Need help lighting the fire/making things fun...

[coach_jeffobi]

So here's the thing,

In my area we have an above average Rec ball league as far as level of skill/competitiveness. My SS (sister not shortstop) is 9 and is only now starting to pick up the sport. She has all the athletic potential in the world (family genes), but unfortunately due to the time we live in and the workload my parents (no time to get her involved themselves) have her lifestyle had been a sedentary one up until now.

Now I'm a college kid but I've moved back home to commute and help out around the house and she's joined a 10u team, where I have expressed to the coach that I am willing to help out as I am trying to kick off my own coaching career, but the most he's had me help with is catching throws to first. I don't want to usurp him in anyway, but I've watched them practice for the past 3-4 weeks and its been nothing but silence, sunken faces when errors are made, and a constant earful at every little mistake made. Some of the girls are STILL learning each other's names, which I just think is unacceptable.

IMO he's just one of those old baseball grandpas (no offense to any here) who's never actually taken the time to learn the game of SOFTBALL and how to coach GIRLS, and just kind of throw them in there expecting them to "get it." I have 3 sisters, the oldest two are extremely sports oriented, as they known they've been blessed athletically, so I've been coaching girls all my life. But all in all what this rant is getting too is that I want my sister to have fun, so that she can grow that love for the sport, but its just not happening in her team so much, and I'm working on revamping our own one-on-one practices as she seems to lose interest really fast, I'm guessing because they are just too routine for a 9 year old. I can see she loves to play or at least would like to love to play, but it's just a matter of getting it out of her.

So basically I'm asking a few things. What drills are out there, that you have found success with that are fun and can grow her untapped athletic potential and love for the sport and can be done without the need of an entire team? Also what do you think I should do/shouldn't do about her coach? He's not a bad guy, he just doesn't seem to understand how intimidating he is being or how disconnected the TEAM actually is (game play starts this Saturday). I just want her to love the sport as much as I know she can without being that pushy sports parent (or brother in this case). Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[MsDinosaur]

My daughter loves pepper and although that's usually done with a whole line of girls, I don't see why you couldn't go out and hit ground balls just to her. Maybe you could challenge her to field a certain number cleanly in a row. What I always did a lot with my DD was go out and simply play catch; I'd try to vary it up a little by throwing her a grounder or a pop-up every now and then. Do you have a net? You could soft toss to her and let her hit into a net. You can make that more interesting by doing things like tossing two balls and asking her to hit the high or the low, etc. Even without a net, you can soft toss to her and have her practice bunting. When she starts catching on, you can call out where you want her to bunt: toward third, or the pitcher, or to first. If you've got a hula hoop around, you can put that down and have her try to get all her bunts to land inside it.

Something else I remembered--when she was little and we were playing catch, I'd often turn it into a pretend softball game. If she caught the ball or fielded it cleanly and threw it back to me (now the first baseman!) quickly and accurately, then the batter was out. If not, there was a runner on first... She would be so happy if she could make that third out before any of the runners scored. We'd keep track of the "score" and try to get a whole game in before it got too dark.

 

[sluggers]

What drills are out there, that you have found success with that are fun and can grow her untapped athletic potential and love for the sport and can be done without the need of an entire team?

First, when you do this stuff, you have to insist on perfection. It isn't enough just to catch it or throw it. It has to be done correctly.

My favorite for kids this age is "popup derby". Get a small bat, and hit pop up to her. Make each pop up slightly harder than the one before. You can make them higher, then you hit to the left of her, to the right or her, behind her, etc. Then you count how many popups in a row she catches. Yes, this is hard to do this with a bat instead of throwing them. If you hit them off the bat, she will learn how to read the ball off the bat, making her appear to be 10X faster than she really is. Teach her the proper footwork.

There are also a lot of variations on pitch and catch. One drill is the flat foot drill, where you and her stand about 20 feet apart and throw the ball back and forth facing each other, with both feet planted on the ground. Another drill is the "quick throw" drill, where you stand about 30 feet apart and work on throwing the ball as quickly back and forth as possible. Then, there is the "use two balls instead of one" when playing pitch and catch. Again, emphasize perfection in execution.

For a game, there is always "home run derby" or "Indian ball". For home run derby, set up a marker at a particular distance and say, "Anything past here in the air is a home run. Anything else is an out." For Indian ball, the pitcher calls whether the ball she hit was a hit, or an out.

Finally, batting. Kids love to bat. So, get a bunch of softballs (maybe 50?) and get some kind of protective screen and pitch to her. She will have a blast hitting the balls. Then make her go pick them up, and do it again. You have to make her go pick them up or else she'll never quit.

Also what do you think I should do/shouldn't do about her coach?

You can't do anything with the coach.

To make the practice more fun, you have to tease the girls. Yes, it is an art as to what you can or can't say. If you go overboard, some girl will cry. If you don't go far enough, then you sound simply stupid. BUT, if you get the teasing right, the girls and you can have a lot of fun.

I just want her to love the sport as much as I know she can

I understand what you want, but it really isn't up to you. It is up to her. Everyone is different, and you have to accept that she may or may not enjoy the game. I had two athletic DDs. One loved softball more than anything else in the world. The other one loved "competition", but not necessarily softball.

You make the sport accessible, and you offer to help her, and make it fun. But, that is really all you can do.

 

[Dragoncoach]

Split them up and offer to run a station (soft toss, t-drill,fingers up catch, bunting,knee drill,1b and 2b covering bunt drill,baserunning drills,etc) play games where they just bunt, play shotgun, hotbox, freeze tag,etc.