New coach, advice please

I'll try to add what everyone else said...

I think the biggest thing is making sure the girls know they can make mistakes (of all types) and not get yelled at/in trouble by you, your assistant coaches or even their parents. You'll have to tell them that, repeat it and put it into action. Just remember it is going to take time. They've been berated for 3 years, that lack of confidence isn't going to vanish after a couple practices.

Another thought... I always try using the basic philosophy of for every correction type thing try an include a positive...to use Little Angels example "Hey Jules! You need to keep that head down and watch the ball all the way into the glove, right?", you could add, "that was some great hustle to get to the ball". Ohhhh...and don't forget to cheer on and high five the little things, loudly and publicly.... girls being where they are suppose to be even though there was no play there, showing sportsmanship to the other team, being a good teammate, girls picking up equipment on their own, etc

I think that it may also be helpful to lay down ground rules and playing philosophies to both the parents and girls, I suspect that the previous coaches may have played a little loose with whatever rules they had. Does everyone play every position or everyone will play some infield and outfield, etc. Whatever it may be... state them and then follow it.. This will help get parents on board with what you are doing and they can help with restoring that confidence, because now the parents understand what you are doing and can explain to their child versus telling their child they have no idea why the coach did "whatever".

and above all, always remember that sprinkles are for winners.

awinn said:

Another thought... I always try using the basic philosophy of for every correction type thing try an include a positive...to use Little Angels example "Hey Jules! You need to keep that head down and watch the ball all the way into the glove, right?", you could add, "that was some great hustle to get to the ball".

Click to expand...

Ask them what they did wrong first. A lot of the time they will know. If they don't know, then tell them. That way, you're not "correcting," you're "reinforcing" and "teaching."

There's a lot of great advice. I'll just add the obvious: keep it positive and fun.

LH'sMom said:

Despite all the crazy politics of our rec league I finally get to coach my daughter's 10U team. Their rec ball is an average of 2 games a week in towns up to an hour away. They will also play in 2 tournaments during the season and then fall ball. My daughter is also on a 10U travel ball team. The rec coaches that these girls have had for the last 3 years has done damage to their confidence, they were yellers and screamers, they used "I" all the time, punished girls for small things (like striking out), and gave them corrections constantly. These men are all going up to 12U despite their kids young ages of 8 and 9) So I won't move DD up as I don't want her around these men ever again.

How do I build these girls back up? I want to teach them to love the game, instead of the looks of fear that were ever present last year. Rec ball should be fun and a learning environment IMO.

Ideas on how to start the season to achieve these goals?

I'm thinking all the way back to basics, with lots of teambuilding?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

1st step - make it fun again: be silly, cheer lots, do all your talking at their level (get down on a knee).
2nd - When you have to correct them, use the Wooden method: demonstrate the correct method - show/explain how it was done incorrectly - demonstrate the correct method again (modeling positive, modeling negative, modeling positive).
3rd - As everyone else has said, obviously no yelling or freaking out.
4th - Realize that you may have lost some of them permanently. DS was on a yelling LL team 3 or 4 years ago, and while he still plays he rarely takes joy in it and probably will not play beyond this season.

Have fun and it will be fun for them. Good luck!

LH's mom, you sound like you're going to be a great coach.

You're going to be amazed by what confidence can do to a team.

I used a lot of confidence building games when I coached. Just Saturday I helped with a league 12u team of mostly 1st year players. The coach was putting balls into a pitching machine and chunking them up into the air and the girls were to catch them. Most of them could not.

I asked the coach if I could play a game, and he agreed. I divide the team into 2, and made it a competition, 2 points for a catch, 1 point for touch. --3 rounds.

After the second round there were a couple more catches and a few more touches but still some that hadn't even come close to the ball.

So final round I yelled --EVERYBODY TOUCHES! I constantly cheered them on, pumped them up and one by one they all got glove on the ball. EVERYBODY TOUCHES! Baby steps, I got them to touch the ball, they are less afraid, they are more confident, they next time they'll touch even more, then the catches will start to happen.

I do the same with hitting, EVERYBODY TOUCHES! 2 points for putting the ball in play, 1 point for a touch.
Same for fielding, etc.
Making it fun, building the confidence that allows them to build the skills.

For every team I coach, regardless whether it's a team of mostly new players or a team of skilled and experienced players, I have 2 primary goals:

1) Have fun
2) Get better

If we accomplish both, no matter what our win-loss record is, it has been a good season. If we miss on either, I have failed the team.

As long as the player is making even a small effort, there is ALWAYS something positive to say. Applaud the effort, even if there isn't a result. Results will come with experience and confidence.

A lot of good advice. Keep it fun. At that age, they really do like to hear an adult be positive about them. As often as possible, give a positive with corrections. When a girl finally "gets" a lesson, ie throwing mechanics, bending with their knees on fielding, and ect, go crazy for them. I always make a big deal when a kid has that breakthrough. Even if its a small thing.

Our 1st 10u rec ball team had to face a pretty hard thrower that didn't have great control. This was 1st year of team pitch and most of the girls started jumping out of the box. I knew this could be bad path to go down, so that became my only objective. Keep them confident and not scared in the box. Several things didn't work, so one practice, I decided to think out of the box.

I told them all that I would never ask them to do something that I wouldn't do myself. So, I broke out my helmet. Stood in the box, and let every single girl bean me with a softball. I was seriously hit by about 25 pitches. The parents thought I was crazy. The girls LOVED it. For most, it helped them.

4 years latter, I still have those girls, and some of the parents, come up to me and talk about that practice. It was worth every bruise I got that day.

told them all that I would never ask them to do something that I wouldn't do myself. So, I broke out my helmet. Stood in the box, and let every single girl bean me with a softball. I was seriously hit by about 25 pitches. The parents thought I was crazy. The girls LOVED it. For most, it helped them.

Click to expand...

When I went over bunting with the girls, I asked them to toss me a few balls to demonstrate the bunt, and about half of them actually tossed the ball at me, hitting me. Luckily it was just tossing, but I treated it like, YAY! I just got on base!

I am a coach who has adhered to the advice delineated here. I never yelled, put down, or mistreated a girl. The girls on the team seemed to follow my lead and had a universally positive attitude whatever the score. It was fun to practice and play with this team. Not that it matters, but without yelling or screaming, etc. we won a lot of games! And had fun doing it. If you coach this way you can avoid a lot of problems those more "intense" coaches have.