When you begin holding practices for a new season, it’s tempting, as a coach, to identify and the strongest players and really work with them and move at their pace.

However, focusing in on just a handful of talented individuals sends a clear message to the rest of the team. It says that you care most about the win and the rest of them are largely immaterial to your plans. These kids end up arriving at practice everyday feeling like practice dummies set up just to support the all-stars of the team. Feeling like practice was not made for them - they just can’t keep up.

Make practice easier on you and use a “cookie cutter” approach to each player. Or, do what’s best for each person on your team and take the time to help them all progress as much as possible. Every player on the field needs to benefit from equal amounts of training from day one. Each player must feel like they personally benefit from every practice and bring something to the team that is valued by the coaching staff. No matter the skill level each player has a role. Each player can contribute. It’s your job to bring that out of them.

If Hollywood has taught us anything about sports, in movies like ‘Remember the Titans’ and ‘Friday Night Lights’ it’s that putting all of your eggs into one basket is bad strategy. Your success as a coach should rise and fall on your team, not on one or two superstars.

How can you avoid making this classic coaching mistake? Start with your words.

Sit down with your coaching staff ahead of time and lay out your expectations for the season. Let them know that you will identify strengths in each player but, as a staff, you will not verbally or otherwise classify players in a way that causes any one player to stand out above the rest or causes another player to stand out for lack of ability.

And, this is important: the “gag rule” applies on the field and off.

By presenting a united front and lifting up the value of the team as a whole, you send a message to players, parents, and spectators alike.

As a coach, you will provide positive feed back and do have to offer criticism when it’s due. But hear the difference between these comments:

“You picked that up very well, good job!” or “Yes! You’re the best player we’ve ever had!”

“That was a little slow; let’s be a little quicker next time” or “What’s the matter with you? Do you have molasses in your blood?”

The first examples are straight forward and to the point, giving credit where it’s due and acknowledging a short fall when necessary. The second examples are inappropriate and extreme. You may feel that an exceptional player deserves a few extra strokes but if she is especially skilled, you can be sure that she knows it already. Players that struggle are equally aware of how they fall short. You don’t need to embarrass them in front of an audience.

You’ll be amazed at how changing how you speak about your team affects how the team responds to you, to your staff, and to each other. I know as a coach it feels so good to just rail into players when they play horribly. But I’ve personally played under both types of coaches. The type that let’s you hear it every time you mess up and rarely gives you more than a lift of the head of you do what you’re supposed to; and the type that doesn’t yell, uses constructive criticism, and acknowledges good plays and a job well done. I never learned or grew more as a player than I did under that non-yelling coach. Remember, a player that feels respected and valued works harder than a practice dummy any day of the week.

Tags: coach, coaching, fastpitch, softball, sports, tips, Youthcoach, coaching, fastpitch, softball, sports, tips, Youth

Share This

I just wanted to share two very basic, yet often overlooked, tips for hitting practice.

Tip #1 - Practice Running
When you practice hitting, practice GETTING OUT OF BOX ON EVERY SINGLE SWING. Especially at the younger age level, often times in practice, we just have them stay in the box and swing at a set number of pitches. Maybe we have them run on the last hit. Then in the game we wonder why they “forget” to run after they hit the ball. It’s probably because in 80%-90% of the swings they take in the box during practice we don’t have them run. So they practice not running after they hit a ball more than they practice running after making contact with the ball. Which do you think will be their “habit” come game time?

Tip #2 - Take Enough Swings
How many swings do your batters get in practice? Consider the fact that pitchers pitch 100 or more pitches per day for practice. Hitters should take at least as many swings preferably off a tee if not against live pitching. But maybe your team doesn’t have the capability to have each player take that many cuts off a tee or live pitching during practice. Some teams only have one tee, do not have the luxury of a batting cage, and have only 1 or 2 players/coaches that are capable of pitching live to players. Here are some suggestions of different ways you can have players get all those cuts in.

Visualization
Have players get into their stance with the bat and visualize a pitcher pitching to them. They should go through their routine of starting outside the batters box then stepping in and getting ready for the pitch. Have them “see” the ball being pitched to different spots (inside high, inside low, outside high, outside low, etc) and take cuts at the different pitches they are “seeing.” They should visualize solid contact with each pitch and use the proper swing to hit the ball coming in the different locations. If they do 5 pitches at each location list above, they will get in 20 swings with this one drill.

Soft Toss
Whether you have a net or you have to soft toss into the field, this is another way players can get some swings. If you do have to soft toss into the field because you do not have a net, set up two stations to run at once. Just be sure that the tossers do not toss the ball at the same time. This gets more swings in a shorter period of time compared to live pitching because batters should be able to hit every tossed ball whereas in live pitching, they may not be swinging if the pitch is not good.

Wiffle Balls
Have a couple of stations where the players hit wiffle balls. You can soft toss these if you want, but it’s probably better to pitch them to the batters. Distance between the pitcher and the batter should be close (10-15 ft). This is a little quicker than hitting live with regular balls because you can set up 2-3 stations vs. having just one player hit live at the plate with real balls. Plus wiffles don’t go as far so it’s easier and faster to shag all the balls.

Soft/Sponge/Nerf Balls
Use these types of balls for live hitting. Some are the same color and size as regular balls, but they don’t go as far so it’s easier and quicker to shag than live balls. Plus if you’re having a coach pitch to the players, the coach can stand closer using these soft balls and probably get more accuracy leading to less “wasted” pitches where the batters don’t swing because the pitch isn’t good.

Hit Live in the Cage

If you do have the luxury of a batting cage, do your live hitting in the cage. That way, you don’t have to have the whole team shagging while just a few get to go through hitting stations. More players can be getting some of their 100 swings in instead of standing on the field waiting for balls to maybe come to them.

Those are just a few ideas to get you started. If you do have the capability it’s always great to allow your pitchers to pitch to your hitters. It helps make the pitchers stronger so long as you’re not telling them to “just let the batters hit.” And it makes the batters stronger, again, that’s only if you’re having your pitchers throw their best stuff. If you do have a machine and a cage, that’s a great way to get a number of cuts in within a shorter time frame. Even if you don’t have a cage, using a machine can cut down on time because players should be able to swing at just about every pitch. However, it’s no substitute for live hitting so don’t just rely on the machine. Live hitting is an important part of hitting practice. After all, it’s the type situation you expect your players to perform in during the game. It’s only fair that you put them in a similar situation in practice.

One last thing, don’t rush your hitters through their 100+ swings. Why? Because that’s not game-like. In a game, they see a pitch, have about a 10 second break, then see another pitch, then have a break, and so on. They aren’t going to be taking 5 swings in the span of 10 or 20 seconds. In at least some of your hitting drills, allow your hitters to take a good swing, get out of their stance, reset, get ready again, then take another swing. Even if they have 30 seconds between each swing, 100 swings will take less than an hour. So don’t rush. Let them have quality swings with breaks in between, just like game time.

Tags: batting, coach, coaching, fastpitch softball, hitting, practice, sportsbatting, coach, coaching, fastpitch softball, hitting, practice, sports

Share This

There are hundreds of different programs for professional triathlon training that will work for you. There are even more that won’t. For anyone who is looking for some great plans to get them going, think about your needs and your desired outcome.

Are planning on being a professional athlete, training and racing to stay healthy, looking to make friends, or maybe just training and racing so as to lose weight?

Sure, we could tell you just what to do to win the race, but really, there is no sure fire way to do it besides getting the knowledge you need, getting a great training program in place and working your butt of to get the results you need.

Professional triathlon training is geared towards pushing your body to the limits, to the point where you think it may just not make it. Here are some considerations for you.

Find one training program and stick with it. Sure, there are hundreds to choose from, but once you have chosen one that looks promising, stick with it. Results don’t happen overnight.

Get the goods on nutrition. We all know we need to eat well, but for those who are looking for professional triathlon training, it is equally as important to eat the right foods and get the proper Proper nutrition and hydration, both to aid in recover and energy levels during a race, are vitally important to your workouts and races.

Don’t forget to stay in peak performance with nutrition and hydration. Advice here is to get the knowledge you need about the foods you eat. Know how your body reacts to foods and what it needs to stimulate results.

When it comes to getting the right training program, you need to scope out the plans. If you plan to train hard, all week long, you’ll need the time to accommodate this. Pick a training program that fits within your life and your needs.

It is just important to make sure that what you do is worth it. No matter if you are a beginning or if you are the professional out there, you just have to have the right mental state to win.

You need to be dedicated and strong willed.

The professional triathlon training that you need can be found in any of the hundreds of programs offered.

Check them out and see what is available to you, what fits with your lifestyle and desired results.

Long before you can enter into triathalon racing, you will need to prepare. You will need to prepare your mind and your body for the competition and the fight.

It will not be easy, but if you stick to it, you can overcome all the obstacles in your way.

Triathalon racing is a complex sport that just looks easy. What you don’t know is that there was a lot of preparation for the average triathlete

Tags: coaching, sports, triathloncoaching, sports, triathlon

Share This