I've had 2 opportunities to coach against Alaska teams, at 14s and 16s. Both times in July 4 tourneys. In both cases they claimed to be a top team in the state and weren't very good. But they were absolutely the nicest players, parents and coaches. The best part? All the players could talk...
Making the game 'smaller' works for me. One play at a time on D. Just get the outs we should get. One at-bat at a time on O. Just put a ball in play, singles means base runners, etc.
This is better than any motivational speech. "Boys need to win to be happy. Girls need to be happy to win" is often true. Showed this to pitchers just before a game this weekend. It made them happy. Seemed like they threw harder!
In my experience the best coaches, players, and orgs grow their own. Teams 'looking for a better player at every position'... aren't developing players and aren't a team.
Adding my voice to the chorus. DD1 dreamt of playing college ball since she was too little to know what that really meant. One of the top players at her position in the state. Tons of interest from 6 D1 programs. She always had a reputation for playing through injuries. 2 months before...
Short answer: yes.
I'll add: my freshman college roommate, on full bball scholly, was told in 3rd week "there's nothing left for us to teach you. And we can't teach you to be fast". He transferred to D2 and had a nice 4 years.
Maybe that girl can hit. And she's fast. And has a cannon...
DD1 is a Border Collie. Very trainable but happy to be distracted (Squirrel!). Eager to please. Boundless energy. Up for anything. A muddy field just made practice more interesting! Will chase balls for hours. A lightning rod at the plate.
DD2 is a Doberman. Intelligent. Sleek. Military...
Writing to say thank you to the OP. Spent the last 2 days from 3:30 - 9 on hot, dusty fields. After a long day at work. This is my least favorite time of the year. Doing my best to assess too many players in too few reps (the cattle call). Sometimes for weak players that are struggling their...
Thank you for writing this. A few years ago, all of our returning players joined tryouts. Our top 3 players looked... awful. And had awful scores from our independent judges. The one player who regularly - through fall, winter and summer - made the least effort, with the poorest batting...
I'be coached 12s for years. In my experience, if you have girls hitting, work on getting them to hit harder, thru the infield. One drill that worked for me was throwing old bats. When they swing harder, those grounder start turning into line drives.
I love hard hit ground balls. As someone...
For my daughter and several of her teammates, find a 18U team with the right talent, schedule, etc. And test the coaching 'waters' for a part time job.