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by onlooker » Fri Jan 06, 2017 2:23 pm

"We are continuing to work out. We have now had 10 practices since Dec. 1st. "

I wont quote the team ad, nor name the coach, nor name the org. You can go find this new ridiculous statement (and other meaningless info on why join) in the ads yourself......

However I will be more than happy to share MY OPINION of that sentence:

If your DD is practicing for 30 hours in December in TEN AND UNDER, you the parent need to take a good look at WTF you are doing with your 9-11 year old daughters life, time and body.

STOP THE MADNESS - take a frikin break dad,
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by gobblygoop » Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:46 pm

Couldn't agree with you more. I've also seen adds and have heard of coaches not wanting kids that play other sports. This is all maddening to me. They're ten, let them be kids and enjoy being young athletes.
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by slice » Mon Jan 09, 2017 4:57 pm

onlooker wrote:"We are continuing to work out. We have now had 10 practices since Dec. 1st. "

I wont quote the team ad, nor name the coach, nor name the org. You can go find this new ridiculous statement (and other meaningless info on why join) in the ads yourself......

However I will be more than happy to share MY OPINION of that sentence:

If your DD is practicing for 30 hours in December in TEN AND UNDER, you the parent need to take a good look at WTF you are doing with your 9-11 year old daughters life, time and body.

STOP THE MADNESS - take a frikin break dad,


Damn!!! That’s just awful & ridiculous, that a Coach would have 10 practices in December, trying to make his team better. :lol:
I certainly don't have to speak for "THAT COACH!!" Me personally knowing him is certainly “BIG” enough to handle his own business. Shoot, I only had 9 practices totaling 31 hours in December. Rain got in the way of the other 3 days. :P

Sooo since we are sharing OUR OPINIONS.......... What is your Resolution Coach Onlooker? :roll:

I’m kind of "NEW" to this so please help me with my third DD,
My two older DD’s played 10 & Under before and practiced a lot more than 30 hours in the month of December. Not sure if I did it right when they were 9-11 years old. However they were able to set up their Future Educational “Life”; they learned how to Manage their Personal & Athletic “Time” & they have some of the Most Strongest & Athletically Skilled “Bodies” for kids in their age peer group. So they just barely got by.
But I’m just a simple Ole PARENT!! So what do I know.

BTW we did take a break.....when we weren’t practicing or it rained. ;)

I wonder how many hours a DD will need in January & February. :?
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by slice » Mon Jan 09, 2017 5:37 pm

gobblygoop wrote:Couldn't agree with you more. I've also seen adds and have heard of coaches not wanting kids that play other sports. This is all maddening to me. They're ten, let them be kids and enjoy being young athletes.


Gobbly,
Please don’t misinform the adult HB Community with false statements and embellished remarks. This is just crazy to me. They’re only twenty nine to forty eight. Let them be adults and think for themselves. :lol:

There is only one add and one coach advertising for this “PREFERENCE” of softball athlete. It’s that coach’s choice on what’s best for his/her team. :o

Kids past & present still get to enjoy life….they just can’t play on the swings or in the same sandbox as others.

BTW what does……….”They’re Ten” mean? :?
I’ve heard that somewhere before, but I don’t understand it. :roll:
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by slice » Mon Jan 09, 2017 6:14 pm

Spazsdad wrote:Just because you buy in to the insanity that kids that age should be working that much doesn't validate the activity.
But hey, at least you are modest :roll:
If kids aren't getting a break in December then when do they. Nevermind you obviously think they should put in more hours than a college athlete since they do get time off in December


Spaz,
Thanks for chiming in as you like to think you’re always the voice of reasoning in these matters. :roll:
Modest??? Hmmm!! :lol: Smart & understanding of this process, absolutely no problem there. :D
What I believe in and have bought in for years works for me. Definitely not concerned over yours or anyone else's thoughts or opinions on how to operate. It’s certainly not “Insanity”, when its more Normality that my December practices/workouts are always full from 10-U to Gold, HS & College.
With typical Winter weather patterns the way they are and have been, there is a Mother Nature "Break!!" No matter what age group you are.
Brotha, College Athletes get time off from “School” in December. However I personally know they aren’t taking time off of their personal practices & workouts in December. Was yours?
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by moosemcnair@aol.com » Wed Jan 11, 2017 12:54 am

Hi guys,

Yes, I am the so called insane coach who had the ten 10U practices in December. I also agree that rest is good and that kids should be kids. When I posted that statement, I posted it in the Tryout section, looking to add another player to the team. It was said to entice a player to a very active 10U team, and ward away any player not serious.

I too think that sports have changed and in many ways, not always for the better. Due to specialization in softball and all the sports(Volleyball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, swimming, gymnastics) there are some very strong positives and negatives for the health of young athletes. While some of the positives include background checks, coaches that teach better fundamentals and understand how to properly train young athletes, especially teaching them proper warm up and down techniques. These coaches might also teach better hydration and nutrition then the old gym teacher/coach of the past. Hopefully these coaches also understand how to reduce wear and tear on the joints and ligaments of these young athletes. Understand how to lower stress levels and recognize signs of burn out in athletes. Most certainly they know better first aid practices and how concussions are treated has come around miles from the old days. Well actually maybe all 10U and other age groups coaches aren't always the best and have studied and done their homework for years on how to watch out for the safety of their players, so making sure you get a good, experienced. level headed coach is important. At 10U is is even more critical. Other important things are, does he or she help these young players develop a passion for the sport.

Now the negatives, Year round practices, games and training. Less opportunities to cross train and use other muscle groups by playing other sports. Playing other sports not only reduces the amount of overuse injuries, study after study concludes playing multiple sports as a young athlete is very beneficial to young athletes. Other problems are being so over burdened with the time it takes to play serious travel sports, can create stress and burn out. Overuse injuries are huge and you hear of college girls with no cartridge in their shoulder at 21, all too often. It's not to cool that your DD can't reach her arm up over her head in her early twenties!

I jut want to clarify that we did practice the ten times in a month. I also want to assure you that while I am insane and I believe and say that anyone involved in travel sports is insane is not a joke, but a fact. I will tell you that I myself, don't know what to do with myself if my team can't practice at times. Here is what I have learned over the years and here is how these 10 practices went down. First I am a safety first guy and require all my players to wear masks at practice, even when I coached older age groups. I run a high paced energetic practice with balls flying all over the place at times. I want to make sure as a coach that all these girls get to go to their Senior Proms with their real teeth!!!. I make sure the girls are properly warmed up. We run dynamic warmups that are supervised and a team jog. Their arms are warmed up properly with massive focus on proper throwing techniques. While some of the warm ups might be overkill for 10U's, it teaches them to properly warm up for life and sets forth that culture! I don't allow kids to throw the ball with out proper technique. If they are, I stop them immediately and address the issue as well as discuss it with their parent. We come up with a plan(usually drills) to fix the problem and monitor it, pushing for constant progress until the technique is corrected. I am not a big fan of long toss for young athletes and limit long toss as well as supervise it, making the girls use their legs and throw with proper fundamentals.

Our first drills in practice are roll out drills (these roll outs are 30 minutes to 45 minutes of practice). We roll out balls and stress receiving it forehead down, with a good fielding triangle, top hand and footwork, the player then runs the ball to a bucket with no throws(great cardio). We do charge it drills, left and right, choppers, short hops, bare hands, without throwing just to save the kids arms. These girls have very strong and accurate arms and over throwing will only invite injury now and way down the road. We then do throw, but stress setting the feet and shorten the distance to first base in order to let the kids learn different types of throws(off the opposite foot, throwing from low, backhands,and across the body) that they should learn to feel and be introduced to doing these types of advanced throws for the future. All the while we stress foot work and setting the feet. This is again to ensure we preserve their arms.

We do batting circle, where the girls warm up their swing before batting. We even have a matrix drill where they swing in slow motion, as part of the warm up.

I keep a close eye on them and make it clear that they are to report any soreness or pain. If I notice anything out of the ordinary, I immediately ask them to come over and question them as to if something hurts.

We carry 3 main pitchers and never pitch a girl more then 1 1/2 games on a Saturday or Sunday at 10U! I see pitchers overused way to much! We also have a 4th pitcher who gets all the innings when we are way ahead or behind. My own daughter is one of the pitchers and the third female pitcher in the family. So, I am aware of preventive measures and suggest pro-ice after pitching for the day even at 10 years old to reduce inflammation.

As the head coach, I vary the routine at practice, so they have different drills that use different muscles at times. By shaking it up and varying the routine, the young girls have more fun and are less likely to suffer burn out! We have contests and sometimes just have fun, like making our own snow cones right at practice!

I am an advocate of more shorter training sessions rather then less longer sessions. I prefer that young pitchers warm up and pitch for 15 minutes 4 to 5 times a week, rather then 2 or 3 times for an hour, throwing pitch after pitch, that has no bearing on how a real game happens. By throwing more often for 10 to 15 minutes after a full warm up of overhand and X to I drills from short distances and finally from the full distance, it allows young girls to gain better muscle memory and command of their pitches. they have better attention spans for 20 minutes then an hour plus. They have time to do other things they like(trampolines or swimming) and more time for homework and relaxing after a long day at school. Others may disagree, but I also like them to hit 1 bucket of balls off a tee 5 days a week with different drills. It takes 10 minutes and by doing it 5 days a week for only 10 minutes, the body and swing memory is outstanding!

6 of these practices were indoor and we had the field for a hour, followed by hitting for an hour. Far from the Japanese Little league teams routines. The other 4 were on dirt and were 3 hours with short breaks.(being honest) Never did the kids complain, but most are always surprised when it's over! They say "THAT WAS 3 HOURS!"

So in this crazy travel ball world, I am guilty of wanting to win as much as anybody else, but not at the expense of 10 year olds bodies. I always say this is a sprint and a marathon. That means I have to teach them to have proper techniques and culture now, with some winning and a solid passion for the game, as well as the tools and experience to play at the highest level they pursue in their softball careers.

I am sure you still think I am nuts and are overdoing it on 10U athletes, and I am nuts, because this whole travel softball sport is nuts. However, I love coaching the girls and seeing them develop. Most of them show an amazing passion for the game and I do my best to help them to have a fun, healthy, rewarding experience! If you still don't believe it, maybe someone else does!!! By the way good luck Robert, and thanks for standing up for me, I think!!!

Coach Moose/Universal Fastpitch 10U (415)699-3848
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by onlooker » Wed Jan 11, 2017 12:46 pm

"Others may disagree, but I also like them to hit 1 bucket of balls off a tee 5 days a week with different drills. It takes 10 minutes and by doing it 5 days a week for only 10 minutes, the body and swing memory is outstanding!"

I leave 10 minutes a day 5 days a week to training dogs. That is so they don't lose attention or start chewing the ball.

STOP THE MADNESS
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by Hook Slide » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:28 pm

onlooker wrote:"Others may disagree, but I also like them to hit 1 bucket of balls off a tee 5 days a week with different drills. It takes 10 minutes and by doing it 5 days a week for only 10 minutes, the body and swing memory is outstanding!"

I leave 10 minutes a day 5 days a week to training dogs. That is so they don't lose attention or start chewing the ball.

STOP THE MADNESS



If you're not encouraging your DD to hit a bucket of balls every day what kind of fastpitch parent are you?
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by Hook Slide » Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:21 pm

Spazsdad wrote:
Hook Slide wrote:
onlooker wrote:"Others may disagree, but I also like them to hit 1 bucket of balls off a tee 5 days a week with different drills. It takes 10 minutes and by doing it 5 days a week for only 10 minutes, the body and swing memory is outstanding!"

I leave 10 minutes a day 5 days a week to training dogs. That is so they don't lose attention or start chewing the ball.

STOP THE MADNESS



If you're not encouraging your DD to hit a bucket of balls every day what kind of fastpitch parent are you?

A pitchers dad :lol:



Touche' you got me there
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by CheckWriter » Tue Jan 17, 2017 11:14 pm

Some coaches that you may have heard of don't recruit players that play only one sport in high school, much less at younger ages.

http://changingthegameproject.com/the-perils-of-single-sport-participation/
I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words.
--- Hesiod, Eighth Century B.C.
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