A couple weeks ago we completed our fall baseball schedule at Adrian College. In my previous seven years we were allowed to have only nine practices during a four week period in the fall due to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rules. The conference now allows us to have a fall season that equals what the rest of the country's Division III baseball teams can do, which is to have 16 practice dates during our fall season, with one of those dates being a competition date.
As a coach, this gives us some benefits that we didn't have in prior seasons. This allows us more opportunities to teach, evaluate, reinforce what we are teaching, and ultimately to better prepare our team for the spring season. Since we won't be able to teach baseball skills to our players until practice resumes again in January, the added fall practice dates have allowed us to especially teach our new players the way we want to do things in preparation for the 2012 season.
Our pitchers, for example, have gone through their daily stretching and drill work significantly more than we were ever able to do in the past. Our daily practice routine will be easier to repeat on day one in January and it won't seem as though we are starting so much from scratch as it had always seemed in past seasons. In addition, as I was able to learn the strengths and weaknesses of our new pitchers, they in turn were able to learn what is important to me. We were able to have enough simulated games to be able to work on new pitches and tweak other pitches as well as having our new guys become accustomed to our conditioning routines in between game appearances, among other situational things.
This week I have been going through the pitching charts from fall intrasquad games and the competition date that we had on our last fall Sunday. By looking at these charts and taking information from them, we will be able to see which specific things our pitchers did well, what they didn't do well, and be better prepared to establish some individual and team goals in preparation for pre-season practices in January.
It is usually easier to establish some team pitching goals than it is to decide on individual goals. Individual goals of the pitchers are based on each guy's strengths and weaknesses in addition to their own ambitions for the season and the potential roles that they may fit into in the spring. Our team pitching goals don't change a whole lot from season to season, other than the fact that as we continue to become more successful, some of our goals become more challenging, which is a good thing.
Anytime we set the bar higher, it is done so because of quality accomplishments in the past. In saying that, it is important to understand that the past is over and the future is greatly determined by what we do in the present. The only day that we have any control over is the current day, and if each team member works on improving each day, the entire pitching staff and the entire team reap the benefits.
As a coach, this gives us some benefits that we didn't have in prior seasons. This allows us more opportunities to teach, evaluate, reinforce what we are teaching, and ultimately to better prepare our team for the spring season. Since we won't be able to teach baseball skills to our players until practice resumes again in January, the added fall practice dates have allowed us to especially teach our new players the way we want to do things in preparation for the 2012 season.
Our pitchers, for example, have gone through their daily stretching and drill work significantly more than we were ever able to do in the past. Our daily practice routine will be easier to repeat on day one in January and it won't seem as though we are starting so much from scratch as it had always seemed in past seasons. In addition, as I was able to learn the strengths and weaknesses of our new pitchers, they in turn were able to learn what is important to me. We were able to have enough simulated games to be able to work on new pitches and tweak other pitches as well as having our new guys become accustomed to our conditioning routines in between game appearances, among other situational things.
This week I have been going through the pitching charts from fall intrasquad games and the competition date that we had on our last fall Sunday. By looking at these charts and taking information from them, we will be able to see which specific things our pitchers did well, what they didn't do well, and be better prepared to establish some individual and team goals in preparation for pre-season practices in January.
It is usually easier to establish some team pitching goals than it is to decide on individual goals. Individual goals of the pitchers are based on each guy's strengths and weaknesses in addition to their own ambitions for the season and the potential roles that they may fit into in the spring. Our team pitching goals don't change a whole lot from season to season, other than the fact that as we continue to become more successful, some of our goals become more challenging, which is a good thing.
Anytime we set the bar higher, it is done so because of quality accomplishments in the past. In saying that, it is important to understand that the past is over and the future is greatly determined by what we do in the present. The only day that we have any control over is the current day, and if each team member works on improving each day, the entire pitching staff and the entire team reap the benefits.
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