Inherited bad 12u Team

I joined an organization that wants me to run their team but the team is mainly returns from a defunct (losing)organization. We had a scrimmage today and all their practice habits immediately went out the window. A comedy of errors, passed balls and wild pitches later, they were the same losing team they were last Spring and Fall.

I know negative reinforcement is not the way to go, so how do you get through to a group of talented girls that accept losing? How do you enforce accountability without punishment?

Explain that the team that best executes the fundamentals of the game will win 9 games out of ten and go back as far as you have to to teach and ingrain the fundamentals. Accountability is as simple as rewarding those that buy in and work hard with more playing time. Focus on the process and the results ultimately will follow.

You're in a great spot!

Only one way to go...and that's up!

Before you have a practice, I would have a meeting with parents and players to establish some actual expectations.

Do NOT feel the need to say "this is what I expect, and if you don't do this there are "X" consequences." Be assertive. This team sounds like it suffers from a lack of leadership...

Make a plan...set realistic expectation and communicate said expectations to the parents and players...before you have the next practice...

In simplest terms, if everyone's boss would do the same things at work you'd have a more productive workplace...you can do something very similar with this team...

carverlee said:

I joined an organization that wants me to run their team but the team is mainly returns from a defunct (losing)organization. We had a scrimmage today and all their practice habits immediately went out the window. A comedy of errors, passed balls and wild pitches later, they were the same losing team they were last Spring and Fall.

I know negative reinforcement is not the way to go, so how do you get through to a group of talented girls that accept losing? How do you enforce accountability without punishment?

Click to expand...

If you think they exhibit the skills they need in practice but are not showing it in games, then lots and lots of competition scrimmage within practice.

Lets say you have 12.... 3 teams of 4...

Team One: Bats:

Team Two: Pitcher and Catcher & Infield

Team Three: Fills in Infield and Outfield (maybe with a parent/assistant coach in RF to fill in numbers)

- and then rotate each group.

We do this with a variety of games:

- Normal game (3 outs and rotate)
- Twice through (everyone bats twice then rotate)
- Short game (everyone bunts)
- 1 pitch (you get one strike only to hit)
- Runners on (we start with a runner on base)

You can do this off front toss if you don't have enough pitching or vary it however you like. Somtimes pitchers/catchers are not part of the team rotation and they pitch to multiple groups. Keep some sort of score over the game/all of practice and rewards for the winners (which most of the time is not having to shag balls in hitting drills or first drinks or something)

The idea is that they get used to competition and performing under game pressure. It isn't 100% game pressure, but it is better than another practice of the same drills they probably do just fine until it comes to game time. It is scrimmage, so you can stop at any time and go through what happened, what should of happened and so on - and because it is small rotations, you have players playing multiple positions which is what you want at this age group anyway.

There are many variations of this sort of practice - this is one we use regularly. We also have one we call '5 minute drill' - search my user name and you should find a post on how we run it somewhere.

Not only that, but this sort of practice is a lot of FUN. Which is what it is meant to be about anyway.

You don't have to be negative but you have to have them practice under pressure. Create drills or situations where there are consequences and rewards for good and bad performance. Just like any other part of the game you have to teach them something before you can expect them to do it in a game situation and that included playing under game pressure.

Is this a rec team?

they were the same losing team they were last Spring and Fall. I know negative reinforcement is not the way to go, so how do you get through to a group of talented girls that accept losing?

Click to expand...

You need an attitude adjustment. You have already decided that the team is a bunch of losers. How you have figured all that out after a couple of games is beyond me.

The bottom line is that *you* aren't practicing effectively or enough. For this age group, a practice should be fast paced and intense. The only down time should be a water break.

For t his age group, the drill I particularly like is for a line at SS and a line at 2B. One empty bucket is placed behind 2B. The coach is near the pitchers mound. He rolls a ground ball to the line at 2B. The girls throw the ball to the girl covering 2B. Then, the girl puts the ball in the bucket. When that bucket is full, you switch buckets. The key is to keep it moving.

marriard said:

If you think they exhibit the skills they need in practice but are not showing it in games, then lots and lots of competition scrimmage within practice.

Lets say you have 12.... 3 teams of 4...

Team One: Bats:

Team Two: Pitcher and Catcher & Infield

Team Three: Fills in Infield and Outfield (maybe with a parent/assistant coach in RF to fill in numbers)

- and then rotate each group.

We do this with a variety of games:

- Normal game (3 outs and rotate)
- Twice through (everyone bats twice then rotate)
- Short game (everyone bunts)
- 1 pitch (you get one strike only to hit)
- Runners on (we start with a runner on base)

.

Click to expand...

This needed more love. I usually finish every practice like this. One of the top 14U select teams in the state. We compete every practice.

carverlee said:

I joined an organization that wants me to run their team but the team is mainly returns from a defunct (losing)organization. We had a scrimmage today and all their practice habits immediately went out the window. A comedy of errors, passed balls and wild pitches later, they were the same losing team they were last Spring and Fall.

I know negative reinforcement is not the way to go, so how do you get through to a group of talented girls that accept losing? How do you enforce accountability without punishment?

Click to expand...

Greenmonsters has great advice about needing to focus on improvement (process) rather than wins/losses (results). In fact, development should always be the major focus at 12U regardless of the team's level and/or record.

- How's the pitching? Sloppy pitching (i.e. lots of walks, HBPs, wild pitches, passed balls, U3Ks) usually has a negative effect on fielding as fielders get discouraged and/or lose focus. Defenses are at their best behind crisp pitching.

- Sounds like the girls have the basic fielding skills down. Do they practice making plays at game speed? They need to find the right pace where they consistently make the play as quickly as possible without making errors due to hurrying or tensing up.

Here a couple of other tweaks on marriard's intrasquad scrimmage:
- Start every batter with a 1-1 count to keep things moving quicker.
- Save time rotating defense/offense by just clearing bases after 3 outs and rotate after 6 outs.

I don't really need to add much to Greenmonsters and marriard. I do both. Everything focuses on fundamentals at all times .... doing things correctly so often and so intensely that the girls are both unable and unwilling to do them any other way. And we even incorporate competition into the most basic fundamental drills:

1. Don't charge the ground ball taking the proper path and trajectory to set up your throw, you're out.
2. Don't field the ball in the proper place and stance, you're out.
3. If I don't see your eyes actually looking the ball all the way into your glove as you're fielding the ground ball, you're out.
4. Don't cover the ground ball with the other hand, you're out.
5. Don't set your feet properly for the throw to 1B after fielding the ground ball, you're out.
6. Take any time getting rid of the ball, you're out.
6. Don't make a mechanically-appropriate throw to 1B, you're out. (since my girls are 12, a bad throw isn't necessarily a reason for the girl to get disqualified from the competition, but the reason for the bad throw might be)
7. Throw the ball to 1B anything less than as hard as you can, you're out.

All this is just for the standard, simple coach-sitting-on-a-bucket-near-the-circle and rolling ground balls to four girls lined up at SS drill. And while it doesn't simulate the pressure of an actual ground ball off a bat and trying to throw out an actual runner, making them do everything as quickly as they can and throwing as hard as they can every time sure makes it an easier transition to game speed.

First girl "out" stays in the drill with no chance of winning but gets called "out" for mistakes. Next girl out watches. Last girl standing gets a Gatorade from coach.

Find a way to get them to mentally start over. Turn a new leaf etc. A new beginning with a plan in place is motivating and appealing to anyone.