How to instill discipline in 11yos

[stephanie]

well, it looks like we have different coaching philosophies here...good.
When I was an 11 year old girl, it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me to stay "tuned" for 2 hours straight. And I don't care how PLANNED your practices are, or how much "stuff" your teaching them that should be holding them in awe...when a couple of cute boys ride by on their bikes and yell out your SS's name, and she responds by turning her back to watch them ride off after she's already waved HI to them with her glove way up in the air, and then turns to your 3B and they both start giggling, itis time to just look at them, cock your head a little to the side, ask "really?", and then tell them they know the drill...at which point they will both turn and take a run to the fence...
Is it going to stop the behavior? maybe not. I find it hard myself to stop looking a a really cute guy, too...
Does it make a point? yep.
Does it make the point to ALL of them? yep.
Are 11 year old girls going to quit liking softball because you made them run to the fence and back? nope.
If I yelled at them, and called them names, and made them look like idiots, would they stop liking softball. very likely.
If I asked them a litlle later if they understood why they had to run, would they say yes? yep.
Did they learn enough to completely stop the behavior. nope.
They are girls.
Girls giggle about boys. And they will point out someones really funky nail polish while you're explaining how to slide properly. And they will talk about how they are going to wear their hair for the next game when they line up for fielding drills. They will be late for the first inning, because they wore the shorts when everyone else had on their pants, so they had to go change real quick.
It's okay to make them run a little....
It's not like you made them wear a cup to the next game...

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Discipline has to start on day 1. As a former grade school teacher, I learned that the first day of school is usually the best day. If I don't get control of them then, there is a hard road ahead of me.

If there is a girl that is a constant problem, I would talk to her, next I would talk to the parents and the 3rd time, I would go to the league to get rid of her. Nothing used to upset me more than someone goofing around in a situation that might get someone hurt.

Keep them all busy and active and ave a lesson plan for the practice.

I worked for a team last year that would straggle in one by one, to practice and then suggest "scrimmaging." The coach always wondered why he wasn't getting anything accomplished, because he gave into them.

 

[SoCalDad]

When I coached 12U rec I belonged to a league that had min play time rules. For the 12Us it was 2 inning min with at least 1 in the infield. From the very first practice I told both my players and their parents that play time was going to be determined by how the practiced. My motto has always been "You play like you practice". There are always going to be a couple of girls who are out their for other reasons than just wanting to play the game. Perhaps their parents want them to play or all their friends play. Regardless I have found that instilling discipline in this group is difficult as they simply don't care about the consequences of less play time. What I have found is you "bench" your all-star SS and catcher for the min 2 innings because of poor practice discipline and they will come back to the next practice with renewed focus. They will also rally the girls to focus and become more disciplined because they realize that the whole team suffers from distractions. Peer pressure came be good thing when it builds a better team. It can be a bad thing when your son breaks his leg because "all the other kids made the jump".