Last Thursday I got a text from a coach that I have casually known for 10 years. He and his daughter, who played D3 college softball together coach a U14 team. This is one of these academy teams where supposedly they get prepared for High School and college softball and they have a full indoor field available to them. They were entered in a tournament this weekend and his daughter had a prior commitment that day so he asked me if I could help out in 2 pool play games, pre-game and coaching 1B. Since HS coaching was cancelled this year it was a chance to help “coach” a couple of games.
A little background on the team itself. They are 4-11. The players themselves are athletic. They never give up and seem to get along. I saw them play 2 weeks ago and while competitive they always seem to make just enough mistakes to lose. Some mental errors, but mostly fielding/throwing errors which are very correctable.
Because of heavy traffic we arrive at the field 20 minutes late, but 30 minutes before the game. He takes ½ the team for swings/offense and I get ½ the team for ground balls/defense. I ask the players to show me their ready position and how they field ground balls. Of the 6 players I had, none was acceptable and while they fielded grounders, each kid had their own way to get to the throwing position. None of which were correct. I was in the middle of explaining why and how’s of the ready position and fielding when he yells over to me “we don’t have time, just hit them ground balls”. Now I had specifically asked him in the car on they way if I had the OK to correct things if I saw something wrong, and he said yes.
Game 1 – With 2 outs, the opposition scores 3 runs on 2 hits, a walk, a HBP, and 2 very routine ground ball errors. One a bad throw and the other just plain dropped. They should have scored 1 run. We come back and score 3 ourselves all on hits and then no one scores the rest of the game. While we had some additional errors, they didn’t cause a run to score. Since it is pool play, they call it a tie.
Game 2 – They score 3 runs in the first on errors. Over the next 4 innings, a throwing error, a pop up that drops between the ss and LF, and 2 balls land ON THE FOUL LINE and now they have a total of 8 runs. We come back with 4 runs all on hits, and in the bottom of the last inning (score 8-4) we load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, she grounded out to end the game.
On the way home I tell him all the good things I saw. They fought back in both games, great attitude the whole day. Then I say their fundamentals need help. He tells me that’s pretty much all they work on in practice but for some reason it fails to transfer to the games. That didn’t make sense to me because the mechanics were wrong. He’s got them in the ready position with the glove out and down in front. I told him I asked the girls how many balls are hit right at you in a game? They said maybe 1. To which I responded they why have the glove out when you have to bring it up and turn to field a ball. Start with the hands just above the knees (thumbs up). He didn’t like that.
Then I said no one brings a fielded ball to the middle of the chest prior to throwing, resulting in multiple arm slots and wild throws. I’m not sure he understood that concept because he changed the subject to offense.
I could go on but, he’s got a team with potential that needs correct instructional help to make them a winner. I really hate to see these good kids taught somewhat incorrectly but is this any of my business?
A little background on the team itself. They are 4-11. The players themselves are athletic. They never give up and seem to get along. I saw them play 2 weeks ago and while competitive they always seem to make just enough mistakes to lose. Some mental errors, but mostly fielding/throwing errors which are very correctable.
Because of heavy traffic we arrive at the field 20 minutes late, but 30 minutes before the game. He takes ½ the team for swings/offense and I get ½ the team for ground balls/defense. I ask the players to show me their ready position and how they field ground balls. Of the 6 players I had, none was acceptable and while they fielded grounders, each kid had their own way to get to the throwing position. None of which were correct. I was in the middle of explaining why and how’s of the ready position and fielding when he yells over to me “we don’t have time, just hit them ground balls”. Now I had specifically asked him in the car on they way if I had the OK to correct things if I saw something wrong, and he said yes.
Game 1 – With 2 outs, the opposition scores 3 runs on 2 hits, a walk, a HBP, and 2 very routine ground ball errors. One a bad throw and the other just plain dropped. They should have scored 1 run. We come back and score 3 ourselves all on hits and then no one scores the rest of the game. While we had some additional errors, they didn’t cause a run to score. Since it is pool play, they call it a tie.
Game 2 – They score 3 runs in the first on errors. Over the next 4 innings, a throwing error, a pop up that drops between the ss and LF, and 2 balls land ON THE FOUL LINE and now they have a total of 8 runs. We come back with 4 runs all on hits, and in the bottom of the last inning (score 8-4) we load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, she grounded out to end the game.
On the way home I tell him all the good things I saw. They fought back in both games, great attitude the whole day. Then I say their fundamentals need help. He tells me that’s pretty much all they work on in practice but for some reason it fails to transfer to the games. That didn’t make sense to me because the mechanics were wrong. He’s got them in the ready position with the glove out and down in front. I told him I asked the girls how many balls are hit right at you in a game? They said maybe 1. To which I responded they why have the glove out when you have to bring it up and turn to field a ball. Start with the hands just above the knees (thumbs up). He didn’t like that.
Then I said no one brings a fielded ball to the middle of the chest prior to throwing, resulting in multiple arm slots and wild throws. I’m not sure he understood that concept because he changed the subject to offense.
I could go on but, he’s got a team with potential that needs correct instructional help to make them a winner. I really hate to see these good kids taught somewhat incorrectly but is this any of my business?