Motivating 16U

[lmccloun]

I need some help here. I am part of a coaching staff for first year 16U and we are having issues with the girls being motivated to play and of course they are now at the age of they know it all. The manager does not wish to come down on them too hard as he does not want to lose any players ( we live in an area where players are not easy to come by). At our last game we played horrible, base coverage, throwing the ball around all the things that drive you crazy because you worked on these things since 10U. We are also having a hard time with intensity with this club. So I am looking for some help. Getting players motivated to play and to play at their ability.

FYI I have had the players establish both short term and season long goals to help them see the path. Any help would be appreciated.

Frustrated Coach!!

 

[quincy]

It sounds like you need a Team leader to pull the Team together. 9 individuals running around is no good. You need to look at the Players, not the coach.

 

[sluggers]

Getting players motivated to play and to play at their ability.

16U girls are, IMHO, the hardest group to handle. At 14U, they are still kids. At 18U, the girls who don't want to play are (finally) all gone.

But, at 16U, you have some kids who want to play, some kids who are playing out of habit,and some kids who are forced to play because of their parents. Also, at 16U, the kids can count. They know you will have a tough time replacing them. Being 16U girls, they won't think twice about using you like a tool. (I raised 3 girls. I would rather have my eyes gouged out than be forced to put up with one more 16YOA HS junior.)

You have to adjust the PT based upon their performance. If there is no correlation between playing time and performance on the field, they won't change anything.

 

[chinamigarden]

use this speech, without the shower part though.

 

[Greenmonsters]

16U girls are, IMHO, the hardest group to handle. At 14U, they are still kids. At 18U, the girls who don't want to play are (finally) all gone.

But, at 16U, you have some kids who want to play, some kids who are playing out of habit,and some kids who are forced to play because of their parents. Also, at 16U, the kids can count. They know you will have a tough time replacing them. Being 16U girls, they won't think twice about using you like a tool. (I raised 3 girls. I would rather have my eyes gouged out than be forced to put up with one more 16YOA HS junior.)

You have to adjust the PT based upon their performance. If there is no correlation between playing time and performance on the field, they won't change anything.

Very true that 16U is probably the toughest travel age (and almost as tough as Varsity in an area where SB isn't the top 1 or 2 sports of the season because the same issues come into play and are compounded by 4-year social/maturity span)

 

[mike s]

Great thread, DD is 15 on 16U team, 1st year team. Had to laugh when I read Screwballs link, just 2 days ago caught her saying she lost her SS skills, during the just finished HS season she only pitched, HS coach had her DH but almost never play IF. I told her to stop saying she would never get her skills sharpened or it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Not the first time we have worked on something and it comes up in the next day or two DFP.

 

[smallball]

Do you know why each of your players plays the game?

 

[pete]

Do you know why each of your players plays the game?

That's a very good point and I never thought of it like that. At practice tonight I am going to ask all my players this question. Thanks smallball!

 

[lmccloun]

I thank you all for your post and I am looking at putting some into play. We barely have enough girls to make this team a team but worse case we could lose one. I found it interesting on the bad apple, we played 2 games this weekend with only 9 players 3 were not there and I found they played much better, so I will keep an eye out for the bad apple or a player causing disruption. I think one of the questions that I need to ask at this point is why are you here and get them to really think about that. I have suggested to the coach about a captain or captains to lead this team but the chatting and socializing on the field is driving me. I have suggested that we use small groups at the stations and pick up the pace to keep them involved. any other ideas please let me know. The hardest thing for me is I have 2 that are on the radar for college and I feel bad for them as they really want it and some do not

 

[TheRogue]

Do you know why each of your players plays the game?

This is a great question.

Some are motivated because they are just plain competitors. Some want to play college ball. Some just want to play on the best team. Some just want to play on the best team around.

How you approach these different attitudes is critical, IMHO. You can harp all day long about college and college coaches watching and attitudes....but if you've only got 2 players that are truly focused on college ball, that's probably not going to motivate the entire team. You can pound and pound about being the best team around with the best record, but if you have a bunch of girls that just want to play with their friends, that probably won't work either.

I think many coaches do NOT do a good job in tryouts ferretting out exactly why someone WANTS to play on their team before a position is offered. I personally would rather have a team of good softball players who all have generally the same goals than a team of great softball players that have vastly different reasons why they wear the uniforms.

Many coaches forget that players have feelings, wants, and desires as well.