What level, Rec ? B Team ? 8th Grade or JV ? It makes a difference of how much teeth you can have in your bite ... Sounds like my first JV team from an inner city school with no feeder program, little talent, racial challenges, no accountability, some spoiled brats, some helicopter parents and a history of hiring coaches that didn't know sh*t from shinola ... I feel your pain and it took me about a half a season to get it under control ... You may be doing some of my ideas already, but here goes:
1.) As Pattar says the first thing to go is cell phones ... They are OFF and in the bat bag / book bag prior to practice and do not come out again until after practice is over. If there are bus rides, no cell phones on the bus until it is time to call for their rides.
2.) You have to set the rules and if they are not followed there must be consequences ... If they don't like it, they can quit ( And they will, some will ask to come back, others won't ... Good riddance ) ... I gave them 3 strikes ... 1st strike I talk to you, 2nd strike a letter goes home and a phone call follows it up, 3rd strike you turn in your jersey. Sometimes you need to cut 2 to save 13.
3.) Before practice starts, EVERYTHING that they need for practice is out of their bat bag and lying against the OUTSIDE of the dugout fence ... This includes hair ties, glove, hat, inhaler, water bottle, batting gloves, bat, mouth guard if it isn't in yet, face mask, batting helmet etc. ... There is NO going into the bat bag during practice.
4.) Blow a whistle to start and start on time. Before the softball portion of practice starts, dynamic stretching, calisthenics and FUN running exercises involving competition (races and timing them to first base, et al) ... If they are running their mouths during the softball portion of practice then they have not run enough before it started.
5.) NO talking to parents through the fence during practice or games ... NO Gatorade hand-offs or Bacon Cheeseburgers through the fence. Parents need rules too and they should be given to them in writing. NO parents, boyfriends or girlfriends in the dugout.
6.) The softball portion of practice needs to be quick moving and as fun as possible ... If you minimize any standing around they will have less time to run their mouths ... Keep them moving ... Turn hitting infield and outfield into quick paced competition ... (PM me if you need some ideas on how to do this) ... DO NOT spend more than 10-15 minutes on any on portion of practice ... Give them 1 timed minute to hydrate and move on to the next drill.
7.) When practice is over blow your whistle and end on time.
8.) Let the players and parents know that they cannot question you about playing time, etc. during practice and games. They can otherwise e mail or text you and ask to speak to you.
* That is just a rough outline to bring things back into your control. That said, the thing that turned the season around for us was grilling kielbasa ... LOL ... The players and one parent had really acted up at an away game ... It was awful and we were at the end of our rope ... My Asst Coach said on the bus ride back that we should make them run the entire practice the next day ... I said we'll do one better, come hungry ... The next day I brought a beach umbrella, 2 lawn chairs, a hibachi grill and a ring of kielbasa to practice ... We set up all their running drills, then set up the umbrella and grill in the middle of the outfield ... Took off our sneakers and socks, grilled the kielbasa and ate it while they ran for 1.5 hours ... The entire baseball team and coaches gathered leaning over our outfield fence and watched it all happen for their practice that day.
** I am, 'in general' , opposed to using running as punishment ... But sometimes ...
*** Because of the racial issues we were dealing with I tried a rainy day practice letting them watch the movie Brians Song ... They didn't get it at all ... Not everything you try will work ... Move on, next.
1.) As Pattar says the first thing to go is cell phones ... They are OFF and in the bat bag / book bag prior to practice and do not come out again until after practice is over. If there are bus rides, no cell phones on the bus until it is time to call for their rides.
2.) You have to set the rules and if they are not followed there must be consequences ... If they don't like it, they can quit ( And they will, some will ask to come back, others won't ... Good riddance ) ... I gave them 3 strikes ... 1st strike I talk to you, 2nd strike a letter goes home and a phone call follows it up, 3rd strike you turn in your jersey. Sometimes you need to cut 2 to save 13.
3.) Before practice starts, EVERYTHING that they need for practice is out of their bat bag and lying against the OUTSIDE of the dugout fence ... This includes hair ties, glove, hat, inhaler, water bottle, batting gloves, bat, mouth guard if it isn't in yet, face mask, batting helmet etc. ... There is NO going into the bat bag during practice.
4.) Blow a whistle to start and start on time. Before the softball portion of practice starts, dynamic stretching, calisthenics and FUN running exercises involving competition (races and timing them to first base, et al) ... If they are running their mouths during the softball portion of practice then they have not run enough before it started.
5.) NO talking to parents through the fence during practice or games ... NO Gatorade hand-offs or Bacon Cheeseburgers through the fence. Parents need rules too and they should be given to them in writing. NO parents, boyfriends or girlfriends in the dugout.
6.) The softball portion of practice needs to be quick moving and as fun as possible ... If you minimize any standing around they will have less time to run their mouths ... Keep them moving ... Turn hitting infield and outfield into quick paced competition ... (PM me if you need some ideas on how to do this) ... DO NOT spend more than 10-15 minutes on any on portion of practice ... Give them 1 timed minute to hydrate and move on to the next drill.
7.) When practice is over blow your whistle and end on time.
8.) Let the players and parents know that they cannot question you about playing time, etc. during practice and games. They can otherwise e mail or text you and ask to speak to you.
* That is just a rough outline to bring things back into your control. That said, the thing that turned the season around for us was grilling kielbasa ... LOL ... The players and one parent had really acted up at an away game ... It was awful and we were at the end of our rope ... My Asst Coach said on the bus ride back that we should make them run the entire practice the next day ... I said we'll do one better, come hungry ... The next day I brought a beach umbrella, 2 lawn chairs, a hibachi grill and a ring of kielbasa to practice ... We set up all their running drills, then set up the umbrella and grill in the middle of the outfield ... Took off our sneakers and socks, grilled the kielbasa and ate it while they ran for 1.5 hours ... The entire baseball team and coaches gathered leaning over our outfield fence and watched it all happen for their practice that day.
** I am, 'in general' , opposed to using running as punishment ... But sometimes ...
*** Because of the racial issues we were dealing with I tried a rainy day practice letting them watch the movie Brians Song ... They didn't get it at all ... Not everything you try will work ... Move on, next.
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