Mental errors

[CRay91]

DD was full of mental errors last night. Should've been a forced out at 3rd if she would have gone to the bag, but she attempted to tag the runner (from my angle with my mom glasses on, it appeared as though the runner should have been out ) and the girl was called safe at 3rd. Coach yelled a bit then reminded all the girls that the play was at HOME. Next batter hits one straight to DD and of course DD's first reaction is to throw to 1st, but the crowd starts yelling "HOME" to her which confuses her and she just holds the ball letting the other team score and still not getting the out at 1st. Those errors were on her plain and simple. She's been taught what to do, but she just didn't think either play through so that isn't any fault of the coaches. She managed to get her head in the game after that though, so I'm hoping it was a learning experience that will stick with her.

 

[canyonjoe]

One of the dilemmas you face coaching youth sports is do you coach to the level or coach to the ultimate game.

The example of the 10U team not throwing home is a perfect example. I know on our 10U rec team when DD played no one could have even threw it close to home from the OF. We just coached them to try and hold to a single. For us working on simple plays in the few practices we had was more important than teaching do or die to them at the time.

One big example I see are kids who were taught young to freeze on fly balls. They will literally stand there until it lands even if it's 50 feet over the fielders heads. It's the easy thing to teach (and some never get it and just run) but it makes it hard to teach them to try and predict the outcome. You'll see some that read bloopers well and go first to third on one, but I see even at 18U how many get out because the stay too close to 1st on a blooper and are slow to react. I even see them on foul popups where they'll freeze to see what's happening versus getting back to the base to tag or draw a throw. When you mention why they look at you like you have 2 heads.

In my opinion the kids that play today are so much better players than we were when were kids. They do things better, but outside of a select few most don't really know how to play. I think it's because they only play organized ball. Playing pickup games or wiffle ball as a kid you got to learn how to work without a full field. You learned to play hitters and not stand around.

How do most of you coach. To the level or to the ultimate game?

 

[quincy]

DD you would need to run out and hit her with a bat before she heard you, she makes her decisions on her own. Coach can be yelling throw to 1st, ball is going home yell all you want.

Some players seem to get it, they are on the field and know more of what is going on then I do in dugout. Others you need to tell them what to do during the game.

Like sluggers mentioned earlier I like asking them questions, what were you Thinking? Might become part of next practice might not depending on thier anwser.

They are all going to make mental errors, trick is to try to only make the 1 mistake once.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

canyonjoe- when I coached, I tried a hybrid approach. I really emphasized thinking and the mental game, I saw that as a major weakness in our local teams and a respected coach stated at a seminar that was what she saw in her role as a travel and college coach (she held each role at different times). But, it was rec ball, and you do need to teach something they are capable of learning, thus we really didn't do a lot of "framing" for catching fly balls (it was enough to get them to try to actually catch the ball rather than worry about form), teach them who took the cut from which angle if the ball is hit down the lines (no way in hell were they ever going to get past assigning one fielder to this task), etc.

After a little more thought on this, there is one area where I do think a lot of coaches contribute to mental errors. The lack of positive reinforcement, and yapping at the girls for every mistake they make does make them tentative and the indecision leads to a ton of mental mistakes. Let them make mistakes and actually learn from them. When they are afraid to take any action because they are about to get yelled at if they are wrong, it does nothing good for the team.

 

[Seattlecoach]

canyonjoe - I agree this is the hardest part of coaching. At young ages teaching players to go for the lead runner leads to many mistakes... but are they worth it for a 14u player to be instinctual about going for the lead out? I would say in many cases yes.

For me the hardest thing to teach at a young age are cuts home. To get everyone in the correct position rarely, if ever, happens and it rarely, if ever, makes a difference on the play because the ball takes so long to get home.

 

[55dad]

Do you guys agree that mental errors falls on the coaches for not preparing them better? Would love to hear your feedback


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I have a hard time blaming coaches for mental errors. The younger the girls are, the harder it is to coach them in game situations because you can't possibly remind them what to do in every situation. The girls simply lack the experience to know what to do in a lot of situations. At older ages, the girls need to own their own mistakes. Coaches have a role in preparing their teams and can help get players focused and motivated but they aren't miracle workers.

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[CanOfCorn]

I am new to the forum but have been coaching rec/travel closing on 20 years (mostly baseball) and this is kind of a loaded question. It depends on the team/level of play. Also as noted you have have some who are born to play the game (the chess player in a checker competition) while others as one old mentor/coach said "should consider taking up lacrosse" as they never catch on even after 20-30x.

IMO it breaks out as such:

Young players any Travel/Rec 10 and under) I echo the people above that say the focus is fundamentals. Learn to throw to a base before worrying about all the variations. You might cover some basic situations on a travel or AS team but make outs first.

Older Rec Level) With limited practices and if your league reshuffles each year you have no idea what each player knows so mostly like younger kids you are trying to make any out. The situations with a player on third with one out late in a close game. You are probably holding your breath when Ronda Rec-Player throws to first never mind reading the runner at third and firing a bullet to home if necessary. If you have travel players your hoping it is hit to one of them and they are in the right spots.

Older AS or Upper travel) This is really about how many touches (practices) you get with the same group. Provided the players can make the throws and you covered basics then this is the next thing to teach. The ball shouldn't fall between two players on pop-ups, they should know when to throw in front or behind runners, what going half-way on a fly means depending on the base and hit, when to tag and how to read the ball and the list goes on... The older they get the more they should understand and by 18U the game runs itself.

SIDE NOTE - High School) This is the weird glorified rec...or travel depending on your HS coach ability. On DD1 HS team I saw a ball pop up to the right of the circle between P and 3B. Hit the P off the face when it was clearly the 3B ball. THAT was a coaching issue as was a botched transfer between SS/2B when SS should have taken it herself. Sadly the players involved all play travel (mostly daddy 16U & 18U) so you get what you get. The HS coach thinks they are travel players when in reality they are glorified rec players. To be fair even a set of good players need some coaching to learn to feel each other out. If you have a talented freshman playing varsity who needs to call off the senior captain that needs to be communicated and emphasized by the coach. Again THAT is coaching.

To answer canyonjoe. I paraphrase the philosopher Shrek. Coaching (and ogres) are like onions, they have layers. For example, I always start with technique and positioning. Stupid stuff like throwing form, fielding technique and how to stand around a base for a force or tag play and always why. Sometimes I think I am the only person who does this. This way they can have a chance of making a play AND not getting hurt. As the skill level progress I add on layers, basically the variations. This is as you say the ultimate game, I just figured out how to boil each skill down so I get a nice stopping point on the way. Kind of a handsome game.

Elk Grove Hurricane: I agree on the how to communicate (especially with females) is as or more important. Yelling will freeze them up and induce panic mode. They only make plays if they trust themselves and usually that means you need to tell them you trust them first. I use things like "(what they did) was great BUT next time WE would want to (what I want) BECAUSE (why). They WE and WHY are important, plus if I can't get past the mistake/error, how can I expect them to shake it off.

 

[Lightning]

Elk Grove Hurricane: I agree on the how to communicate (especially with females) is as or more important. Yelling will freeze them up and induce panic mode. They only make plays if they trust themselves and usually that means you need to tell them you trust them first. I use things like "(what they did) was great BUT next time WE would want to (what I want) BECAUSE (why). They WE and WHY are important, plus if I can't get past the mistake/error, how can I expect them to shake it off.

Yes! DD plays 8U all-stars and these girls are amazing for their age but they take criticism hard. Most of them put so much pressure on themselves, yelling only adds more pressure when really they need to relax and trust their ability.

Most of the mental mistakes I see DD and her teammates make are not because of their coaches, but because they're trying so hard not to make mistakes and then they panic. An AC yelled at one girl for overrunning a fly ball, so the next time a catchable fly ball came her way she stepped back and let it fall in front of her so she wouldn't overrun it. (And then she got yelled at again.) Sometimes I think the coaches forget that these may be the best 8U players in our league, but these are still 8U players.

 

[55dad]

Yes! DD plays 8U all-stars and these girls are amazing for their age but they take criticism hard. Most of them put so much pressure on themselves, yelling only adds more pressure when really they need to relax and trust their ability.

Most of the mental mistakes I see DD and her teammates make are not because of their coaches, but because they're trying so hard not to make mistakes and then they panic. An AC yelled at one girl for overrunning a fly ball, so the next time a catchable fly ball came her way she stepped back and let it fall in front of her so she wouldn't overrun it. (And then she got yelled at again.) Sometimes I think the coaches forget that these may be the best 8U players in our league, but these are still 8U players.

I watched some 8U and 10U recently and I think almost everyone involved needed to RELAX a little bit.

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[grcsftbll]

I watched some 8U and 10U recently and I think almost everyone involved needed to RELAX a little bit.

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My biggest lesson from first year 10U. Everybody just chill out. Please.

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