Coaching Question?

[Phantom]

I try and make sure everyone sees at least two games on Saturday.....but come Sunday, you'd better have earned a spot during those two games.


I used to have that approach as well. Then I figured out that if i am doing my job, they will have earned their time on Sundays. In my 12 years in travel, I have NEVER had a player that did not bust their a.. for me at all times. So if they are doing that (if they arent it is the coaches fault) and you have a decent tryout, every kid on your roster should be good enough to play on Sunday. Does every team have their top 6? Sure, but 8-13 should be close to each other.


You can NOT sit the same kid 3 games in a row on a Sunday and then say she didnt earn any time in those games. If you are doing that, go look in the mirror and ask what YOU have done wrong. You either selected a player that had no business making your team to begin with (your fault) or you have not taught that kid enough since you have had her to make you comfortable to play her when it matters.(your fault)

In any event, could you honestly blame ANY parent that was not happy after an entire Sunday at the park and their kid got to courtesy run 2-4 times for a catcher or pitcher and that was it in 3 games?

OUTSTANDING

we need more coaches and managers like you

like I said before, TAKE NOTE COACHES AND MANAGERS, this is how it should be done

[Coach11]

I try and make sure everyone sees at least two games on Saturday.....but come Sunday, you'd better have earned a spot during those two games.


I used to have that approach as well. Then I figured out that if i am doing my job, they will have earned their time on Sundays. In my 12 years in travel, I have NEVER had a player that did not bust their a.. for me at all times. So if they are doing that (if they arent it is the coaches fault) and you have a decent tryout, every kid on your roster should be good enough to play on Sunday. Does every team have their top 6? Sure, but 8-13 should be close to each other.


You can NOT sit the same kid 3 games in a row on a Sunday and then say she didnt earn any time in those games. If you are doing that, go look in the mirror and ask what YOU have done wrong. You either selected a player that had no business making your team to begin with (your fault) or you have not taught that kid enough since you have had her to make you comfortable to play her when it matters.(your fault)

In any event, could you honestly blame ANY parent that was not happy after an entire Sunday at the park and their kid got to courtesy run 2-4 times for a catcher or pitcher and that was it in 3 games?

To be honest, I am but a coach. While I do have say in who makes the team at tryouts, it is not the final say. We have two girls on our team that are strictly pitchers. One I inherited, the other I accepted. She was made aware that unless her all around game improved, it was unlikely she would see time on Sundays outside the circle. She was fine with that. As a matter of fact, I think she's thrilled She's been doing great and seeing regular time in the rotation.

We've only played 2 tournaments thus far, and haven't had a 3 game Sunday as yet. So I really can't say whether or not the others will be seeing regular game time when we do.

Those who desire regular game time and don't deserve it, always have Rec ball.

[xyzdude]

11 - you had me nodding in agreement up until the last statement. If a player is a rec player, what is she doing on your team? I believe in earning playing time - that is for Saturday, Sunday and everyday. But, if all work hard and have good attitudes you cannot tell me that there is that much difference - I'm talking about change-the-game difference between your number 8 player and number 12. Until you give a player the chance to do something special - they won't. An earlier post said team chemistry is important - you develop that perfect all for one, one for all approach when everyone feels that they are important to the success of the team. Girls will surprise you, especially at age 14.

[dodgerblue]

I think that teams carry 14-15 girls on their roster so they're deep come nationals. Are all of them starters I don't think so in the last couple of years I've noticed a trend going around that teams tend to pick up bodies whether good or not maybe just a runner which in the begining it's fine but the closer you get to nationals these "role" players want equal time all of a sudden. I think if you have a kid on the team that you know is a role player then you want to pressure the manager a month prior to nationals about playing time is bullls&!t. If you've been a role player all season what gives you the right to ask for playing come nationals. I do agree if the coach did his job then all the girls should be good enough to be playing but all the teams we have been on it's always been the same case and speaking to friends on other teams this was the case on their teams as well. My 2 cents

[hotwheels]

I think that teams carry 14-15 girls on their roster so they're deep come nationals. Are all of them starters I don't think so in the last couple of years I've noticed a trend going around that teams tend to pick up bodies whether good or not maybe just a runner which in the begining it's fine but the closer you get to nationals these "role" players want equal time all of a sudden. I think if you have a kid on the team that you know is a role player then you want to pressure the manager a month prior to nationals about playing time is bullls&!t. If you've been a role player all season what gives you the right to ask for playing come nationals. I do agree if the coach did his job then all the girls should be good enough to be playing but all the teams we have been on it's always been the same case and speaking to friends on other teams this was the case on their teams as well. My 2 cents

What I do on my team is during friendlies and smaller tournaments I give 100% equal playing time among all players. This includes every girl on the roster....Every girl will sit 1 out of the 3 games or close to it. Then, when we go to a more important/bigger tournament I make it clear that the best 8 position players will play the majority of the time.

However, all girls must be capable of stepping in there and getting the job done....They may not be as fluid or look as good out there as the girl they are replacing but they must be capable of getting the job done......If they aren't, it's the manager's fault.....In other words, not one player can use the excuse that she is rusty or hasn't played because she has. The draw back is that some players don't perform well under pressure and that is the risk I take. You won't know for the most part until that girl is in there......

Coaches that come on here and say they don't put their best 9 out there are not telling the truth. Most times, it won't be a problem with the parents if that is how you have set it up since day one. The problems come in when coaches promise the world to players just to get them on board and then when that player isn't playing parents start questioning things.....JMHO

[artomatic]

Coaches that come on here and say they don't put their best 9 out there are not telling the truth. Most times, it won't be a problem with the parents if that is how you have set it up since day one. The problems come in when coaches promise the world to players just to get them on board and then when that player isn't playing parents start questioning things.....JMHO

Agree...if your goal is to be the best you can be. Some teams go into travel and want to stay in that "comfort zone" that they are used to from being in leagues and all star teams. Everyone plays, everyone knows each other, everyone hangs out with each other. They don't bring in a stronger player at a certain position, because that would upset the comfort zone. That works for only so long. Then the team either makes an effort to upgrade to be able to compete and set higher goals, or they disappear...not always, but that's what I have seen since we made the jump to travel.

The more promises a coach makes, the more promises a coach breaks. When a coach promises a player/parent something, then down the line, he/she brings in another player, the coach usually has to break the first promise to deliver the second one...A bad cycle that causes problems down the road...

all of the above, JMHO, of course...

[Iluvblue]

I think some of you have confused what I am saying.

We will always play to win, and I will always put our best lineup on the field, WHEN I NEED TO!

If we are playing in a tournament with 28 teams, I know the 3-4 teams that can beat us. I will make sure I do lineups appropriately leading up to that game.

My main point though is that i know what my ultimate best lineup is, but i am comfortable playing different combination of 9 players and still feel we can win.

I dont make any promises.... NONE in regards to playing time. But I know that I will not take a player on my team that I am not comfortable in playing. I will take a 10 person roster before I take 12 players with 2 players that just are in over their heads.


I can look at a bracket on Sunday and know, we will beat that team, likely play that team next and beat them, then in game 3 we will have a challenge and in the final we will have a challenge. I can sit the kids in game 1 and 2 that I know I need in the later games. Then I mix it up with the other players in those final 2 games. This way I dont have the same kids sitting.

I may just be lucky in that I have a decent team that I know we are playing a minimum of 3 games on a Sunday for the most part. But in the end, dont take a player that is just a body. Make sure you have players you are confident in and fix the things they need to fix.


So there you have it, I am on here telling the TRUTH on how i do things. No reason for me to lie about something trivial like this. Believe it or not, I dont care. But it can be done, and you dont need to sacrifice competitiveness to do it.

[dodgerblue]

I can sit the kids in game 1 and 2 that I know I need in the later games. Then I mix it up with the other players in those final 2 games. This way I dont have the same kids sitting

This works most of the time but I have seen it backfire on occasion also then there is no later games because you didn't have the best 9 out there. But in your case you have a solid players on your bench so that is an exception. I'm mainly speaking towards other teams that carry "Bodies" that give them playing time against weaker teams that end up knocking you out of a tournament in order to make everyone happy. I would think that you would play every game to win. The exception would be friendlies.

[Iluvblue]

This works most of the time but I have seen it backfire on occasion also then there is no later games because you didn't have the best 9 out there.


Maybe, but even if we did lose one of those earlier games, it would not be because of my lineup. Like someone said earlier, the difference between my 8-9 and my 10-11 players is not enough to make that big of a difference. Heck, maybe the 11 player gets the hit when player 8 would have struck out. No guarantees.


IN any event, coaches need to try harder to get kids in games..... only way they will get better.

[artomatic]

a lot of valid points here...
Iluvblu, don't know if your last comment is in regards to my last comment, but i wasn't saying anyone is lying or disagreeing....
i was saying that alot of teams start out with friends, etc, from the same league who some might consider "bodies" or "filler"....they do that to have enough players to get started.
It works for a while, then the team either gets tired of getting whomped on and disappears, or attempts to upgrade.
they are either successful and continue, or aren't and don't continue...
it's kind of a survival of the fittest, etc. however you want to phrase it.

The established teams that are successful are the ones who are able to make upgrades to continue to get better.

That brings up another issue:
When is enough enough?
Some teams continue to upgrade right up to nationals.
They will replace players no matter what if the coach thinks it makes the team stronger.
Other teams decide at some point, "this is my team that I am going to sink or swim with" and go with the ones that got them there.
I'm not talking about replacing injured players, I'm talking about constantly replacing starters with someone else.
And I'm not saying one way is right or wrong, just different philosophies.