I recently received this message and asked th person who sent it if I could post it here to get additional input for her.
So here goes...
"Lack of consistency, lack of commitment are what's killing us. It's one thing if
you know your team has poor skills, then you can find little victories in simply
improving. But, it's hard when your team has good players with good skills, yet
can't put it together.
*
We seem to have that "one bad inning" every game! We stay close and end up losing by a*few runs because of defensive breakdowns.
*
I guess when that's the case, it's the coaches fault...so, what can be done
to make it better? Better practices, I guess. But, when 3 kids show up to
practice... I want it more than they do. Frustrating!
*
By the way, this is a summer travel team, B division, 12U. Mostly first year 12U players, several still eligible for 10U."
While I'm not sure that you can MAKE players "want it" as much as you do, I do believe there are things you can do as a coach to help "set the tone" for the season and help ensure that everyone's expectations for the season are more or less on the same page.
What do you think and what would you suggest to this coach?
So here goes...
"Lack of consistency, lack of commitment are what's killing us. It's one thing if
you know your team has poor skills, then you can find little victories in simply
improving. But, it's hard when your team has good players with good skills, yet
can't put it together.
*
We seem to have that "one bad inning" every game! We stay close and end up losing by a*few runs because of defensive breakdowns.
*
I guess when that's the case, it's the coaches fault...so, what can be done
to make it better? Better practices, I guess. But, when 3 kids show up to
practice... I want it more than they do. Frustrating!
*
By the way, this is a summer travel team, B division, 12U. Mostly first year 12U players, several still eligible for 10U."
While I'm not sure that you can MAKE players "want it" as much as you do, I do believe there are things you can do as a coach to help "set the tone" for the season and help ensure that everyone's expectations for the season are more or less on the same page.
What do you think and what would you suggest to this coach?