|
|
|
|
|
|
HSSTM asked area softball coaches how they get the girls to start working together as a team at the beginning of the season.
|
|
HSSTM asked area softball coaches how they get the girls to start working together as a team at the beginning of the season.
|
|
Brittney Campbell
Butler Traditional High School
|
|
I believe that in order for your players to work as a team you as a coach must get them in a daily routine. In their daily routine they stretch together, run together, throw together, and while they are doing these drills, everyone on the team must count together. By not appointing one specific person as the leader, the players don’t feel that one person is better than the other. They all feel that they are equal and to me having equality makes you work more as a team.
|
|
Kelly Cable
Shelby County High School
|
|
The first thing we do is get our coaching staff on board and line out the expectations for the team and the girls. We at Shelby Co. feel that preparation and hard work must come in the initial part of the season and it starts with the coaches and the system we put into place. In the off-season, we use conditioning as a tool to encourage leadership and to build the team concept. We have them do warm-up exercises together, count together during exercises, do team drills, and exercise in pairs. We also have the older players mentor the younger players on and off the field. Most importantly, we concentrate on the TEAM in everything we do as coaches and players. We constantly emphasize that it’s not about ME. It’s about US, the TEAM. Eventually, the girls understand that they can only be as good as their teammates around them.
|
|
Amanda Stewart
Spencer County High School
|
|
As the season begins, it can be quite difficult to get the team to participate and start working together. During conditioning we were working on team-building drills. We have done trust falls and other exercises that make them depend on each other to complete a task. As we start working as a team and the first game approaches, the last weekend before our first game we are going to a ropes course to work on team building.
|
|
Candida Herald
Christian Academy of Louisville
|
|
It is always a challenge year to year to get players to work together as a team, especially when new players are joining the team every year. I believe the key is to develop the natural leaders on the team to adopt the teamwork mentality. Then as a coach, you hope that not only will these players lead by example, but that they would also mentor the new/younger players to help them understand the importance of working as a team to accomplish the ultimate goal of a successful season.
During practices, we are purposeful in the drills that we select and the players that we place together such as upper classmen with lower classmen, in order to complete the drills.
|
|
|
|
|
|
™
®
™
