What do you have your players do after the game is over. Currently I have them do 6 - 10 (90 ft) sprints in the outfield.
What is best and has worked for you?
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The best is no sprints because they don't do anything.
Funny story from Micky Mantle Qualifier many years ago. We were the underdog, and were facing the favorite with deep pitching. We ended up run ruling them in 5 innings. We did all the post game celebrations / pictures / interviews / etc. We then all went to the cars, all the boys changed clothes to go out to dinner, and as we were driving out of the complex we all looked to our left............losing team still running poles. Not sure when they finished..........
I do know that in elimination tournaments on as Sunday with our youngest, that if we lose early, coach will have us go back to our facility for work, he says "you planned to be gone most of the day, might as well as use it to get better".
I've found that conditioning wise, it doesn't really do much at this point in time and does more to just make them more tired and irritated, which may not be good for them on upcoming days. If there's a specific objective in mind (e.g. punishment to get a point across), it seems a pointless activity.
Before and after every game he pitches, my RHP, is out doing poles. Before, to clear his mind, get in the mindset for the game and get blood moving. After, clear his mind, think about his outing and get the blood moving, to help the body "fix" what pitching does to the arm, shoulder and elbow.
As for the "disciplinary runs", I turn to a portion of one of my favorite motivational speeches. Admiral McRaven from the US Navy delivering the commencement speech at University of Texas - Austin in 2014. For the complete speech, look here: https://news.utexas.edu/2014/0...-to-change-the-world
I'm certainly not equating training for the SEAL Team to youth baseball, but it holds some truths about life and learning. This is but an excerpt:
Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a "circus." A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.
No one wanted a circus.
A circus meant that for that day you didn't measure up. A circus meant more fatigue — and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult — and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone — everyone — made the circus list.
But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students — who did two hours of extra calisthenics — got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength, built physical resiliency.
Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.
But if you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the circuses.
Coaches should have post-game sprints if they believe the sprints will help their team win.
IMO, to the degree that post-game sprints have value, it's not for conditioning; it's for chemistry.
My son's HS team did this after every game. I believe most of these activities are done quite simply because either everyone else does it or the prior coach did it. For the life of me, I never saw any value in it. I would think conditioning would be accomplished mostly in the off season and at practice. A few sprints ran half-a&@ after a game serves no purpose in my estimation.
No sprints after game for my HS guys... next day lift for everyone and arm recovery day for pitchers who throw that game though. To each their own.
I dislike it. The game is over. It's not a game you need to cool down from physically and running sprints is nothing more than a disciplinary measure. I have a cool down routine for pitchers, but that's it and the starter should do this immediately after leaving the mound - not after the game, unless he threw a complete game. Shake hands, have meeting to say what you need to say and send the kids home.
Nathan posted:
What do you have your players do after the game is over. Currently I have them do 6 - 10 (90 ft) sprints in the outfield.
What is best and has worked for you?
Why do you have them do those sprints?
CIF-SS rules say no practice after games, since games are considered part of allowed practice time.
If you're doing them for punishment then you're wasting time. You wasted time in practice not getting them better prepared. If you lost because the other team was better then how do sprints help you get as good as them? If you lost because you had mental errors then you fix that in practice by putting them in a stressful situation with the outcome possibly being sprints but in practice. If you lost because of physical errors then fix that in practice by more ground balls, fly balls, etc.... If you lost because of bad attitudes, lack of effort and things of that sort then you stunk it up in making your team because you chose them.
But let's say you have several games in a row or the weather prediction looks bad - I can see doing sprints to maintain a level of physical conditioning. You spent all this time getting in shape so why lose it because you can't get it done in practice? You need to do this after a win or a loss with the express purpose of maintaining a level of physical conditioning and not as punishment. Keep it a realistic number and work on aspects such as baserunning. If you're going to run after a game then give it a purpose and their can be one.
Our guys run relaxed sprints after games, win or lose, and most teams they play do as well. I don't really know why for sure, but I agree that's more of a team thing -- blow off a little steam, shake it off together or celebrate together, depending on the circumstance. Half the guys have been sitting in the dugout for 2 hours and it's got to be good for them to get the blood flowing a bit before they listen to the coaches talk and get to work on the field, if they played at home.
Never been a big fan of after game sprints. If the idea is punishment I tend to fall into the mindset of coach. TheIf the idea is conditioning, then, IMO, after a game is not the time to do this.
The only running I think is necessary after a game would be for a pitcher to lightly jog some. From what I understand they will get the blood flowing to the muscles and help the recovery process.
Our pitchers run basically around the outfield after they're done, for the same reason Joe587 said. Otherwise, no running after games.
I have never had my team run sprints after a game. We play 34 games in a short amount of time. With makeups from rain-outs making our schedule tight when we do get on the field, I never wanted to physically break my team down.
joes87 posted:Never been a big fan of after game sprints. If the idea is punishment I tend to fall into the mindset of coach. TheIf the idea is conditioning, then, IMO, after a game is not the time to do this.
The only running I think is necessary after a game would be for a pitcher to lightly jog some. From what I understand they will get the blood flowing to the muscles and help the recovery process.
Our travel program does this but it's never for punishment and it's (mostly) at player's discretion to run a little. It's more common to see among pitchers but I see catchers run a little too after games. I believe it helps with post game recovery (lactic acid in relation to oxygen in the muscles, I think).
hsbaseball101 posted:CIF-SS rules say no practice after games, since games are considered part of allowed practice time.
You misquoting a rule. As a coach, you are allowed to do sprints, as long as you do them win or lose. If it is for punishment then you are in violation.