COACHING AT THE 6U AND 8U DIVISIONS

Many parent-coaches who now have daughters in high school or beyond will tell you that being a staff member of a 6U or 8U team was the most rewarding and enjoyable of their experiences in working with young persons.  Players and their parents, as well as staff members of other teams, are able to keep things in the proper perspective.  Expectations are certainly manageable.

Still, there are responsibilities.  Organization is very important.  And as the video on the "General Coaching Page" notes, the coaches we remember are those who can BOTH teach skills and make the experience a fun one.

Here are five tips.

1.  SET OBTAINABLE SKILL-SPECIFIC GOALS FOR THE YEAR.  

If this is your first year as a staff member, you may not know the skills yourself, but you can learn them quickly.  Work to reach the goals, rejoice when a goal is reached, and feel even better when your players exceed the goals.  At 6U and 8U obtainable skills include:                     

• a.     For Hitting -- before the end of the season, every player on the team will know how to properly hold a bat and how to take her stance in preparation for a swing.  Don't worry that some players will find it less natural than others, as long as they have the understanding.

• b.     For Throwing -- before the end of the year, every player will know what I am referring to when I gently remind her to get her throwing elbow at least as high as her shoulder.  Some will continuously forget, but they will understand.

• c.     For Catching softballs that are thrown to a player -- before the end of the year, every player will understand that the fingers of her glove should either point up or down as the ball reaches the glove.  The fingers of her glove should never point at the player who threw the ball.  (If the catch will be made above her belly button, the glove's fingers should point up.  If the catch will be made below her belly button, she should point the fingers down).

2.  NEVER GET FRUSTRATED, IT'S NOT HELPFUL.  

Remember the expected attention span and remember that the surest way to make this enjoyable for the players is to make it enjoyable for yourself.

3.  KEEP EVERYONE INVOLVED. 

Minimize the amount of time in which any player is inactive.  Divide the team into groups, with each group being assigned to a different staff member running a different station.

4,  ELIMINATE THE FEAR FACTOR. 

It is not uncommon for a new player to have some fear of being hit by the ball.  Be creative.  Work with some or all of the players by using sponge balls or a number of socks rolled up to provide the desired size.  Another source of fear relates to learning from adults other than their parents.  In making a correction, regularly use the "sandwich approach."  That is, sandwich the statement that might be interpreted as being negative between two positives.  For example, "Great job, that throw was directly at Sally.  But if you get your elbow as high as your shoulder on each throw, it will go even further.  It went right to Sally, you're Goooooooood."

5.  MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, TEACH YOUR PLAYERS THE LOVE OF THE GAME. 

Over the next few years, some of your players will stop playing softball because of a preference for another sport.  That's OK!  But in order to allow them to make the proper determination, show them what softball has to offer.  And KNOW that the measure of the "success" of the team at any age division cannot be assessed during the season, because it is not based on how the team does against its opponents.  Instead, success is measured the following year, when you can count how many of your players returned because they enjoyed the year you were with them.

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If you have any suggestions for drills that are particularly well suited for the players at the 6U and 8U Divisions, please pass the information to others.  The best drills are ones that the players enjoy.  Find games that are instructive and fun.  Three contributions from past coaches are:

Protect the Line Drill

Find an easily recognizable straight line, such as a foul line of a softball field or a sideline of a soccer field.  Position the players in a side-by-side arrangement facing away from the line, with each player's heels being a short distance from the line.  Then, either roll or hit a softball on the ground to the first player in the line.  If she catches the ball "cleanly," she (or the collection of players - your decision) is awarded 2 points.  If she does not catch the ball cleanly, but stops the ball from traveling over the line, she (or the group) receives 1 point.  On the other hand, if the ball passes the player and rolls over the line, no point is awarded.  This continues for each player in the line.  Then, start again at the first player. 

Scoring -- While no play should be difficult, tell the players that you are trying to get the ball over the line. Any points acquired by the players are added together until a goal is reached (such as 10 points). As a result, the players cheer for each other.

Skills taught -- This drill teaches the skills related to fielding ground balls.

The Base Drill

Purpose: To teach the girls who goes for the ball, who covers the base.

2-4 girls, 1 coach

Setup: If there are 2 girls, locate one girl at the shortstop position and the other at the second base position. If there are 4 girls, then assign two girls to each position- they will alternate turns. The coach is positioned as if at home plate, but a bit closer to the girls, approximately 25-30 feet from 2nd base.

Start by throwing the ball to SS. As the SS goes for the ball, the 2nd baseman covers the base and vice versa.   Alternate a few times between them, until they get it.  After that, alternate randomly so they don't know who the ball is going to.  Next, instead of throwing the ball to the player, throw it a little to the right or left, so they have to move to the ball.  Next, throw the ball so the girl has to "charge" the ball - that is, throw it "short" and have the player run up to it.  If you have 4 girls, place one behind the first SS and one behind the first 2nd baseperson.  After each throw, the girls trade places.  Keep it fast paced, but get them to (ok, try to get them to!) throw the ball such that the other player can actually catch it.

The Barney Bop Drill

Bring a stool or other platform (2-3 ft high) and a stuffed animal, like Barney. Have the players practice knocking the Barney off the stool at 1st base. Make it a game, with teams. They practice throwing to a target in a fun and wacky manner.

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PLAYER  PITCHING  AT  8U  and  10U

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There are many pitchers starting to learn how to pitch at the 8U and 10u divisions.  The MVLA rules provide player pitching at the 8U level.  This allows opportunities for the players to practice pitching skills with a controlled amount of  pressure, since the player cannot walk a batter.  It is HIGHLY recommended that inexperienced pitchers begin with the "slingshot" style.  If carefully taught, the slingshot style includes almost all of the mechanics of the "windmill" style, but is more easily understood and controlled by the players.  The only significant difference is that the ball is brought to the 3:00 position by an underhand movement.  With the windmill style, the pitcher arrives at the same 3:00 position, but only after passing though a 9:00 position and a 12:00 position.  Regardless of which style is used, the pitcher's shoulders should turn into alignment with the catcher. So, teaching a player the slingshot style does not slow her from learning the windmill style.  In fact, for many of the players, starting with the slingshot style accelerates her ability to master the windmill style.  

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As evidence that learning the slingshot style is productive in later use of the windmill style, here's what the two have in common:

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This is an advanced pitcher demonstrating the slingshot style.  In her backswing, she goes well past the 3:00 position and almost reaches the 12:00.

For beginning pitchers, it is better to have less backswing than is shown here.  The final position of the hand prior to forward motion should be based on the ability of your pitcher to control the pitch.

Here is the same pitch, but in slow motion.

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Regardless of which style is used, perhaps the two most important pieces of advice are:

1.  You can demystify the mechanics of fastpitch pitching by considering what you do when you throw overhand.  The significant differences can be isolated to two:

• In fastpitch, the release point is at the hip, not at the ear; and

• In fastpitch, the elbow is relatively straight but bends when the ball is released, while an overhand throw is made with a bent elbow that starts to straighten when the ball is released. 

• THAT'S IT!!!!

2.  Encourage the pitcher when a pitch travels directly at the catcher, even if it is 10 feet too high or it bounces six times before it gets to the plate.  This is NOT encouragement for the sake of encouragement.  Convince yourself (because it's true) that misses left and right are results of flaws in mechanics, while misses high and low are merely flaws in timing.  It takes a lot of practice to be consistent in the timing of the ball release (letting go too late will cause the pitch to be too high, while letting go too early causes the pitch to be low).  Your 8U pitchers will get there someday, if they continue to practice.  But if you have taught your pitchers the mechanics that allow them to regularly throw in the intended direction, you have done well and both you and your pitchers should know it.

COACH  PITCHING  AT  8U  and  10U

The temptation is for a staff member to "lob" the ball to a hitter when the staff member is called upon to pitch in a game.  However, balls that have a significant arch are more difficult for a player to hit, especially after facing pitches from players who are not lobbing the ball to the hitter. 

Here's a short video on coach pitching (but skip the first minute).