getting frustrated

[krd005]

Working with dd and a group of her buds. Work with them and they look decent doing some good things. Get to game time and they fall right back to all the bad habits. I work with them 2 times a week. I know I am not a miracle worker but I feel like I am hitting my head against the wall. I also know it takes time and reps to rid yourself of the bad habits. After the game I try to talk with them and they are very frustrated. I ask them if they think they are working hard enough at it. I know they don't do anything extra! They say they think they are?

So my question to you all is where do I go from here? Do I tell them to put in more time or I won't be able to work with them? What is realistic for me to ask of them?

Any help is apprciated!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

They need to be swinging a bat every day. Help them with that goal. Either make tees for them and issue them a tarp to hit into or show their parents how to do soft toss.

The problem is getting them to use proper mechanics at home. I really like the TCB balls for that. They give instant feed back.

Another thing that is easy to do at home, is to hit whiffle golf balls with a wooden dowl (sp?) rod.

If they are little girls I give them a blank calendar and I ask them to put a star on each day, that they hit at least for 20 minutes.

Someone wrote once that it takes 1000 correct cuts to overcome having bad mechanics. Good luck and have fun.

 

[CoachKevin]

You didn't say what age.

 

[Wellphyt]

You continue to work with the ones who are willing to work. Most aren't willing to but in the effort. A good strategy is to get one or two hitting better than the rest to motivate the others to want to improve.

 

[krd005]

thanks! these are 15 yr olds so you would think they would get it by now!

 

[Coach JV]

The older they get, the harder they are to motivate

 

[krd005]

the funny thing is they think the good players don't put in the time. I try to tell tehm that the best put in time every day. Not just when its convienent. I am going to tell them tonight that they either commit to getting better or I am walking away. But the ball in their court so to speak.

 

[SoftSocDad]

Yeah, by 15, in general, the girls who don't want to be (insert any sport here) players aren't going to be.

Without really knowing what you're working with, it sounds like you're dealing with a group of girls who, for whatever reason, have decided to try rec softball. I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from starting at that (or any) age, but I don't know that you have the capability to motivate teen girls who don't want it, even if they have played before. I think your only real leverage is as you stated:

"Unless you girls make marked improvement within the next two weeks, I won't be able to continue to working with you, because we're obviously wasting one another's time."

After that two-week probation, if you're still not satisfied, any individuals who'd like to continue working with you on their own or with another girl or two may do so at x-dollars per hour.

 

[2 DD Coach]

Working with dd and a group of her buds. Work with them and they look decent doing some good things. Get to game time and they fall right back to all the bad habits. I work with them 2 times a week.

So when you work with them, do you have to "start all over", or are they able to pick up where you left off at the last practice? From your original post it sounds like they do well when your working with them, but fall apart in the games. This COULD be attributed to being nervous in a game situation, which IMOP is different then not putting in the work. I know my younger DD had this problem, and it had nothing to do with practice, she was in the yard every day. Some verbal cues to help remind her at bat during the game really helped her out.

 

[krd005]

the problem is they have bad habits that they need to work on to get rid of which they do when they are with me but I am not with them 5 days a week. A prime example is the dropping of the hands as their 1st move, which they think gets the bat on plane. We all know it doesn't. I do tee and soft toss work with them and they look decent. Get in the game and they go back to the bad. I kid you not. I have game video that shows the hands at waste level during a swing. The other challenging part for me is I don't understand how they can't feel when they do it? I will talk to them after a game and they tell me they can't feel their hands dropping. I had the talk with them last night that they need to hit 100 balls a night the correct way or they will have to find someone else. I wasn't mean and nasty but I want them to committ as they are asking me to committ. Make sense?