Warning Signs and Dangers of Coaching U12s

This all-star season has been interesting for sure and this blog post is a reality and ego check for all of us volunteer/parent coaches out there.

I'm a good coach, I really enjoy being with the girls helping them improve their game. But there is a limit and I fear I've reached it.

Just this year, I am seeing a huge amount of girls leave little league or augment their season by playing on travel teams. These travel teams typically have paid coaches (but not always) and in pretty much every case, a parent who is pushing their kid for a chance to eventually play high school softball or beyond. This blog post isn't about pushy parents as much as it is about my own ability to coach kids who are getting private lessons and play on multiple teams with multiple coaches.

I can't keep up and don't always agree on things with these different parties. Because I'm a voulnteer coach (i.e. not paid and not travel), I believe that some parents would prefer that I not give their girls additional tips or make any major changes to the way they play.

For example, I teach that the 1B take the cut off on plays to the plate and not the 2B or SS except on very deeply hit balls, which are extremely rare. I had a parent question my strategy the other day at practice and was simply stunned to be in that conversation.

Another example are some alternative hitting and tee drills that promote weight shift during the swing. Parents watch and think I'm teaching a radical new batting stance when in fact, I'm simply trying to get the girl to move her hips a bit.

I'm frustrated and I believe I know why... this youth softball coach has almost outlived his usefulness and is about to become one of those doting, challenging and annyoing parents... assuming I continue to push my own kid to keep playing. Hopefully not in both cases, but we shall see.

Intensity and Defense

I'm thrilled to blog today that yesterday, my U12 team won the town championship by beating a really great team 11-4 in the finals.

We almost didn't make it, barely beating our semi-final opponents by scoring 3 runs on passed balls in the bottom of the 6th. Last night though, we played stellar defense and kept up an insane amount of intensity to simply overwhelm the other team.

After jumping out to a 4-2 lead, we got a huge hit from my daughter (Happy Father's Day!) to put us up for good 6-2. Even missing our best player and 3rd basemen, we locked down on defense overcoming a few silly errors (catch first, then tag!) and ran away with the trophy.

I learned (and was reminded of) a few lessons this year:

• Some kids respond to pressure, while others just lock up
• Practice, practice, practice - but enjoy it and play lots of games and competitions
• Girls are WOW, different than boys. Don't forget to adjust your expectations (i.e. don't expect a lot of diving after balls)
• Pick one or two kids as a special project and watch them bloom. One kid I've coached for 2 years now came alive in the final getting 2 hits and reaching a 3rd time on an error. She had previously had 1 hit through 11 games!
• Team chemistry really matters, especially for girls. Find ways to foster it by creating situations where they simply have to respond as a team, together.
• Intensity and focus are 2 terrific skills to develop on a softball field that will translate into life
  

It felt great to see these girls come together after so much hard work all season. I couldn't be happier or more proud of these kids.

Time to Turn It Up

I put this photo of the amazing Danielle Lawrie at the top of this post because she represents "turning it up" in a big, big way. Her performance at the Women's College World Series was nothing short of spectacular.

We're more than halfway through our U12 softball season and the team has progressed nicely in many ways - we're 7-1 and clearly the best team in the league when we're able to throw strikes and stay awake on defense.

At this point, I'm starting to lock in players to give them specific improvement at certain positions - the girls have earned their spots in the lineup and on the field by their performance, attendance and attitudes.

I'll start backing off quite a bit during games from here on out, minimizing my in-game coaching as much as possible to give them a chance to put what they have been learning into practice.

That said, there are 2 specific messages I'm delivering from here to the end of the season:

1. Errors... there is not much we can do at this point to avoid physical errors, but mental errors are not acceptable. This means girls need to pay attention to signals, be alert at the plate, work the count and know where they are going on defense both with the ball and with their bodies!
2. Of our 3 season goals (have fun, learn the game and compete), now's the time to compete their hardest. This does not mean that our focus is on winning, but that our effort in trying to be the best is important - more important than winning.

I believe however, that we are in fact the best team in the league this year and if we can minimize mental errors, execute on the field and focus on competing, we won't lose again this year.

Here's hoping!

Keeping Track of Stats?

A few years ago, when my daughter was in U10, I started keep track of very basic stats for each game and compiling them in a spreadsheet. I kept just a few key things like walks, strikeouts, hits (real hits) and at bats. I calculated specific stats for strikeouts/ab and on base percentage to get a feel for how the girls were improving.

This year, at the U12 level, I've moved keeping a full set of stats and it's giving me great insights into how my players are growing and learning. While it's obvious who is always striking out, it's interesting to see how they are trending, and who is simply hiding behind drawing a walk.

I've also added pitcher stats that include ERA (recalculated for 6 innings!), hits, walks, IP, starts, wins, losses and saves. Again, it's been really helpful to look back at each game, along with my notes.

I never show the girls the raw numbers, but I do use them to configure practices, batting orders and to help girls one on one to improve.

Do you keep stats?

Local Girl Goes Bigtime

Rachele Fico, a pitcher from a nearby town is practically a legend around CT. She's dominated at every level of softball since she was a kid and is now on her way to play college softball at recently defeated LSU who lost 2 in a row to Arizona State to advance to the College World Series. I was shocked and thrilled seeing her photo in the NY Times this weekend - way cool.

Something tells me Fico has the ability to turn that around for her new team... we'll all be watching and cheering her on from here in CT!

A few things jumped out me in the article including:

• Her career record for Masuk, from Monroe, is 97-2, and she has not lost a game in two years. Her earned run average is 0.06. She has struck out 1,723 batters. And she has pitched a national high school record 25 perfect games.
• Her quote speaks to her obvious passion for the game: “Softball’s a part of me, a part of who I am,” Fico said. “When I get time off from playing, after like a week or two, I start getting antsy. I can’t just sit back and watch anymore.”

Good luck at LSU!

Patience Young Padawan

We're 4 games into our U12 softball season and it's been an interesting ride already. In our first game, we struck out 11 times and had 1 hit. Granted, we walked 15 times, but we swung at way too many bad pitches. Somehow, we managed to score 12 runs and we slunk away with a win.

In game 2, we reduced our strikeouts from 11 to 9 which was better, but still way too many. Our 9 hits and 12 walks earned us another win - 10-6 over a very good team, but I had a feeling we had a ways to go.

Game 3 was a nightmare, I put some kids into spots where they didn't perform well, and we were flat all night. We took our first loss, a 17-16 walk fest where we drew 19 free passes against 4 strikeouts (yes!) but only managed 4 hits. We did win the last 3 innings 5-4 though - that's a great tip if you can use it to motivate and keep the team positive BTW (look at an inning or a few innings and declare victory).

At the beginning of game 4, I gave the girls a pep talk and told them to be patient at the plate. In fact, I told them, DO NOT swing at anything until you have a strike on you. I really wanted them to start to get comfortable at the plate and to start working the count and looking for what I am now calling their "dream pitch."

I told them, unless you have 2 strikes on you, get real picky - and only swing at that one pitch that you know you can smash. Game 4 started ugly, my 2 and 3 hitters popped out and grounded out weakly respectively, both swinging at first pitches! I was grinding my teeth and reiterated in my own "coach way" that they were now under strict orders of death (not really death) to not swing until they had a strike on them.

Immediately, things changed. The other team couldn't find the strike zone and because we were patient, we drew 19 walks in a 5 inning game. Additionally, we blasted 6 big hits (all of them solid including 3 into the outfield) and only had 1 strikeout on our way to a 17-6 blowout against the same team that beat us a week earlier.

Tell your kids to slow down. Be patient and to "pick out a good one and crush it!"

We're now 3-1 and I think on our way to a very solid season.

This is Serious

If you missed the New York Time article today "When an 18-Year-Old Son Needs Elbow Surgery" and you have a son or daughter playing sports you should definitely take a moment to read this piece. What strikes me the idea that as parents, we can make mistakes even as we have good intentions.

I found myself in a conversation with a fellow father who has a daughter and a son playing softball and baseball respectively. His son, about 8 isn't a great player. In fact, he told me that his son last season barely even fouled one off all season. As a result, he's put his son into a hitting clinic with a personal coach and is looking at signing him up for winter leagues to augment his spring and fall season.

I wonder first of all, does the kid even like baseball that much that he wants to opt out of doing other things. Secondly, I wonder if this father has bothered to read any of the research or recent books about this topic. According to the NYT article, "one study, conducted by the American Sports Medicine Institute, led by the prominent surgeon Dr. James Andrews, found high school and college pitchers at sharply higher risk of injury requiring surgery when they exceeded certain thresholds: 400 percent when tossing more than 80 pitches a game; 500 percent for pitchers whose playing seasons lasted more than eight months a year."

I wonder what those thresholds are for 10 year olds, whose bodies haven't completely developed. I assume the thresholds are much lower and that you can inadvertently damage or ruin your own child's playing future by simply having them play too much.

Parents should get informed, especially if they have a star player who really loves the game. I believe it's prudent to make sure that whomever is coaching these players understand and respect your wishes of pitching and catching limited innings to save their arms irrespective of the league rules. Parents should also consider how many months to allow their kids to play a single sport. Playing multiple sports helps them develop different muscles and gives them a chance to make new friends and learn new skills. Young kids should not over commit to a single sport anyway, in my opinion.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Last night at practice I had the oddest feeling of deja vu. Before our first game, we tuned up a bit by working on cut off/relay plays and in particular, plays at the plate. I remember learning this myself at 11 or 12 years old and really struggling with it. I seem to remember being yelled at quite a bit for missing the cut off!

Defensively, my favorite play has always been when there is hit to the outfield w/a runner in scoring position. Seeing the pitcher back up home while 1B comes out to mound to get the cut off is like some sort of intricate dance move - it's the essence of team baseball/softball and as it turns out, is as fun to do as it is to teach.

It's a lot to take in, but I'm committed to teaching the girls more about the game as they get older. You have to start somewhere.

The other thing we did last night for the first time was some serious sliding. We did 2 rounds of stealing 2B off the catcher (work in catcher drills while you are at it). We added on a round of advancing to home on a passed ball which requires a slide as well. 2 girls still can't slide, but I think we'll get that fixed soon enough.

I'm fall in love with the game all over again each year I coach.

Position and Batting Order Strategies

I'm still learning how to construct the perfect lineup and still have questions. With a big roster that includes 14 girls and a continuous batting order, there will be stretches where we could have several weak batters up in a row.

I have tried both stacking the top of the order and "spreading the wealth" and tend to think that spreading the wealth (using several good hitters throughout the full lineup) gives us a chance to sustain a big rally. That said, I hate to get into a situation where a strikeout or weakly hit ball kills our momentum. It's not an easy situation. It's also worth mentioning that in our league, we have a 4 run per inning max - so when I say big rally, I mean making sure we put up our 4 runs each time we bat!

Here's how I will probably start this season:

1. Girl who rarely strikes out and has speed
2. Girl with some speed, rarely strikes out and is a good hitter
3. Best hitter
4. Slower girl but with a good bat (ok if she strikes out a bit)
5. Average hitter
6. Good/great hitter
7. Poor hitter but one who I have taught to bunt!
8. Average hitter
9. Poor hitter (another bunter if possible)
10. Average hitter
    
11. Best hitter left of the bottom 5
    
12. Weak hitter
    
13. Weakest hitter
    
14. Someone who can but and who can run a little

Here's some reality if you are coaching at this level:

• Count on passed balls scoring you a huge % of your runs.
• If you can teach your girls to bunt, you'll also get the added benefit of drawing more walks, and being able to simply put the ball in play which will create opportunities for the other team to make defensive errors).

As for position strategies, I have some pretty specific ideas on defense of what will help us win games.

C - I drafted a good catcher and I hope I can develop a decent back up. At this level, it's becoming extremely important that the catcher simply be able to minimize passed balls.
1B - she must catch everything thrown to her and be able to move her body to field bad throws
2B - great glove, average arm (2B is crucial!)
SS - average glove, good arm
3B - fearless with her glove, great arm
OF - pretty much everyone else
P - I drafted 2 pitchers and have a 3rd who if she can throw strikes will do fine. I have 2 other girls who want to pitch but have a long way to go. I will work with them as much as they want until I feel they are ready to pitch in a game. That's a judgment call to a large extent, but if they can throw 6 of 10 pitches for strikes on a consistent basis, they will get some innings.

While there is no rule this year that says we have to play every girl in the infield, I will do a lot of moving kids around so they have a good experience. Here are some of my unofficial rules:

• You have to earn your way into the infield
• You can't play 3B if you can't protect yourself
• You can't play 1B if you can't handle me (coach) throwing balls fairly hard at you
• You can ask to catch, but you have to put in practice time with me (like I said above, passed balls are crucial at this level)
• I use the 2B position to rotate girls into the infield and reward the ones who make plays with time at SS

It's not perfect, but it's my current plan of record!

It's Almost Game Time!

I've not ever coached in a season where I've had enough practices to feel ready to play... and this year is no exception! My U12 girls softball team has had 7 practices so far, and have 2 0r 3 more before our first game next Friday night under the lights.

I decided that there are just some things we'll have to learn as we go, and a few that I'm really going to focus on to get the girls ready. I do this every year, and it always drives me crazy because I just love to practice!

Major focus areas before our first game:

• Get the girls to see some live pitching
• Get my pitchers to pitch to batters
• Sliding into bases
  
• Game situations (my favorite of all drills is to field a full team and use the extra players as live runners)
• Signs (basic ones only: bunt, steal and take the next pitch)
  

What we aren't going to get to and will have to learn as we go this year...

• 2B backing up the pitcher after every pitch
• Additional backups (in particular, RF backing up all plays to 1B and LF backing up 3B)
  
• Advanced catchers drills and specific practice including the extremely important "fake" throw to second base to try to fool the runner on third!
• Pitchers covering home on all passed balls with runners on third
  

What we probably won't get to...

• Hit and run
• Delayed steals (except for this one girl, who I think I can teach)

BTW, I found this terrific site that all you coaches should check out... I also put it in my "Ultimate Resource Guide."

It's almost game time and I can't wait!

Practice in the Rain

I'm nuts, I know it.

But I'm not going to let that stop me from practicing! While parents seem to complain if we don't practice enough or if we practice too much, I figured since we had a scheduled practice last Sunday, we'd keep the date even if it was raining.

We got lucky that it didn't pour, but while it was raining, I used the opportunity to teach the girls how to slide. Next time it rains, don't cancel practice - teach your team how to slide (and how to play in the mud!)

Softball Draft

Today is the draft for the "majors" softball league I'm coaching this spring (11/12 year old girls).

I went a tad overboard with my "draft card" giving each girl a ranking of 1-5 on 5 different categories. I can do this because I know most of the girls from coaching for so many years now! The categories are fielding, throwing, batting, pitching and catching. I assigned a score of 1-5 in each and added them up giving me an idea of who to try to draft. While that may give pitchers an unfair advantage in terms of numbers, I believe it is reflective of how you should think about building a team at this age level.

I've learned the hard way, but here are my keys to this season...

• I must have 2 pitchers who can throw strikes (speed does not matter, that will come with practice). At this level it's still possible to develop a girl, but it is not easy.
  
• You must have a catcher (or someone willing to learn fast!). I would guess that at least 50% of the runs scored will be on passed balls with no play at the plate!
  
• You must draft girls who have the "right" attitude. This means finding "good kids" who will work hard and allow you to develop and find their talents.
  

As for attitude, that is an intangible category during the draft that earns a girl 2 asterisks (**). For example, my #1 pick for 3 years running has been the shortest kid in the league. She's a natural leader and a great, great kid and happens to have a great bat and can pitch. Last year, I lost my temper during a game and she told me to chill out... while she was on the pitcher's mound! That's my kind of kid.

I typically try to draft for attitude and figure I can dramatically improve every kid on my team by the end of the season by providing a lot of one-on-one time during practices. It's a lot of work, but totally worth it. By the end of the season, I plan on having the best all-around team, even if we've sacrificed wins during the regular season to get there. It pays off in the playoffs.

I'd recommend that you carefully consider your draft picks with attitude in mind... if you are like me, you realize that having a good group of girls who are into the team will also come with great parents who share that same attitude.

One last tip... at younger levels, you don't have to worry about catchers as much, which is why last year I spent time cultivating and developing 2 girls who have potential at catcher... that's my little secret for you coaches who plan to coach for more than one season.

I'm already working on my seasons goals and a specific practice plan, which I will share over the next few weeks.

Softball Signups!

It's about 10 degrees outside and I just realized that it's time to sign my daughter up for spring softball again. I'm definitely coaching again as softball is my favorite sport to coach.

I'm already developing some basic practice plans and have some ideas on how to really super-charge things this season. I'm planning on buying a popup net and a good tee for portable (and frequent) soft toss and hitting off a tee. I really want to focus this season on (fundamentals of course!) teaching the girls how to rip the cover off the ball.

It's hard to imagine it ever being warm enough to play softball outside though!

I heard that many of the better players are moving on to travel softball this season which is fine by me, I'm still more interested in helping girls find themselves and building basic skills and an understanding of the game. There's nothing quite like teaching young girls about force plays at second and seeing them finally get it halfway through the season.