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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Get Dirty
by Dave
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Is there a coach out there who doesn't like it when his or her girls lay out and get dirty? I remember once complimenting a high school coach on the development of her team. I watched their first game of the season in which they played what I would describe as a superior team. The game went to the seventh inning, tied 0-0. The opponent got a couple baserunners and then there was one of those unfortunate hits, a bloop, a bleeder, behind first but out of reach of the second baseman, which just barely found fair territory. I think two runs scored on that. Later in the day, when I saw the coach at another game, I told her, "you've got a good team - they played with that team for 6 innings. They are much improved." She reacted by saying that the game had been a tough 0one to lose. I suggested that it was just dumb luck that the ball had found the ground on that play. She agreed but added "I would have liked a dive."
I once had a girl who liked getting dirty so much that her entire goal in any practice or game was to find the situation in which she could dive. It became kind of a joke or game between us. If we were practicing and there was no opportunity for her to get dirty, towards the end of practice, she would ask me sheepishly if I could give her "something to dive at." There's a lot of wisdom in this which I don't think I realized at the time.
The first time you dive after a ball, you are likely to be somewhat uncoordinated. It ain't gonna look pretty. The reason for this is you do not really have the experience to know how to dive properly nor the timing as to when exactly to dive. Like everything else, you have to practice it before you can perfect it.
There are some kids, boys and girls, who, from the first time they can walk, like to slam into walls and to find the ground, particularly dirty ground. With boys, I believe this is a relatively common phenomenon though I certainly have known many boys who disliked terra firma.
I incurred quite a bit of ridicule once for diving after a ball. Of course, that was situationally questionable but I had been programmed to dive after balls. The reason I received so much ridicule for diving was because I dove during batting practice ... and we were playing on blacktop ... and I was 36 at the time ... and I got kind of cut up. My reputation as a sober, stayed tax executive - I was a manager or about 8 others at the time - was not enhanced by my dive that day. But my conditioned response from youth was to dive after any ball I could get my glove on, even at practice.
With girls, I think this tendency to desire getting dirty is usually found in those we come to refer to as "tom boys" though certainly I know several girly-girls who enjoy falling to Earth. I suppose this observation is true of almost any behavior, some girls and some boys do it naturally and some do not. But, also like anything else, I believe anyone can be taught to accomplish the task.
If we are coaching girls softball and have any affinity for seeing our girls "get dirty," we simply must teach it. It is prefereable to begin this with easy falls that are unlikely to injure anyone, however slightly. So head out to the grass and make sure the ground is suitably soft. If you want real fun, wet the ground and make sure it is very soft, even muddy, just as you would for an initial sliding practice. You may want to forewarn parents to dress their kids appropriately, if you plan this for a particular practice.
Next get yourself a bucket of balls. Then set up each kid, one at a time, into a good ready position. Then throw balls which are just out of reach and require a dive just to make contact. It isn't really important that the balls be catchable. It is more important that each throw require a dive. At this point, we are looking for a dive from a standing, ready position - no steps required.
Throw balls to the right first since this is a more natural play. Then throw some to the left while teaching backhand plays. After each player has had 5 or more reps with each side, randomly choose the side for another 5 or 10.
Once you have performed plenty of standing dives, move on to dives after a single crossover step. The player gets in ready position, and you throw it so that it cannot be caught with a mere dive. throw it so the player must take a single step before diving. Then move on to situations in which the player must take multiple steps before diving.
Did I have to say that you should teach the girls how to dive? We don't want girls diving all over the place while slamming their bodies so hard into the ground that they suffer injuries to internal organs. We are looking for dives which are performed low to the ground with the weight shifted forward. They are much more akin to what you would see with a baserunner diving into a bag than one would see of a swimmer diving into a pool. But you knew that and I didn't have to tell you.
I think I'll elaborate on something that is important to consider when teaching diving. The typical dive, especially when players are performing it early in their diving career, does not involve a dive in which the ball is reached towards the end of the dive and hopefully caught. Rather what is usually involved is a play in which the ball is caught when the player is way off balance and cannot recover to a standing position. Very seldom is a ball caught by other than a highly skilled, well-experienced player at the end of a dive. I think you can see this in as much as 90% of all softball and baseball dives, even at high levels.
What typically happens when a player is seen to make a play and end up on the ground is, she does not fear falling to Earth and, therefore, she extends herself beyond her comfort zone to make the play. She can 't recopver to a standing position and she goes down after she catches the ball. It is important within this drill to teach girls how to land so as not to break or otherwise injure their wrists or arms. You land on your palms or forearms, not your fingers or elbows. And these parts of your bodies are sliding forwards, not abruptly striking the ground. the motion is sort of like what you would do when using a slip and slide from a standing position, face forward.
OK, so once you have taught diving after a ball on wet, soft ground covered with grass, it is time to move back over tougher ground, like in the infield. The play I think I would like to see used in such drills are those that would be accomplished by a corner infielder on a ball she cannot get while standing. For example, a third or first baseman would dive for a smash hit down the line. The third baseman would necessarilly dive to her right, the first baseman to her left. It is best to practice both of these.
After this, it is also advisable to teach girls to dive on the infield when they are going after grounders, right outside their reach. Your middle infielders often go after balls that would be just out of reach if they tried to stay on their feet. Practicing grounders just beyond reach which require a player to get dirty is an excellent skill to teach. Additionally, outfielders should be taught in drills certain situations in which going to the ground can turn a basehit into an out, a double or triple into a single.
Lest I forget, one of the most important skills when teaching getting dirty is the recovery to standing position skill. This is not necessarily natural for any player. Typically, in youth softball, we see a kid go to ground to make a play on a ball, get the ball, and stop right there. It is a less frequent play in which we see a kid go to ground, get up and throw the runner out. But this, as much as the general diving skill, should be practiced. Why go to ground if the outcome isn't any different? A successful dive ends when the player recovers and makes a throw.
If you like to see your players get dirty, you may get lucky and get a girl like the one I coached several years ago. But if you aren't so lucky, perhaps you should consider teaching the skill. Start with the basics - just getting used to diving. teach how to land. Move on to dives after a step or several. Then build to actual in-game skills. Make sure you teach recovery to a throwing position after the dive. Teach the pieces of the skill, show its application, and then turn your charges loose. I believe you will be satisfied with the results.Labels: coaching, defense, outfield, practice
 
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