Coaching Fastpitch Softball Successfully
77This Coaching Fastpitch Softball post is targeted to the newer softball coach
Gone are the days of Coaching Fastpitch Softball where the coach would throw out a couple of balls and bats and say have at it, at least we hope those days are gone. In today’s information age even the most inexperienced softball coach can look online for insightful coaching ideas and softball drills that will make softball practice fun and rewarding for the kids you’ve committed to teach. In this post we’re going to take you through some of the very basic practice plans and coaching fastpitch softball drills that will put you on the right track. We’ve all seen those yellow books that say for XXXX for dummies, well, this isn’t coaching fastpitch softball for dummies, what we hope this will be is, insightful, so that like your players, you’ll gain something that will give you a little more confidence in this process. Being a volunteer coach can be intimidating, and without a road map can lead to unnecessary stress, whereas it should be the opposite, it should be rewarding and a time you’ll look back on with fond memories. Keep this in mind; the most successful coaches are successful because they don’t think they know it all, they’re a successful coach because they remain students of the game! The very best fastpitch softball coaches are always looking for newer ways of communicating the very basic skills that are required to pull the best out of their softball player’s ability. We hope you find this helpful..
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere
with what you can do.”
~ John Wooden
Coaching Fastpitch Softball – Practice Plans
At one time or another we’ve all been here as young softball coaches and that’s, “where do I begin?” As a coach you’ll need a clear and concise road map for your team and this begins with practice and should start at your very first one. Coaching fastpitch softball successfully requires organization, and quality use of time. Nothing is more boring at a softball practice than having one kid hit and 14 others just standing around, always try to have every kid involved. Below I’ve copied a very simple practice plan, inside this plan there is no downtime, every kid, from your very best softball player to your most inexperienced softball player will get more out of this type of practice. Equally as bad as standing around are the 4 to 6 hour practices. This seems to be all the rage with a lot of the summer fastpitch softball coaches. I can understand that this type of all star team has softball players that come from miles around, but no one can honestly tell me that they can keep a kids attention span in tune for that long, most of their older kids are going through texting withdrawals inside the first hour. Your best softball practices will always be your most organized! Your fastpitch softball coaching practice plans don’t have to be fancy, they can be as simple as notes on paper, outlined in sections of time that keeps things moving, if you feel some kids need more attention then others, invite them out before practice begins or ask them and their parents if it’s okay to stay late so that you can give them personal coaching direction. Remember being a coach can be very rewarding and nothing is more rewarding in the game than seeing a young player begin to develop some confidence in their playing ability.
Coaching Fastpitch Softball – Drills
Now that you have a better understanding of your practice outline you’ll need to find some coaching fastpitch softball drills. In the coaching fastpitch softball plan above you’ll see in the infield and outfield areas a note for EDD’s or every day drills . For a young group of kids in the outfield this could be just hitting them fly balls so that they’re learning to move to the ball and catch it, for a more experienced team this could be working on the drop step and attack drills or finding the fence drills. The same holds true for the infielders, it could be working on backhanding ground balls or working on short hops. There are hundreds of various drills out there and describing them here would take away from the key points we’re trying to explain about becoming a fastpitch softball coach, we encourage you to do a little more research here. As I mentioned above we live in an information age and the internet is full of coaching fastpitch softball dvd’s, coaching fastpitch softball books, and fastpitch softball websites. One of my favorite sites is The Softball Clinic; I know these coaches personally so that may jade my opinion, but their site is growing and they personally answer your email questions. They were solid players and have coached their summer teams to national titles and have won numerous high school championships. But no matter where you go look for information and coaching drills that you can understand and feel comfortable sharing with your kids, the more comfortable you are the better they’ll understand and perform.
Coaching Fastpitch Softball – Getting Assistant Coaches
This will be easier than you think all you’ll have to do is ask and Dad’s will be running out of the stands to assist you. But be careful here, it’s like chocolate, a little is fantastic, too much and you’ll get a belly ache. Only take on enough assistants to get the job done and look for those that will work within what you’re trying to accomplish as a fastpitch softball coach. It’s okay that you don’t agree on everything as that helps us all grow, but it’s important that you’re on the same page when it comes to game time strategy.
Coaching Fastpitch Softball – The Rewards
Trust me on this one, while we all hope that our team will be the best, teaching them to compete, and helping them build their confidence in the process is equally rewarding. Of all the kids you’ll coach in fastpitch softball, only a handful will play on beyond their high school years, and while that’s rewarding to know that you played a part in their success, the real gratification comes in knowing that you’ve played a part in their character. When they come back years from now and say “coach I was having a tough day at work, and I remembered back to when I was having tough days in softball, and you wouldn’t let me give up.” You see the game of softball for these young women is only a game today, tomorrow it will be a life lesson, you don’t always win, but if you practice hard, you’ll always be prepared for what the pitcher and life throws at you.
Good luck with coaching fastpitch softball, I hope to see you on the field!
“Success comes from knowing that you did
your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
~John Wooden
