Players giving up on plays after mistake

[losgadas]

Anyone has any suggestions on how to attempt to cure players giving up on plays after making a mistake? Once in a blue moon, players who make a mistake, will throw glove down and ignore/forget there is still a play going on and thus allow other potential kids to score that would not otherwise score if the player hadn't giving up on the play.

I thought about gathering kids away from parents and having them promise me all at once, that they will not do that. I feel that eventually someone will forget and still do it:ughh . But, wanted to minimize its likelyhood.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

[Jake Patterson]

Anyone has any suggestions on how to attempt to cure players giving up on plays after making a mistake? Once in a blue moon, players who make a mistake, will throw glove down and ignore/forget there is still a play going on and thus allow other potential kids to score that would not otherwise score if the player hadn't giving up on the play.

I thought about gathering kids away from parents and having them promise me all at once, that they will not do that. I feel that eventually someone will forget and still do it:ughh . But, wanted to minimize its likelyhood.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

This is a difficult item for young players to overcome. I try it this way. I teach my players to first minimize the opportunities for mistakes -which inevitably happen - and then mitigate the damage when they do. I drill into them that making one mistake is part of the game making two is what seperates the good from bad players.

If you use your imagination you can create drills for your biggest problem areas. For instance:

1. In the outfield we hit ground balls past the outfield from shortstop to simulate missed ground balls. We teach the players how to track them down, recover and get the ball into the infield.
2. In the infield we have infielder stop balls with the back of their gloves to simulate a fielding error. We teach recover and throw.
3. Passed balls or errant throws are easy by having the coach do this on a running play. Try different scenarios, runner on first and third ball thrown over the first baseman, etc.
4. Etc...

There are hundreds of things you can do, just be creative. Once they learn how to handle things like errors, passed balls, errant throws their reactions to those things will become more managable..

[YankeeFan01]

How old are the kids you're talking about?

[losgadas]

Kids are 11/12 yo.

[GotMelk?]

First give them a warning about giving up on the play. If it happens a again bench them or not start them.

[Hardball]

One of the things we work on in every practice is preparing for mistakes. We reinforce this by drilling over and over that everyone has a job on every play has a job, there is no such thing as “routine” and that the worst thing you can do on a play is nothing.

When we work “defensive solutions” we do it with baserunners and nine defenders, one Coach with a fungo bat and one up each baseline to make sure we fill each “hole” on every chance. Every play, from routine fly balls and grounders puts nine men in motion, nearly all, to back up someone who may make a mistake. Everyone kicks a ball from time to time, and you'll rarely hear me holler about an error. Mental errors, such as failing to be in proper position to back up a play are another thing and will cause me to speak sharply.

We are actually practicing what to do when someone doesn't make the expected play and prevent the extra base or cheap run and if you are just standing and watching, you are doing it wrong.

[Jake Patterson]

One of the things we work on in every practice is preparing for mistakes.

Poor reaction to a botched play is the result of an unprepared player, either mentally or physically. I agree with hardball in that we should prepare for mistakes.

[TG Coach]

Anyone has any suggestions on how to attempt to cure players giving up on plays after making a mistake?

It's about composure. The mental side of the game is the most undercoached part of the game. Every player makes mistakes. The play isn't over until the ball is back on the mound.

Our 14U team did a drill yesterday where they intentionally booted a ball, stayed composed, found the ball and made the play with the proper footwork.

I have a cure for any kid who throws his glove and gives up on a play ... the bench.

[Ursa Major]

I coach at that level and I tell the kids that the opportunities for big, "find the extra out" plays comes usually when something very good happens, or when something bad happens. The good? When you make a great catch, there's a good chance a runner didn't expect you to and you can double him off base.

The bad? Kids are accustomed to their peers have a brain lock after screwing up and thus will often try to make an extra base. Instill in them the chance to correct or even improve upon the miscue by looking for the overly-opportunistic runner. A frequent occurrence on our windy fields is a missed pop-up by an infielder on ball hit over their heads. If there's a runner on first who has to play it safe until the ball drops, there's an excellent chance for him (or the backing up outfielder) to get the force.

Not making too big a deal out of a physical error is a start, so the kid knows that such an error is forgiveable -- but giving up on the ball is not.