Blog Archives
Giving Players the Chance to Work Through Adversity
One of the most common phrases you will hear in all of sports is “player development.” Whether it’s a 10U girls fastpitch softball team coached by volunteers or a multi-billion dollar NFL franchise, everyone likes to talk about how important player development is for the short- and long-term success of the team and the organization.
That is, of course, until somebody makes a mistake or a problem arises. Then all that talk about letting players develop goes out the window as the coach unceremoniously removes said player from the game so the team doesn’t face the unthinkable prospect of possibly losing a game because of that one play.
Yeah, I’m getting a little hyperbolic but it’s to make a larger point: how in the world will players develop when the minute something bad happens they are removed from the situation?
We’ve all heard the phrases “iron sharpens iron,” “steel is forged in heat,” and “diamonds are lumps of coal that stood up to pressure.” But none of those great outcomes happen if you remove the object from the situation the second any stress occurs.
That’s why, if you are actually committed to seeing your players develop, you have to leave them in to face their greatest difficulties or fears, even if it means you might lose a few more games here or there rather than pulling them something starts to go wrong. By giving them a chance to work their way out of a difficult situation, even if they ultimately fail today, you will help them become better-prepared for the next time they face similar pressure.
Take a pitcher, for example. Maybe she is fairly new to pitching, or has been sidelined for a while with an injury.
She starts the game and does ok in the first inning, but then she walks a couple of hitters on 8 or 9 total pitches. Time to pull her, right?
Not necessarily. If you’re in an elimination Sunday game maybe.
But if you’re playing a meaningless weekday friendly, or a showcase where no college coaches are there to see someone specifically, or a pool play game (especially where seeding will be decided by a blind draw) a better strategy for the player and the team might be to go out and talk to her, try to reinforce her confidence, then leave her in there to try to work her way out of the situation.
She just might surprise you. And even if she doesn’t, who cares?
Losing that game doesn’t really affect anything but your ego around your team’s record. But giving that pitcher a chance to work her way through difficulty might be just the boost she needs to help her contribute more to the team down the road.
After all, pitchers need innings if they’re going to be effective. Taking them out of the game because you panic at the first sign of trouble (or are more worried about wins than giving your players a chance to develop) will just set them back further on their own journeys – and could even cost you players who become great when someone else shows a little more faith.
The same is true for fielders and hitters. If you pull a fielder after one or even two errors rather than giving her a chance to recover she’s not going to learn very much – except that you have no faith in her.
If you constantly DH for a hitter because you don’t want to give up an out, or put in a pinch hitter any time the situation is remotely tense, it’s unlikely she’s going to develop the confidence it takes to swing the bat effectively.
Then, one day when she comes to the plate in a meaningful game where you have no other options, you’ll have no one to blame for her failure but yourself.
Ok, so does this mean I think you should never pull a pitcher or make another substitution? Of course not.
There are times when it has to be done. If you’re in a “win or go home” situation and your pitcher is starting to struggle, you’re probably going to want to look to the bullpen sooner rather than later.
Although even then, if you truly believe in that pitcher, you might consider leaving her in a little longer with the understanding you may not win this lesser tournament in order to make sure she’s ready for a more important one down the road.
Same with the fielder or hitter. If the fielder looks like she’s not mentally focused, or is herself panicking over the error(s), and there is a risk of elimination (or even dropping needlessly into the loser’s bracket), you may have to take her out.
But if you do, don’t just send her to Purgatory. Talk to her, try to reinforce her confidence, and assure her she’ll get more opportunities. Today is just a tough day.
If you have to DH or pinch hit for a hitter, let her know it’s not the end of the world. This particular situation needed a change, but she will have more opportunities to work herself back into the batting lineup, because the change is situational, not permanent.
Then live up to it.
Bottom line is there are times when hard decisions have to be made and players need to come out. But all too many times, coaches are making those decisions for the wrong reasons.
Instead of making a knee jerk decision at the first sign of trouble, give those players an opportunity to face the tough challenges and work their way out of an issue for a little longer than you might be comfortable. You never know when it will be just the thing to spur the creation of your team’s next superstar.
And help you build a reputation as a genius at handling players.
My good friend Jay Bolden and I have started a new podcast called “From the Coach’s Mouth” where we interview coaches from all areas and levels of fastpitch softball as well as others who may not be fastpitch people but have lots of interesting ideas to contribute.
You can find it here on Spotify, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re searching, be sure to put the name in quotes, i.e., “From the Coach’s Mouth” so it goes directly to it.
Give it a listen and let us know what you think. And be sure to hit the Like button and subscribe to Life in the Fastpitch Lane for more content like this.
Top photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com
Nothing Grows in the Comfort Zone
Photo by Mina-Marie Michell on Pexels.com
Came across a version of the headline of this post yesterday in another context this week and thought “How appropriate for fastpitch softball!”
Of course, it immediately brought to mind an image of a lush, beautiful landscape with flowers, and trees, and butterflies, and cute little animals romping around freely under a nearly cloudless sky on a warm day with a cool breeze. Surrounded on all sides by a desolate landscape.
We all love our comfort zones. By definition we’re comfortable there. Life is easy, there’s no stress, we can just go along our merry way without a worry in the world.
As nice as that sounds, however, the problem with the comfort zone is it’s locked in time and place. Sure it seems nice, and we believe nothing bad will happen there. But nothing great or new will happen there either.
And that’s the problem. As a player, or as a coach, you’re either moving forward or you’re moving backward. Because it’s not just about you – it’s about you relative to everyone else.
If you stay in your comfort zone while others are struggling to get better, those others will eventually pass you by. Think of a log stuck in a river.
The log stays where it is while the water goes rushing by. It’s not that the log went backward; it’s still exactly where it was. But the water kept moving, and now it’s further downstream than it was.
So it is with your softball skills/knowledge and ability to play/coach. You won’t grow as a player or a coach if you just decide to stay in your comfort zone. You’ll be stuck in time while everyone else moves ahead.
Think of the hitter who dominates when she is younger because she is bigger, or stronger, or better-coordinated than the other girls. She judges her ability based on outcomes, and since her outcomes are better than the others she doesn’t bother to work on getting better. She’s comfortable doing what she’s doing.
In the meantime, other players who may not have been as blessed with natural abilities take lessons, or study what great players do on their own, and start working to make the most of the abilities they have. They learn quality mechanics and how to apply them, and suddenly as the pitching gets better they’re hitting better than the “natural” who stayed in comfort zone.
They grew, and the “natural” didn’t. Suddenly the “natural” doesn’t have as much of an advantage anymore. Eventually the river of players passes her by and she’s left to wonder, “what happened?”
This is also true of coaches. There are so many coaches out there who view the fact they played baseball or softball in high school or college X years ago as giving them all the knowledge they need to coach today’s players.
They stay with what they did (or what they think they did, which isn’t always the same) and what worked for them rather than looking into whether there might be a better way. As a result, they put their players at a disadvantage versus those who are being coached by coaches who are willing to get out of their comfort zones and learn new things.
Great coaches, whether they played at a high level or not, are always looking for every advantage and piece of knowledge they can bring to their players. They’re not afraid to say, “I know I used to teach X, but I’m not teaching that anymore. Let’s do Y, because I believe it’s a better way to go.”
No less than former UCLA head coach and NFCA Hall of Famer Sue Enquist is one of those coaches. I heard a story a few years ago that she was making a presentation at a coach’s clinic about hitting when a member of the audience raised his hand and said that he had one of her hitting instruction videos and what she was saying completely contradicted what she said in the video.
Without blinking an eye she owned it and said, “Well, I know a lot more now than I did then.”
If someone at that level, with all her accomplishments and championships wasn’t afraid to get out of her comfort zone so she could grow, the rest of us shouldn’t be either.
Yes, the living is easy in the comfort zone. But that’s the problem. There’s no growth there – everything just stays as-is.
Steel is forged in fire. Diamonds are created under tremendous pressure.
If you want to grow as a player or coach, make the leap. Get out of your comfort zone and become the player or coach you were meant to be.
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 