So I'm the head coach of 10u. First year coaching. I am having some attitude problems with a couple girls, rolling eyes, just bad attitude stuff. I have addresses it with the girls but I am not getting far, any suggestions
I've coached 10U for a few years. I am, and will always be, a big fan of running. Amazing how that knocks the sass out of them quickly.
I'm not a big punish them coach....but the above is so true at that age.
Funny how it turned out. team did one set of 5 burpies. The intensity, crispness, focus was ramped up and the talking/encouraging was off the chart. Two birds killed with one stone. The rest of practice stayed at that intensity.
I'm not a big punish them coach....
So we upped the stakes with a little pressure. first drop 5 burpies, second drop 10 burpies, third drop 15 burpies for everyone except the girl who either made a bad throw or didn't make the catch. A lot of murmuring about not wanting to have to watch their teammates do burpies because they couldn't field/throw the ball.
Huh??? Come on, get real. You are punishing the kids for making a mistake. So you are a "punishment coach".
This is so wrong on so many levels.
First, you are trying to humiliate a child.
Second, softball is a *TEAM* sport. If there is a mistake, the whole team is at fault, not one kid. You are, unbelievably, teaching the kids "find someone to blame".
A few things to consider:
1) If you have a whole team unfocused during a drill, the problem is the coach, not the kids.
2) Burpees and running are an important part of fitness and conditioning. Athletes do these to get fit.
3) 15 burpees for some 14U kids is close to physical abuse.
4) Unequal punishment--do you think Suzy, the centerfielder that can run like the breeze, is going to suffer as much as your catcher? (And, yes, you are trying to make the kids suffer.) I coached kid whose dad held the world record for the high jump. The kid ran *for fun*...she loved to run, run, run. What is your plan for that kid?
4) Eventually, running and burpees are not punishment. My DD played college hoops...she was in such good shape by the start of the season that she could do suicides by the bushel basket.
5) You are teaching kids to be afraid of failure. Failure is *the* most important part of sports.
Sluggers. Thanks! We might agree to disagree on some points. But I respect your opinion and appreciate your response. It's part of what I like about DFP-openness, frankness, education, learning.
First I can see your perspective that it looks like trying to humiliate a child. Not my intent or purpose. Willing to reevaluate.
Second, I know it's a TEAM sport. I'm not promoting finding someone to blame.
1) team unfocused during drill is the coach, not the kids. Not every time and not in this case.
2) Burpees and running. Agreed they are part of fitness and conditioning. I didn't bring up running another person did...
3) 15 burpees is close to physical abuse. OK?...our team has been doing them all winter as part of conditioning. We do them in sets of 5 so we'd do 3 sets of 5 IF we'd done them at all...but as I said in my post we only did one set of 5.
4) unequal punishment- I'm not sure I follow. I think you're saying running isn't hard for some but is for others. I didn't use running in my post-that was another person. Funny thing my catchers are probably the most in shape...and also both happen to play CF when not catching...and are the fastest players on the team.
4) Eventually, running and burpees are not punishment......they aren't...but my team DOESN'T like doing burpees so it gets their attention. And if we did do them during practice we don't do them during conditioning at end of practice.
5) Teaching kids to be afraid of failure... I can see why you might say this. I don't think it applies to the situation/drill we were doing and the situation as it was occurring. In fact I like it when my players fail fantastically. This situation wasn't a case of failing fantastically it was simply lack of focus and concentration on the task at hand. And as I stated one set of 5 burpees and then the thing we were working on greatly improved as well as the balance of practice. As I said the girls talked among themselves, encouraging each other to focus-do better...and they did. Initially this wasn't a case of players giving the maximum effort and it not working out it was lack of focus (I guess you blame the coach for that?). But I do agree with you that failure is the most important part of sports, for many reasons.
Again thanks for your reply. I appreciate the challenging thoughts and statements. Always willing to evaluate and reevaluate.