Ideas to keep a team sharp through a whole weekend

[vcackerman]

Newer 10U coach (can't say new anymore, we've played almost 40 games together fall and spring) here - here is my question:

How do you keep a team firing on all cylinders through a weekend tournament? What tips, tricks do you have for this?

This weekend was a perfect scenario for how our last two tournaments have gone. We go 2-1 in pool play. Played 16 innings - the first 14 might have been the best innings we played all year. The last two - you could see the girls were exhausted mentally and physically and lost focus.

Go into Sunday - the warm up before the game looked great. The girls seemed loose but once the first pitch was tossed, they tightened up. Missing plays they made earlier in the weekend - tossing the ball around etc. Dropped the game to the eventual tournament champ.

We did the same a few weeks back. How do I as a coach keep the fire burning and not have the team fizzle out as the day/weekend goes on?

 

[Little Angels Softball]

You need to ratchet up the pressure in practice.

Make them perform at a high level, and accept nothing less. Have them diving for balls, throwing the ball as hard as they can on every play, and if they don't, make them throw it again ..... harder. Have them get rid of the ball as quickly as they can ... if they are slow, have them do it again.

Move things quickly. They need to be ready at all times. Do not hit balls to them in sequence .... do it randomly. Everybody has to be ready. Call out situations .... they have to get the ball to the right spot. If they don't, have them do it again, only faster and harder.

Call them out if they make the same mistake repeatedly. Have them do reps until they do it correctly. Then make them do it correctly even faster and even harder.

Remember, too, that a missed ball or bad throw is not your enemy. The girls are just 10, after all. Your enemy is lack of a killer instinct, which is very natural in girls. Have them perform under pressure and tell them they must perform their best under pressure if they want to win. And maintain the pressure for extended periods of practice ..... only lighten up when they have done things right and quickly a few times in a row. Give them a quick break, then back at it .... even faster and even harder.

I think you'll be surprised at how well they will react. Make sure they are supporting each other and that they know an errant throw or a bobbled ball is OK because they are 10, but that they need to do everything in their power to prevent them. Once they get moving fast and throwing the ball hard all the time in practice, the pressure in the games won't feel so intense. They will rise up and they will do what it takes eventually. Once that happens, you have reached the next level.

 

[vcackerman]

This is awesome Little Angels!

What do you do with pitchers? Would I be nuts in having them in the circle at the end of a practice with the rest of the team cheering against them or playing loud music and telling them it's 3-2 and a walk loses the game?

My #1 struggles in elimination games. She went into a funk herself yesterday and I had to pull her for #2 in the second inning.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Go into Sunday - the warm up before the game looked great. The girls seemed loose but once the first pitch was tossed, they tightened up. Missing plays they made earlier in the weekend - tossing the ball around etc. Dropped the game to the eventual tournament champ.

At 10U, players' performance is going to be erratic for no other reason than they are still developing, both physically and mentally. The only kids who are consistently solid are those who aren't consistently facing quality opponents.

IMO, the mental focus and alertness of young kids is not that drastically different from one game to another as far as how they enter the game. It's what happens during the game that has a bigger impact on their mental state, assuming that the coaches are getting the team ready the same way every game.

In this case, how much of this had to do w/ the fact that you played the eventual tournament champ?

For example, fielders are far more likely to make bad decisions and come unglued when runners are on base, especially good base-runners. Good teams put more runners on base. They hit the ball harder. They put the ball in play much much harder and more frequently. They give us fewer routine-play opportunities. They shake our confidence. I've heard coaches win games after a bad loss and comment on how improved the defense was, when in reality the other team struck out 10 times and hit 5 popups and 5 weak grounders. Every play was to first base.

Not trying to say that there aren't things you can do to put them in the best frame of mind for each game. It's a great question. Just making the point that there's only so much you can do. Kids will perform erratically, and other teams will make them play bad, and it's not always because they weren't ready to play. It's like Mike Tyson liked to say, ''They've all got a good game plan, until they get hit.''

 

[vcackerman]

Great points. You hit the nail on the head in one way. The balloon deflated in the second inning when we had two misplays in the OF. One wasn't cut off properly (ran straight across instead of on an angle) and the second was in the mitt and would have been a DP, but the girl didn't secure it - out of the mitt and runs came in. 6 runs all unearned.

The team that beat us was a nice team (we're a 10UC with mostly 9 y/os) but we handed them the game in a bow. That team carried that momentum forward beating a team that was a lower seed and then won it all against a team we handed their lunch to.

Could've been?

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

Make sure girls get enough rest at night and in between games.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

No Swimming at the hotel pool!

 

[vcackerman]

Well, we were out of town for this but only 5 girls stayed at the hotel. Those girls were in the pool Friday night until 9 and then in bed. The others drove up Saturday morning and our best game of the day was the 8 AM. The 10:30 was very good. The 2 PM was not so good.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Well, we were out of town for this but only 5 girls stayed at the hotel. Those girls were in the pool Friday night until 9 and then in bed. The others drove up Saturday morning and our best game of the day was the 8 AM. The 10:30 was very good. The 2 PM was not so good.

Key point - lunch. I know I'm ready for a nap after I eat. I give the parents a hard time if I see the kids eating a lot of junk between games.

 

[vcackerman]

Key point - lunch. I know I'm ready for a nap after I eat. I give the parents a hard time if I see the kids eating a lot of junk between games.

My parents were good this time - sharing subway and fruit. Last year it would have been hot dogs, chips and pop. But I'm sure they could eaten too much. I was trying to get out of softball mode for a bit.