A few seasons ago, I decided to revamp my entire Softball coaching approach for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I was tired of my teams only doing so-so. Some seasons were better than others, but I never finished a season completely satisfied with the results. I was also was not satisfied coaching the same techniques and using the same drills as other coaches just because “everyone else was doing it.” I wanted to understand the game better, and determine the best techniques for Fast Pitch softball girls.
As a result of these changes, the past three seasons have been the most successful and fun seasons that I have had as a Softball coach. Each season, my team greatly exceeded expectations – after picking each team, other coaches would write off my team and assume that they could count on wins against us. I know this because they told me, usually after playing my team for the first time and getting a much tougher fight than they thought they would get.
Team 1 was a 12U All-Star team, and was my first experience managing an All-Star team and a 12U team. The only reason I got the opportunity to manage this team was because literally no one else wanted to coach them. This was a team that had major turmoil the previous season, and none of the pitchers and most of the better players refused to try out. Most coaches figured that the team would not be competitive and was not worth the time, particularly because of the lack of All-Star caliber pitching.
I was a 10U coach already lined up to help coach my two daughters for their All-Star team and did not know a single girl at the 12U level. It was 10U experience that season that convinced me that I wanted better results – I took a talented 10U team and muddled to a third place finish which included four(!) ties. Even though it was a huge sacrifice (I missed most of my daughters’ games because of my own), it retrospect coaching the 12U team was the best decision of my coaching career, as it gave me a chance to sink or swim with a new approach.
Team 1 had a total of 14 girls try out for All-Stars, half of which had never played for an All-Star team before, and half of which were 11 year olds. There were about four girls who made the team but would never had if our tryouts had a normal number and level of girls attend. My two pitchers were both 11 year olds who had good control of their average (45 mph) fastballs, and were learning to throw change ups for strikes. We lost our first game 23-0. It was so bad that the other team intentionally struck out at the end so we would get a chance to bat in the third inning. However, in the end, our team finished one game short of qualifying for States, and ended up playing over .500 ball against teams that, on paper, should have dominated them.
Team 2 was a 14/12U rec team, the Thunder Bunnies. Our only pitcher was an 11 year old who had a decent fast ball (43 mph), could locate her pitches well, and had a good change up. The way the draft worked out, my team had the youngest average age by almost a year, and it was the only team out of six that had zero returning All-Stars (though we did have two 10U All-Stars from the previous year). We started 2-5 (though three of those losses were by 1 run) and in last place, then went on a tear and finished in second place with a 9-5-1 record, and beat the first place team twice in the last week of the season. The first place team coach told me after our last game that the Thunder Bunnies were the best team by the end of the season, and even better than his team.
Team 3 was a 14/12U rec Winter Ball team, the Tiny Titans. Again, the way the draft worked out, we were the youngest of three teams by a long shot. Seven of our 12 girls were 10U players playing up in the division to get ready for Spring Ball. We had a very good pitcher (the starting pitcher of Team 1, but over a year older), though she missed three of 11 games for various reasons. This team lost its first two games badly, then went undefeated the rest of the season and finished in first place. Of the three teams, this one exceeded expectations the most. It also convinced me that my revamped coaching approach works.
So Rule #1 has to be:
Have high expectations. Chances are, your team is more than able to reach them.
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