How to Talk to Your Softball Squad

How you communicate with your players and their parents will go far in determining what kind of season you have. Quite simply, if you communicate effectively, your chances for success are high.

Here are three strategies you can use to communicate, teach and make a lasting difference with your squad:

K.I.S.S. Method

This stands for Keep It Super Simple. No matter what you are trying to teach, always remember to Keep It Simple. Over teaching or over-analyzing won't impress your players, it will only confuse them. Confused players won't be successful players.

The younger your players, the simpler you will have to make things. You might need to learn a new set of words in order to successfully talk to them but it will make you a much better coach.

Remember, you are not talking to impress anyone, you are trying to get your players to understand something. If your players are extremely young, say eight years old, then you might want to use as many one syllable words as possible.

Say "run" instead of "hustle." Say "be quiet" instead of "that's enough." Say "take the barrel to the ball" instead of "extend the bat into the hitting zone." Keep it simple, and use words they will understand. Use your imagination when making things simple.

Maybe you had a favorite teacher who had a special way of making difficult things easy to understand. Think about it for a minute. Try to remember some of the ways he or she kept things simple.

Occasionally ask your players, "Do you understand what I'm saying?" They will give you an honest answer. If they say "no," ask them to help you make it simple. Kids will admire and appreciate your honesty.

Tell Them What to Do

Have you ever wondered why someone will do something when you just told them not to? If you have coached before or have kids of your own, this is probably a very common occurrence. If you think about the times this has happened, you will probably remember having said the word "don't" as part of your instructions. "Don't walk this hitter!" or "don't come up on the ball!" are usually followed by walking the hitter and letting the ball go through the legs. Why?

Because the human brain cannot process "don't," so the player is left hearing "walk the hitter," or "come up on the ball." Negative instructions have no place in sports or in life. You can tell a player what not to do all day long, but then they still won't know what to do.

Let's look at our two examples above and see how we should talk to players by using positive communication and by telling them what to do. It is the fifth inning of the game and your pitcher is struggling. So you call time and walk out to the mound to talk to her. Instead of saying to her "don't walk the next hitter," tell her to "keep everything low and outside." Tell her what to do. Give her information she can use.

Your shortstop has just let a ball go under her glove for an error. Instead of yelling at her, "don't come up on the ball," tell her to "keep your knees bent and see the ball into your glove." This is information she can process and use. Give your players positive instructions that will directly result in correct actions. Tell them what to do! Give them information they can use.

Talk the Way Kids Listen

If you really want your message to get through to your players then you have to talk in words that mean something to them—words that "turn on lights" in their heads.

For example, take the case of a pitcher who cannot seem to relax, which causes her to be stiff and rigid when she pitches. If you tell her that she is too stiff, that she needs to relax, she might not get exactly what it is that you are trying to tell her.

Try using an example of someone stiff, for example Frankenstein, or even Robocop. Someone she knows, which will turn the light bulb on for her. If she relaxes in her pitching you know you have her.

Another example is trying to get kids to pivot on their back foot when hitting the ball. Your players might have a hard time understanding what you mean by "lifting your heel up and pivoting inside." However, if you say it is like "squishing a bug," that will most likely catch their attention.

It is a different world out there. Coach, keep up with the "coolest new movies" and the latest "kid fads " if you want your players to really hear what you are trying to say. Remember:: It doesn't matter what you said. What matters is how your players heard it. This is what determines their performance.