Focus Coaching??

[jt7663]

Any ideas on how to get the girls to Focus on their Task @ hand? They go to Hitting, Pitching Coaches, Clinics Strength & Agility but it seems some could use a Coach or Something to teach them how to Focus when Hitting, Fielding Pitching etc..

 

[larrybowman]

What age group you talking about? I'm assuming younger girls 10-12U maybe? If that's the case it may just be a maturity thing, or if it is an older age group say 16U it could just be they've got a lot on there minds with ACT tests, school work, or trying to figure out a decision for college? Could be a number of things at that age. Now back to the younger girls, honestly puberty could be hitting (those were fun times).... Also the younger girls let some of the small stuff bother them that the older girls just shrug off because of the maturity level. How to get them to focus is a great question. Maybe try looking into some mental exercises for them, have them "see" the game being played in there minds, the situations on the field, driving a perfect line drive up the middle to win a game, etc..... Just some ideas..... Best of luck!

 

[FastBat]

Any ideas on how to get the girls to Focus..

My experience with young kids (12u and under):
Make a game out of it. How many line drives can you hit out of 10, while using proper mechanics? How many balls in a row can you throw back and forth with out dropping. Who can pick up the most balls, while cleaning up? Stuff like that. If they are very competitive they will beg you for more "games" aka practice!

You may have to be innovative with your practices, more frequent changes, with less lengths of time. That would be hard for me, when I get focused, I could spend hours doing something repetitive, but most kids aren't built like that.

You may also consider some "school" setting, type focus drills. My dd was in a program at school, I would use the same principles on the field. Google how to get students to focus at school?

One thing, I refuse to do, is reward a good on field performance. For instance, I would never say, "since you did good today, you get an ice cream cone." To me, kids do good for themselves, not for an ice cream cone....as a parent. Although, my dd has a coach, that will every once in a while, stop at the gas station and pick up a few bags of candy. Then, at the end of practice, reward a couple kids based on hustle or hard work. Not every practice, so they better work hard every practice, because they never know when they are going to get rewarded!

Good luck!

 

[cobb_of_fury]

My experience with young kids (12u and under):
Make a game out of it. How many line drives can you hit out of 10, while using proper mechanics? How many balls in a row can you throw back and forth with out dropping. Who can pick up the most balls, while cleaning up? Stuff like that. If they are very competitive they will beg you for more "games" aka practice!

You may have to be innovative with your practices, more frequent changes, with less lengths of time. That would be hard for me, when I get focused, I could spend hours doing something repetitive, but most kids aren't built like that.

You may also consider some "school" setting, type focus drills. My dd was in a program at school, I would use the same principles on the field. Google how to get students to focus at school?

One thing, I refuse to do, is reward a good on field performance. For instance, I would never say, "since you did good today, you get an ice cream cone." To me, kids do good for themselves, not for an ice cream cone....as a parent. Although, my dd has a coach, that will every once in a while, stop at the gas station and pick up a few bags of candy. Then, at the end of practice, reward a couple kids based on hustle or hard work. Not every practice, so they better work hard every practice, because they never know when they are going to get rewarded!

Good luck!

Good rule of thumb on Kids and Focusing they typicaly can take about 1 minute for every year in age - For 8 year olds keepinstruction and drills under 8 minutes, 10 year old 10 Minutes, Etc - even with 16-18 year olds you have less then 20 minutes of good focus. some will do better than others but it's a good measure.

 

[Mad Hornet]

[video=youtube;m_MaJDK3VNE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_MaJDK3VNE[/video]

 

[jt7663]

12 & Under

 

[Skapin]

I agree on above posts about keeping them moving quickly from drill to drill and keeping things fresh to keep them interested. Focus in general can absolutely be trained though. I know they are young but I have had success using concentration grids with older players. They are specifically meant to increase focus over time if you slowly lengthen the time involved. If you have an ipad/tablet you could even make a game out of it, by having them login and compete against each other for the fastest times. I have often used this as a "station" in hitting sessions for team drills. The player "in the hole" or "on deck" (depending on the number of players in a group) has to use the concentration grid prior to seeing pitches in the cage. In reality though this is only used to increase focus measured in seconds to increase performance. If you are looking for focus over longer periods of time they need to become mindful of when they are "drifting" off from the moment. It is all about teaching them to feel when they are not in the moment and getting them to snap back to the present. This can also be done, but I imagine it would be quite hard in 12 year olds. I have a couple of things I do for this if you want me to explain PM me.
Good luck!

 

[jt7663]

i sent a pm

 

[CARDS]

Any ideas on how to get the girls to Focus on their Task @ hand? They go to Hitting, Pitching Coaches, Clinics Strength & Agility but it seems some could use a Coach or Something to teach them how to Focus when Hitting, Fielding Pitching etc..

Lack of focus can be a result of several factors.
Naturally the younger ages 12 and under needs a few more instructional strategies than the older ages but one of the best ways to improve training focus is to insure the ladies have properly warmed up.

Your more experienced coaches understand the value of warming up mentally and physically jumping jacks etc.. Having the ladies perform pre training activities that challenge them mentally as well as physically will burn off some of that energy and get them ready to learn.

The younger ladies 12 and under needs to have instructional delivery in small chunks…which means for a team of 12 players you need at least 3 coaches that are all on the same page. Activities need to be properly paced for all ages.
If a lady is struggling do not let the others stand around while a coach spends additional time on that lady. Have a growth plan that encourages the ladies to work on their own and when needed deliver instruction before or after the group activity.

Regardless of level of play we have been successful from recreational to top level travel using these strategies to keep the ladies engaged and focused while keeping it fun and different.

 

[travelball]

I'm not sure where you are located, but if you are in Northeast Ohio you should check out Micaela Minner in Akron. My DD's coach takes the whole team to her. She has a Masters Degree in Sports Psychology and she knows what she is doing. Just being there during the girls' session I walk out of there smarter.