| SOFTBALL TIPS |
|
|
|
| SITE STUFF |
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
| • |
June 26, 2005 |
| • |
July 03, 2005 |
| • |
July 10, 2005 |
| • |
July 17, 2005 |
| • |
July 24, 2005 |
| • |
July 31, 2005 |
| • |
August 07, 2005 |
| • |
August 14, 2005 |
| • |
August 21, 2005 |
| • |
August 28, 2005 |
| • |
September 11, 2005 |
| • |
October 02, 2005 |
| • |
October 09, 2005 |
| • |
October 23, 2005 |
| • |
October 30, 2005 |
| • |
November 06, 2005 |
| • |
November 13, 2005 |
| • |
December 04, 2005 |
| • |
December 18, 2005 |
| • |
December 25, 2005 |
| • |
January 08, 2006 |
| • |
January 15, 2006 |
| • |
January 29, 2006 |
| • |
February 05, 2006 |
| • |
February 12, 2006 |
| • |
February 19, 2006 |
| • |
February 26, 2006 |
| • |
March 05, 2006 |
| • |
March 12, 2006 |
| • |
March 19, 2006 |
| • |
March 26, 2006 |
| • |
April 02, 2006 |
| • |
April 09, 2006 |
| • |
April 16, 2006 |
| • |
April 23, 2006 |
| • |
April 30, 2006 |
| • |
May 07, 2006 |
| • |
May 14, 2006 |
| • |
May 21, 2006 |
| • |
May 28, 2006 |
| • |
June 04, 2006 |
| • |
June 11, 2006 |
| • |
June 18, 2006 |
| • |
June 25, 2006 |
| • |
July 09, 2006 |
| • |
July 16, 2006 |
| • |
July 23, 2006 |
| • |
July 30, 2006 |
| • |
August 13, 2006 |
| • |
August 20, 2006 |
| • |
September 03, 2006 |
| • |
September 10, 2006 |
| • |
September 17, 2006 |
| • |
September 24, 2006 |
| • |
October 01, 2006 |
| • |
October 08, 2006 |
| • |
October 15, 2006 |
| • |
October 22, 2006 |
| • |
November 12, 2006 |
| • |
November 26, 2006 |
| • |
December 31, 2006 |
| • |
January 14, 2007 |
| • |
January 21, 2007 |
| • |
January 28, 2007 |
| • |
February 04, 2007 |
| • |
February 11, 2007 |
| • |
February 18, 2007 |
| • |
February 25, 2007 |
| • |
March 04, 2007 |
| • |
March 11, 2007 |
| • |
March 18, 2007 |
| • |
April 01, 2007 |
| • |
April 08, 2007 |
| • |
April 15, 2007 |
| • |
April 22, 2007 |
| • |
April 29, 2007 |
| • |
May 06, 2007 |
| • |
May 13, 2007 |
| • |
May 20, 2007 |
| • |
May 27, 2007 |
| • |
June 03, 2007 |
| • |
June 10, 2007 |
| • |
June 17, 2007 |
| • |
June 24, 2007 |
| • |
July 01, 2007 |
| • |
July 22, 2007 |
| • |
July 29, 2007 |
| • |
August 12, 2007 |
| • |
August 19, 2007 |
| • |
September 02, 2007 |
| • |
September 16, 2007 |
| • |
September 30, 2007 |
| • |
October 07, 2007 |
| • |
October 14, 2007 |
| • |
October 21, 2007 |
| • |
November 04, 2007 |
| • |
November 18, 2007 |
| • |
November 25, 2007 |
| • |
December 02, 2007 |
| • |
December 09, 2007 |
| • |
December 16, 2007 |
| • |
January 13, 2008 |
| • |
February 17, 2008 |
| • |
February 24, 2008 |
| • |
March 02, 2008 |
| • |
March 09, 2008 |
| • |
March 30, 2008 |
| • |
April 06, 2008 |
| • |
April 13, 2008 |
| • |
April 20, 2008 |
| • |
April 27, 2008 |
| • |
May 04, 2008 |
| • |
May 11, 2008 |
| • |
May 18, 2008 |
| • |
May 25, 2008 |
|
|
| SOFTBALL LINKS |
|
|
|
Great Expectations
by Dave
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
I may have written about this in the past. I didn't bother checking and the spirit has moved me so I'll just write.
I remember the first time I observed real talent on the softball diamond. I was coaching 8s and 9s. My team was in the field. This one girl had asked, no, begged to play the same position she had been in the previous inning, but that position was in the leftfield where nobody had hit a ball that game, possibly for the whole season. But she was so insistent, I allowed her to play there.
Understand that normally, I do not allow my players to ask to play a position even at 8 and 9 years old. I frown upon anyone asking to play a specific position. In fact, at older age groups, I make sure that a kid who asks to play this or that position, after I have told them over and over again not to ask me, never sees that position. If I want to know where someone wants to play, I'll ask. Usually, after I have made my point, nobody asks, at least not more than once.
Also, when I coached 8s and 9s, I made a practice of moving players to different positions every inning. I wouldn't put a girl who could not catch at first or catcher. I wouldn't allow a kid to pitch unless and until I saw her do it in practice and I witnessed at least some level of commitment to actually practice pitching. I wouldn't put a kid in harms way say at third base, if I felt she didn't pay enough attention. But otherwise, I tried to move kids around and get the most broad experience possible.
I find it comical when parents of players ask, on their kids behalf, to play this or that position exclusively. The notion that my kid has to play third base every time because that's the only position she really knows is a bad one. The complaint when you put a kid out at second base, she fails to cover on a bunt or short hit to the first baseman, and the parents get upset and make a point of informing me that she didn't know to cover because she has never played second before, is not the kind of thing I want to hear. I believe all these kids were present at the 20 practices in which we spent significant time explaining to everyone that the second baseman covers first. I believe these kids ought to gain an understanding of how to play every single position on the field. Sure they won't do it perfectly but they should understand the fundamentals. They won't be experienced at the differing ball angles in the various positions and I'm not going to yell at them if they don't take exactly the right approach to the ball. But we're all softball players out there and we should all be able to play most positions at least reasonably well. It is a great disservice to a kid to figure out where they should play by age 7 and then keep them there for 1,563 games without ever trying something else.
Anyways, I am spouting off. Back to the matter at hand. This one kid, say 8 years old, wanted to repeat her position in leftfield from the previous inning. I don't usually do that. But this one time in particular, I was weak and allowed the girl to play that position. And that is when I witnessed true talent. By the way, LF at this level is someplace behind the shortstop but still on the infield dirt.
The occasion was, I believe, a point in the game where our pitcher had become too worn out to continue. She was throwing ball after ball and wanted to come out. So I went out to the circle and pulled her for a replacement. The replacement was our shortstop so after I arrived at the circle, i walked over towards short and said, "hey Sam, you're gonna pitch now." Sam came over from her position at short to warm-up. As she vacated her position, the kid who had asked to play LF came into view.
There i was looking right at my left fielder and she never noticed that I was watching her. Actually, she had not noticed that play had stopped and we were making a pitching change. She was busy.
This girl's glove was on the ground and she had a stick in her throwing hand. She was drawing something in the dirt with the stick. I was slightly bored so I went over to see what she was doing and that's when I saw real talent.
This girl had created the most incredible masterpiece with her primitive tool. To say the picture was intricate would be an understatement. Words such as "mosaic" and "mural" come to mind. I don't really remember what the picture was about today but if I underwent some sort of hypnosis, maybe I could recall. Suffice it to say, it was not just a "picture." The term "work of art" more aptly describes what I saw.
For those of you feeling a bit more serious than I today, yes, I did have a discussion with the kid about paying attention to the game, perhaps trying to keep one's mitt on one's hand, not bringing sticks onto the playing field, etc., etc. But I didn't have the heart to do that on the spot. I liked this kid and had a genuine appreciation for her apparent talents. I didn't wish to do anything which might upset her Karma. We talked about this at the next practice and right before she took the field in our next game.
I give you this little anecdote for entertainment purposes and also to lead into the topic I want to discuss today. I was at a very good high school game yesterday between two outstanding teams. I saw several readers of this blog there but regardless of that, one thing stuck out in my mind. The coach for one team said something which resonated with me because I have heard myself say it several times. She told her players to "expect the ball."
What does coach mean when she says "expect the ball?" Isn't that plain enough? You're in the field and you expect the batter to hit you the ball! Big deal!! That isn't instruction, it's some sort of jargon!!! Expect the ball? OK. I now expect the ball. I also expect to watch our pitcher strike out every hitter except a few. I expect to get my turns at bat and hopefully get a hit or get walked and run the bases. I expected that from the time I pulled on my uniform and laced up my spikes. This is softball, after all. When I signed up to play softball, I expected to play softball and in softball, sometimes somebody hits you the ball, right? Coach, can't you do better than that? Expect the ball? Come on?
Yet, that's exactly what is meant by the phrase. Expect the ball to be hit to you on this pitch, every pitch. And if you expect it to be hit to you on every pitch, I suppose that means you had better be paying close attention. It also means you should know what you are going to do with it before it is hit to you. It means you want that batter to hit you the ball on this pitch. It means you should be going through the mental gymnastics right now in which you envision the ball being hit to you, you field it cleanly and make a perfect throw to the right place. Let me give you some examples of what I mean, what I presume all coaches mean, when we say "expect the ball."
1) I'm playing second base and its the first pitch of the game. I expect the batter to hit the first pitch to me. She may hit it weakly in which case I'll charge it and my line to make the throw is different than it would be if she hit it hard. If she hits it to my right, I'll run to my right, get the ball and set up to throw it. If she hits to my left, I'll charge left and then keep a half an eye on the first baseman so that if she gets to it, I'll cover the bag. if she hits it with her glove but doesn't make the play, I'll go after the ball and hope she gets back to the bag to cover. If she doesn't get back to the bag, I'm gonna run and see if I can make the play unassisted. Regardless of what actually happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!
2) I'm playing left field. There's two outs and a runner on second. The score is 2-1 with us in the lead in the fourth inning and there is plenty of time left on the clock. We'll probably get up two more times. if she hits the ball to me, I'm going to have to make a decision about where to throw it. If its hit hard enough, right at me, I'm going to expect that perhaps the runner from second is going to try to score but probably will round third and stop. if it is not hit all that hard, I may have a play to make at home. If it's hit in the gap or along the line, chances are decent that i won't have a play to make on the runner from second. Oh, and by the way, it is just possible that the pitch will be in the dirt - not get hit to me - or maybe the runner from second will do an all out steal. So I've got to be ready to back up third. And in all cases, I'm going to have to hit the cutoff. If there's a play at home, chances are pretty good that our first baseman is going to be lined up with home someplace around the pitcher's circle. I'm going to throw the ball on a line at her head. Regardless of what actually happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!
3) I'm playing third, there's a runner on first. It's definitely a bunt situation. I'm taking up position expecting the bunt and I'm going to closely watch her hands and feet. If she separates her hands and turns, I'm charging but I'm ready if she pulls back and slaps. If that runner instead steals, I'm going to retreat to third and cover just in case. if she puts down a bunt and it is toward the pitcher or first, I'm also going to retreat to cover my bag. Regardless of what actually happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!
These are all very simple and not particularly exhaustive of what should go through a fielder's head on every pitch. But its an important consideration nonetheless. How many times have we seen a rightfielder get hit a hard liner right at her and A) it hops before reaching her and she doesn't make a play on the batter-baserunner at first? B) she catches it on a line and then acts surprised when she sees the runner a little too far off of first and doesn't react in time to nail her? How many times have we seen some fielder make a play on a ball or errant throw and then act surprised that there was a runner rounding second and taking third on her hesitation? How many times have we seen a player act confused in a game situation in which we felt she should have been expecting this or that to happen?
It doesn't much matter whether the player in question is 9 or 19. It doesn't much matter if this happens to be rec, travel, high school, or even, to a lesser extent, I hope, college. What matters is the girl did not take the right mental approach to this pitch, this game situation. As a result of this lack of attention she makes the wrong play or misses the opportunity to make a really good one, one which might change the course of the game.
The plays we make in the field involve action, reaction, and conditioned response to "unexpected" developments. They involve knowing where to go with the ball if this happens. Before we even get to the actual play, there are some things a player needs to know and contemplate, however briefly. Often times we find a player in a game who doesn't know what inning it is, is unaware of any time expiration, the score, how many outs there are, etc. It is not all that uncommon to have a player in the field who has no idea what the count is. I dare say it is relatively common for a player to not know something which is critical to the next play.
Again, we see major league baseball games as well as Olympic softball games in which a player does something which clearly demonstrates that she didn't know a critical piece of information. Each of us has seen an outfielder make a play of a flyball and then quickly hop to throw it in, only to stop in mid throw in order to watch the other 8 players run off the diamond. We've also observed players make a catch and then begin trotting in on the second out. I know I've seen catcher pop out of the crouch and throw to third because runners were moving on a pitch thrown with a 3-2 count and 2 outs already recorded. It happens time and time again, perhaps in every game at every level. A player just doesn't know what to do next because he or she was not adequately mentally prepared and was missing important information.
So what do you as a player need to know out there? I suppose knowing the score would be a good first step. Obviously, you should know how many outs there are. My feeling is you should always know what the count is. You should also take note of how many runners there are on base and where they are. You may want to observe those runners and gauge how fast you think they run. if the enormous killer pitcher is walked and then they run for her with a girl who resembles a greyhound dog, you might want to expect her to run or the next batter to bunt, depending on a few other pieces of information. If the kid on second base is wearing a bodycast or has just barely made it to second after a walk to the batter and is know hunching over in the midst of an asthma attack, you may want to record this too. This mental going over of the game, inning and pitch situation is just your start. You should do this on every pitch within a half second of the pitcher getting the ball back. Then you can begin the real mental preparation for the next pitch.
You want to go over the possible scenarios which might involve you. Ball hit here, ball hit there, softly, somewhat hard, scorched, at you to the right side, to the left side, etc. EXPECT THE BALL! WANT THE BALL! What exactly are you going to do with it when it comes? I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!
There are lessons in this for all of us, coaches, players, pitchers, and parents along the sideline. How is a player supposed to be ready for the next pitch and play if you are asking her what she is going to want to eat between games? How are your defensive players supposed to be prepared if you are standing on the rubber and making the next pitch within a millisecond of when the ball hits your glove on the return throw from the catcher. On the other hand, if you take 15 minutes between pitches, chances are pretty good that your defensive players will have gone through their mental gymnastics, forgotten everything about what they just thought through, and progressed to wondering what mom and dad put in that cooler or what the snack stand is selling today. Coaches can keep their players "up on their toes" via reminders but if you have to speak a paragraph to one particular player, I suggest she is still going to be looking at you and listening to your instruction when the ball hits her in the face. Cheering from the dugout or talking about last night's movie may provide something to do when there is nothing else but if the players on the field cannot focus and run through some sort of mental routine, they are not going to be ready.
As a coach, I'm not a huge fan of the obnoxious cheering which doesn't directly have anything to do with the game. I don't mind i9t so much when it does have direct bearing. And I do like steady chatter of the sort I grew up with (of course switching to girls from boys). "Two down ladies, let's get the out at first." "Watch her hands." "Outfield hit the cutoff, don't let her go to third." You know the sort of talk I'm referring to. I prefer the sort of chatter which mirrors what you hope the kids are thinking to themselves. I like to talk the whole game so the kids, especially the younger ones, begin to say these things over and over in their own heads. But that's not as important as having a discussion with the players about having some sort of expectation on every pitch.
I strongly urge coaches to have frequent discussions with their players about having these expectations, knowing the game, inning, and pitch situation, and being ready for at least routine plays which are likely to come up when and if she does hit the ball to you. You need to prepare your kids and it isn't enough to merely go over fielding fundamentals or run plays in practice. the average kid doesn't know much about pre-play visualization or about expecting the ball, wanting the ball. Part of your job is explaining this to them.
Finally, I have approached the issue of "great expectations" from the point of view of just the defensive players but the same is true of offensive players, particularly baserunners. Not to belabor the point but ideally a base coach should not always have to tell runners that there are two outs. Runners should understand at some point in their playing careers that if you are forced, the count is 3-2 and there are two outs, they are running straight to the next base on release before any other consideration. They should be schooled to watch for angle up or down when they are on base and know to hold when a kid hits a pop-up with no or one outs. They should not be confused by a linedrive caught by an outfielder. They should be conditioned to not immediately charge to third base when a grounder is hit right at SS, they are on second and there is no force play. They should be taught to go back to the bag at third on outfield flies with less than 2 outs rather than going halfway and then sprinting back to the bag to tag up.
The list is probably endless because there are so many possible situations. But players on base should know the same things players in the field should. And they should be schooled in certain fundamental "rules" to follow while on base. They should be prepared to run through a mental checklist of situational stuff which may dictate what they do if this or that happens. There's no reason why a girl on second should go back to tag up on a fly to right with 2 outs. They should haver knowledge, information and certain expectations.
If coaches, players, and parents don't understand this seemingly most simple aspect of the game, they should expect some other things. They should expect to lose. They should expect to look foolish in the field. They should expect to not enjoy the games quite as much as they would otherwise. They should expect to get less out of the experience of playing fastpitch softball than they might otherwise get.Labels: coaching, mental toughness, players
 
|
|
|
