Casey Bass: Today on ClubHouse Gas, sport psychologist Crissy Rapp is back. Last time she was here, we talked about high performance players. Well, today we are going to talk about how to manage an entire team of players where everyone is not on the same plain athletically. It's a very informative show, so stay tuned to ClubHouse Gas.
Today on ClubHouse Gas we are lucky again to be joined by friend of the show Crissy Rapp, and we are going to continue talking about sport psychology. Well, the last time we were together, we talked about dealing with high performance athlete, over achieving athletes. The kid on every team there is one in a league or one on the team who is just a stud. And this maybe takes a little kind of different attention from a coach or a parent.
Well, today we are going to talk about the rest of the team, how do you coach a team, that's unbalanced talent wise, and Crissy we'll bring you in -- we'll talk about how to deal with the fantastic player. As a team though, that can get frustrating for the less talented player, how do you as a coach manage that team?
Crissy Rapp: Right, it's not an easy skill, it's something that really takes time and attention to put into to really feel like you are ensuring that each kid is contributing, each kid is having fun, which is extremely important, and that each kid is improving as well as contributing to his team. He must feel like he is being successful as well.
Casey Bass: So what are the strategies, how do you do that?
Crissy Rapp: There are some simple things, the big thing is that you want to always as much as possible include everyone in the things that you do. So having team or teams is a very important. So you are all going through the same warm up together, mixing up players to where it's not just, the same two studs tossing with each other. The other time maybe mix it up, get them to interact with each other a little bit more. A team model is something that's really good, so maybe bring everyone together to come up with something that is going to be your motto for the season.
It tends to kind of bring kids together if you get it printed up on something, or give them key chains, or just certain things that shows that everyone is a part of this team, regardless, of who gets the most playing time, who is the starter, who is the backup, and who is even older or younger. Because that tends to come out too.
Casey Bass: When we talk about the high level players, is there a danger there though, of starting to lose that high level player, as you do everything together and do everything the same, or do you have to at some point pull the kids out and talk to them?
Crissy Rapp: Well, I think, a big thing that you can do is, modifying the drills and the things that you do, to where they might not even realize it. But if you have got them in groups, if you have got a certain drill that you are doing and there is an advanced version of that drill, give that to those kids. If you have got another group that maybe can't do that as successfully, give them something that they can do. If it's working on a T or whatever the drill is, kind of modify it a little bit, make it a little bit more complex for the kids who can handle that, but at the same time, you want to kind of set each kid up for success. So you want them to feel like they have mastered something, even if it's not as advanced as what the highest level kid is doing. You want them to feel walk away saying, I did that effectively. Even if they know it's modified, they don't care.
Casey Bass: So all the kids contribute, all the kids improve, all the kids have fun, that's the three basic things, and then whatever you have to do as a coach to reach those three goals, that's what you do to have a successful team?
Crissy Rapp: One other thing I have got is to -- if you have time, maybe take one practice and have an individual meeting with each kid, five minutes, and I think it's best if it's fairly in the season, but you can talk about their strengths, maybe set a goal for them, talk about their role on the team, and that really lets them know that you know that they are there, you are paying attention to them, and you want them to improve, and it makes them feel like they have that connection with you, even if they are not starting shorts, that way they are starting pitcher, but you are definitely including them and you have them in mind.
Casey Bass: Well I mean, once in the professional field, all of us have bosses and we have supervision, and in the medical field where I use to be had supervision, once a month where you went and met with your supervisor, and they talked where you are growing, and you talked about your goals together, and how we are moving from this to this to this. You would also do that as a coach with young players, every once in a while have a meeting and say, how are we getting better, what can we do, what do you need individually, what can I do for you, that make perfect sense?
Crissy Rapp: And it helps with your elite kids too, because you can kind of instill in them that you think they have the knowledge and the leadership skills to pull some of those kids up, and kind of just talk to them, maybe take them under their wing, and that's going to create a connection too, that's only going to help you as a coach. If you let your higher level kids know, you need to know we all are a team, and I don't want to see any division from anyone.
Casey Bass: Well Crissy, thank you so much once again. That's been fantastic.
Crissy Rapp: Your welcome!
Casey Bass: That's going to do it for us today, we really appreciate you joining us, and hope you come back to ClubHouse Gas.
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