So DD's high school program is pretty weak. 33 girls on 2 teams, which might not be bad except there is only 1 senior and only 2 juniors. Needless to say, the talent pool is very young. Very few TB players in the program and it shows. Varsity has already taken a few big losses and I can see some apathy creeping in. They know they don't have the best talent, or experience and while they do have a fine coach, it's hard to imagine much "tangible" success this year. Here's the question. How do you continue to motivate these girls who really are part of a 2-3 year rebuilding project? I am sure the program can improve if all 33 try their best this year, this summer and for the next few years...but that might be a very big challenge considering how tough its going to be for the next few seasons.
Turn a program around??
- Thread starter CoachV
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It's tough. There is a school in our conference that is in the same boat. Last year they went O-fer in league play. The 2nd time our school played them, we won the game 13-5, but after the 5th inning, the other team was jumping around like they won the WCWS....all because they got to play a 7 inning game. Make small reachable goals would be my suggestion.
A very difficult task given today's "I want it now - I'm entitled to it now" society. Stress improvement one game at a time to include setting individual and team goals (even if the goal is something like "not striking out more than 5 times as a team"). Stress the little process successes rather than wins. Use stuff like helmet stickers to reward outstanding effort and attitude. Find local college players that are willing to come in and work with the girls - some pizza or something afterwards as a team meal with a discussion period with the college players could be motivating. Just a couple of thoughts - best of luck.
Is pitching weak, also? I think that is where I would start. I would see if I could get some of the pitchers talked into working hard, year around.
- Mar 29, 2012
- 376
- 0
strong pitching cures alot of ills, follow that up with really drilling defense.
It's not impossible to turn it around but it will take hard work and dedication. Amy makes a good point on the pitchers need to step it up.
The next thing I'd work on is hitting, runs win games, runs puts pressure on the opposing defense. Runs, runs, and more runs.
This is not directed at the OP:
Folks please listen, we have so many horror stories about HS ball. For all the members with young DD's.........school ball preperation starts RIGHT NOW. You can control how that experience is. You can either sit back and play for a TB team 1-2-3 hours away with no one who will be on your HS team, or you can get involved with instructing local kids whom you will play with for years to come. Sure it's hard work, gotta get your hands dirty. BUT, the convenience of having localized players sure makes the burden of team practice easier. You can actually get more done eliminating the hours of travel.
We did/do it and we are nothing special, we were just looking ahead. Folks you gotta make HS ball work, you can't wait until you get there and wonder why it's so unpleasant. Just like most things in life.
This was in the paper yesterday. Besides college, THIS is the year we've been working our tails off for 10+ years with our neighbors and friends.
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If you ever listen to me, listen now. If you want to get here ^^^^^^^^^.
You MUST START developing them together here...................
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Sorry for the rant.
The next thing I'd work on is hitting, runs win games, runs puts pressure on the opposing defense. Runs, runs, and more runs.
This is not directed at the OP:
Folks please listen, we have so many horror stories about HS ball. For all the members with young DD's.........school ball preperation starts RIGHT NOW. You can control how that experience is. You can either sit back and play for a TB team 1-2-3 hours away with no one who will be on your HS team, or you can get involved with instructing local kids whom you will play with for years to come. Sure it's hard work, gotta get your hands dirty. BUT, the convenience of having localized players sure makes the burden of team practice easier. You can actually get more done eliminating the hours of travel.
We did/do it and we are nothing special, we were just looking ahead. Folks you gotta make HS ball work, you can't wait until you get there and wonder why it's so unpleasant. Just like most things in life.
This was in the paper yesterday. Besides college, THIS is the year we've been working our tails off for 10+ years with our neighbors and friends.
If you ever listen to me, listen now. If you want to get here ^^^^^^^^^.
You MUST START developing them together here...................
[/IMG]
Sorry for the rant.
GOINGDEEP, as for me, you are preaching to the choir, but I will give you a hearty "AMEN!"
If anyone doesn't know what that means, I am in complete agreement.
If anyone doesn't know what that means, I am in complete agreement.
Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,887
- 113
GOINGDEEP, nice job!
CoachV, I took over a girl's basketball program that averaged 3 wins a year for 10 years. They were the laughing stock of the area and one game in particular was always interesting in that whomever lost that first game probably was only going to win one game since we played that school 2 times. We went on to average 19 wins a year. How? First, fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals ... Never accept the attitude that you are going to lose. Make the girls invest into the program. You know, the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. Coaches have to lead by example. I made my team promises such as I will never give in and take a beating. I will coach until the last second. You will play until the last second. On all of my teams I have promised that I will never back down from competition. I will take all of the blame for every loss. I will give all of the credit to them for every win. We will win. Then, I modeled winning. You see, losing is a mindset. It goes through a team, program and school. That is why I always say, you know why they win? Because they win! Just like I believe people lose BECAUSE they lose. Oh, and the best play regardless of grade. When we turned it around, I played 8 girls on the varsity that were freshmen. 4 started at some point. I had two outstanding Juniors. I had one senior that I had to throw off the team. I will always say this about that young lady, she came to me and asked for a second chance because she saw what we were doing. I gave it to her. We were eliminated that year after advancing some in the playoffs. With 3 seconds left and a poor pass headed into the stands, she dove head first into the stands, caught the ball and somehow threw it back in to play. We still lost. The next year when we were headed to the same location for the regional championship, that same yound lady was standing in the snowfal all by herself waving to us as our bus left the school. Finally, for the coaches, they have to form an inner circle that is comprised of people who know the game and who are very honest. I was so fortunate to have one. My assistant on that team was a lady who sometimes called me names for how hard I drove the girls ... and we had extensive shouting matches. I am so glad I had her as an assitant. She turned out to be a long lost cousin of mine. Ironic!
CoachV, I took over a girl's basketball program that averaged 3 wins a year for 10 years. They were the laughing stock of the area and one game in particular was always interesting in that whomever lost that first game probably was only going to win one game since we played that school 2 times. We went on to average 19 wins a year. How? First, fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals ... Never accept the attitude that you are going to lose. Make the girls invest into the program. You know, the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. Coaches have to lead by example. I made my team promises such as I will never give in and take a beating. I will coach until the last second. You will play until the last second. On all of my teams I have promised that I will never back down from competition. I will take all of the blame for every loss. I will give all of the credit to them for every win. We will win. Then, I modeled winning. You see, losing is a mindset. It goes through a team, program and school. That is why I always say, you know why they win? Because they win! Just like I believe people lose BECAUSE they lose. Oh, and the best play regardless of grade. When we turned it around, I played 8 girls on the varsity that were freshmen. 4 started at some point. I had two outstanding Juniors. I had one senior that I had to throw off the team. I will always say this about that young lady, she came to me and asked for a second chance because she saw what we were doing. I gave it to her. We were eliminated that year after advancing some in the playoffs. With 3 seconds left and a poor pass headed into the stands, she dove head first into the stands, caught the ball and somehow threw it back in to play. We still lost. The next year when we were headed to the same location for the regional championship, that same yound lady was standing in the snowfal all by herself waving to us as our bus left the school. Finally, for the coaches, they have to form an inner circle that is comprised of people who know the game and who are very honest. I was so fortunate to have one. My assistant on that team was a lady who sometimes called me names for how hard I drove the girls ... and we had extensive shouting matches. I am so glad I had her as an assitant. She turned out to be a long lost cousin of mine. Ironic!
- Feb 13, 2013
- 18
- 0
Is the apathy in the dugout .... or the stands? Also, what's your definition of "tangible" success? Winning state? Making it to regionals? Not getting run ruled? Tangible says to me you need trophy. You might be disappointed if so.
But, if its about the girls, that's easy....make sure they are having fun. Celebrate the little things. A good catch, a good throw, a good hit. A girl who's gone 0-10 doesn't need a team thats looking to win state, she needs a team the goes crazy because she gets a single on a well hit grounder. Celebrate the left fielder who ran down a fly ball in foul territory. Jump up and down because the catcher blocked a wild pitch with a good, fairly proper slid. In other word, find something other than wining to measure success against. There always a way to find the fun and keep people positive.
If the problem is in the stands, well good luck. Unhappy parents are the worst.
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