Team bonding

[klinder]

There has to be a balance of focused work to get better, competition, fun, and taking time to build your team chemistry. All of it is important. The challenge is finding the balance.

If we don't have competition in practice how do we learn to compete and be mentally tough in games? My best teams had kids who loved competition. They hated to lose at anything and everything. In todays world I think we have lost some of that competitiveness. Kids are ok with losing because there is always another game. It doesn't hurt to lose.

If we don't have fun in practice, kids check out and don't want to work or play anymore. I have had many discussions about today's kids quitting because its not fun anymore. Well what is fun? For most kids you would hope competition is fun. You would also hope that winning is fun but in today's world winning may not be fun for the kid who never gets to play. Earning playing time has gotten lost somewhere a few years ago. Probably when we went away from straight up double elimination tournaments.

Coaches have the challenge of creating a culture that makes competition fun and yet motivates kids to work to want to win.

 

[mike_dyer]

Do this.

And when you do this everyone who has a kid on your team who reads this forum is going to know you got it from me.

Then when you tell them what a pain in the *** parents like me are they will know that you are F.O.S.

Give the kids a blank sheet of paper at the end of your 1st practice and tell them to write their goal on it and bring it to your next practice.

It doesn't have to be a softball goal. Can be a life goal, or a basketball goal, or a softball goal, or a book reading goal, or a running goal, or a weight lifting goal, or whatever really.
Collect them at your next practice.

When they come to the practice after that have them hung on the fence with clothes pins way higher than could ever reach by jumping. Tell them they have to reach their goal somehow but that they aren't allowed to climb the fence.

It will take them a few to realize that they are going to have to have their team mates lift them up to get it.

If that doesn't bond you picked the wrong kids and them NOTHING will.