Team practices.

[chixdad]

Just wondering how often other teams practice? My DD is on a Mc Madness 16u team and they practice twice a week. She has a friend on a different 16u team (different club) in NE Ohio, that has not practiced more than a couple of times since tryouts. I would find another team wondering what others think.

 

[joboo1drew]

Doom 14u - Gregory practiced once a week for 4 hours before our last tourney in Mid Nov. Since then we practice every other week for 4 hours. Will be going back to weekly after the New Year holiday.

 

[Lester]

the other question is how much are they practicing at home in this scenario. Some teams rarely meet to practice as a group.

 

[Passion4theGame]

I know all of our teams practice twice a week for 2hrs each practice but we have our own facility so it's a little different than most. Plus our girls get to work out when they want Monday- Friday during our open gym at our facility.

I think the hardest thing for some to understand as a coach we are always worried about our team budget for the season and forget to budget the winter practices.

I Feel the players should be getting 200-250 quality swings in a practice. Working on mechanics and technique. It's all muscle memory.

These teams that ur speaking of not working out during winter probably should get on the ball. Sounds like they are already behind the eight ball in my opinion.

When end we are not using our facility we help other teams out and let them use it to get a workout in. if your a coach in central ohio and need a spot to workout ur team let me know and we can try and help u out.

Thanks,
Jeff Hill
(740)974-4016

 

[Louuuuu]

Back in my daughter's 16U-18U years, she practiced twice a week from tryouts until the high school season started. She grew weary of it, but I understood the coaches' Big Picture.

 

[mogsoftball]

Lady lookouts
2 team practices 2 hours each
2 kobata sessions each 1 hour
1 strength and conditioning session 1 hour

 

[spartansd]

I think this should be broken up into age groups.

10U-14U should be practicing at least once a week.

16U is a different beast. My DDs have camps all Winter and will be missing many team practices. Our 16U coach gets all sideways over this. But my DDs do conditioning workouts 3+ days per week. Hit at least 2 days per week and do 1-2 softball only workouts per week. And this is in the off season. They enjoy it and I actually do not get involved anymore. So it is not like they have practice aversion. They just have camps they need to attend.

 

[flygirlsdad]

HS age is certainly different and could vary alot. My daughter has conditioning/open gym 2-3 days per week plus indoor games on Saturdays for HS. Throw in 2 travel ball sessions for practice/hitting and you are looking at 6 days a week potentially. Can get crazy.

 

[Laser05]

Lasers 9U
Practice 6hrs every other weekend. Girls have lunch and bond. Play some games mixed in with practice and works out well. They have drills provided with homework to do at home. It is all about the fundamentals and muscle memory. Learn it the right way!

 

[freddieball]

Daughter is on 14u team. They practice once a week for 4-5hrs. Took a break off from last 3 weeks of Nov, but they started back up again yesterday. My daughter also goes to hitting lessons once a week and she practices at home off a tee and net in the basement. I also rent a cage at Mannino's Grand Slam once in a while for a hour. Since tryouts they have done 2 tournaments, and a couple of teams camps and probably 8 scrims.

 

[cz fastpitch fan]

One of things that has to be taken into consideration at this time of the year is the distance that the players travel to get to their practice. It wasn't that long ago for my team that all of my players were from within 20 minutes of the home town. It wasn't difficult to expect the players to make it to 2 practices per week. As my team as improved in the last few years, players from farther away are now playing for me, and asking them to make that trek on a school night, when they live 2 hours away is quite tough. Plus, many of the girls at the 12U or older are getting into other sports for their schools, whether it be volleyball, basketball or other. I won't dare mention s****r.
This is NOT to imply that all teams with players traveling long distances are elite teams, or is to imply that teams made up of local players can't be competitive. I will call out the Storm '02 team last year. (Haven't seen them this year). That team was comprised 100% (I am pretty sure) of local girls and that was one SOLID 12U team at the age of 11. I'm sure Marc's doing wonders with them this year.
So, teams with local girls can be very good. As a coach, there are few decisions that are simply black & white, completely devoid of complexity. Almost every decision I make requires a ton of input, like the recipe of a good child...toss in the consideration of the alternatives, input from assistant coaches and team parent confidants, the consequences, the benefits, what will happen at home if...., put it all in a big soup pot, heat it, stir it up & see what comes out.
As a rule though...one thing we should always remember is that they are kids and they do need their down time in the late fall. even if it is just a couple weeks..they need it. Parents need it. The kids will find a way to keep busy for a few weeks & they will miss their friends that they can't see at school & come back ready to kick some butt and work hard together in December or January

 

[Pacerdad57]

DD is doing hitting and conditioning twice a week, pitching in open gym 1 day a week, pitching in game on weekend (all school related), and hitting and pitching once a week for Tball (2 hr practice).
i usually take her out to pitch one extra day a week, trying to work it in between bowling team activities too. weekends now have bowling tournaments, so she is staying more than busy.
and all of this comes AFTER schoolwork, lol

 

[number5]

DD is a freshman that plays on a 16U team. Currently she has conditioning 2 days a week at school. Twice a week hitting and 1 day pitching at open gym. We pitch for an hour once a week and have 45 min private lessons. Hitting private lessons for 45 mins once a week as well as playing in a pitch / hit league on the weekend. This does not take into account the 5 camps and 1 school visit we have in January. Busy girl.

 

[fastjay]

practice? we talkin bout practice?

 

[momof#10]

My daughter is on a U14 team and we were doing 2 nights a week, but after Thanksgiving we dropped down to 1 night a week for 3 hrs and doing an Ignitions training for 1 hour on a different day. In January we will pick back up

 

[Klump]

We offer practice 3 times a week with league games on Saturday. All my girls are very dedicated and usually make it at least twice a week. With high school ball conditioning and the heavy load of homework most of them have, I completely understand if they have to miss here and there. Them working at home on their own helps a lot too. Each team is different but I'd be worried if my dd's team only practiced a couple times since tryouts.....they're missing out on valuable development and bonding time. The off season is when you get better.

 

[Mdfio]

Our team has not been together for softball since our last tournament in October, felt it was important to give them some time off to recharge the battery, so to say! As well most all play other sports which I feel is important at this age (12u)! Although, we do have a one day tournament coming up, so it should be interesting to see how the theory stands! I will say it amazes me how with a break they all call and say "come on we are ready to start". Love the enthusiasm and passion, that's what it's about! Jmo