Flawless practice reactions vanish in competition

[sluggers]

Coaching staff is great as none of us yell, except at an occasional ump.

Hmmm...

My DD#3 played on a national championship basketball team, and getting yelled at and challenged was a part of every practice. She was told often and bluntly that if she didn't perform during the game she would be watching the game from the bench.

DD#1 received the same treatment playing D1 softball--and, she and her team did well.

Where is your player's incentive to perform? What happens when they don't? Are any of them at risk to be removed from the game?

 

[FPMark]

My DD took up basket ball last year for the first time. She went all year and scored maybe 8 points total. She was not a very good ball handler and passed the ball to someone else at every opportunity.

This year she did much better handling the ball, but still passed instead of shooting. The coach finally told her if she didn't start shooting she would not play. One game he brought in 2 of the best players from the 7th grade team (she is on 8th grade team) and they played nearly the whole game while he took her in and out. She got so mad that she complained to him that "This is an 8th grade team and 8th graders should be playing not 7th". He looked at her and told her that "They shoot the ball". After that she wound up scoring 8 points in that game and only played about half of it. The next game she scored 16 points. She went on to average 8 PPG for the rest of the season with him yelling and constantly reminding her that she better shoot. She wound up making All-Stars.

She hated that coach at the begining of the year, but wound up being one of her favorites by the end. Girls MUST be challenged for them to exell.

 

[SoftSocDad]

Hmmm...

My DD#3 played on a national championship basketball team, and getting yelled at and challenged was a part of every practice. She was told often and bluntly that if she didn't perform during the game she would be watching the game from the bench.

DD#1 received the same treatment playing D1 softball--and, she and her team did well.

Where is your player's incentive to perform? What happens when they don't? Are any of them at risk to be removed from the game?

Different players, different coaches, different strategies. There is no one single method that guarantees success in anything. Working harder than the other person will move the odds in one's favor, but even then, good luck/timing can play a part.

Sticking with the basketball reference, Phil Jackson has coached his teams to 11 NBA titles. He rarely raises his voice. On the other hand, Stan Van Gundy yells all the time, but has no titles to show for it.

As consumers, players (and their families) have the right to shop around for the system that works best for them. Some players will benefit more from a hard-nosed style of coaching than from the more relaxed approach. Some will be fine and progress either way. I think adaptability is a great trait to have, but it's unreasonable to suggest that the yelling coaches - and players who respond well to them - are going to be more successful over time than those coaches and players who don't.

 

[sluggers]

I think adaptability is a great trait to have, but it's unreasonable to suggest that the yelling coaches - and players who respond well to them - are going to be more successful over time than those coaches and players who don't.

To be clear, we are talking about an 18U tournament team, not a 10U rec team...

A coach has to let the players know that good play equals more playing time and poor play means less playing time. Coaches who allow under-performing players to stay on the field will have an under-performing team.

If a coach doesn't allow competition between players for playing time, then some players become complacent. When that happens, the team won't perform well.

Some will be fine and progress either way,

Totally disagree...if there is no competition, the players will get soft.

 

[FPMark]

I think it comes down to discipline. No matter what sport or what the coaches temperament the players have to be prepaired to deal with consequences if they don't perform. If they are not pushed to perform with 100% effort 100% of the time, the team will get lazy on you. Best way to do this in softball is to let them know that if they don't perform they will 'Ride The Pine" and follow through. No excuses allowed.

 

[D.G. OutLaws 16u]

Sluggers-

Hmmm...

My DD#3 played on a national championship basketball team, and getting yelled at and challenged was a part of every practice. She was told often and bluntly that if she didn't perform during the game she would be watching the game from the bench.

DD#1 received the same treatment playing D1 softball--and, she and her team did well.

Where is your player's incentive to perform? What happens when they don't? Are any of them at risk to be removed from the game?

IMO thier incentice to perform comes from the inside....called passion. They gotta 'want it'
Fear of getting yelled at and benched in my book isn't incentive.
All my players have been benched at some point. Humans don't have their 'A' game 100% of the time everyday. They expect to be pulled. Most of the time I won't pull them because I belive in them, as does thier teamates. After any blunder these young adults don't need me sceaming, humiliating them. They know what they did wrong.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Responsibility and accountability are integral to a successful approach to anything. After that, its simply a matter of coaching style (and volume).

 

[LAdad]

In your job, do you perform better when your boss screams at you? I know I don't: instead, I'll waste hours going over in my mind what I would like to say in response. The only time getting angry may help is if a player doesn't realize that her performance is lacking. But players who make mistakes usually do know that they made them.

In general, fear is a poor incentive to increase performance. It increases stress, but a stressed player doesn't perform better.

That doesn't mean that poor performance can't have consequences, or that you can't make those consequences clear, but it shouldn't be a constant sword hanging over your neck: a player who avoids risks because a mistake will get her benched, is never going to make great plays either.

 

[FPMark]

In your job, do you perform better when your boss screams at you? I know I don't: instead, I'll waste hours going over in my mind what I would like to say in response. The only time getting angry may help is if a player doesn't realize that her performance is lacking. But players who make mistakes usually do know that they made them.

1st off, why would your boss scream at you? Losing a multimillion dollar account? If they don't realize their performance is lacking, it sounds like a lack of focus. 2nd there is a difference between anger and discipline.

In general, fear is a poor incentive to increase performance. It increases stress, but a stressed player doesn't perform better.

It depends on what you're afraid of. Fear can be "the great motivator". Again, there is a difference between abuse and discipline.

That doesn't mean that poor performance can't have consequences, or that you can't make those consequences clear, but it shouldn't be a constant sword hanging over your neck: a player who avoids risks because a mistake will get her benched, is never going to make great plays either.

How would you suggest having consequences, and making those consequences clear, without it being a " constant sword hanging over your neck"? If a player makes an error while trying to make a good play, it is not the same as making a mental mistake or not giving 100% effort.

If you don't expect your girls to perform under intense pressure, why put them out there? What do you expect them to do when they are at bat in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs runner on 3rd and your down by 1 run? They have to be able to overcome fear and disregard pressure or they will never give their best. Teaching this is as important as teaching proper fielding or hitting skills.

 

[LAdad]

They have to be able to overcome fear and disregard pressure or they will never give their best.

You don't have to overcome and disregard good things, so apparently you are in agreement that fear and stress are bad things.

We're also in agreement that discipline is not the same as anger and abuse. But constantly yelling at players, which above was suggested as the way to go, belongs in the anger and abuse camp; it is not a particularly effective tool to instill discipline.

How would you suggest having consequences, and making those consequences clear, without it being a "constant sword hanging over your neck"?

The difference is this: According to my contract, I can be laid off or fired any day. I know that, and realize that therefore non-performance could have serious consequences. That knowledge by itself isn't particularly stressful, and is not in fact what makes me try to do the best job I can. But if every morning my boss came into my office and told me that maybe today I'm going to be fired, do you really think I'd perform better? Even though technically nothing has changed, I'd be under a great deal more stress.

There isn't a single school of management that advocates stressful work-place practices like yelling, constantly reminding people that their job is at risk, or actively pitting co-workers against each other. The only place where such practices are even suggested is in coaching sports. Why would that be any different? Athletes are just people, some are even our children, who don't deserve such treatment any more than the rest of us do.