HBCSC Coaches Corner

Coaches Corner 2019-2020 Season Handbook Created by: Lisa Maulden

Dear HBCSC Coaches, Thank you for volunteering your time towards educating the future softballers of New Zealand. Within this handbook are resources on how be successful this upcoming season. Included are tips and tricks on: the HBCSC Coaches and Manager Handbook, goal setting, using the Softball New Zealand Player and Coach Development Pathway, some in's and out's to creating practice plans, the importance of the why's and how's, along with a tentative seasonal schedule for Softball New Zealand, North Harbour Softball Association and Auckland Softball Association. Thank you again for your  dedication to the sport and to the future stars of HBCSC and New Zealand softball. - Lisa Maulden 2019-2020 Coaching Coordinator

Table of Contents: HBCSC Coaches and Managers Handbook - Decoded Communication Goal Setting: SMART and SMARTER Goals Softball New Zealand: Player and Coach Development Pathway Practice Planning 101 The Why and the How Tentative 2019-2020 Season Schedule Resources

Team Card - The Basics Below is a sample of the 2018-2019 North Harbour Softball Association's team card:

Team Card - The Basics Things to Remember: All names of those who are present on the day are to be written CLEARLY and to match the names submitted in Sporty (no nicknames, shortened or misspelled names!) First on the draw is responsible for: team names, innings, date, grade, diamond, gender, time, signatures, and their own section of player names and details Second team on the draw: completing their own section of player names and details Basic rules and resources are on the back of the team card  Turn in the team card directly after the game

COMMUNICATION Effective communication with your athletes will take you a long way this season. What are your athlete's goals this season? Do they match your seasonal goals as a coach? How do your athletes prefer to learn? Does this match your current coaching style? Are you able to adapt your coaching style to reach more of your athletes at once?

How to Approach A Corrective Situation: Approacing players can sometimes be uncomforable and/or difficult. Sometimes you just want to SCREAM and YELL, but that will not be the most receptive way to approach a learning situation. In all reality: THE ATHLETE KNOWS THEY HAVE MADE AN ERROR.  How are you going to approach this situation? Coaching Sandwich: Positive/Encourage Constructive Criticism Encourage/Reassure Be Sincere Offer Help Be Specific Be Timely

Joey Is Having a Day... Joey has successfully let the ball go under his glove and between hit legsTHREE times this practice in the last FIVE reps. How do we handle this? \"JOEY! GET IT TOGETHER MATE AND GET YOUR GLOVE DOWN EARLIER!\" Well, Coach, you are not wrong with your information, but now Joey is now shaking like a leaf at shortstop... \"Hey Joey, you are approaching the ball the correct way, but you are a bit late with getting your glove on the ground. Keep your same approach but with these next few reps but adjust  to being in your fielding position a bit earlier. You've got this!\"

Goal Setting SSMMAARRTT aanndd SSMMAARRTTEERR GGooaallss

Goal Setting: SMART Goals are used worldwide in classrooms, businesses, etc. in order to create attainable and realistic goals. SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ACHIEVABLE RELEVANT TIMELY There will be an expectation to submit SMART goals throughout the year: 1) Team goals for the season 2) Goals for 2019 towards season goals 3) Reflection of 2019 goals and adjustments to goals in 2020 to achieve season goals 4) Reflection of team season goals

Sample Goals: My team will do better this season than before. The U13 Tigers will place higher this season (2019-2020) than their last season's ranking in post season competition (5th place) by training twice a week (instead of once a week) and will warm up for 45 minutes prior to game time (instead of 20 minutes). SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ACHIEVABLE RELEVANT TIMELY

What's better than a SMART Goal? A SMARTER Goal! SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ACHIEVABLE RELEVANT TIMELY EVALUATE RE-EVALUATE SMARTER Goals allow for reflection through short term goals, which can actively change the way we approach our longterm goals.

Softball New Zealand Player and Coach Development Pathway

Appropriate Skills & Drills for My Age Grade: Below is the NEW chart for the Softball New Zealand Player & Coach Development Pathway

Foundation Coaches: \"Foundation Coach is about sharing your knowledge and experience, making softball fun and giving everyone a go. The Foundation Coach will play an important role in making sure players learn to enjoy softball and other physical activities\" Your role as a coach in Fundamental Softball meeting the needs of SkillsPlaying positions your players & batting order Being inclusive and fair Basic game strategy Communication Softball jargon Running a coaching Correcting common session errors Planning Basic rules Basic coaching principles Equipment Info directly from Softball New Zealand National Player & Coaching Development Pathway

Example: Hitting FOUNDATION: Play: teach about bat safety, set the athlete up near the tee with their hands the right way (correct hand on top), explain which way to run and let them have a go! Discover: introduce where their feet should be when they hit, also try Coach Toss - which will start to incorporate softball rules, such as the \"strike zone\" Learn: balls and strikes become important, as well as pitch selection; hitting signs and situations are introduced and used in games Everyone plays, and everyone has fun! DISCLAIMER: THIS PAGE IS PURELY TO SHOW PROGRESSION OF A SKILL THROUGH THE AGE-GRADES AND IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH SOFTBALL NEW ZEALAND'S TEACHING

Development Coaches: \"Development will help determine the coaches' level of interest in the game and future coaching aspirations. It is an important period covering a wide range of tactical, technical and planning skills.\" Mental skills for softball Fielding mechanics and Leadership defensive strategies Position specific skills NZ Coach Approach and awareness Effective Battery development communication Understanding pitch Understanding the counts and hitter athlete tendencies Giving Feedback Pitching movement Evaluating your Hitting fundamentals coaching and the short game Info directly from Softball New Zealand National Player & Coaching Development Pathway

Performance Coaches: \"Performance is where coaches work with pre- elite athletes, they represent both the pinnacle of the community sport experience, while also the gateway to the world of high performance. Performance coaches support that narrower range of athletes who have shown extra ability and have moved on to representative sport at either youth or adult level\" Hitting, pitching & Strength & catching; technical & conditioning tactical Tools & techniques for Offensive & defensive behavior management strategy Club Coaching Hitting & defensive Coordinator styles Mentoring Mental processes Info directly from Softball New Zealand National Player & Coaching Development Pathway

WHO are These Coaches!? Club CoachesTePPrWrrtPiorihvavooarfitdCayeeeosLsarSiivcsotihnnuagFdloesrnts Sport coaches TPSereciamocnahderaryrsyor ReDgeivoOenflaofilpcSmepreosnrtts come in all shapes and sizes, who have different DevelopExmpeenrtienCcoeadches experiences/back grounds and a PswkaiitldrlheesentvyoatosreuidetuthycF.aootfPre mlaPFeyoerCerrofmrEoasreclmrhiteHaesnigceh

You are MORE than a AdmirableRole Modeljust a Coach: YOU are going to LeaderKind-Hearted change the lives of your athletes this season. YOU are Student of theEGduacmaetor going to make a difference in their lives, both on and off the diamond.

Practice Planning 101

Planning Effective and Efficient Practices: Most teams practice for two hours, twice a week. This should equate to: one heavy fielding day and one heavy hitting day, or two even fielding/hitting days - with pitching and catching also sprinkled into the practice plans. Weekly Plan: When coaching, Tuesday: Fielding you can choose what type of a week you are going to have! Thursday: Hitting

Plan. Conduct. Evaluate. What things are you looking to accomplish during your practices this week? Use SMART Goals to prepare for your upcoming week!  PLAN your practice/game plan CONDUCT your plan EVALUATE things that went well and things that could have gone better Weekly Plan: SPECIFIC Tuesday: Fielding MEASURABLE ACHIEVABLE RELEVANT TIMELY Thursday: Hitting

How Should My Practice Plans Look? When it comes to YOUR practice plans, YOU are in charge! Look at the goals that you have set for the week and pick skills/drills to achieve your weekly goals. TUESDAY (Fielding): Warm Up Individual Skill GOAL: Get our fielders to attack the ball instead of letting the ball come Team Drill (REPEAT) to them. Cool Down 1) Team Warm Up - Run, Stretch, Throw (LONG TOSS) 2) - Infielders: Banana Drill then throwing to Bases - Outfielders: Everydays, then Cone Drill with a partner 3) Outfielders throwing to bases (live runners - if time) 4) Bunting progression in partners, then bunting and running bases 5) Cool down

EXAMPLE: Source: Softball Australia \"Lesson 2 - Training to Train\"

Using Practice Time Wisely: One thing we want to increase is the \"hand on ball\" time per athlete during practices. This means that the more time the athlete is handling the ball (whether it's hitting or fielding) the more likely they are to be actively learning. QUIZ TIME: What is a drill that could be done to get fielders ground balls at their position?

Does your answer look like this?? Typically, this is how coaches hit their players ground balls for practice. One line, one ball at a time. This is not incorrect, but it is inefficient for large groups! Small groups, this is a wonderful drill; add a first basemen for extra hand on ball time and additional skills (throwing)! Let try again: How can we take this concept and get players more hand on ball time?

Does your answer look like this?? MUCH BETTER! This plan allows for double the ground balls, double the throws, which in turn is twice as much hand on ball time than the previous drill. But Lisa... There are two hitters in this drill and I am one coach; how do I make this practice plan work?! Ask a parent to hit Have a player hit off a tee towards the other line Incorporate hitting into this drill and have two groups hitting side toss and the others fielding the ball

How Do I Make This Drill COMPETE! Work For My Team? Older Groups: The hitter tries to hit the ball between the bases and past the fielders The fielders try to keep the ball in front (may want to eliminate throws to avoid throwing collisions on balls hit very short) Younger Groups: Same concept as above, but have more fielders in a line between the bases, using communication to field

Dealing With Adversity: Some days you make a KILLER game plan for team practice. You're excited and cannot wait to work with your athletes; this practice plan is BULLET PROOF. Practice time rolls around and only 6 players show up for practice... What do you do now? 1) Don't take your frustration out on the kids who did show up. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! 2) See what can be done in replacement of the original plan, and if that isn't possible 3) Scrap the entire plan and use a back up plan Practice Plans: Expectations: START FINISH Reality: START FINISH

The Importance of the WHY and the HOW: When working with your athletes, no matter the age, corrections to behavior should be accompanied with both WHY that behavior or action is incorrect, and also with HOW to do better next time. By providing the WHY and the HOW to your athletes, you are doing a few things for not only your athletes, but also for yourself: Explaining why and how things could be better engages the coach and the athlete in a conversation about the incident Other kids may have the same questions/make the same mistakes; allowing them to hear the why and how may improve their skills as well When faced with the same situation in the future, the athlete can remember why they were taught this specific skill, instead of \"because Coach Lisa said so...\" - this creates active learning

The WHY and the HOW in Practice: THREE benefits of using the WHY's and the HOW's when coaching are: 1) the athlete is able to remember why they are using this specific skill instead of other alternatives, 2) they are given the proper tools on how to do better in the future, which in turn, 3) could lead to the athlete sharing their knowledge with others in the future. Students of the game learn not only from their coaches, but also from their peers. Set your athletes up for success by giving them the tools to also be teachers/ ambassadors of the game!

Softball New Zealand and YOU! Rookie Sox 6 Week Offensive & Defensive Program: designed for players 9 - 12 years of age *** introduction to positions - Honoring the Game - practice plans geared towards player growth (physically and mentally) Rookie & Emerging Sox - Pitching & Catching Programs: designed for players 13-18 years of age *** iaims to increase the quality and quantity of pitchers and catcher across New Zealand - contact local presenters in your area for lessons

Important Notes: Below are a few things to remember before you dive into the upcoming season: Plan Conduct Evaluate Repeat. Your style of coaching will not be the same as other coaches. If we were all the same, there would be no individuality in this world TRUST. THE. PROCESS. There is a process of learning that takes place in every athlete; give them the tools to succeed! We coach a sport of failure. Define your outcomes as \"successes\" and \"learning opportunities\" for your athletes Softball is a mental sport, take care of your player's mental health while you push them to be the best version of them- selves possible! Point out mistakes, tell the athlete WHY & HOW to do better next time

Reminders: Taking advices and learning from other's mistakes is an important part of being an educator. Here are some things to remember: \"I focused on outcomes (instead of learning); I focused on being serious (instead of enjoyment); I tried to inspire by demeaning (instead of being demanding); I took credit for the good and blamed others for the bad (instead of the opposite); I did lots of talking (instead of listening); I acted like a general (instead of a teacher); I used fear as a motivator (instead of love); I knew it all (instead of being humble)\" Making the same mistake over and over again is the insanity plea; make a change for the better! https://activeforlife.com/becoming-a-better-coach/

2019-2020 Season Schedule

Resource Page: More on SMART/SMARTER Goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCRSVRD2EAk https://www.thebalancesmb.com/set- goals-evaluate-and-re-evaluate-often- 1794351