By guest author: Marc Dagenais
It's a headache to be a softball coach, especially if you're coaching youth softball players. Kids can be very undisciplined, their skills unpolished, and you also have to deal with their parents who watch their every game.
But kids are kids, and you can never change that. What you can change is the way you handle them. And that's what I'm going to share with you here. I'll show you how you can run a successful practice with your young players.
Get Some Experience
If you're an inexperienced coach, then I imagine how tough it is for you to handle this coaching job. But believe me, it will only get better with time.
Experience teaches you the best way to deal with young players and how to organize everything so your team runs smoothly like a well-oiled engine.
Reading books on coaching will also help you with the basics of coaching when you're just starting out. You'll need that if you don't want to walk out of the team because of frustration.
Organize Everything
You may not be the type who likes organizing things, but you will have to force yourself to learn this skill as a coach. Being organized with your schedule, how you will conduct drills, etc. keeps things easy to manage. You'll always know what you should do at a certain time.
Here's a suggestion: map out your team's schedule for the rest of the year. Include the pre-season, the in-season, and the post-season in the entire calendar. Then divide them into more manageable pieces and create mini-schedules.
An example: you'll spend the first 2 weeks of the year auditioning your players to see which positions you can assign them, as well as giving them time to get to know each other better. Then on weeks 3 and 4, you'll start teaching them the basics of the game, from throwing to batting. You get the idea.
Before you know it, you'll have the entire year completely mapped out. You'll know what to do, and you can track the progress of your team based on the schedule.
Know How to Deal with Youth Softball Players
You won't read it in a lot of books, but here's something you should know: coaching young players is different from older ones.
Unlike adults, kids can mostly grasp only the most general ideas about certain concepts. So when you're teaching them about batting, for example, just teach them the general idea of swinging the bat first before delving into the mechanics involved in it.
When you teach them the general idea first, they'll understand what you're telling them much easily, and that's key to running a successful practice session.
Another thing you should remember is that softball is still just a game for kids. And as a game, they're meant to enjoy it. So let them have fun when they're practicing. They'll be able to remember concepts of the game easier when they're having fun.
Again, it can be a nightmare coaching young softball players, but only if you don't know what to do. That's why I recommend you to invest in softball coaching books to give you an idea of what to do as a softball coach. Aside from that, keep everything organized during practices, and learn how to deal with kids, so you can ensure a successful practice session every time.
Marc Dagenais is a Softball Peak Performance Coach that helps softball players turn their athletic talent into extraordinary performances and help coaches get more out of their players, turn their struggling team around or get an edge over their opponents.
Visit us to sign-up to get our free softball pitching tips!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3056077
================
Thanks to our sponsors:
Baseball2u.com/CoachesBest.com is the ultimate online baseball training and coaching store. With over 1400 products organized into categories Baseball2u.com makes finding that baseball training product easy and simple. Order securely online or by phone. Baseball2u.com is a fully licensed company and has a full time staff available from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. Their toll free customer service number is 1-877-431-4487.
The Categories they have are: BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!
No comments:
Post a Comment