Beating a team that's better than you

[CoachJD]

Here's an answer I haven't seen yet.

A friend of mine coached baseball for many years. Very small town, so our teams usually flirt with .500 seasons because most of the schools in our region are much bigger. There are no size classes in this state for any sport other than football. One night at BP, he was telling a story to the middle school girls we were coaching, and it went something like this.

"I had a team several years ago that was beating teams we had NO BUSINESS beating. I had 6 freshmen starting. We played a lot of small ball, but I think the biggest reason they were winning was because they were too inexperienced to realize why they shouldn't."

That team grew up and eventually made the equivalent of the sweet 16. Five of the boys had scholarship offers, and the ace pitcher went to the SEC.

There is definitely something to the idea that a lack of awareness can actually be beneficial.

Our girls have the exact opposite problem. They're so focused on how good the other team is they add unnecessary pressure on themselves. It's a real mental hurdle I can't figure out how to overcome because I never experienced it as an athlete. I would be nervous before games, and during other times could really battle confidence issues, but during games I was always locked in. I failed plenty as an athlete, but it was never because the moment was too big or I was too intimidated by the other team.

Our pitcher told me that some of the girls have said they love practicing but hate playing games because they get so stressed out and nervous about losing. I have no idea how to deal with that. Many of them who play with me in the summer perform better then, and there's even a sentiment that they like the summer games more.

From a quality of competition standpoint, our summer opponents tend to be decent. They're never as good as the very best teams we face, but only one is an "easy win" type.

I have no idea how to get them to either not feel unnecessary pressure or to embrace it.

 

[MidwestFastpitchDad]

It is an interesting thought. Maybe why many of us love the game. MANY things can shift the balance of who is better at a given point during a game. But I have seen my fair share of very dominate, handpicked teams crush my kids’ teams.

I’ve noticed that when we face these teams there are two outcomes - the girls either realize it early on and you see their body language shrink into defeat- or they make a few great plays and they stay in the game even if they’re not winning AND they draw on those small successes to feel good.

If anything that’s the powerful lesson - if you have a team you know you cannot beat on paper, take those successes and feel good.


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[Northball]

Let me reverse it to how to lose to a team worse than you: Underestimate them.
15 runned them in regular season. Jumped on them and the hitting was contagious, fun, and loose. P1 locked them down.
Met up again in playoffs. Threw P2 to save P1 for the anticipated next game against a different team that was much better.
The underestimated opponent punched us in the mouth for 5 runs in the first inning. They played loose and with a sense of nothing to lose. Suddenly our batters were going to the plate with a sense of urgency, chasing pitches and making weak contact. Chipped away at the lead but lost by one.
We didn't deliberately underestimate them and didn't talk to our players in a way that overlooked them. But we tried to take the long approach without putting our best up front, and it bit us in the behind.

 

[PJR202]

There is definitely something to the idea that a lack of awareness can actually be beneficial.

Our girls have the exact opposite problem. They're so focused on how good the other team is they add unnecessary pressure on themselves. It's a real mental hurdle I can't figure out how to overcome because I never experienced it as an athlete. I would be nervous before games, and during other times could really battle confidence issues, but during games I was always locked in. I failed plenty as an athlete, but it was never because the moment was too big or I was too intimidated by the other team.

Our pitcher told me that some of the girls have said they love practicing but hate playing games because they get so stressed out and nervous about losing. I have no idea how to deal with that. Many of them who play with me in the summer perform better then, and there's even a sentiment that they like the summer games more.

From a quality of competition standpoint, our summer opponents tend to be decent. They're never as good as the very best teams we face, but only one is an "easy win" type.

I have no idea how to get them to either not feel unnecessary pressure or to embrace it.

Season ended last week, but we were in a similar situation. It was hit and miss, but the D really struggled with confidence against the teams they knew were really good. They mostly got it under control about 2/3 into the season. They made enough great plays to realize they were good enough to control what was given to them. I think next year they'll be really solid.

 

[CoachJD]

Let me reverse it to how to lose to a team worse than you: Underestimate them.

We lost to 5-6 teams that are less talented than us this year. Our problem wasn't underestimating them. In one case, our starting pitcher just had a brutal first two innings and we just couldn't complete the comeback (lost by 1). In a couple cases, we had a lead and just fell apart defensively.

In the other cases, it's our team thinking a less talented team is better than them. They would show up and it wasn't until they had an awful inning in the first or second that they'd settle down and play well.

We did lose one game 4-1 to a pitcher who didn't even use an arm circle. Just straight-up 40 mph slingshot. Our girls were so impatient that day. Tons of rolling over and weak pop-ups and just horrible at bats. I'm pretty sure we'd score 15 off her if we faced her again. Probably the best defensive game we played all year, of course.

 

[MidwestFastpitchDad]

Great example tonight. I Watched the game on video after it was over since was working. Our team made some tough errors- 2 fly balls should have been caught. Pitching was OKAY, but gave up an early lead. 2 questionable calls by the ump may have been responsible for a 2 run differential. Opposing team hit with runners on, we didn’t. They definitely had a hitting lineup, but we failed to defend.

Corrected errors would have shrunk the loss by 6 runs. Likely still a loss, but mentally a big difference.

Corrected errors AND hitting with runners on, it would have been a win.

 

[NJZoo]

In both cases, the recipe is the same - keep the game close. As a big underdog you aren't going to get a lot of chances, so you have to be tied or down 1-2 runs at the most. Then hope you can push across a run with a timely hit, sac fly, etc. when you get your shot

If you are the heavy favorite, you always have to be worried if you are only up 1 or 2, because anything can happen. It just takes 1 "lucky" hit to tie the game or lose the lead.

I'd say the biggest thing to work on if you want to pull an upset is to decrease strike outs. Strike outs kill you. You have to put the ball in play as much as possible. A ground out or fly out can score you a run, a strike out will kill a rally.