Coaches Don't Say, Do Say and how to act after a mercy game.

[Admin]

Coaches if you have been doing this Coaching Gig for any length of time. You have watch your girls softball team get Mercy, and you have seen your girls mercy the opposition.

Right now all eyes are on you, it doesn't really matter who was the winner or loser.

Your players, parents and both Coaching Staff are watching.

Why is everyone watching you?

Your Reaction?
Your Words?

A .) What are the Don't say Words if your Girls Fastpitch Team won?

B.) What are the Don't say Words if you Girls Softball Team lost?

C.) What are the Do say words if your softball team Won?

D.) What are the Do says words if your softball team lost?


Reaction of the losing Coach, the most common reaction, I've seen by Coaches that were Mercy.

Is nothing, what I mean they won't line up with their team. They just start packing up the gear.

If I'm the winner, I'm OK with that. I wouldn't do that and never have acting that way when my team(s) was mercy.

E.) So what type of reaction from a Coach are you OK with?

F.) And what type of reactions have you seen that was disturbing?

We may talk about this more on TSZ - Radio Show! September 2nd. Show Time 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. every Tuesday "EST"

Here the link to the show http://www.thesoftballzone.com/RadioShowShell.php

#TeamTSZ

 

[coachtomv]

Well, basically act like you been there before. Try to be respectfull to the game and professional. Real easy. Especially as a head coach, because teams tend to take on the character of the head coach. If you act like a buffoon, your players and even parents will at times as well. You set the tone for everyone else and at the end of the day are responsible for how the "team" is looked upon.

I tell all my teams to never get too high or too low. live in the moment and enjoy it or learn from a setback,but then settle back in refocus and worry about the next game/play.

Tell the players to control what they can control and respect for the game and your oponent is under your control. If your apponent is an idiot, thats no excuse for lowering your standards and becoming like them.

When I have had issues with another team or coach(s), I'll still shake their hands, but believe me I may hold on to it for a few seconds and quietly tell then what I think. Now if it is a safety concern, then polite conversation tends to be short and my teams well being will come first, the old Marine in me may come out.

It should not matter if you win, lose, mercy, get mercy'd, act like you've been there before and show some character. After all, we stress life lessons all the time, sometimes those are just as important when we lose as when we win. We can learn/teach more from adversity, than when things are going easy.

 

[coachjwb]

Regardless of the outcome of a game, you always, always, always line up with your team and say good game to the other team before you do anything else. You certainly don't over-celebrate a mercy win and thereby rub it in to the other team. Agree with most everything Tom V said except for the part about quietly telling the other team what you think ... I've just never seen that do anything but escalate a situation, and right after a game is not the time and place for that to happen. You do act though like you've been there before, and be professional and show good sportsmanship. If you do feel like you need to talk with the other coach, do it later when the girls and families are not around, but generally speaking you're usually better off to just let it go.

 

[Hilliarddad3]

There's always one positive somewhere a kid on the wrong side did, find that kid and say nice job on that play or hit or hustle... As stated, act like you've been there before and don't let your girls get too high as well because payback down the road is a b#%^.....

 

[okiedad1961]

Our team last year run ruled a Canadian team last year in pool play at a invitational,coach asked me if we should get a picture w them,I said it was his call.They agree'd to do it ,and even gave us pins.They came out (canada) in semi-final and gave us a great game but we prevailed,don't know if they were extra motivated.Spoke w several parents after they were good sports.Don't know if us mid americans would have been the same.

 

[daboss]

Losing a mercy game is just business as ussual when it comes to our demeanor with the other team. Winning a mercy game is much like losing one only we feel better inside. I try to instruct my teams of past to be sportsmen and act in a professional manner in either situation. Once the last out is made the score is carved in stone. No matter how hard you try, you can't change that.

During the post game chat is where everything changes. As long as the attitude in the huddle is okay, many times I'll simply let it go and speak only of the upcoming game. I may bring to their intention the need for change during that preparation time but again I don't dwell on the past scores. Now, if there needs to be an attitude adjustment, we'll make sure they understand the coaching staff means business to see to it we get focused before another game is played.

I never lay blame on the other team nor reward them for playing better. I make sure the girls understand their fate is almost always in their own hands. They determine the outcome of a game by their own play. The exception is when we play against a team that can't do wrong. Once in a while you get a superior opponent you can't stop with a tank. You need to give them credit and chalk the experience up to what it is. They had their game, now let's go get ready to have one of our own! I don't dwell on their good play but nothing wrong with touching on the subject and reminding our team they are just as capable to have their own. After all, that's why we only play 7 innings so we can start over from scratch. We never fear the outcome but prepare to do battle each game.

Only once in all my years did I ever punish a team for losing a game by a lop-sided score. It was an embarrassment to everyone because the entire team played a game where they couldn't catch or field a ball. They couldn't warm up between innings due to not being able to field a bouncing ball and throw it to 1st base. The entire 5-inning game with all players contributing regardless of how hard we tried to get them to watch the ball------catch the ball. When the game was over, we took them to a hidden spot and made this 16u team pair up and play pass, focusing on proper throwing mechanics and catching the ball. We swore to the girls we would not quit till as a team they could play pass with each other without dropping a ball while we counted to 100. Every time they dropped one we started over. The loss put us out of the tourney, yet we went another 80 minutes before the girls achieved this goal. To this day I still feel like it was the right thing to do and on that team roster we had half the team get selected to a newspaper All-Area team the next spring. Hardest thing I ever stood there and did as a coach but the best thing that ever happened to that group of girls.