D1 Coaching clinic - sponsored by ASA and USA Softball

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What do three D1 coaches agree on ? I thought I would post that question for some good forum fodder.

After attending the ASA coaching clinic in Reynoldsburg this weekend I took a few notes (22 pages) and have a few take aways. If you attended, feel free to add on.
Coaches Mike Candrea - Arizona, Ken Erickson - South Florida and Mike White - Oregon
They believe : no particular order

Travel teams play too much and practice too little
Kids watch too much Tv
We have not taught the basics like throwing 12 6 rotation on all throws
We should allow our kids to play other sports like ******
Coaches need balance ( work, family, faith, softball )
For the USa team, they pick the best 17, not the 17 best
Effort, Attitude and Focus beat out other attributes of a great player
Never stop teaching
Never assume
The best pitcher looks effortless
Most important pitch requirement - location, location, location
Do not make every player try to be the same. They are unique so stay away from extremes
Every coach needs Personal Liability Insurance
Catchers do not take off the mask on pop ups for several reasons
Field the ball glove side as often as physically possible
There are a lot of tools and aids so find the one that helps you teach.
The rise ball does not rise, it drops less. ( this should start a conversation)
Coaches can make good players better but maybe not great since their needs to be genetic talent
Infielders need to throw long balls in practice to increase strength
Keep it fun
Challenge them, but make it achieveable
If you do not practice it, never expect them to do it in a game
Body language is stronger than words.
It is a game of failure so make sure they know that
The catcher knows what the best pitch is that day.
Quality of reps, not quantity, 10,000 reps to secure muscle memory

It was great to listen and talk directly to these three guys who flew to Cbus to share with us their experience. It was free access all weekend to ask questions and hear their perspective. They want to share their passion for the game. They have learned the hard way and maybe we can benefit from that.
It was worth the small fee and the time.

Coach Pat

 

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Great post, thanks ! I would probably enjoy reading all 22 pages.

BTW - I agree on the riseball. :lmao:

 

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Pat, your notes are correct and exactly what I got from the clinic as well. It was interesting about how they do the scouting.

 

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I was unable to attend this clinic as much as I wanted to go. Thanks so much for posting this, coach.
I was about to offer up my kingdom for a brief overview of this weekend but it seems that wasn't necessary. You aren't missing out on much....small kingdom.
Thank again.

 

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Ace: That reminded me about recruiting. They DO NOT use recruiting services so save your money.
They start looking at players in 8th grade (pitchers mainly)
Candrea has commitments through the 2016 class. He feels he has to make verbals toooo early but that is where the competition is.
They recruit athletes not positions
He does not change the swing of a Freshman for the first year to get a baseline
You Tube videos preferred to show your player
They look at attitude and competitive spirit, not just skill. Team chemistry is huge
Pat

 

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Coach Pat:
Nice job getting the clinic down to a group of one-liners. I too thought it was a very beneficial and enjoyable weekend. Thanks to Warren Jones and ASA Softball for arranging the clinic.

 

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thanks for sharing, this information is very interesting in many areas.

Do they say play every other weekend and practice heavily instead? Did they provide any suggestions on how to "obtain" the perfect games vs practice balance?

 

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It was interesting about how they do the scouting.

can you elaborate?

Thanks for sharing Coach Pat- great read!

 

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I think there is a ratio that is needed for practice to play.

Found a study that says during the season in football it is 32:1....while in baseball it is 1:1 hour of practice to hour of game time.

I would say that in travel ball the ration is not very good. Considering you may play 6 games in a weekend. So that is about 9 hours of game action. That would require 9 hours of practice to be at 1:1. Which is probably not happening.

I know that our teams are looking at doing cross fit stuff year around. And have added an hour to the beginning of all practices to do agility training. So we are doing 6+ hours of practice a week and no games. But when we start playing we will end up with about 24 hours of game play (scrimmages included) and about 18-20 hours of practice. And to be honest our parents are good with that for the Fall. But in season no way we can get in 3 team practices a week and a 3 day tournament.

I know that it has been stressed to us by a couple of college softball coaches that we should do more fitness stuff at practice and start a regular fitness regime with the players. That the overall fitness of 99.9% of players entering college is well below what is needed. The problem is that we do not have enough face time to direct it. And the college coaches can. So it means the players themselves need to hear this concern and act on it. Otherwise it often just falls on deaf ears.

 

[default]

What do three D1 coaches agree on ? I thought I would post that question for some good forum fodder.

After attending the ASA coaching clinic in Reynoldsburg this weekend I took a few notes (22 pages) and have a few take aways. If you attended, feel free to add on.
Coaches Mike Candrea - Arizona, Ken Erickson - South Florida and Mike White - Oregon
They believe : no particular order

Travel teams play too much and practice too little
Kids watch too much Tv
We have not taught the basics like throwing 12 6 rotation on all throws
We should allow our kids to play other sports like ******
Coaches need balance ( work, family, faith, softball )
For the USa team, they pick the best 17, not the 17 best
Effort, Attitude and Focus beat out other attributes of a great player
Never stop teaching
Never assume
The best pitcher looks effortless
Most important pitch requirement - location, location, location
Do not make every player try to be the same. They are unique so stay away from extremes
Every coach needs Personal Liability Insurance
Catchers do not take off the mask on pop ups for several reasons
Field the ball glove side as often as physically possible
There are a lot of tools and aids so find the one that helps you teach.
The rise ball does not rise, it drops less. ( this should start a conversation)
Coaches can make good players better but maybe not great since their needs to be genetic talent
Infielders need to throw long balls in practice to increase strength
Keep it fun
Challenge them, but make it achieveable
If you do not practice it, never expect them to do it in a game
Body language is stronger than words.
It is a game of failure so make sure they know that
The catcher knows what the best pitch is that day.
Quality of reps, not quantity, 10,000 reps to secure muscle memory

It was great to listen and talk directly to these three guys who flew to Cbus to share with us their experience. It was free access all weekend to ask questions and hear their perspective. They want to share their passion for the game. They have learned the hard way and maybe we can benefit from that.
It was worth the small fee and the time.

Coach Pat

I was there also. Very much enjoyed listening to these gentlemen. Your list hits the nail on the head.

One item for someone else who asked...the ratio for softball they mentioned was 5 hours of practice for every hour of competitition.

 

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Agree that there should be more time spent on practices and less on games ... but some of these ratios don't make sense. What level of play was the study talking about ... high school, college, pro?? So if a high school football game takes 2 hours, then the kids should be practicing 64 hours that week?? Now, over the course of the year, I could see a ratio like that. And actually a 1:1 ratio for high school baseball or softball in season isn't as crazy, though it would be pretty much impossible when you play 5-6 games in a week sometimes.

During travel ball season, you could average a 1:1 ratio, assuming you take a couple of weekends off which a lot of teams don't do. In the "off-season", like here in the fall, I think travel teams should spend a lot more time practicing than actually playing games. I see some teams are playing in fall leagues every week, and playing some tournaments as well, and I would argue that they should be spending more time practicing. I do think there is a place for playing a few games this time of year to see how the girls do in game situations and see what the team and individuals need to spend more time practicing. I think there are a lot of parents and players who would only prefer to play games and practice a minimal amount, but the girls are going to be better off in the long run spending more of that time practicing, assuming of course that the coaches are doing an effective job with the practices.

 

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I remember that part of the discussion as well. If you look at it from a school ball perspective, the recommended ratios make sense. Kids practice a couple hours every day after school a few weeks before the first game and they generally play only one game on game days, two to four times a week.

Travel is a whole different story. I took the suggestion to mean fewer tournaments for travel teams so that they can practice. I don't see anyone doing that however. Once travel season hits, it is difficult to work practices in - especially if you have a tournament every or every other weekend and have players that are geographically distant from one another.

 

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Pat, hit on it from the Class notes,
To sum it up from my take,,,,,,, The Coaches know and do say that paying a recruitment agent is throwing money out the window with little or No reward to advancement.

You can make your own YouTube Profile and Skills Video and post with a much greater chance to gaining notice. They said, that coaches will sit down and few YouTube videos as long as they are not Password protected! The effort to view should be easy.
They mentioned K.I.S.S. in most areas and that most people are making it too complicated.

can you elaborate?

Thanks for sharing Coach Pat- great read!

 

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Oh and I'm pretty sure I heard Candrea say that warming up / stretching is overrated.

 

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Coach Pat thanks for the post. In August I sent my dd out to Philly on the mega bus to go to a one hour clinic with Coach Erickson. She said it was really worth the trip.