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Doug

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  1. I have a question on the placement of the none glove hand when teaching young players to catch the ball. I have heard everything from the aligator to putting it behind the glove. What is the correct way?
  2. jmvball, Hello and welcome to the forum. I am sure that you will find that everyone here is more than willing to help. Doug
  3. Charlie, You are right on. I am so tired of the win at all cost, it's all about my little superstar parents questioning every move I make, playing time, etc. I just want to have fun and teach the kids as much about basketball and then let them have fun. You won't see me standing up during the game screaming and hollering and walking the sidelines. I let the kids play the game and look for things I need to work on at the next practice. I thought this was a good thing, but of course the hardcore parents now question my "laid back attitude". I just don't get what these parents are looking for. Keep up the good work. Doug
  4. John, I don't coach volleyball, but I can say that we have put basketball and baseball teams together with kids from different schools and we haven't had a problem with them not really becoming a team. Our current basketball team is comprised of 10 and 11 year olds. What we have experienced is somewhat of a lack of respect for each other. When we try to have a controlled scrimmage they sometimes get so out of hand with the trash talking, pushing and shoving, etc., that we have to break them apart and stop the scrimmage all together. Alot of it seems to stem from the trash talking that is such a big part of these kids game these days. This hasn't really effected us in a game yet, but I am concerned that it will carry over to game time and effect them playing as a team. Doug
  5. Doug

    5 Yr Old Unhappy

    That is a tough one. You don't want your kid to quit, but you don't want him to dislike the game and never want to play again. My son went through the same thing last year, in his first year with little league. He played on a team with 6 through 8 year olds on it. There were only two other 6 year olds and the two other 6 year olds were much more focused on baseball than he was. I though it was a mistake at first as he got into trouble quite a bit and had to run. I knew that he was a little immature compared to the others and that he liked to goof around so I thought it might be a real tough season for him. Initially he started giving me trouble about going to practices. I told him that he wasn't going to get to play in the game if he didn't practice and this kept him going although we came real close a couple of times to giving up and just letting him quit. In the mean time we kept practicing at home and when we got the chance we went to the cages to hit. After about two weeks he was like a new kid out there. I am not saying he became the best baseball player ever, but he could hang with the other kids. He started hitting, his fielding and throwing improved and once he realized the other kids weren't going to play around he really started to focus. I have coached this age group myself and I have to admit that I don't hesitate to run kids who are goofing off and creating a distraction for everyone else. I don't think it's fair to let a couple of kids mess it up for those who are there to learn, but I have also found that a lot of it is not keeping them busy enough. So I also focus on keeping them in small groups where they are always busy. In summary, it turned out to be a very good experience for us and my son is a better ball player this year because of it. I am not saying that is the right thing for you and your son only giving you my experience. Good luck, Doug
  6. Sunagod, I feel your pain. It is tough not to get caught up in the losses when you work so hard. Just keep positive and keep working on the fundamentals and player knowledge of the situation and no matter what the win/loss record is you will have a successful season and something to build on for the future. Just my opinion but I think you are wasting your time an energy to give a big post game breakdown with your players. They will forget it as soon as they leave the field. I always approached it from a coaching standpoint. That is what did I see from the game that needed to be worked on or addressed in the next practice. Good Luck, Doug
  7. Bert and John, I always enjoy your posts. I don't even coach volleyball, but I find myself coming back here time and time again just to keep a good perspective on you coaching. Thanks for the great posts. Doug
  8. I am not sure exactly what A ball is, but I know 7 and 8 year olds and at this age everyone should be given opportunities. Sounds to me like it's all about you and your son as you have already prepared yourself to blowoff those "Problem parents" who have the guts to ask you why it's all about your son. You should do your son and the league a favor and stay on the sidelines. Doug
  9. I am a male coach and I for one would not have any problem's at all with a female coaching my son's as long as you are prepared for each practice. Most parents are just looking for a coach who run's an organized practice and teaches their kids in a positive manner. So just show up prepared to keep the kids moving, know what you want to accomplish for each practice session and communicate with the parents and I think you will do fine.
  10. A couple of rules that we have 1 - The coaches decide what position you will play so don't ask. 2 - Parents let the coaches coach. Cheer for the team but don't yell out instructions to the players. 3 - Hustle in and hustle out. 4 - When a coach is talking everyone is quiet and eyes on the coach. 5 - Be at the game 45 minutes prior to the start time or don't expect to start. 6 - If a player makes a mistake let the coach talk to him. All other players need to repond positively.
  11. Rigby38, The best thing a coach can do is have a team meeting with the parents before the season begins. At the meeting the coach should have a list of expectations from players and parents and a list of what the parents can expect from him/her.
  12. Brian, My son who is 10 years old has terrible form when running. He plays soccer, basketball and baseball. He has decent coordination and is above average in size but he is hampered by poor running mechanics. You can really see him trying to run fast but his tight hand, arms and shoulders hold him back. How can I help him develop better mechanics. Thanks, Doug
  13. Charlie, Thanks for the great suggestion. Too late for this year, but I will definately consider taking pictures next year for distribution to the team. I checked out the sports crosses and order a couple. My daughter just loves them. I will be talking with the team and we will probably be buying one for all of our girls. Doug
  14. Bamadevo, There are some great simple drills on this site in the y-coach.com coaching database. Keep things simple and fun. Keep the kids busy. Make sure they all bring their own ball to practice. Small sided games are great for this age group. Sharks and minnows, red light green light, etc. The more you can focus on fundamentals the better they will be in the long run. Spend some time going over the field of play with them. Do some throw-ins and find out who on your team can do a good throw-in. Most likely in games you will have a few kids that dominate touches as they are more aggressive so during practice make sure everyone gets touches or the weaker players will never get better. Good luck!
  15. Coach, Keep in mind here that you have a recreational team not a club team. Keep things simple in practice. To avoid lines and to keep everyone invovled play small sided games 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, etc, where the team who scores stayes on against the next group. Have everyone bring their own ball so that you can maximize touches during practice. Avoid general scrimmaging for more than 15 minutes per hour as your weaker players won't get many touches during scrimmages and thus probably won't get better. Spend time on things that will give you opportunities to score. Throw-ins, corner kicks and clearing the ball away from your goal. With recreational soccer players it is going to be difficult to teach them possession tactics. Spend time teaching your defenders to just clear the ball out and away from your goal. Teach your midfielders the proper throw-in techniques. One thing that has really helped my players that were affraid to mix it up and get hurt was to show them that when they stayed back and didn't attack the ball they had a better chance of getting hit in the face than if they attacked the ball. Once they saw that when they really attacked the ball it didn't have time to get higher than their shins they really started being more aggressive attacking on defense. Here are a couple of games we play at every practice: DTS Race - Line your teams up in equal groups. The teams will race each other around a cone to a goal and then shoot. They receive one point for each goal and the first team to ten wins. Make sure every player has a ball. Use cones to make a 2 or 3 step-wide goal for each team. Set-up the turning cone 10 - 15 yards from the goal. Close out - This a 1 vs 1 game where the defender closes out on the offensive player. I run two or three groups at a time. I roll the ball towards the goal and have the offensive player go full speed behind the ball to take a shot on goal. The defender must try to get to the ball first and clear it. The offensive player then goes to defense and the defender goes to the back of the line. 3 vs 2 in scoring position. This allows you to work on both your offense and defense. You can easily show your team how staying spread out makes it easier to beat the defense and you can work on defensive recovery. Good Luck! Doug
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