Well, I play in Ladies' Fastball as well as coaching (assistant) a Bantam/Midget team in local houseleagues.
As a coach (first year by the way), I have tried to make things fun by having many players in game-situation practices, etc. My girls every now and then would come to the ballgame literally 5 minutes before the game (for no apparent reason) and would just seem to have a "defeat" attitude for the entire game for no reason. I have spoken with each girl to be sure that they were okay and have even done some one-on-one practice with them. They have always given me their feedback (and criticisms) and have adjusted things accordingly to their delight (I even had some unexpected phone calls from many players thanking me for making the game fun while still playing strong!). Yet, some days, they come in with a very downing attitude about the ballgame (no issues with socializing, however!) and would do very little effort in playing ball. It's just frustrating to me and to the head coach of the team because we know that the girls can do better than that.
As a player in Ladies' Fastball, my team...well, let me put it this way, it seems like me and 3-4 other players are the only ones making up a "team". I even have 2 teammates who would stick out their leg to try and stop the ball (sheesh, it's not soccer....not to mention an accident waiting to happen!). For the past two weeks, there was only me and one other player who would be there half hour before the game starts and everyone else shows up 5-10min before games starts. As a result, I can't really warm-up properly (b/c this other early teammate is on the phone trying to ensure that we have enough players for the game!). I also think I'm starting to injure myself (starting to see signs of "tendonitis" in my right elbow which is my throwing arm aka "golfer's elbow") because of lack of warm-up which usually results in me making a lot of throws from left field to second and third rapidly and on several occasions to home for that game. I've already started warming up by myself including throwing several balls at the fence as well as trying to pitch (again, against the fence). I was even asked by a couple of my teammates why I never practice pitching before the game starts so that I may pitch later in the game. It's a little hard to practice if no one shows up until 5 minutes before the game starts! I even offered to hold a practice over the weekend (when everyone would be available_ but no one wants to. I even asked my teammates to show up earlier so that we can hold quick drills to keep our skills sharp so that everyone's on the same page but their response was "Don't feel like it." Argh!
Once, I blew up at my team in the middle of one game (very first time in all the years that I played ball) because I was so darn frustrated. I wasn't proud of myself during that particular moment but several other teammates who are very similar to me backed me up. I'm a woman of few words so when I do speak up, everyone listens. It seems like me and these 2 other players are backing up everyone else for nothing. I don't mind losing or allowing a run to score as long as people make the effort. When my teammates pull stunts like this, the other teams take advantage of this.
My coach for the ladies' team is trying his best. He even volunteered to coach at the expense of him missing some of his baseball games. He even stated to me and a couple of other players that he decided to not come back next year because of this whole thing. To be honest, I don't blame him.
I guess my beef is that, if one doesn't want to play ball, why even show up? Why does it seem like some days, the entire team comes in with an already "defeat" attitude for the whole game no matter what a coach does or heck, even a teammate? It's a wonder that we even win any games (both girls and ladies)!
As a coach and/or player, how do you combat this? Why does it seem like some days that a team comes in with a very crappy attitude that seems to spread to everyone else?
As a coach (first year by the way), I have tried to make things fun by having many players in game-situation practices, etc. My girls every now and then would come to the ballgame literally 5 minutes before the game (for no apparent reason) and would just seem to have a "defeat" attitude for the entire game for no reason. I have spoken with each girl to be sure that they were okay and have even done some one-on-one practice with them. They have always given me their feedback (and criticisms) and have adjusted things accordingly to their delight (I even had some unexpected phone calls from many players thanking me for making the game fun while still playing strong!). Yet, some days, they come in with a very downing attitude about the ballgame (no issues with socializing, however!) and would do very little effort in playing ball. It's just frustrating to me and to the head coach of the team because we know that the girls can do better than that.
As a player in Ladies' Fastball, my team...well, let me put it this way, it seems like me and 3-4 other players are the only ones making up a "team". I even have 2 teammates who would stick out their leg to try and stop the ball (sheesh, it's not soccer....not to mention an accident waiting to happen!). For the past two weeks, there was only me and one other player who would be there half hour before the game starts and everyone else shows up 5-10min before games starts. As a result, I can't really warm-up properly (b/c this other early teammate is on the phone trying to ensure that we have enough players for the game!). I also think I'm starting to injure myself (starting to see signs of "tendonitis" in my right elbow which is my throwing arm aka "golfer's elbow") because of lack of warm-up which usually results in me making a lot of throws from left field to second and third rapidly and on several occasions to home for that game. I've already started warming up by myself including throwing several balls at the fence as well as trying to pitch (again, against the fence). I was even asked by a couple of my teammates why I never practice pitching before the game starts so that I may pitch later in the game. It's a little hard to practice if no one shows up until 5 minutes before the game starts! I even offered to hold a practice over the weekend (when everyone would be available_ but no one wants to. I even asked my teammates to show up earlier so that we can hold quick drills to keep our skills sharp so that everyone's on the same page but their response was "Don't feel like it." Argh!
Once, I blew up at my team in the middle of one game (very first time in all the years that I played ball) because I was so darn frustrated. I wasn't proud of myself during that particular moment but several other teammates who are very similar to me backed me up. I'm a woman of few words so when I do speak up, everyone listens. It seems like me and these 2 other players are backing up everyone else for nothing. I don't mind losing or allowing a run to score as long as people make the effort. When my teammates pull stunts like this, the other teams take advantage of this.
My coach for the ladies' team is trying his best. He even volunteered to coach at the expense of him missing some of his baseball games. He even stated to me and a couple of other players that he decided to not come back next year because of this whole thing. To be honest, I don't blame him.
I guess my beef is that, if one doesn't want to play ball, why even show up? Why does it seem like some days, the entire team comes in with an already "defeat" attitude for the whole game no matter what a coach does or heck, even a teammate? It's a wonder that we even win any games (both girls and ladies)!
As a coach and/or player, how do you combat this? Why does it seem like some days that a team comes in with a very crappy attitude that seems to spread to everyone else?
