- May 22, 2021
- 1
- 1
This is the third year that my husband and I have coached rec teams. We are both driven to see girls develop skills, progress, and have fun. And year after year they do. There are several girls who were turned off from past coaching experiences that thrived with us, and we have brand new girls every year who develop into competent players at this level.
We take more of a gentle approach to correcting the girls, where they have to repeat a task in practice if we know they can do better and fudge a throw etc. We are really opposed to the incredibly loud, competitive, and berating approach we have seen from other coaches.
The problem is... those coaches do win a lot more games than we do. Our girls demonstrate proficiency in the field and at the plate during practice, but during gameplay, we see only glimpses of their potential that is so apparent in practice. Rec ball isn't all about winning... but winning is fun, and we would LOVE to see the girls be able to demonstrate more of their skill in games than they are now.
We do as many game-like drills at practice as we can and keep it fun. They ARE having fun at practices. But they seem to lose their drive and their spark in games. We recognize, reward, and praise their hard work, their growth, and their performance in both practices and games. What are we missing?
Do any of you have suggestions for how we can amp up their ability to perform in games? Should we be more "strict" with them? What have you seen as effective strategies for balancing the fun of rec and the competitiveness that leads to more "W"s?
We take more of a gentle approach to correcting the girls, where they have to repeat a task in practice if we know they can do better and fudge a throw etc. We are really opposed to the incredibly loud, competitive, and berating approach we have seen from other coaches.
The problem is... those coaches do win a lot more games than we do. Our girls demonstrate proficiency in the field and at the plate during practice, but during gameplay, we see only glimpses of their potential that is so apparent in practice. Rec ball isn't all about winning... but winning is fun, and we would LOVE to see the girls be able to demonstrate more of their skill in games than they are now.
We do as many game-like drills at practice as we can and keep it fun. They ARE having fun at practices. But they seem to lose their drive and their spark in games. We recognize, reward, and praise their hard work, their growth, and their performance in both practices and games. What are we missing?
Do any of you have suggestions for how we can amp up their ability to perform in games? Should we be more "strict" with them? What have you seen as effective strategies for balancing the fun of rec and the competitiveness that leads to more "W"s?