Ideas for a "study guide" for a middle school team?

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I've been helping coach our local high school team for the last few years. This year I'm dropping down to middle school assistant, because my youngest daughter is starting middle school. Not so I can play "daddy ball" and make sure she gets on the field, but so I won't have to miss her games because I'm at the high school games.

Also...the middle school program really needs help. They just started it a couple years ago, the head coach doesn't put a lot of effort into it (another reason I'm dropping down, although I'm sure it's going to be frustrating), and our youth leagues aren't very good either. Travel ball isn't a good option, because we're in rural WV and a couple hours from anywhere, and most parents don't really have the money for travel. My older daughter played on travel teams about 2 hours away (Roanoke VA and Bristol VA), and we may do that with our younger daughter when she gets a little older.

At the high school level we've had freshmen coming up that have no clue how to bunt, defend the bunt, how to run bases, etc. Stuff that to me should be basic softball knowledge, several of them have no clue. So, that's my goal, to get these girls ready for high school.

So I'm planning on a "study guide", basically putting some basic "rules" on paper, for them to take home and hopefully learn. I plan on quizzing them on it, and at some point having some form of "positive reinforcement" for mess ups, like running laps, push ups, etc. :)

For example...what I call fly ball priority. CF can call off everyone. LF and RF calls off infield. Middle infielders call off the corners...etc. Or...if you're on second base with 2 outs, and a ball is hit through the infield, you're running like you're going all the way home unless 3rd base coach stops you, as opposed to run to third and stop and then see where the ball is. Picking up 3rd base coach before you get to second base. etc.

All of this and a lot more we have had to try to teach high school girls, and that shouldn't have to happen IMHO.

Sorry this was so long, but basically, does anyone have any suggestions that they can think of for me to include, that I may not have thought about? Just good, basic general softball "common sense" stuff?

TIA for any responses.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Are you sure the middle school girls are ready for some of this? I can't tell if you're getting girls brand new to the sport or not, but from my experience, you can have a girl who's played 5 years and doesn't know what a force out is.

I think what you need to do first is assess their knowledge. You might be talking about fly ball priority and they may not know who the left fielder even is.

I developed an incredibly basic "test" I make new girls take to see if they have any clue at all. It starts as simple as labeling positions, identifying the strike zone (and what's a ball/strike), etc. I'm talking beginner stuff. Once you know they have that, move on to the next thing. And the next and the next. Just don't assume they know anything, because a lot of times they don't (because nobody ever taught them!), and they're too afraid to speak up and say they don't understand a rule or a term or what you mean by "bag" (yes, I had to explain that "bag" referred to the base).

I have a note to myself on every day's practice plan that says "Take nothing for granted." This applies in a lot of ways, but I mostly use it to remind myself that there's no harm in explaining something they all know already, but if I don't discuss something and it comes up in the game, it's my fault for not teaching them even if they "should" know it already.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I do have anything but searching for basic softball quiz which should get you started to some extent.

I scored an 80% on this one, www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz62485729ee0.html

12U asked player to bunt, she has been playing SB for at least 4 years. She knew what a bunt was but said she did not know how. We fixed that, nice player. She did not have a problem bunting, just no one ever showed her.

12U too, DD has been playing for years too.

DD: I am playing LF
Me: Great you got this
DD: LF is over there right? (She guessed right but I think it was a 50 50 quess.)

I feel your pain. Agree with JD that you need to get a general sense of things before you get to complicated. Do not under estimate their smarts or learning ability but access it first.

My 1st priority would to retain players year to year so next year you know what you have.

(Please let me know how infield fly rule goes, favorite play on offense or defense)
 
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Dec 10, 2015
845
63
Chautauqua County
as a Modified coach who loves this level, I'm thinking you may want to re-think this. Quincy and JD are right. These are young, softball-unready girls. A few will be softball players but most will be girls who want to play softball. Work on the fundamentals, explain why things are done the way they are, gradually introduce and practice the specifics, and be firm, confident, and patient. Also, speak with the parents and make sure they understand your program and definitely talk with the rec coaches and get them involved. Your girls are the future varsity girls, make sure they know this. good luck.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
I've been thinking more about this. I mostly work with high school girls, but they're often girls who have never played before. Being older and coming into the sport has positives and negatives, but I think in many ways we're in the same position.

Keep this in mind: You want to get them ready to play in games first and foremost. You can play games without knowing how to bunt or which OF has priority or any number of important elements of the game. You will learn what you need to teach (beyond the basics) through what happens during games. I can't tell you how many times something came up during a game and I looked at my DW/AC and said "well, I guess we have to teach that at practice tomorrow." I actually think it's a pretty good way to do things since you can reference the situation specifically. It will be fresh on their minds. They have a real-life example to help them learn the concept.

So get them fundamentally sound. Make sure they know where to throw the ball in the most common situations. Get them to understand the basics of base running (force outs, when they can should/should not run on fly balls, etc). Not only will you win quite a few games (which is good for their morale) by just having the basics down, but this will allow you to work on some more advanced situations when they arise in the games. And, of course, don't get mad when they screw up those situations! Just let them know that you hadn't yet explained that rule/situation, but you'll go over it next practice.
 
Thanks for the responses. I won't know until the first practice how many have played before. I know several of the 6th graders played on a league (usssa) team I helped coach last year (in between high school games and practices), they at least know the basics. I assume most of the 7th and 8th graders played school ball last year, and probably some little league before. So at least the majority will know the positions, how many outs you get, strikes, etc. They'll know what a bunt is, but probably has never been shown how to actually bunt (one of my priorities I'm gonna work on).

Some good points though.... we've had girls show up for high school tryouts that have never been on a field before. My hope is for the girls to learn and get better, but also to have fun and want to keep playing, and maybe that will encourage more girls to come out next year. In the two years they've had this team, they've won one game...i hope to add to that number a little ☺
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
When DD played MS you could win some games just having a pitcher that did not walk everyone.

There were better Teams, I think 1 would still be scoring on us 3 years latter if they wanted too, so it is not all pitching but most important part.

If you can not or do not teach pitching you need to find or recommend someone. Push come to shove maybe you can borrow one of the HS pitchers occasionally.

(I think we had 2 players that never saw a field before 1st year of MS. I know DD's friend made the team never having played any organized activity before, let alone softball. Since the majority of players had a clue they both caught on really quickly. 2nd year DD's friend was our starting 2nd baseman)
 
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Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
If they have some playing experience, exposing them to a rules based study guide isn't unreasonable. I started doing this at 12U. However, the majority of those 12U players had been playing for several years. In addition to fielding priorities and baserunning, we worked on understanding things like dropped-third-strike, infield-fly, and look-back.

I can't imagine trying to teach high-schoolers how to play ball in the very short time-span of a school ball season. If they were athletes experienced in other sports, teaching the basics of defense could be done, but if someone hasn't ever thrown a pitch or swung a bat, THAT would be really tough. I've seen teams show up at DD's high school that clearly showed their inexperience during warm-ups, and I felt really bad about what they were going to run into. Fortunately, there are run rules, and lopsided games can be over very quickly.
 
Last edited:
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
I can't imagine trying to teach high-schoolers how to play ball in the very short time-span of a school ball season. If they were athletes experienced in other sports, teaching the basics of defense could be done, but if someone hasn't ever thrown a pitch or swung a bat, THAT would be really tough. I've seen teams show up at DD's high school that clearly showed their inexperience during warm-ups, and I felt really bad about what they were going to run into. Fortunately, there are run rules, and lopsided games can be over very quickly.

It's not easy, but luckily for us a lot of the other schools we play are even worse, and it's mostly the poor coaching they get.

We practice every day leading up to the first game, and we hit the basics hard. Of course, at the level we play, if your infielders can get the outs at first and your pitcher can throw strikes, you'll win most of the time. If you have a couple outfielders who can catch a routine fly ball, you're doing great.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
It's not easy, but luckily for us a lot of the other schools we play are even worse, and it's mostly the poor coaching they get.

We practice every day leading up to the first game, and we hit the basics hard. Of course, at the level we play, if your infielders can get the outs at first and your pitcher can throw strikes, you'll win most of the time. If you have a couple outfielders who can catch a routine fly ball, you're doing great.

Lol...that sounds like when I was coaching 8U/10U Rec...throw some strikes, get outs at 1B and the occasional OF catch, and you win most games.

At our HS, many of the parents (who are coaches) in the stands could easily take the group that shows up to our HS tryout and win just as many games as the HS head coach. His ACs are quite good, and many players see them for hitting and pitching lessons year-round, but the HC doesn't do much more than make the lineup and look grumpy. His players show up ready to go, and he gets to choose his "all star" group from the travel teams that ultimately trained them.
 

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