Help.....coaching softball for the first time

[leoskee]

Hi everyone,

I think I bit off a little more than I can chew. I signed up to help coach my daughter's softball team. I thought that I would be "helping" a head coach or someone that knew what they were doing. As it turns out there is no "head coach" for the team. Its only myself, another dad and a third dad that can only help out during the week. Its an instructional team for girls in 1st and 2nd grade. I know its basically to show the girls the fundamentals but the way they set up the teams we are supposed to practice for 1 hour and then play against one of the other 5 teams for 1 hour. From the vibe I got from the other coaches they know what they are doing and I am sure that the "friendly" games will nonetheless be competitive. We meet on Tue and Sat. I need some direction as far as how to set up practice drills and then the games. I've looked online but all I find are drills and suggestions for older kids that can actually play. I want it to be a fun experience for the girls. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anthony Vertuccio]

Softball skills break down into four basic categories: hitting, throwing, catching and fielding. Plan your practices so that you cover all four categories. Start with basic catching and throwing drills, giving each pair of players plenty of room so they don't endanger others with wild throws. Start with soft, pliable balls instead of "real" softballs, to reduce the risk of injury. Then break the players into hitters and fielders, and give each hitter the chance to hit the ball off a T and run around the bases. Teach the fielders what to do when the ball comes to them, which at this level, typically involves catching or retrieving the ball and then throwing it to first base. Scrimmages are also a great way to teach common scenarios.

 

[FP26]

Good luck leoskee!! Coaching that age can be very enjoyable. The first thing I would do is determine how much your group knows currently. Don't take anything for granted. I like Anthony's advice of starting with basic catching and throwing drills (with pliable balls). Softly throw some balls to them at chest or shoulder level and see if they have their glove pointing down or up when they attempt to catch the ball. Many this age will try to catch almost everything with their glove pointed down. If you can teach them how to use the glove and use proper throwing mechanics, you will probably be ahead of most other teams. When you work on hitting be sure to focus on base running. When working with my first group of first graders, I asked a girl to hit the ball and run to second, not expecting her to run directly through the pitcher's circle on the way

 

[T.J.]

As far as what to teach at this age, Coach Tucc is pretty dead on; focus on those basic fundamentals.
1. Proper throwing technique
2. Fielding a grounder properly.
3. Good catching mechanics
4. A nice continuous swing.
5....and always do base running...one of the most overlooked fundamentals.

The trick is structuring a practice in a manner that accomplishes these goals while maintaining the kids attention and interest. In the end, how you structure and run your practices will depend on you and your style...and your personality. But every practice of every sport starts with some sort of "boiler plate"....

Warm-up/stretching
short team meeting to discuss what you are going to do in practice
drills and/or stations focused on fundamentals
teamwork
running
warm-down
short team meeting to discuss how practice went, and whats next on the schedule

I suggest you start with this approach, then tweak it a bit as necessary.

Okay...some more advice

A. Come to practice prepared with a game plan....you don't want to be asking the other Dad's "what do you think we should do now"?
B. Try to incorporate "little competitions" to keep things fun and entertaining [hit the bucket, throw to a target on the backstop, base-running races, etc.]
C. Educate yourself on the fundamentals, and try to keep the instructions simple. Don't make fielding a grounder too complex.
D. Keep learning yourself, and by all means keep this FUN for these kids.

How do you educate yourself?
Read, surf the web, this web-site, talk to friends and other coaches You would be surprised what you can learn by calling up the HS coach or someone like that with years of experience. Many would be honored and would sit down and share their thoughts and advice with you.
and best of all....go watch some other teams practice. Sit and watch what they do.

I also have a few books at home that I turn to for some new drill ideas and to refresh my memory on some stuff. This is one of my favorites.


The Softball Drill Book: Kirk Walker: 9780736060707: Amazon.com: Books


Lastly....don't lose sight of keeping it FUN for the kids. This is a game that they "play". And be very patient and understand it's a tough sport to teach and learn, and many times doesn't come too easily or quickly for some.

Good Luck...and as "Coach James" would say...."Welcome to the Circus"

 

[CoachChristine]

Search this site for 8u drills or help. This is a good thread http://www.discussfastpitch.com/coa...hing-advice-needed-6-8-yr-old-girls-team.html

I play a lot of games with mine...last man standing (fielding practice), the "Barney" toss, etc. We break into smaller groups, too, because this age gets bored too quickly if you try to work on them as a whole. Keep it low pressure and have fun! My goal at this level is for them to all enjoy softball enough to return the next year. That's not to say that we aren't competitive, because it really is more fun to win than lose, but we try to be very balanced with it.

 

[coach james]

As far as what to teach at this age, Coach Tucc is pretty dead on; focus on those basic fundamentals.
1. Proper throwing technique
2. Fielding a grounder properly.
3. Good catching mechanics
4. A nice continuous swing.
5....and always do base running...one of the most overlooked fundamentals.

The trick is structuring a practice in a manner that accomplishes these goals while maintaining the kids attention and interest. In the end, how you structure and run your practices will depend on you and your style...and your personality. But every practice of every sport starts with some sort of "boiler plate"....

Warm-up/stretching
short team meeting to discuss what you are going to do in practice
drills and/or stations focused on fundamentals
teamwork
running
warm-down
short team meeting to discuss how practice went, and whats next on the schedule

I suggest you start with this approach, then tweak it a bit as necessary.

Okay...some more advice

A. Come to practice prepared with a game plan....you don't want to be asking the other Dad's "what do you think we should do now"?
B. Try to incorporate "little competitions" to keep things fun and entertaining [hit the bucket, throw to a target on the backstop, base-running races, etc.]
C. Educate yourself on the fundamentals, and try to keep the instructions simple. Don't make fielding a grounder too complex.
D. Keep learning yourself, and by all means keep this FUN for these kids.

How do you educate yourself?
Read, surf the web, this web-site, talk to friends and other coaches You would be surprised what you can learn by calling up the HS coach or someone like that with years of experience. Many would be honored and would sit down and share their thoughts and advice with you.
and best of all....go watch some other teams practice. Sit and watch what they do.

I also have a few books at home that I turn to for some new drill ideas and to refresh my memory on some stuff. This is one of my favorites.


The Softball Drill Book: Kirk Walker: 9780736060707: Amazon.com: Books


Lastly....don't lose sight of keeping it FUN for the kids. This is a game that they "play". And be very patient and understand it's a tough sport to teach and learn, and many times doesn't come too easily or quickly for some.

Good Luck...and as "Coach James" would say...."Welcome to the Circus"

Awesome post, TJ....NICLEY DONE!

 

[sluggers]

TJ did a nice job.

Here are some specifics:

You need lots and lots of balls and pickle buckets. You can't have too many of either.

Drill 1: Put the girls in a line. Have them about 30 feet from you. Get a small bat and softly hit (do *not* roll) ground balls to the the girls. Have them throw at a target (not a person). Why hit? Because the girls need to learn how to read a ball "coming off the bat" rather than out of a hand.
Drill 2: Same thing, except hit pop ups. Again, do *NOT* throw them popups. Yes, it takes some practice by you to be able to hit pop ups.
Drill 3: Line at SS. Line at 2B. Light hit ground balls to SS, and have them toss the ball to the player covering 2B.
Drill 4: Line at SS. Line at 2B. Lightly hit ground balls to 2B, and have them toss the ball to the SS covering 2B.
Drill 5: Long throwing. Put them at a specific point, and have them compete for "who can throw the ball the furthest".

This may sound crazy, but do those five drills as much as you can. Always end the practice with a game.


If you want the girls to get there "on time" for the games, do your lineup by when they arrive for the game. (First person who shows up bats first. Last person who shows up bats last. Trust me, that will take care of all your tardiness problems.)

The key to making the practice interesting is *YOU*. If you are funny and don't take this too seriously, and keep things moving, the girls will love it. Appropriate teasing is acceptable and encouraged.

Finally, watch out for parents trying to "take over" the practice. I remember one time we were doing some infield situation work, and there was a Dad out in right field backing up, which was OK. The next thing I know, he started playing 3B. (True story.)

 

[leoskee]

Wow. Thanks for all of the advice. Im glad that I checked back on this post because I was assuming I would get email notifications as people replied. I guess that feature is not set up on my account. Anyway, the first session was rained out yesterday. Now I have the team on Tuesday for the first time. Im going to go through all of the different suggestions posted above and come up with a solid game plan. Im in education so working with the kids is not a big deal for me. My main goal is to keep things fun for the girls while they learn at the same time. Most of the advice revolves around the same type of set up so everyone on here knows what they are talking about. Im going to write up a game plan and meet with one of the other coaches. He lives two houses down from me but is away on vacation until Tuesday. Im just going to take the lead and set things up and he can go with the flow as we have our first session.

Any other game ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

[leoskee]

Should we focus on one skill per session or incorporate them all for each session? Some one suggested all but I just wanted to make sure. This is my general idea so far:

5 minute warm up
10 minute throwing
5 minute game/running activity
10 minute catching
5 minute game/running activity
15 minute hitting
5 minute game/running activity

5 minute snack/water break

5 warm up for game
20-30 minute game play (Im not sure how the game playing will go because it will be with another team)
5 minute cool down/ stretching
5 minute group reflection

How does that look? I will go back to the suggestions above and come up with the actual activities for each skill.

 

[leoskee]

Also, would be advisable to do an icebreaker type activity with the kids when we first meet each session or should we get straight into practicing?