Thread: Dealing with team after a horrible day of playing

What is the best way to get the point across that the way the team played is un-acceptable?

I coach a team of 16U (13-16 years old) girls that are probably the best team I've ever been around. These girls love the game, cause no drama, and are good athletes. We play mostly 18U tournaments, and they were starting to compete even against the older teams. In 2 games prior to this weekend, they scored 21 runs, and allowed 8.

Then, on Sunday, we played in a 1 day tournament (3 games), and these girls looked like they never played ball before. Error after error (at least 17 for the day, and they couldn't hit the ball (scored 4 runs the entire day). In the last game, they layed down against the other team. It was obvious.

I know girls have to be treated differently than boys, as in - the harder you ride boys, the better they play.

So what's the best way to deal with this? I didn't blow my top during the games - they know what they did wrong, and screaming just makes the whole team look bad. But, practice is another story.

I've also got parents that have told me to start coming down hard on their daughters.

So, it's no more Mr. Nice Guy -

When you figure it out please let me know so I can write a book on it and retire a billionaire. *

I feel your pain, just like you there were weekends that I would have put mine against the best in the country with no hesitation. Then we had other weekends that they couldn't have won if the other team forfeited.*

I don't think there is a 'across the board' magic potion. I've tried everything under the sun over the years for those 'horrible' performances.*

A stiff team talk, no parents, and usually they were ready to play hard the next tourney.*

If you have a great group who love the game and are holding their own against older competition I'd chalk it up to a bad day if it was an isolated 1 day tournament. Probbaly talk to them about how you were disappointed with their effort more so than the results.

If it persists and they don't show effort at upcoming practices and/or tournaments, then you need to adress it with the team on a bigger scale or consider playing back down at U16 tourneys until they get refocused.

IMO

They know what they did wrong so popping off on them about it isn't going to do anything. I would just let them know that you aren't pleased with the last performance, nothing more, nothing less, let it go. Hopefully you made notes on the errors that were made so specific things can be ironed out and next few practices.

At the end of the day, I just say "Get everything out of the dugout and go home." No meeting.

Originally Posted by Izzy's Dad

I coach a team of 16U (13-16 years old) girls that are probably the best team I've ever been around. These girls love the game, cause no drama, and are good athletes.

Stop right there.

The best way to deal with this team is thank your lucky stars that you've been granted the opportunity to be a part of their lives and to let that feeling guide you in all your dealings with them as individuals and as a team.

Like we all do in our lives - some more often than most - they had a bad day. It was nothing more or less than that.

If you're going to take the "kid gloves" off, so to speak, it is better to "yell" at the group rather than at individuals. I'd do it sparingly, if at all.

If you "yell" at individuals in front of the group, the group will generally rally around the individual being yelled at. If you can sandwich your criticism between compliments, that takes some of the sting off of it.

Be a constant complimentor; praise a good pitch, routine plays, a swing at a strike. Your compliments don't have to be over the top, or they'll be insincere, but it is good to notice the little things they do right.

If you feel the need to call out an individual, it is usually better to pull them off to the side when they're coming off of the field and quietly give them the feedback they need. As you stated, most of the time they know what they did wrong, so yelling at them from the dugout while they're still in the field doesn't do any good.

Its ok to tell them that you expect more out of the team. Make sure you're telling them you know what they're capable of as a team and they need to get back to performing to their potential.

If you scored 21 runs in 2 games, then scored 4 runs in 3 games, that's a sign that your latest opponents (and pitchers) were much, much better this time around. So my first advice would be to make sure you aren't putting all the blame on your team. Better teams tend to force errors and demoralize their opponents.

Also, I don't see the point in telling someone what is unacceptable unless that it involves a choice. If they choose to complain or be disruptive, or choose to show up late, or chose to walk onto the field instead of run, then that's unacceptable. But nobody chooses to make errors or not hit. It might feel good as a coach to say that losing 15-1 is unacceptable, but it's a hollow message unless we have solutions.

And finally, I'd avoid anything that sounds like ''you disappointed me.'' They shouldn't be playing for our approval, or their parents. They need to be playing for themselves. So I might ask them how they felt about it. If they truly love the game, then they're going to express disappointment. Then the coaches can express that they believe their team is much better than that, and here's what we need to do to get better and avoid that kind of outcome in the future.

Sometimes, I would ask - Is there something going on that I don't know about? Did your dog die? Is there a problem at home? Well, then, what is it?

Girls take everything to heart, when something is bothering just one of them.