of your other issues will fall into place, win or lose. Some parents are always going to be annoying. Others may change when they see what an inspiration you are becoming for their kids.

Agreed!

 

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Reading all of these ideas reminded me of dealing with my own daughter and the transition from local rec ball to travel ball about 10 years ago. She was having some of the same problems described by the OP, but especially the looking at strikes. I agree with everyone about the need for hitting and pitching coaches but that takes alot of time to develop skills. This may sound like a crazy suggestion but it gave us a quick fix on the problem of not swinging. I sent her to the plate with instructions that she was only going to get 3 pitches and then I was going to make her sit down no matter what. Walks were not an option if she wanted on base she had to hit the ball. This was at 10U and it was only for a few games, but even though she struck out some she did put the ball in play more and it got her swinging the bat. You can have great mechanics but it does not matter if the bat is sitting on your shoulder.

 

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Players: At 10u, most kids have the attention span of a cabbage. Keep it interesting, keep it fun and keep it simple. They are at an age where their minds soak up everything like a sponge. So make it more about fundamentals in a drama free environment rather than about wins and loses. Be consistent in what you teach and how you teach it. Constantly challenge their skills with new games and drills that are progressively more difficult to achieve. This will make you a better coach in the long run as you will learn with your kids.

Parents: Im sure you have parent coaches who assist. That does not include the parents in the bleachers. Their mission is to get the kids to practice and games on time and cheer for the entire team not just their own and that is it And they need to understand that in no uncertain terms. Post game meetings. This should be held away from the parents. Take the team to the end of the field away from prying eyes and ears. These are the first two things I Do as a coach.

Understand you have the future of softball in your hands. You are responsible for setting the course in the right direction. What you do now will greatly effect how they play as a 16 u and up when they come to me and other coaches at this level for college exposure. Best of luck to you and your team.

Tim