Coaching

One of major problems in youth softball in North America is our short-term focus when it comes to softball training for young players.

For example,in the 12U category, we are thinking about winning  tournaments, dominate the opponents, going to Nationals, etc. rather than to focus on building fundamental skills and thinking about the long-term development of the kids we work with.

We tend to forget that 12U is far from being the "be all and end all" of softball. It's rather just an "early developmental stage"  in the career of a softball player.

I want to talk about how softball is a very conservative sport. We are very old school for many of the things that we do. Unlike many other sports that adapt and pick up on new research findings to improve their game, we tend to stick to the old-fashion way of doing things far too often.

Why is that? I don’t really know. Perhaps it’s because most of our coaches are volunteers and are not well educated in sports sciences – all they know really well are techniques and strategies. Also, coaches often tend to use the same methods that they have experienced in their playing days and some of these methods might be out of date.
There are many things that we “still” do that are totally out of date. Here are a few.

Alright, season is over. It's time to ask ourselves this question again: "Why do we coach?"

Somehow, I think we must be crazy or nuts. Think about all the things we have to deal with for a second:

• Meddlesome parents
• Misbehaving kids
• Organizational politics
• Team conflicts
• Little princesses (The "Y" Generation)
• Negative people
• Lack of resources
• High Expectations
• Confusing rules
• And I could go on and on.

What sacrifices are we making to coach?

• Family life
• Friendships
• Hundreds and hundreds of hours

I can't believe it… my softball season is already over! I know  it's a cliche but it's crazy how quickly time goes by.

We don't see the time go by because our seasons are so busy and so intense that before we realized it, they're over!

However, since they're so intense, emotionally and physically draining, a break is always welcome.

You see, any elite athlete no matter the sport or the level need  some form of break at some point during the year.

That usually happens at the end of the competitive season and is called a transition phase. It's basically the first phase of the off-season period.

School is now done and we are now busier than ever with softball.

Every weekends and most week nights are busy with softball either playing, traveling, or practicing a little.

The question is…

At this time of the year, what should you be practicing?

I will start by answering what you should absolutely positively NOT do…

The ONE thing you need to AVOID doing is to implement any  significant technical changes.

Learning takes time to integrate and doing technical changes at this time of the year will HURT your game, not help it.

Today was our first official outing of the season.

We went 1-2 for the day.

There was a fair bit of nervousness, rust, and lack of cohesion on the field during the first two games.

We certainly didn't play up to our potential in the first two games making several mental, baserunning, and defensive
errors.

But, you know what, that's alright with me and you will read why below.

We did finish with a strong showing during our last game, had a decisive win against a pretty solid team and I saw
more of what I consider to be my "real team".

Next week, we are officially starting our 2009 summer season with our first tournament.

I can tell you I am really excited and the girls are too.

It's my first season with this 16U team. Last time I coached at this level was almost 11 years ago.

I've spent the last decade working mostly with  elite players at the college level, with the Canadian National Team and with elite 18U, 23U, and women's major teams.

So, it's quite a change for me.

It's different and can be challenging at times but I really do like it.

Here are the different types of sports parents that I would identify – both good and bad:

•    The model parent
•    The competitive parent
•    The blasé parent
•    The ‘living through your kids’ parent
•    The outspoken parent
•    The ‘coach’ parent
•    The critical parent
•    The negative parent
•    The uncooperative parent
•    ‘My child is a superstar’ parent

Obviously, the worst parent would be one who exhibits components of the latter nine types.  But, once I explain what each of these parent types are, you will probably find that many of your parents fit into one of these categories.  They may fit into more than one category as well.

We've been practicing outside for 3 weeks now. Our first game is in 2 weeks and very much forward looking to it. It's about time after almost 6 months of off-season softball training.

I have to admit - I'm excited!!!

Even though I've been coaching softball for 20 years, I still get excited at the beginning of each season. This is a good thing. It  means I still love coaching this game and helping players.

Now, what do I most of my time doing in practice currently?

I practice what matters.

I've got a bit of ranting to do today.

There is a key principle that we use extensively in sport-  the principle of specificity.

Basically, it means that the more specific to game conditions your preparation is (in training or in warm-ups), the more you'll be ready to compete at the highest level.

In other words, it's important that your preparation mimics as closely as possible what you'll have to do in competition.

Easy principle to understand.

We all know that hitting is difficult and challenging. Therefore, it's even more important that you pay attention at how you prepare for it.

For years, we've heard that the windmill pitching motion is natural and safe for the body unlike the overhead throwing motion that baseball players use.

The common belief is that overhead throwing motion puts a lot more stress on the shoulder and the muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding it and that leads to way more injuries than underhand pitching.

As evidence, were are given the example that baseball pitchers are required to take a break of a couple of between starts where softball pitchers often pitch 2 games the same day and several in a weekend.

Softball is a speed and power sport. I know, I've said it countless times over the last few years.

However, softball speed isn't what most people think.

Being fast, to most people, means to be able to run faster than others in a straight line.

Think 40-yard dash and 100-meter sprint.

To most athletes and coaches, being fast means being like a sprinter so they assume they should train like it.

So, you see a lot of softball players and teams that go to track coaches or to so-called "speed specialist" and they do sprinter-like training.

This past weekend, Cindy Bristow of Softball Excellence was in town to conduct a coaching clinic on hitting and pitching with coaches of our program and a few others from around Montreal.

It was a great clinic. In addition to knowing the game very well, Cindy is first and foremost an awesome educator. She knows pedagogy and understands very well the learning process.

During the clinic, she talked about key points when it comes to coaching youth softball especially teaching skills to young softball players.

Here are some of the key points she discussed:

This weekend, we have the chance of having Cindy Bristow of Softball Excellence here in Montreal to do a coaching clinic all on pitching and hitting - the two most important aspects of our game.

Even though I've been around for a while, been to countless courses, clinics and conferences and been exposed to top coaches for years, I always love to learn how someone teaches something because you can always learn something and pick up a few tings from different people. This session is no different.

I believe what sets Cindy apart from many other clinicians is her ability to teach coaches how to teach the game.

Last week, I was having a very interesting discussion with some coaches about what predicts future success in our sport.

In some sports, predicting future success is a lot easier than in softball.

For example, predicting future success in track and field is a lot easier. Just by looking at times or distances, you can a pretty good idea about it.

However, in softball, there are so many factors and variables to consider than predicting future success is very difficult.

You can look at size, speed, power, athletic abilities, and just about any stats you want.

This weekend, I took my 16U team to a 12-team tournament. The team played well and we ended up being winning the tournament.

The are 2 reasons why we chose to participate at a tournament during the off-season:

1) Assess where we're at and measure progress

2) gain valuable competitive experience that you can't acquire in practice

Every participation at a tournament brings in loads of experiences and learning opportunities for both coaches and players.

Here are few valuable key lessons that I either learned or was reminded of as a coach through various things that happened throughout the weekend as a coach.

Softball is all about fundamentals.

Have you ever taken the time to analyze our game?

It's a game of errors.

The team that wins is often the team that makes the least amount errors or doesn't beat itself with errors.

Serving the wrong pitch, throwing the ball 2 inches too high, mishandling the ball while fielding it or making the wrong decision in action are all things that cost you runs and even games.

Errors are bound to happen in a game where everything happens so quickly.

It's a game of reactions and quick decisions.

This video provides you with some quick softball training tips on being more consistent.

You see, when it comes to softball training whether you are refining  your skills (hitting, pitching, fielding, etc.) or you're working out to get faster, stronger, and more powerful - consistency matters and it matters a lot.

Listen to Marc as he explains why being consistent is important , how he sets up his team's training schedule to be consistent and gives you a few softball training tips.

Softball Hitting is one of the most difficult skill to master in sports.  Softball Players, Coaches and instructions use a variety of softball hitting drills to help master this challenging skills.

There are a lot of softball hitting drills you can choose from. In this video, I share with you several factors to consider when choosing hitting drills and how it will help you use them wisely.

Note: To get right away in the heart of my main message on softball hitting drills, fast forward the video to 3:20!

Feel free to leave your comments below.

A while back I wrote about an article I read in  in a coaching magazine that was sort of a debriefing  about the summer Olympics.

I found one of the elements discussed by the author  very interesting and definitely something I can relate  to - how the presence of cell  phones might negatively affect an athlete's performance and the team environment.

We all know that many in the new generation are totally addicted to cell phones, texting, etc. It's the reality of our players.