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Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
We had a hitter on our Team that consistently hit the fence, boy she could hit. Probably best hitter on the Team. Unfortunately they were all singles. She was slow and she just went station to station.

For some reason DD hit behind her and pushed her a few times to get her going. DD wants a double, nope runner in front of her is not going anywhere. DD had to backtrack a few times.

Really nice girl.
 
Nov 20, 2020
995
93
SW Missouri
Topics like this are great. Some good confirmations and helpful information. We’ve had a couple of these type players on our team the last couple years.

I believe it can be a couple different reasons depending on the player.....

- Lack of timing/reading the ball off of the bat. So they sit and wait to see where it’s going. They’ll always be late.

- Lack of understanding/confidence where to go once they have fielded the ball. Results in standing and looking. And usually the coach ends up yelling “just throw it in!” if in the OF.

- Worrying too much about doing the wrong thing. Doesn’t allow them to just react.

- Possibly not motivated to become a better player on their own. Likes softball for the activity and the social time. Nothing wrong with this per say. It’s why rec leagues exist.

In my small experience in coaching I’ve found a lot (but not all) of it comes down to education. And finding a way to get the light bulb to turn on for said player. We were having slow movement issues at the beginning of last season on our 1st year 12u team. All girls had played 1-2 years of 10u so we assumed most knew the basic “what to do’s”. Found out we were wrong. We made an immediate shift to go back to basics and make sure the team felt confident in what they needed to do and where to go appropriate to the situation. What a game changer that was for the back half of the season.

Still had some slow movers but what a difference just re communicating what was needed and expected made.

The less time they need to spending thinking about what to do the faster they can react and just “go”.

Just my two cents.


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Mar 6, 2018
150
28
Read first two pages. Hitting home for me my 12u dd was not fielding bunts with what I view as quickly or urgent enough. Along with being slow outv of the battersbox. Started her this with with a guy who works with athletes and had a track back ground. One session and he's made improvements on technique that's translating to what he refers to as twitch movements. That is quick bursts based on situations, bunting, retreating to the bag etc. Def a positive addition to her skills
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Read first two pages. Hitting home for me my 12u dd was not fielding bunts with what I view as quickly or urgent enough. Along with being slow outv of the battersbox. Started her this with with a guy who works with athletes and had a track back ground. One session and he's made improvements on technique that's translating to what he refers to as twitch movements. That is quick bursts based on situations, bunting, retreating to the bag etc. Def a positive addition to her skills
Best thing to get from posts like this. People adding stories of addressing solutions! 👍
 
Dec 30, 2018
4
3
some of it may be fear of screwing up, encourage failures as long as they are spectacular, ie player is going all out. repeated failures due to extreme effort will quickly become successes as they learn to play outside their comfort zone.
.
This is my daughter. 11U, plays short and center. Her defensive coach has her doing HS level footwork in practice, because she just flat out gets to everything. Game situations, even after repeated situational training, is still hesitant when going after the ball. She says before the ball is hit, she knows where the play is. After the ball is hit, she sometimes forgets, and will take the out at first. I truly believe, once she gets the “I want the ball mentality”, she will be a solid fielder. Frustrating waiting for that to happen though. Especially when you see the talent level she has in practice.
 
Jul 16, 2020
6
3
We practice fast so this instills that play fast habit. They don’t get another ball hit at them if they go slow or weren’t ready.
I break it down into 3 categories as to why it’s not getting done. 1) they can’t do it 2) they won’t do it 3) they don’t know how to do it. It’s up to us as coaches to figure out which one it is and get it corrected. 2 of the 3 as a coach we can get corrected the third one is on them but let them know where they stand.


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Jun 9, 2011
27
3
Heart & Hustle.

Need to make sure coach has provided all the learning possible and has removed the feeling of fear players can have if they make a mistake.

Once coach has taught the game and reduced stress associated with failure–Hustle is what hustle is...either she has it or she does not.

No matter how much heart.
 

BigSkyHi

All I know is I don't know
Jan 13, 2020
1,385
113
This looks like a lot of fun

 
Mar 6, 2018
150
28
This looks like a lot of fun

lol i love this thread. i actually bought pack of 3 from amazon with different weights (3 kids). Mainly for my youngest who thinks he's bruce lee and mike tyson. But DD is getting one as well.
 
Mar 6, 2018
150
28
Best thing to get from posts like this. People adding stories of addressing solutions! 👍
3 sessions in and my daughter who was a flat footed stomper before is getting a lot of praise on her speed. I got lucky- the guy who's helping her charges me minimal and he's really good with kids.
 

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