Frequently Asked Questions

Dugout Edge offers a free lineup generator for youth baseball and softball. It distributes playing time fairly within each game, supports position preferences, co-ed league rules, and PDF export. The free version has full functionality with no account required. Premium ($8/month) adds saved teams and lineup history.

Dugout Edge is the best practice planning software for youth baseball and softball coaches. It features a drag-and-drop editor, 240+ drills with video demonstrations, station rotation tracking, and PDF export. Average planning time is 7 minutes per practice compared to 45-90 minutes manually. The free version includes full functionality.

Dugout Edge focuses on coaching tools (lineup generator with fairness algorithm, practice planner with drill library), while TeamSnap focuses on team management (communication, scheduling, payments). Dugout Edge has a free lineup generator; TeamSnap does not. TeamSnap has better parent communication features. Many coaches use both together. See our full Dugout Edge vs TeamSnap comparison.

Both score a live game. The difference is who the screen is for. Dugout Edge is built for the coach: a fairness-based lineup generator, a practice planner with 240+ drills, and the Game Day tool that keeps your batting order, field positions, automatic pitch counts, and playing time on one screen during the game. GameChanger is built for the family: live updates to parents, video highlights, and season batting statistics. Dugout Edge also has a free scoring app you can open with no account and no download. See our full Dugout Edge vs GameChanger comparison.

Use a lineup generator with a fairness algorithm like Dugout Edge. It distributes innings played, positions assigned, and bench time fairly within each game to give every player equal opportunity. Manual lineup creation often leads to unintentional bias. The free Dugout Edge lineup generator handles this automatically.

Start by creating your first team: go to Teams → Create Team. Add your team details, roster, and league rules. Once your team is set up, you can create games on your schedule and generate lineups. Visit our Getting Started guide at /getting-started for a complete walkthrough.

Set up in this order: 1) Create your team with basic info (name, sport, age group). 2) Add all your players with their position preferences. 3) Configure your league rules (innings, field positions, special rules). 4) Create your first game on the schedule. 5) Generate a lineup for that game.

Use the main navigation menu: Teams shows all your teams. Click a team to see its Roster, League Rules, and Schedule tabs. From Schedule, click any game to view or edit its lineup. The Lineup Generator and Practice Planner are also in the main menu.

Free users can use the lineup generator without saving. Premium ($8/month) unlocks: save unlimited teams and lineups, practice planner with 240+ drills, season stats tracking, PDF exports, and priority support. All educational content (drills, handbook, calculators) is free for everyone.

Check our Getting Started guide for step-by-step instructions. Browse the Coaching Handbook for baseball/softball knowledge. For technical issues, email support@dugoutedge.com - we typically respond within 24 hours.

Go to Teams in the menu → click Create Team. Enter your team name, select the sport (Baseball/Softball), age group, and level. Add your players in the roster section, then configure your league rules. Click Create Team to save.

On your team page, click "Edit Team Settings" (gear icon, top right). Scroll to the Roster section. For each player, enter: name (required), jersey number, gender, and position preferences (check all positions they can play). Click Save Team when done.

Position preferences tell the lineup generator which positions each player CAN play. Check multiple positions for more flexibility. For example, if a player can play 1B, 2B, and OF, check all three. The algorithm will rotate them through these positions while keeping the lineup fair.

In the Lineup Generator, uncheck the player in the roster list before generating. They will be excluded from that game's lineup. You can also edit the lineup after generation and remove players manually.

On your team page, click the Roster tab. You'll see Game Stats (position history, innings played, batting order positions) and Practice Stats (attendance, drill participation). Toggle between past games and all games using the scope filter.

On your team page, click Edit Team Settings, scroll to the bottom, and look for the red "Delete Team" button. This permanently removes the team, all players, games, and lineups. This cannot be undone.

Yes! Premium users can create unlimited teams. Each team has its own roster, league rules, schedule, and saved lineups. Switch between teams from the Teams page.

No. Game Day is a dugout board, not a scorebook. It shows the lineup and field positions you already built, counts pitches for you, and lets you tap in runs and outs, which is what anyone watching the game already knows. There is no notation to learn. The start-to-finish walkthrough covers a full game in order.

Yes. Ball fields have bad reception, so the board keeps taking your taps with no connection and stores them on the device, then sends them up when signal returns. The one thing to avoid is scoring the same game on two devices while either is offline. See scoring with no signal.

Undo reverses the last thing you recorded, including whatever it did to the score, and you can press it more than once to walk back several plays. If you spot a mistake after the game, you can correct that inning directly from the box score instead of undoing everything since.

Yes, and it is a good idea. A parent can run the board on their own phone as long as they can sign in to the team. Just make sure only one person is scoring at a time.

Yes. Pitches are recorded against the pitcher, not the position, so a pitching change moves the count to the new pitcher. Those totals roll into season stats when you end the game, which matters because most youth leagues set required rest by pitch count.

Yes. You can edit an inning's runs, pitch counts, and the number of innings played from the box score, and the line score and final total move together. For anything larger, reopen the game, fix it live, and end it again. See reading and fixing the box score.

Not yet. Today it keeps your lineup and field positions in front of you, counts pitches by pitcher, tracks playing time, holds your in-game notes, and runs a scoreboard with runs, outs, and the inning. Per-batter stats and at-bat detail are in progress and show as Coming soon in setup. That is deliberate. The current version is built for a coach who is also coaching third base.

Yes. Game Day opens from the lineup for that game, which is what puts the batting order and field positions on the board. If you have a roster with jersey numbers, the lineup generator will build one for you.

Go to Lineup Generator in the menu. Select your team, enter the game details (opponent, date, time), review which players are attending (uncheck absent players), then click Generate Lineup. The algorithm creates a fair batting order and position assignments for each inning.

The algorithm distributes playing time evenly within each game. It rotates players through different positions (respecting their preferences), balances batting order positions, and minimizes bench time. No player sits significantly more than others.

Yes! After generation, you can manually swap players between positions, reorder the batting lineup, and adjust any inning. Changes save automatically. Use drag-and-drop or click to swap positions.

Yes. Premium users can edit lineups using a field view with drag and drop. From any saved lineup, click the Field toggle in the toolbar (next to Undo / Redo). You will see your lineup on a baseball diamond — each player on the position they are playing for that inning, the bench beneath the field, and the batting order on the right. Drag a player onto another to swap them, drag a bench player onto a field spot to substitute, click Grid to see all innings at once, and use Prev / Next to step through innings one at a time. The Field and Table views share the same lineup, so any change in one shows up in the other. See the walkthrough at Edit lineups using a field view.

Click the Export PDF button to download a printable lineup card. You can also use the Share button to copy a link or send via email. The PDF includes batting order, position assignments by inning, and a field diagram.

This slider balances fairness vs. strategy. Lower values (1-3) prioritize equal playing time for all players. Higher values (7-10) weight player skill and position preferences more heavily. For recreational leagues, keep it low. For competitive leagues, adjust higher.

This happens when: 1) Few players have that position in their preferences, or 2) Position rotation is disabled in league rules. To fix: add more position preferences for players, or enable "Rotate Positions" in your league rules.

Generate the lineup with all players included. Then manually edit the lineup: for late arrivals, put them on bench for early innings. For early departures, put them on bench for later innings. The printed lineup will reflect your edits.

Use the lock icon. Hover (or tap) any cell in the lineup table to reveal a small lock icon in the top-right corner; tap it to pin that player at that position. The cell tints navy and the icon turns solid. When you tap Shuffle Positions, every cell EXCEPT your locked ones re-shuffles. Perfect for keeping your ace on the mound for inning 1 while the engine fills in everything else. Tap the lock again to unlock. See the walkthrough at Lock players to their positions.

The lineup editor has Undo and Redo buttons at the top right of the table. They track every change (position swaps, lock toggles, shuffles, drag-reorders, and Clear All Positions) so any single mistake is one click away from being reversed. You can also use Cmd+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Windows) for undo, and Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z for redo. History is kept for the last 50 actions. See the walkthrough at Undo and redo any lineup change.

Go to Practice Planner in the menu. Select your team, set the date and duration (60, 90, or 120 min), choose your focus areas (hitting, fielding, etc.), then build your timeline by adding activity blocks. Search for drills from our library of 240+ options.

In the Practice Planner, click "Add Block" to create a time slot (e.g., Warmup, Hitting, Infield). Then search for drills by name or category. Click a drill to add it. Each drill shows equipment needed, setup instructions, and coaching points.

Yes! For station-based practices, add multiple stations within a block. Assign players to each station and set rotation times. The practice plan will show which players go where and when they rotate.

Click Save Practice Plan when done. Name your plan and optionally save it as a template. Templates can be reused for future practices - just load the template and adjust the date. Great for repeating weekly practice structures.

Go to Drills in the menu to browse our full library. Filter by category (Warmup, Hitting, Infield, Outfield, Pitching, Catching, Baserunning, Team Defense), sport (Baseball/Softball), and age group. Each drill has video, instructions, and coaching tips.

Click Export PDF to download a printable practice plan. It includes your timeline, drill descriptions, equipment checklist, and player station assignments. Bring it to the field on your phone or print it out.

Yes! When creating a practice plan for a saved team, you can mark player attendance. After the practice, these stats appear on your team page under Practice Stats - showing each player's practice count and time by drill category.

On your team page, click "Edit Team Settings" (gear icon, top right). Scroll to the League Rules section. Set innings, field positions, batting rules, co-ed requirements, and pitcher limits. These rules automatically apply to all lineups you generate.

Choose from presets: Standard 9 (P, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF), Standard 10 (adds LCF or RCF), or Coach Pitch (no pitcher). You can also toggle individual positions on/off for custom configurations like 4-outfielder setups.

In Edit Team Settings → League Rules, enable "Co-Ed League". Then set: 1) Minimum Female Players required on the field each inning. 2) Gender Batting Order Rule to alternate genders in the lineup. The algorithm will enforce these automatically.

When ON (default), every player on your roster is in the batting order. When OFF, you set a specific batting order size (e.g., 9 batters) - only those players bat, even if more are on the roster. Most youth leagues use "all players bat."

Two settings: 1) "Pitcher Cannot Return" - if a pitcher leaves the mound, they cannot pitch again that game. 2) "Max Innings Pitched" - limits how many innings one player can pitch (e.g., 2 innings max). Both are enforced by the lineup generator.

When enabled, the algorithm avoids putting the same player at the same position in consecutive innings. This ensures kids experience different positions throughout the game. Pitcher and catcher are exempt from rotation.

In the Lineup Generator, you can override innings and field positions for a single game without changing your team defaults. For major rule changes, consider creating a separate team with different settings.

Premium is $8/month or $60/year (save 37%). Both include a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime. Premium unlocks: unlimited saved teams and lineups, practice planner, season stats, PDF exports, and priority support.

Click your profile icon (top right) → Subscription. Select Monthly or Yearly, enter payment info, and start your 7-day free trial. You won't be charged until the trial ends.

Go to your Profile → Subscription → Manage Subscription. Click "Cancel Subscription." You'll keep premium access until the end of your billing period. Your data is never deleted - you can resubscribe anytime.

Go to Profile → Account Settings. Click "Change Password" and enter your current password, then your new password. If you signed up with Google, you'll need to set a password first or continue using Google sign-in.

On the Sign In page, click "Forgot Password?" Enter your email and we'll send a reset link. Click the link in the email to set a new password. Check your spam folder if you don't see the email.

Go to Profile → Account Settings. You can update your display name and email. Note: changing your email may require re-verification.

Go to Profile → Subscription → scroll to "Danger Zone" → Delete Account. This permanently removes all your data including teams, players, games, and lineups. This cannot be undone. Consider exporting your data first.

Email support@dugoutedge.com or use the Contact Support form in your account. We typically respond within 24 hours. Premium users get priority support.

Yes! We offer discounts for leagues and organizations with multiple coaches. Email support@dugoutedge.com with your league name and estimated number of coaches for a custom quote.