For all the motivational experts out there...

The #1 goal of any baseball/softball team should be to focus and play hard at every opportunity that presents itself, whether it's game or practice. Score is irrelevant.

This process/mindset needs to be taught and encouraged and emphasized and re-emphasized because it's not easy to master. Call it the ''high-level mindset,'' if you will.

If the players are mature and experienced and have bought into this philosophy, not much needs to be said when the team trails 10-0. If not, this is the time for a quick review.

GOINGDEEP said:

Forget the motivational speech, if I go down by 10 in the second, just call me an ambulance.

Click to expand...

Call one for me, too!

I would go Ray Lewis on my team. Call them into a circle get in the middle and ask them questions about how tough they are, how they have worked too hard to give up, how the time is now to turn the key and make something happen. Then I would set a challenge to see who is gonna step up and who is gonna shine for there team right now. Then of course end with some kinda question to get a pumped up and hyped answers that I have to keep asking louder and louder till i get a louder answer and hope that this lights a fire under there butts.

Something like this happened during my daughter's JV season this year. Her team led 8-0 after 2 innings when it rained. It was supposed to be made up as part of a double header when teams played again a couple of weeks later. But when the day arrived, the other team forfeited the first game and then tried to quit at 12-0 in the second game after 3 innings but the rule is you must play 5. They quit after 4.

I guess that wasn't very motivational.

The teams were really not that badly mismatched but in the first game their top pitcher just had a bad inning and there were a couple of errors. It's JV and stuff happens. The second game, the top pitcher was hurt, so they couldn't do much about it, and their coach tried to talk our coach into playing only 3 innings. It was the last game of season. Our coach resisted and there was tension the whole time.

Sadly there is not a correlation between my moving motivational speeches and my teams play. The girls like to hear them but they have zero impact on the game.

I think I'd say, "Let's go play ball and have some fun!"

That's when I tell them to turn the scoreboard off in their head and play this like a new game. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain so go out with confidence and play like we are capable of playing. Trust your teammates and remember that the number one rule for all of my players is do your job. You can't do the other person's job for them. Trust each other. Pitchers pitch, catchers catch, fielders field, hitters hit, winners win. Go play ball and remember why we love this game.

I'd just remind them that if the other team can score 10 runs in a couple of innings, they can too.

I'm not very long-winded when I'm seeking to motivate:

"Let's go compete. On every pitch and every play, compete!"

In response to a prior point, I don't view changing the lineup as waving the white flag. Sometimes changing things up a bit can provide the spark a team needs.

In our area we have that senerio. Problem is the team up by ten is one of the top teams in the area with 2 sr d1 pitchers. Team with 0 I don't think has any starting sr.

To my team down 10.. .this is a great way to prepare us for our 1st regional game on Monday. We need you to compete and have quality at bats against great pitching. Solid defense making the routine plays. We can take that approach into Mondays game and be successful. It's all about preparing to making a run in regionals.