Wow, I had no idea what an impact of running would have on my players. We always do our basic run, warm up, and stretching. And now, we finish practice with 1 lap around the bases for each error that I see.
After a terrible game (our heads weren't we they should have been) I felt the girls could do way better, but they had no fire inside them. I thought to myself- you can't teach fire inside someone so I wasn't sure what to do. As much as I hated running and I felt bad for the girls on the other team when they had to run after a game- I did it. I made them run. If one person didn't catch with two hands or if one person wasn't down and ready, etc... they all run one lap at the end of practice. I usually warn them once to remind them we are running. My goal is for them to critique each other if they see their teammate not doing something right and to have some fire inside them.
Perfect example:
My daughter who I have been trying to help out on pitching doesn't have a sense of urgency to want to work at it, only go through the motions. She's the 3rd best pitcher on our team. Last night after going through the motions and one wild high ball after the other,- I told her she was running from home to 1st after every 3rd bad ball pitched. Wow- she improved dramatically on the next pitch and fire was lit. You may ask if she even wants to pitch, we've had this conversation several times. She does, but she prefers 2nd base. Thanks goodness I have 2 other girls who really want to pitch or else we would be hurting.
Also- I run with them around the bases, if I beat them, that's another lap. By the last stretch, I'm warn out ! I usually let the last runner barely catch up to me and I run harder- the other teammates cheer on that runner so they all don't have to continue running another lap.
After a terrible game (our heads weren't we they should have been) I felt the girls could do way better, but they had no fire inside them. I thought to myself- you can't teach fire inside someone so I wasn't sure what to do. As much as I hated running and I felt bad for the girls on the other team when they had to run after a game- I did it. I made them run. If one person didn't catch with two hands or if one person wasn't down and ready, etc... they all run one lap at the end of practice. I usually warn them once to remind them we are running. My goal is for them to critique each other if they see their teammate not doing something right and to have some fire inside them.
Perfect example:
My daughter who I have been trying to help out on pitching doesn't have a sense of urgency to want to work at it, only go through the motions. She's the 3rd best pitcher on our team. Last night after going through the motions and one wild high ball after the other,- I told her she was running from home to 1st after every 3rd bad ball pitched. Wow- she improved dramatically on the next pitch and fire was lit. You may ask if she even wants to pitch, we've had this conversation several times. She does, but she prefers 2nd base. Thanks goodness I have 2 other girls who really want to pitch or else we would be hurting.
Also- I run with them around the bases, if I beat them, that's another lap. By the last stretch, I'm warn out ! I usually let the last runner barely catch up to me and I run harder- the other teammates cheer on that runner so they all don't have to continue running another lap.
