Yesterday, with my new team we played three games. I am certainly happy with our 3 wins.
However, what I’m most happy about is the fact that I see my players learning and progressing.
That’s my number one goal especially in the off-season.
One of the concepts that I have really been emphasizing over the last 4 weeks (since I started with this new 16U team) is to learn how to make adjustments and control what you can control.
Making an adjustment can mean a lot of things.
If you are a pitcher or a catcher, making an adjustment might be to adjust your pitching according to the umpire’s strike zone or to change the strategy because a pitch isn’t working.
Another example could be to move a few steps towards one side on defense when you realize that the batter pulls a few long foul balls on a specific side.
Offensively, it could be to get closer to the plate as the umpire calls the outside pitches and that’s the pitcher’s favorite spots today.
Making adjustments is also being able to adjust your own mechanics (pitching, hitting, etc.) because something isn’t working.
The best softball players are always making adjustments, it’s just part of the game.
Are you making adjustments?
As a player, learn how you can adjust, modify what you are doing during a game to help you perform better.
As a coach, teach your athletes how to think the game, how to think on their own (like coaches) so that have the capacity to make such adjustments.
The ability to make adjustments is one of the key skills that you have to develop to perform at a high level.