Total Preparation is a Must

When you prepare for a season you really try to make sure you cover everything and it always seems that when you play a real game you find out that you did not cover something enough. This is why I only plan out practice through the first game because when game starts it is important that as coaches we evaluate were we are as a team and what needs to be worked on. With an inexperienced team like the one I have, one has to prioritize what skills are the most important. The key is at the end of the regular season that you are at your best and ready for the post season.

Scott Miller

The Fruits of our Labors

I have not blogged for awhile because my wife just had a baby and we were on spring break. Today was our last practice before our first game — a double header.  Today was the day to polish up on the things that we have been working on.  We did a game simulation and then did hitting groups with 4 stations.  At the end of practice we did some baserunning and went over offensive signs. I feel very confident that we are prepared for our first game. I know that we are not going to be as good as we will be for our 10th game, but that is part of preparing for the long haul. I hear that after the first game, many coaches go into maintenance mode and to me that is a mistake.  I feel that you should not go into that mode until post season or the off season. There is always something to work on or to learn. Two other things that my team is currently dealing with, is we have some injuries and grade issues, which I am glad grade issues are happening early so I can nip them in the bud. We have had to move some girls around and some younger girls will have to step up. I am looking forward to tomorrow to see how everyone reacts. The last thing I want to say is that coaches with families really need to take the time to thank our family for allowing us to take the time to do something we love.  As an example, my wife had the baby at 9 in the morning and she told me that I should go to practice at 3pm. Sometimes the people in our lives do not get the credit for their parts in helping us be successful coaches.Scott Miller

Baserunning 101

Never assume that your team know how to run bases. Base running is a large part of the game, yet it often gets overlooked as coaches tend to think their players should just know how to do it. One way that we work on running bases is I give them a situation and hit a ball and they have to react the proper way. I will also work with them on reading ball in the dirt from the pitcher. The way we work on that is I pitch into a screen and they get their leads and if the ball hits the dirt they go. We work on base running almost every practice and it will win us games this season. A good base running team puts a lot of pressure on the defense and makes them make mistakes. We also do a great conditioning drill that combines proper base running with conditioning about three times a week.

Scott Miller

24 Hours Makes all the Difference.

It is amazing the difference 24 hours makes. I walked away from yesterday’s practice and thought that this team is not going to put the required work in to be successful. I said this because within the early part of the season I had to rip them for not working hard and to me it is way to early to have to address that. So that being said I came into todays practice with a slight chip on my shoulder thinking these girls had something to prove. Sure as heck they proved me wrong today and showed that without my motivation they were ready to work. I was very happy with what they did. The hitting stations went great and they learned the progression drills and did a pretty good job doing them. Then we went into defense and the infielders practiced working through ground balls and the outfielders worked on soft hands. After working the infield and outfield we had glove time and had some fun. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Scott Miller

Flat Spots in Practice

Today was the first day that I walked away from practicing thinking that the girls did not give everything they had. The practice started off with them playing catch, and that was all. They were not working on mechanics and not focusing on moving their feet when they caught the ball. Then we went to work on infield and outfield which I felt went pretty well. Suddenly we hit rock bottom, we were working on cut off and relays. The girls were almost walking through the drill. At first I felt that it was them thinking to much and not wanting to make a mistake. So I called them in to pick it up and after that they did a 100% times better job. Which as a coach I know I should be happy they responded to what I had to say but it is way to early in the year for me to have to be a motivating factor. To me, that is one of the hardest parts of being a coach; you want your players to want to work hard for you but at the same time you do not want to have to say anything to them about it. After cut offs we went to hitting and that went well, but that lack of effort in the middle of practice is still really sticking with me. I will not let it effect tomorrow but if the same thing happens when we go over 1st and 3rds then “it” will hit the fan. Sometimes players lose sight on how important preparation of the little things is. Yet that is what makes good teams and as coaches, we have to remind them of that sometimes.

Scott Miller

Team Meeting

We had our team meeting about expectations and defensive plays today and I felt that it went well. They all filled out a play notebook and learned our offensive signals. I thought it was a great reminder course for the returners and a good intro to the freshman. The true impact of the meeting will not be felt for a couple of weeks when we see how this has helped with the learning process and works in a game. To me, the worst thing about coaching is that things never pay off right away; it is always a waiting game. That is why it is so important to not get to excited about what you have done as a coach because you never know what is coming next. I am happy with the progress, however tomorrow the real work starts. I feel that the ground work has been laid and now it is time to build on that.

Scott Miller

Sometimes Practice Must be Cancelled

I was planning on having the team meeting about expectations and defensive plays yesterday, but I was very sick and had to cancel practice. I did not want to put my assistant coach in a tough situation on having him run his second practice with us alone, plus I was unable to put a practice plan together for him.

So we have postponed that meeting for Monday since the weather is not expected to be good then.

The girls today did well, we reinforced fundamentals again, and were able to go outside and take some fly balls. I tried to stress the need for detail. In a game like softball where drills are repetitive it is easy after a couple times going through a drill to revert back to old habits. As a coach I am having to remind players of the little things that they are not doing correctly because when game time comes we need their muscle memory to take over. By doing this I have to not be results oriented because someone may field the ball but maybe did not do it correctly. Some may say why bother if they made the play, and my response to that is if you want consistency then you need to do it right every time.

Scott Miller

My Assistant Coach Joins Us

Practice was very much the same as the last two days with adding basic outfield fundamentals. We worked on geting behind fly balls and running in for a grounder and then breaking down in a good fielding position. The main thing that was on my mind was Thursday’s practice. Instead of going outside or into the gym we are going to the classroom. I had booklets made today with an outline of a field on each page. On each page the girls are going to fill out were every position should be in certain situations. An example would be bunt defense, the girl would draw that the second baseman goes to cover 1st base. We are doing this so they will have this at home and I can tell them that the we are going to cover 1st and 3rd tomorrow so look at your notes tonight and then we will not waste time on the field with a lot of explaining. During the meeting I will cover all of my expectations, some of my pet peeves, and the little issues as a coach you know will come up, so I am going to nip them in the bud.

This was also the first day my new assistant coach came out, he was coaching b-ball, and he did a good job stepping in when needed. I think meeting with him before the season and talking about how I do things got us off to a good start.

Scott Miller

Two Days Down

After today’s practice I feel really good about the girls infield fielding mechanics. Their foot work for the most part is looking pretty good for just two days in. One thing that I introduced to them was glove time, a full explanation is on the freebies page. In short it is a time for the girls to have fun but at the same time making them use their glove and having it become a part of the body. We played a game of flip and a game of pepper they seemed to enjoy it and picked up on it fairly quickly. After working through glove time, fundamentals and taking ground balls we set up for hitting.

The first thing we did was review the basic principles of hitting, and then formed a hitting circle, this is where the girls are dry-swinging the bats. I want to make sure that have good mechanics before we start to hit balls, if they can not swing properly when they are not trying to hit anything, then there is no way that they will be able to swing properly when they are. After the hitting circle we setup hitting stations. The hitting stations were basic, tee work, soft-toss and bucket soft-toss. The main focus today was using their hands and elbows and not their shoulders.

Scott Miller

One Practice Down…

We just finished the first practice of the season, and I am pretty happy the things went. This is only the second year of the program so I was concerned that with only one year to start setting a tradition, the small things would be forgotten. My fears were put to rest when I walked in the gym and the returners were letting the freshman know that they needed to tuck in their shirts and make sure that they were hustling.

Without the entire team at practice yet, due to basketball practice, we are taking these first three days for the girls to review the fundamentals. That way when the b-ball girls come out I have already taught fielding fundamentals and hitting fundamentals to most of the girls so I can focus on the girls that were not there and reinforce what we have covered. I will admit when preparing for practice I did pull up Jody’s Fielding Fundamentals video to make sure that I was covering everything. That just shows no matter the age group or how long someone has coached that fundamentals are something that we need to go over to refresh.

Scott Miller