You don't have to be involved with competitive softball long to see it. Heck, I've seen it in rec league ball. Your team trails by one going into the home half of the inning with 10 minutes left and the home team is taking their time getting their batter into the box, fixing uniforms and all of a sudden has a rash of shoestring malfunctions all while the defensive coaches are screaming "batter up" and "balls in" before the umpires have even taken their positions. The old stall tactics come in many forms. What are your thoughts regarding the issue?? Let me first quantify the question by saying I'm talking about coaching kids and specifically about volunteer coach's decisions...obviously if you're getting paid to coach a team at whatever level, that changes the dynamic quite a bit. I coach both 14U and 10U softball teams and see this all of the time. I get it on some level, but what message are you sending if it extends to tactics beyond the game?? Sure you want to win and you play to win, but the lengths that some teams go to are just simply bush-league. Changing pitchers when they obviously aren't struggling, calling time to talk to your defensive players or batter with the sole intent to waste time, the rash of shoestring or uniform problems...they are all pretty weak and sends a pretty terrible message to your kids. Now, I'm not suggesting that you run up there and quickly go through the motions to HELP the other team, but you can stall within the context and flow of the game. Taking pitches until the pitcher throws strikes is one way to do it. But how about actually getting a hit or two or mowing down the batters if you're in the field?? Geez...some common sense ideas aren't bad either!! All I'm saying is that if you're going out of your way to do something you'd otherwise not do simply in an effort to waste time to insure a "win" for your team, then you might need to reevaluate why you're REALLY coaching as well as what you're REALLY teaching! Thoughts??