Monthly Archives: April 2008
Red Sox manager Francona on building a winning team
Saw a very interesting article out on Jeff Janssen’s Championship Coaches Network site. It was part of an interview with Terry Francona, manager of the world champion Boston Red Sox.
Francona listed four things that are required to win at the highest level. (Actually there are more, but you have to be a paying member of his network to get the rest.) The four things listed are:
1. Establish your core values — things like being on time, respecting your teammates, etc.
2. You don’t have to have played to be a successful manager. You just have to be knowledgeable and a good communicator.
3. Create the right culture in the clubhouse. It’s really all about character.
4. Wherever you’re coaching is as important as the Boston Red Sox. Maybe not to the masses, but to the people you’re coaching. As a result, take your responsibility seriously and give it all you have.
It’s an article well worth reading in its entirety. Click on the link above to see it. But then remember to come back here!
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I have left many comments using my e-mail address and have received no spam as a result. I know this because the e-mail address I use here is not the only one I have. I get plenty of spam on the AOL address, but nothing for coachken@softballsuccess.com.
So please, feel safe in leaving your comments. No salesman will call. And if anyone else who has commented has had a different experience, please let me know so I can raise you-know-what with the powers that be.
Class, honor, and life lessons
Tonight I had the opportunity to watch a potentially bad situation with a terrible mismatch handled with class and honor on both sides. To me it is the best of what sports is supposed to teach our young people, but often doesn’t.
The situation was this. Our high school team was playing a conference game against a team from what is probably the most disadvantaged school in the conference. It is well known that this school struggles each year just to field a team, much less one with skills. You didn’t see any $300 bats in the hands of their hitters, and not a single parent was in the stands on their side that I could see.
It appeared tonight that several of the players on this varsity team were in their first year of playing fastpitch softball. The pitcher looked to be a volunteer who probably rolled more balls in than she threw strikes. It is the same year after year. There is no summer ball or early training for the players on this team. Their coaches generally do all they can do to teach basics most coaches expect to be learned by 10U.
Prior to the game, there was an agreement that our side’s offensive inning would end after five runs scored unless there were three outs made first. It was a good thing, because three outs were never made before five runs, and at least a couple of times there were zero outs when the teams switched it up. Our coach instructed his team not to steal a base under any circumstance — again a good thing given that the softball gods tend to punish coaches who run on weak teams by having a key player turn or break an ankle. He also started his bench players, including a pitcher who has only seen limited action. A couple of starters never even saw the field.
Runners advanced only on walks or hits, and even then the baserunning was purposely not very aggressive. I know there are those who will say that you should never let up, you want your runners to always think aggressively, etc. But I disagree with them. This coach did the right thing in restricting it. He had to play the game because it’s conference, but he knew he didn’t have to be a jerk about it. The final score was still lopsided, but the players on the losing side were treated with dignity and respect for their situation. The umpires, too, were helpful in explaining to the girls why certain calls were being made so they could learn a little more about the game.
But that was only part one of the lesson. Part two was in the conduct of the players and coaches from the visiting team. They never once got down on themselves or each other. They seemed to have fun, and looked like they were grateful just to have the opportunity to play this great game, take a couple of at bats, and wear the uniform of their school. When the game was over they were all smiles, and during the concluding high fives between the two teams a couple of them got in line a second time just for fun.
This is a team that is very likely going to go 0 for the season. But that’s not what matters to them. They are part of a team, something larger than themselves, and for a few innings whatever other life challenges they have don’t matter. They’re there to play ball.
So many of us get caught up in the wins and losses. So many players and coaches like to use games like this to pad their stats or serve some other selfish purpose. Today was a reminder that what Grantland Rice said is really true:
“For when the One Great Scorer comes
A well-executed short game
This weekend I had the opportunity to see a very well-executed short game in action. Unfortunately it was while my own daughter was pitching, but give credit where it’s due. The opposing team did what many of us practice but either don’t try or don’t execute as well. Here are the essentials.
With a runner on first, the batter showed bunt. Pretty standard offense, right? The defense charged the bunt aggressively, and the batter pulled the bat back and proceeded to push the bunt right past the pitcher and the first baseman. By the time the ball was recovered the runner was on third and the batter was on first.
This team did it not once, but twice. It wasn’t really a bad defense, it was just very heads-up offense. The lesson in this is if you see the defense charging the bunt like there’s no tomorrow there may be an opportunity to wind up with more than a runner on second and one out. If your hitter can push bunt, or pull the bat back and slap it through, you could finish the play with no outs and two on — maybe even a first and third situation. One pitch later you’re likely to have two runners in scoring position — and a defense that’s a little freaked out on top of it. Your odds of scoring have risen considerably over the standard runner on second and one out.
Your comments welcome
Every now and then I think this bears mentioning. While I own the Life in the Fastpitch Lane and get to pick the topics, this is really not intended to be a one-way street. If you have thoughts, ideas, plays, reactions to plays, etc. to share, please by all means leave comments. I am eager to hear from you. We can all learn much from one another.
Giving more than a little hint
One of the core jobs of a coach is to help his/her players improve their performance. Sometimes, though, that desire can make things worse instead of better.
Take the third base coach who knows that 1) the pitcher has a tendency to throw high pitches and 2) the hitter has a tendency to go after high pitches she can’t hit. In his desire to help, the coach will shout out “Lay off the high ones!” Well, if anyone is paying any attention at all it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what the next pitch will be.
On the other side, a coach who yells to the catcher to keep the ball down and out on the next hitter is also asking for trouble. A big part of pitching is keeping the hitter off balance and guessing. If she knows where the next pitch is going (assuming the pitcher can hit that spot!) it should be a whole lot easier to hit, because the zone she has to cover has narrowed considerably.
Those are just two examples. A coach who tells a hitter to make sure she moves up in the box in an obvious bunt situation, or tells the baserunner to make sure she gets a good jump on the next pitch is taking the element of surprise out. Again, assuming the opponent is paying attention, the coach might as well just say flat out “Hey, we’re bunting” or “Hey we’re stealing.”
It can be hard to hold your tongue sometimes, especially when the outcome is really important. But you have to learn to do it. Otherwise, you’re doing more to help the other team than your own.
Short-term failure v. long-term success
On my way home from teaching lessons tonight I was thinking about how hard many pitchers work on different pitches. Yet when it comes to games, often they (or their coaches) are reluctant to use them. They find it’s easier to be successful win if they stick with fastballs rather than taking a chance on throwing changeups or movement pitches they’ve spent the off-season learning.
That’s the wrong attitude, though. For a pitcher to develop so she can compete at a higher level, she needs to use all her pitches in game situations, even if it causes her to struggle a bit for a while.
Yes, I know, it’s easy for me to say. I’m not the one watching her struggle, or watching my team lose a game while the pitcher tries to develop. But I have been. In fact, I used that very strategy with my own daughter, while coaching my own team. By her first year in 14U she had developed a drop, curve, and screw to go with her fastball and change. Before the season we made a commitment to limit the use of the fastball, and instead focus on the other pitches. It was tough for a while — the control was a little off, and the movement was less than ideal. She got knocked around a bit, but as the season wore on she got better. Today, changes and movement pitches are the core of her game.
I will admit during that season we did wind up using more fastballs than the original plan. It was a worthwhile compromise that helped the team win more games. But we still relied primarily on the movement pitches.
It can be tough sometimes to lose games you might otherwise win. But especially at the younger ages it’s important to sacrifice a few wins now for more wins later. Use those new pitches and let the pitcher develop. It’s the key to long-term success.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 