Softball Coaching Tips - What Leads to Failure

4) Don’t do drills or vary your practice routines.

So, you have already broken Rule No. 3 and you decided to plan your practice. Of course, the best thing to do is to put all of the girls in their positions on the field and hit some balls to them. The rest of the girls standing around are subs and they won’t need any work, since they won’t be playing anyway. There’s no need to work on fundamentals, simulate game situations or do any of those silly drills that keep everyone active. Hey, you do need to work on hitting right? Okay, get out the pitching machine and let each of the girls hit four or five balls. Now, it ought to be time to go home. Let’s see - the girls really learned a lot and certainly enjoyed it, huh? Sure they did; we’ll do it again at our next practice. Hope someone shows up!

5) Yell at your players and kick some dirt when they make a mistake.

Your players will always appreciate when you show emotion when they mess up a play. Don’t hold back. It doesn’t matter that you never discussed or practiced the situation during practice. A good tantrum in the dugout will make sure that it never happens again. Your team is smart and they can figure it out.

6) Don’t seek help from others.

Okay, you are the head coach and you played a year or two of high school baseball or softball, right? Why do you need any help from anyone? You can do it all alone, especially if you let most of the girls just stand around in practice while you hit balls to the ones in the field! Assistant coaches are just to coach first base in the games and those parents who would love to help you will only get in your way. It is much better for you to try to work with the 14 girls by yourself. Also, don’t waste time on videos, clinics and books by joining the NFCA, or by seeking advice from someone who might actually know more than you do. Remember that you learned everything you know from your high school coach who had you sitting on the bench. The coach had to know it all.

7) Don’t use positive reinforcement.

That’s right, you lost your first game. Hard to figure how it happened since you followed all of the prior six rules, huh? Now’s the time to tell your team how lousy they played. Never mind that your catcher threw out two runners at second base and made a great catch of a foul ball near the dugout. You do, however, need to let her know that her ill advised overthrow to first base on that pick-off attempt with two outs in the last inning cost the team a victory. Don’t mention her positive contributions in the game and be sure to crawl all over her in front of the entire team, too! Don’t use the “sandwich” approach by praising your catcher for her great throws to second, explaining that maybe throwing to a base with two outs and two strikes on the batter is not sound strategy, and then following it up by telling her that she made a great catch on that foul ball . Jump on your players for their mistakes as they occur in the game, too! Don’t let them know that they ever do anything right! Embarrass them at every opportunity. They are having fun, right?

In addition to the seven steps already mentioned here is a tip for travel team coaches who coach their daughters.

Treat your daughter special by doing one of the following:

A) Make her your focal point in all of the team practices. Give her lots of extra attention and heap lots of praise on her. Hey, put her at shortstop, even if she can’t catch a ground ball, and give her more batting practice time than the other players. That will make all of the other players and their parents thrilled with you and her! Or….

B) Be extra tough on her. She’s your daughter and she should be better than anyone else on the team. Yell and scream at her in practice when she makes a mistake. Continue your criticism of her after practice. It will make her love the game!

Using these steps will virtually guarantee and Unsuccessful season for you and your team!