With your games now underway are you
struggling to score runs, or wondering what things you can do as
a coach to help put your team in better position to win? We seem
to spend all of our practices working on improving our player’s
skills, and while they matter a WHOLE lot, our own coaching
skills are important as well. During games, when you’re over
there in the 3rd base coaching box and possibly wondering things
like - “should I Hit and Run now?”, “am I crazy to bunt this
hitter?”, “what if we don’t move this runner over?” just know
you’re not alone. Even the best coaches can doubt themselves at
times since all of our choices are based on things like
probability, likelihood, execution, hunches, timing and don’t
forget luck. You’ll notice that nowhere on that list was the
word certainty. Coaching strategy is not based on certainty,
you’ve got to consider all of the options available to you at
the moment of your decision and then choose the best one. It all
still comes down to who executes the best - your team or theirs.
With that said let’s look at 3 Offensive Coaching Strategy
Tips that can help you figure out just what to do in those tough
situations:
- Outs Matter – Know the 3 to 4 Rule!
Basically this means that YOU have 3 outs to get around 4
bases, so don’t give away outs unless there is no other way
to advance a base! Outs matter and are your most important
friend on offense, so don’t just give them up easily. In
reality, you don’t really have 3 outs to use on offense you
really only have 2 since the inning’s over on the 3rd out,
so when deciding whether to call for that bunt that involves
giving up one of your crucial outs you’ve got to decide if
that’s THE BEST way to move that runner 60 feet. Sometimes
your batter can hit the pitcher and possibly move the runner
2 bases, so bunting isn’t always necessary.
- Score 1st – It takes 2 runs to beat 1
so always try and score first! This is easiest to do in the
1st inning since you have your players set up just like you
want them in your batting order. If nothing else coaches,
create your batting order to get you at least 1 run in the
1st inning!
- Score as Much as You Can Whenever You Can!
In 65% of games the winning team scores more runs in 1
inning than the losing team scores the entire Game! So when
you get runners on base try and score as many runs as you
can instead of 1 run at a time!
