Confidence

[NBECoach]

The past couple of HS softball seasons have come to an end with ugly losses to a crosstown rival. We always seem to finish 2nd to them in conference and they do have slightly better talent but not enough to make almost each of the games a run rule. It just seems as though the opposition has that confidence and swagger that successful teams seem to have. They get the hit with runners on and they make a play to end our comebacks. I don't mind losing to teams with superior talent, that happens. But this is very frustrating because as individual players they are not much better.

I have ideas on what to do but first I would like to hear of that moment or method whereby your team when from ordinary to confident and exorcised your softball demons.

Thanks,

 

[Lemond]

The confidence comes when they are relaxed and can focus on their own game, instead of the other team.

We had an open rec tourney a few years ago. We were a VERY low C team, playing a decent B team in the first game of bracket play. It was hot, and we were WAY out of our league.

We went down in order in the top half of the 1st, and then, about 10-15 minutes into the bottom half, I had to call time to stop the slaughter fest (I think the score was 9-0 at that point). I was new to coaching, and probably should have stopped it a little earlier. I brought the entire team into the circle. It was no secret to anyone at the park that we were not going to come from behind to win this one, so we talked about getting back to fundamentals. I think I said something to the effect of "I know it's hot, and I'm not going to pretend that we can win this one, but do everything you can to have some fun while we're here. Let's get the last out, get some hits and do the best we can."

The girls started encouraging each other instead of hanging their heads in the heat. We got up in the 2nd and actually got a few girls to hit the ball, and even scored a run or two, which really pissed off the other team's coaches and parents, who at this time were expecting to run rule us with a shutout after 3. We took the field in the second, and held them to a couple of runs (VAST improvement over the 1st inning), and then came back and put up a few more for us in the 3rd.

We did eventually lose by the run rule, but is was by 9 in the 5th, not 15 in the 3rd! (I think the final was 13-4, not bad after a 9-0 1st inning start!)

Our girls walked off the field like the had just won a trophy, and the other team was still grumbling that they blew the extra rest time. (I think we were short of the time limit by around 5 minutes.)

Obviously, you will not need to lead the talk with "I know we're not winning this one, but...". The point is, that it can help tremendously to remove the pressure of the game by emphasizing their strengths and having fun.

 

[cvsoftball]

before confidence comes competence

 

[Lemond]

before confidence comes competence

I know a LOT of people in this world who have achieved plenty of confidence, and have yet to know even understand what competence is...

And, I know many people who are stellar in their skills (on or off the field), yet lack confidence to fully utilize them.

The difference is in the personality/character of not only the individuals, but also of those responsible for developing them.

 

[MadBandit22]

The past couple of HS softball seasons have come to an end with ugly losses to a crosstown rival. We always seem to finish 2nd to them in conference and they do have slightly better talent but not enough to make almost each of the games a run rule. It just seems as though the opposition has that confidence and swagger that successful teams seem to have. They get the hit with runners on and they make a play to end our comebacks. I don't mind losing to teams with superior talent, that happens. But this is very frustrating because as individual players they are not much better.

I have ideas on what to do but first I would like to hear of that moment or method whereby your team when from ordinary to confident and exorcised your softball demons.

Thanks,

Kind of a strange pist

The past couple of HS softball seasons have come to an end with ugly losses to a crosstown rival. We always seem to finish 2nd to them in conference and they do have slightly better talent but not enough to make almost each of the games a run rule. It just seems as though the opposition has that confidence and swagger that successful teams seem to have. They get the hit with runners on and they make a play to end our comebacks. I don't mind losing to teams with superior talent, that happens. But this is very frustrating because as individual players they are not much better.

I have ideas on what to do but first I would like to hear of that moment or method whereby your team when from ordinary to confident and exorcised your softball demons.

Thanks,
[/QUOTE
Kind of a strange post. Your not sure why your losing big to this rival but you admit they have superior talent.

Sometimes the opposing coach is just better than your coach and utilizes his talent to his advantage.

Winning culture is cultivated by people that hate to lose and push their players to be better than they thought possible.

The players have to buy into the system your pushing and take ownership of their own performances.

It sounds like your team concedes the game before it even begins. Somebody has to step-up and refuse to accept the same outcome season after season.

Whether it’s the coaches and the way they run things, or older players who have had enough of getting spanked and want to reverse the trend. Somebody has to be a leader and step-up and lead.

Something obviously has to change to motivate your girls to improve to rise to the level of your opponent.

I would suggest using the other teams confidence against them. Obviously, if your getting run ruled on a regular basis they believe they own you.

Use their confidence against them and go right at them. Be aggressive in the circle early on in the game. Challenge hitters. As the game progresses change it up throw change-ups in fastball counts and vice versa. Keep them off balance.

On offensive be aggressive take it to them. No K’s looking. Everybody is going up to the dish with bad intentions.

You gotta keep the game close early on to boost your teams confidence and put a little doubt in your opponents head.

They gotta know they are in a close game and your not going to give them the game. They are going to have to earn it. See how they perform when the game is in question in the late innings.

There is no pressure when your always a front runner with a big lead. Keep it close, keep the pressure on them for a change. See how they react. With any luck at the very least a close game should bolster your teams confidence.

 

[robertc3]

I have ideas on what to do but first I would like to hear of that moment or method whereby your team when from ordinary to confident and exorcised your softball demons.

Thanks,

My team found itself in a similar situation a couple of years ago. We had a team that we played close, but couldn't quite get over the hump. and beat. I picked the one thing that they seemed to do which gave them an advantage over us which was pound the low outside corner against our hitters. There were plenty of other things they did well, but this one was the biggest and seemed to be in our girls' heads. We spent time talking with our hitters about what adjustments we needed to make to drive that pitch and win those battles. We practiced hitting that pitch over and over, we even created a drill and named it after their pitcher. We got very good at hitting low and away and confident that we could cover that pitch and drive the ball well to the opposite field. This obviously made us better hitters against all pitchers. I will admit that putting as much focus as we did on this team, and this pitcher, was a gamble, but we did it in such a way that we helped the girls believe they could hit her and beat them. I am not sure how it would have affected the girls if we had not started beating this team, but we did and the girls knew they had what it took to beat this team no matter what happened. Of course, the team made adjustments and started busting us on the inside 3rd, but we were ready for that having anticipated their adjustment and trained that during practices as well. We drove the ball to all fields and were totally confident against them. As coaches, we made a couple of lineup adjustments which we thought would give us an advantage and they also helped, but the big thing was that we knew we could not just hit, but drive whatever this team threw at us.

 

[Coach Foster]

The more I research and learn about where confidence comes from, the more I lean towards true confidence comes from one place - self talk. I can be talked into preparation being a part of it as well, but like stated by another poster, I've known a lot of unconfident, very prepared people, and conversely, a lot of over confident, unprepared people. So I'm not so sure those two always go together.

I think it all comes down to, what are you saying to yourself? Are you your own worst enemy in your head? I believe it was a podcast with high performance psychologist Michael Gervais (Finding Mastery) and USA Volleyball player Nicole Davis that sent me down the confidence rabbit hole, and I'm still digging around in it.