Team looks like they are going to lose-how do you keep them in the game?

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obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
this is something that has always intrigued me. some coaches/teams can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat while others seem more inclined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory:D

I have been on both sides of this to some extent but my question is: where do you focus? I guess the answer is keeping everyone positive, but how do you inspire them? how do you create a confident team?

I have been AC at U18 level for about 4 years and some days the team really shows up to play, beating teams that are better than they are. while other times it appears the only reason they are here is because their parents have paid for it.

how do you do it?
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
I don't believe it is the travel coaches job to motivate players to play. With the amount of money and time invested that sort of motivation should come from the player.

The coach cannot be more vested than the players. You will go insane.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
Leadership.... Either from the coach or from key players. I have seen coaches that are visibly affected by plays throughout the course of a game. You can see it in their body language. You can hear it in their voices. If I can see it and hear it, you can bet the players on the team do as well. The same goes with other players. If the top players on the team have poor body language or poor attitudes, I believe it will impact other players on the team. And if the game is close....

If the coach and the key players remain confident, I think that trickles down to the rest. Obviously talent has a major impact as well, but confidence is important in my book. JMHO...
 
Oct 7, 2014
87
0
Upper Midwest
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.
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
Focus on one pitch at a time, one out at a time, one half inning at a time, etc.

The players that step up are the ones who aren't afraid to fail.
 
Jun 27, 2011
5,089
0
North Carolina
I like all the advice so far - role model, play for each pitch, and really think what GM said is underrated - establishing an environment where kids aren't afraid to fail. Which means a coach who doesn't make the players feel like crap for messing up.

I don't agree that it's not coach's job to motivate. Some coaches are very motivating and make kids want to play and practice harder and win, and others sap the love out of the game.

And finally, while I'm not disputing the value of everything stated so far, I'll still offer that half of what we think is finding a way to win and having heart, etc., is really just our imagination. Luck, randomness and the quality of the other team usually have much more to do with the outcome than we admit.

If you construct a coin-flipping tournament, you'll soon swear that certain coins are streaky and some aren't and that some perform well under pressure and some don't.

And then there's the other team, which never gets enough credit. I'd like to hear a coach say, 'Girls, that team should beat us 4 out of 5, but we all know they're not a morning team, they didn't come out ready to play, they were overconfident. Nobody came hydrated. You could see their lack of energy in warmups. I've never seen their #3 pitcher walk 7 batters. And once they got down 6-0, they quit. It was like they didn't want to be there. As for us, well, I didn't see much difference in what we always do. Except that Jenny hit a 3-run double on the same bases-loaded line drive that was a double play the last time we played them. As long as they play like that and we get the breaks, we can beat them again.'
 
Last edited:
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
This seems particularly applicable to this thread. It's a very good read.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...cked-nations-top-team/?utm_term=.3750c54fc248


Something similar happened with some of the local high schools a few years ago.

There was a pitcher in one of the Madison high schools who was almost unbeatable. 6'1" riseball pitcher, wound up going to a lesser D-1 school and tearing up the conference. That pitcher took her team to finals in State her freshman year, was Gatorade Player of the Year for Wisconsin her junior year, and was a senior that year. Sometimes that pitcher had 20 Ks in a game.

Another school in town (not the one my kids go to, but the kids were in the same LL and same TB team my DD 1 was on) went several YEARS without winning a game.

The two teams met. Guess which team won?
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
And then there's the other team, which never gets enough credit. I'd like to hear a coach say, 'Girls, that team should beat us 4 out of 5, but we all know they're not a morning team, they didn't come out ready to play, they were overconfident. Nobody came hydrated. You could see their lack of energy in warmups. I've never seen their #3 pitcher walk 7 batters. And once they got down 6-0, they quit. It was like they didn't want to be there. As for us, well, I didn't see much difference in what we always do. Except that Jenny hit a 3-run double on the same bases-loaded line drive that was a double play the last time we played them. As long as they play like that and we get the breaks, we can beat them again.'

Obviously, you've never been to one of our after game team get togethers/meetings:rolleyes:
 
Jun 1, 2015
500
43
About halfway through my first season of coaching Modified Boys' Basketball, we were about 2-4, team was imploding, etc. And we held a 2 hour practice after a 18 point loss where nearly an hour of it was us just talking about what we could do to figure out where to go. We came to a team consensus that we should try a "goal" idea. We'd set score and stat goals for each quarter. Something like "Score 12 points this quarter, hold our opponents to 6". Then at the end of each quarter we'd evaluate what we did and set newer goals. We turned the season around and finished 6-8 because of this. It may be something I try with my girls this season based on innings if this comes up. We had many situations where we were up big and lost it in the later innings, so if we can set micro-goals each inning (no runners past 2nd base, score 2 runs this inning, etc), it may work out in our favor.
 

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