Head Softball Coaches

No Problems

Folks
I see no problems with this thread
It has been informative and enjoyable up to now.
Lets not let anything or any one take this in the wrong direction.
CCFastpitch, I agree that you may have taken any reference to CC or Gina out of context. She is a talented and wonderful firl and CC has and has had a great softball history. I saw no disrespect in anything that was said.
I ask you to take the time to read this complete thread from top to bottom and reconsider your concerns. And please let me know how you feel after the re-read.
Thanks
Ray Mc

 

I agree that if you want to win you put the BEST players on the field, but that is not always the case.undefined
Implying what then......

What I'm saying is that when you are playing a team of less talent/competition let the girls that are maybe not the best have some time to shine a little too!
OK.........

Example: Gina Allen pitches every game no matter what, even against West Charlotte! Why not give someone else a chance to have a little glory!
SO what are you saying.
I use the board as and information site, but the three previous sentences implied several things. End of subject for me.

 

CC, I think you have a point. Gina should not have been used as an example. While this thread may be informative and I truly think it is, but I have to agree that Gina or any player should not be used as an example in this context. You could read that statement both ways and CC interpreted it not to be in good taste...now back to the topic ....up to now been good reading.

 

Cardinal Fan makes a great point about high school ball compared to travel ball. For some, high school ball should be used to sharpen their skills to prepare for the upcoming travel ball season. For others, high school ball is more of a social thing. However, no matter how you look at it, HS ball should be fun and you should play to win.

Most girls know if they have the talent and desire to play after high school. If you do, great, work hard. If you don't, still work hard but don't fault the girls who may take ball a little more seriously. The same goes for the aspiring college players, understand that some have may different goals than you but always remember all of you are part of a team.

High school ball isn't Little League and the players who can help the team win should get the most playing time. The ones who don't play as much are still an important part of a team and they should always be prepared to play.

Now in defense of Gina pitching almost every game, she is only doing what Coach Sherrill asks and she will ALWAYS give 110% no matter who CC is playing. Only Coach Sherrill knows why he makes certain choices, and based on the success of his teams, I don't think it anyone should question his decsions.

 

Is there anyway of taking a slight turn here? What is the things you have seen or experienced the coaches do to inspire or encourage those that have roles on the team that don't seem so glorious.
I'll start by seeing a coach use his designated batter help with the stats during the game so she is a bigger part of the hooplah when it was her time to bat instead of cooling it on the bench.

 

That is a crock of crap. If you have really good pitching that do not give up many hits then you do not have to play your best players at all positions.

 

Hey cheeze, I wonder if more coaches would involve their players more in the manner that your coach does would that not provide better coaching in the rec. and travel when these ladies have children that play ball. Just observing the game is alot like observing someone drive and think you can do it to. I guess one way would to take a situational quiz once a week and go over the answers by actually going through the situations in practice. And go over and over and over and over the mechanics of the game.

 

Baseball and softball are games of statistics, averages and tendancies. My opinion is if you have a player who is not playing in the game, then she should have a clipboard in her hand charting something.

Pitches, defensive plays, where balls are hit, and many more things can and should be charted and tracked. One of my pet peeves is to ask a player who is in the middle of a game or even after a game, what is/was the opposing pitcher's normal first pitch to most batters? What is her "out" pitch? What and where does she put it when she is behind in the count? and the player isn't sure. These are things EVERY hitter should have a good undestanding of. If you do, your averages will be higher. Another great thing about charting is that you will have some great info for the next time you play that team, and over few seasons, you can get a very good idea of what the opposing coaches tendancies are. In most of the college softball games I have attended, there are always players with clipboards writing things down. There are numerous charts and tracking sheets printed in softball coaching manuals and also on the web that are very helpful.

As for weekly situational quizzes, I think that is a great idea.This is something we would do with my travel team and I really think it helped. It doesn't have to on paper every time, but a good discussion about situations your team or any other team you have seen and how well or bad they handled it is a great thing to do. My girls always looked forward (at least I think they did!!) to these "skull"sessions as I called them.

I also agree there is nothing wrong with having a "specialty" player on a team to run. However you must be very careful in the fact that not always the fastest baserunner is the best or smartest baserunner. I would much rather have a runner that is a little slower, but knows HOW to run the bases. I have seen many extremley fast runners get terribles leads and be called out on a steal. On the other hand, I have seen average runners be safe because of the great lead they take, (if you aren't getting called out once in awhile for leaving early, then in my opinion you aren't getting a very good lead.) Also, the smarter baserunner will be more likely to take the extra base rather than stop on the bag. But if you have a smart and fast baserunner, (and there are plenty out there) then you can usually stress the other team into a few errors each game.