riddle me this batman?

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Legs feeds the wolves boys.

IMHO, I think the pitchers and catchers need to run the long distances (unless a pitcher only uses the arm to pitch). They use the legs the most out of any of the girls on the team and the long distances not only build strength, but stamina to go double headers in the heat. I tell my younger dd the quote above all of the time. If she didn't run the long distances (1+ mile), she wouldn't have lasted last season as long as she did. She learned it and lived it.

good post,but don't forget catchers lol... They work just as hard but have all the gear. High level catchers will do hours of wall sits in the offseason, they not only have to have endurance those kids get beat up... Toughest kids on the field, so if you baby your kid... Do everybody a favor and don't let them catch, 'cause it's not going to work out lol.

 

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Not directed at anybody but in a nutshell this is youth sports today. What is so horrible about running long distances as part of practice? I don't do it because of time... But Patti Gasso who I assure you is not a "wreck" ball coach has her team complete a sprint level tri-Athlon. She said every year she has to teach Atleast one kid how to ride a bike... Yes a D1 college athlete that doesn't know how to ride a bike. The subject of sprints is really funny, in fastpitch speed clearly is important, to run fast you've got to run fast. Btw a lot of our youth are out of shape, running a mile before or after practice might be a good thing for their overall health. It has many health benefits and although softball generally outside of pitchers and catchers is not really an endurance game, the girls that play it are athletes right? And being in good physical condition in athletics helps.

Careful Uber, common sense is something this board doesn't like sometimes......

 

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Not directed at anybody but in a nutshell this is youth sports today. What is so horrible about running long distances as part of practice? I don't do it because of time... But Patti Gasso who I assure you is not a "wreck" ball coach has her team complete a sprint level tri-Athlon. She said every year she has to teach Atleast one kid how to ride a bike... Yes a D1 college athlete that doesn't know how to ride a bike. The subject of sprints is really funny, in fastpitch speed clearly is important, to run fast you've got to run fast. Btw a lot of our youth are out of shape, running a mile before or after practice might be a good thing for their overall health. It has many health benefits and although softball generally outside of pitchers and catchers is not really an endurance game, the girls that play it are athletes right? And being in good physical condition in athletics helps.

We generally never run at practice, unless it is a game fundamental like baserunning, rundowns, tags, etc. I promise you the drills we run more than make up for running at practice. But that doesn't mean the players shouldn't run on their own. Just like anything else associated with their sport, hitting, pitching, fielding - conditioning is something that should be a priority for them outside of team practices. It is tough these days to get full team practices scheduled. Personally I would rather spend the 2-3 hours on skill development.

 

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The subject of sprints is really funny, in fastpitch speed clearly is important, to run fast you've got to run fast.

I may be wrong, but I kind of think this is exactly what the people who you think you disagree with are saying.

 

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I may be wrong, but I kind of think this is exactly what the people who you think you disagree with are saying.

What? Who did I disagree with? You lost me.

 

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We generally never run at practice, unless it is a game fundamental like baserunning, rundowns, tags, etc. I promise you the drills we run more than make up for running at practice. But that doesn't mean the players shouldn't run on their own. Just like anything else associated with their sport, hitting, pitching, fielding - conditioning is something that should be a priority for them outside of team practices. It is tough these days to get full team practices scheduled. Personally I would rather spend the 2-3 hours on skill development.

Are you talking high school or travel?

 

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Are you talking high school or travel?

Oh shoot - I forgot this was about HS. Sorry

 

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good post,but don't forget catchers lol... They work just as hard but have all the gear. High level catchers will do hours of wall sits in the offseason, they not only have to have endurance those kids get beat up... Toughest kids on the field, so if you baby your kid... Do everybody a favor and don't let them catch, 'cause it's not going to work out lol.

I did include them . My older dd started out as a catcher before becoming a fast RF.

 

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Oh shoot - I forgot this was about HS. Sorry

We don't run much in travel either, pretty much we do what it sounds like you do. High school we've got them 6 days a week and I think we have more time to deal with the athlete overall then we do in travel. But even in high school I run sprints but not distance. I've got so much I wanna cover that I don't want to spend 1 hr of my 12 hrs a week practice running lol. So although I don't have a problem with it, I don't do it. That's an hour I could work on hitting or cutoffs etc.

 

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I did include them . My older dd started out as a catcher before becoming a fast RF.

I love catchers... They do the dirty work and are taken for granted

 

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As usual Uber you hit it square on the head. Kids for the most part are clearly out of shape in todays world. Most kids HS or Travel in any sport don't have the discipline to aerobic train on their own. We try to incorporate it into our practices as much as possible thru drill work or after practice. For those that are under the mind set that its not important to be in aerobic shape, what happens when one of your players rips a single, double or triple late in a game your behind in and you're out of pinch runners?? You better have her in good enough shape to be able to run the bases and score that run!

 

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Ours used to have to run "poles" foul pole to foul pole twice after each game..... It seemed to help with stamina late in the tourney run and they all had to cheer the others on to finish and some would run back and help them get to the finish cheering them as they ran.....

team-building in a small fashion....

 

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What? Who did I disagree with? You lost me.

I assumed you were disagreeing with anyone who said running long distances at cross country, errrr, softball practice was a bad idea when you said:

What is so horrible about running long distances as part of practice?

My bad.