Your Search For The Perfect Softball Board To Coach Situational Concepts Is Finally Through
I found this really cool softball situations teaching tool online. I've been looking for something like this ever since I began coaching my kid's youth softball team.
As a educator, I'm well aware of the three learning styles by which we learn. We learn via Visual (seeing), Auditory (hearing) and Kinesthetic (doing). In my experience, softball has always been an Auditory and Kinesthetic learning sport; which I think is unfortunate because the majority of the people are Visual learners. Curiously, other sports like football and basketball have always been Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic learning sports.
I was really enthusiastic about combining Visual learning to my coaching style. I began starting each practice by discussing a strategy that we needed to learn. I used the board to display the play and then discussed the strategy and what each position should be doing to effectively defend that play with the team.
To my enjoyment, the kids were really engaged and wanted to interact with the board. The board includes magnets for every position. So all kids get a turn moving their magnet to the right spot. I also had the kids explain to the team why they moved their magnet where they did. Before long, if a player moved his magnet to the incorrect spot, the kids began self-teaching themselves the right thing to do. Using the board has put all of my kids on the same page because they are learning the situations together as a unit.
Not surprisingly, the impact of our 30 minute "chalkboard" discussions have really been obvious on the ball field. I consistently witness my kids in the right location to effectively make the play. My coaching on the ball field is more impactful now too because they've already learned the idea in the "classroom". I can also see the collective softball IQ of the team and each individual player rising. As a coach, that is all I can ask for.
If anyone reading this is a softball coach, you need to consider getting yourself one of these boards. I am confident it will soon become one of your best coaching aids. No matter how much you know about softball, this board will make you a more effective teacher. If you aren't coaching visually, you may be hindering your player's ability to master the game faster, have more fun and get better results on game day.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi used to say, "They call it coaching, but it's teaching. You don't just tell them, you show them the reasons." At Play Ball Apps, LLC, we completely agree with Coach Lombardi. That's why we developed our Play Ball Situations board to help coaches visually teach softball situational concepts to their players.
Taking the time to coach situational softball is just as critical as teaching hitting, pitching, fielding or throwing. If your team regularly knows what to do when the ball is hit, either when at bat or in the field, then your team is going to be in the lion's share of games.
The Play Ball Situations board is appropriate for baseball & softball from tee-ball to pro ball. You can coach any situational play to fit with your team's age, league level, skill and playing ability.
At 19.6”H x 27.5”W x 0.8”D, the board is 3x bigger than a standard coach’s clipboard. The easy to write on/wipe off board is big enough to teach the whole team at once.
Made from strong galvanized steel with an anodized aluminum frame. Board includes helpful carry handle, hooks and clips to hang on a wall or dugout fence. At less than 3 lbs., this lightweight coaches tool easily goes from the practice field to the tournament or league game.
