- Mar 20, 2009
- 1
- 0
Hi everyone-
I took over a high school team from a coach who is extremely harsh and was verbally abusive to his players. As a result, they only had a Varsity team last year.
This year, I have 30+ girls, 23 of whom have never really played. I have one pitcher who is excellent, a good catcher, a strong SS, LF, and 2B. Everyone else is pretty new, and it's obvious they lack even the most basic skills (even though some did play under this previous coach for two-three years).
Since I took over (he quit finally at the beginning of the month), the kids have started blaming me for their losses (JV has one once, and Varsity has lost all their games, many well over the 10 run rule). My assistant coaches and I have pushed them as hard as possible, but no matter what we do in practice, and how well they're able to execute skills, in the game, we fall apart.
Usually, the runs score due to errors, and then we can't get them back when we're up to bat. When the runs happen, the good players get frustrated with everyone else, and then the error-maker gets frustrated, and it just falls apart. They don't know how to fight back from defeat, even when they're only down by a few points. We've been able to hold the other team at 0-0 for four innings, but usually around then they start hitting my pitcher and the door opens wide.
Anyone have any advice on how to break this negative cycle? I've never seen it to this degree before, despite having coached for almost a decade. I have led them into making goals for themselves and the team, and I've done a lot of positive reinforcement when things go right. But there must be drills or something tangible we can do in practice to help them believe they CAN win.
I appreciate any help I can get.
Cheers,
Cheryl
I took over a high school team from a coach who is extremely harsh and was verbally abusive to his players. As a result, they only had a Varsity team last year.
This year, I have 30+ girls, 23 of whom have never really played. I have one pitcher who is excellent, a good catcher, a strong SS, LF, and 2B. Everyone else is pretty new, and it's obvious they lack even the most basic skills (even though some did play under this previous coach for two-three years).
Since I took over (he quit finally at the beginning of the month), the kids have started blaming me for their losses (JV has one once, and Varsity has lost all their games, many well over the 10 run rule). My assistant coaches and I have pushed them as hard as possible, but no matter what we do in practice, and how well they're able to execute skills, in the game, we fall apart.
Usually, the runs score due to errors, and then we can't get them back when we're up to bat. When the runs happen, the good players get frustrated with everyone else, and then the error-maker gets frustrated, and it just falls apart. They don't know how to fight back from defeat, even when they're only down by a few points. We've been able to hold the other team at 0-0 for four innings, but usually around then they start hitting my pitcher and the door opens wide.
Anyone have any advice on how to break this negative cycle? I've never seen it to this degree before, despite having coached for almost a decade. I have led them into making goals for themselves and the team, and I've done a lot of positive reinforcement when things go right. But there must be drills or something tangible we can do in practice to help them believe they CAN win.
I appreciate any help I can get.
Cheers,
Cheryl