Rethinking Post Game Huddles to Engage Your Student-Athletes
In today’s baseball world every minute that we have with our athletes is precious and needs to be used in the wisest ways possible. For many of us we may have limited practices, a shortened schedule, or can’t practice as a whole team because of the current health pandemic. This makes every moment that we have a chance to get our athletes actively engaged in the process that much more important, including the 10–15 minutes after a game.
We all probably have had that coach who would like to go down the foul line and hash out every little mistake that was made during the game. Based on how your team played the talks could last anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes, regardless of if your parents were waiting in the parking lot for you. And just like most kids, you tuned out the coach after about 3–4 minutes of them talking.
Athletes of this generation like to be involved in the conversation. They want to know the “why” behind what we are doing as coaches. Many coaches find this to be an issue and something to be looked down upon. Where instead you can use this to help them be part of the greater solution to the team's success. By allowing them to have a voice in the process you will garner better buy-in from your players, which will ultimately lead to what every coach is looking for- more victories.
Below are four strategies of how you can effectively run your post-game huddles to help engage your athletes. These will help them feel heard, but also make the meetings much quicker and time-efficient. These methods can be used regardless of age, all the way from 8U baseball up through a college team.
“2 and 3" Method:
This is by far the method of post-game huddles that I deploy the most with my teams. This method as well is something that I will often use with a team at the end of a practice. The more that you can get the player's voices involved in the process at the end of practice to help formulate what will happen in the days to come, the better buy-in you will get from those players. How this method works is you ask two simple questions:
Question #1 What are 2 things we could have done better today?
Following the question, the players will get the opportunity to answer. Even if there are more hands in the air I stop the answers at two responses. The reason for this is simple, you can’t build Rome in a day, and trying to attack more than two areas of concern in one day is just not realistic. More often than not the two responses that you get are the exact things that you and your coaching staff wanted to touch on anyways, be it bunt defense, cuts and relays or whatever else in the day may have “gone wrong.” Then we head towards the next question.
Question #2 What are 3 things that we did well today?
Now is the time to hear what the team has done well. This may be difficult for the players if the game did not go well, or if it was a big loss to a league rival and their spirits are down. Regardless, there is always something productive and positive that you can take away from every game no matter the final score. You may have to stand there in silence for 10–15 seconds, and that is totally OK. By doing this and getting them to provide the three things that were positive you are changing their mindset towards the positive headed into the next day. I will always suggest doing the positive answers last, it leaves everyone in a much better state of mind which in the long run will help create that positive team culture that every coach is looking for.
Position Reports:
Being able to get more position-specific is something that for older teams can be very important when evaluating the aspects of the game or practice. If you are lucky enough to have a large enough coaching staff that you have an infield coach, outfield coach, a hitting coach and a pitching coach then for this method your coaches are able to take the leads on the conversation. You will want to split the team up into whatever position they played (or would play for the players who may not have seen the field) and spend 5 minutes reviewing the game. After the conversation, you will report back to the team and have one player report what was discussed. This is a great way to get the players talking with one another to build that long-term team communication skills, and again to have their voices be heard.
Now the question that comes to mind is, what do I do if we don’t have a coaching staff like that? For teams that are 13 years old and up I would recommend splitting them into two groups; infielders and outfielders. One coach can take each group and have the conversation that way. Yes, you won’t be able to get as position-specific as you may want, but it is the start of heading down that path.
One alternative that I have run with my teams at the high school and collegiate level is to have “position captains.” This player is voted on by his peers and is announced to the team under this designation. When it comes time for the post-game or post-practice huddle the position captain will lead the conversation and be the designated player to report out what is said. This player also can serve as the liaison between the player and the coach to help keep open lines of communication rolling.
Partner Pair & Share:
Have you ever had a team that does not bond well together? Or maybe a team that is brand new and has not played much as a group? Then this post-game method is tailored made for your team. This method is very straightforward, when you get out to your post-game huddle partner each player up with someone else. It does not matter what position they play, if they actually played in the game or if they hit the game-winning home run. After they have been paired up you are going to ask them three questions. After each question, you will give them 30 to 60 seconds to discuss their answer and then randomly call on a player to share what they thought. Here is the script for how to run this method:
Question #1: What could we have improved on today?
- Players discuss with their partners and then share out.
Question #2: What did we do well today?
- Players discuss with their partners and then share out.
Question #3: What was the best part of today?
- Players discuss with their partners and then share out.
Regardless of how many other things that you want to say as a coach it is important to leave it where it is after they have answered the last question, it will leave everyone in a positive frame of mind thinking about the amazing catch that Jimmy made in left field. By doing this the players will want to come back to practice the next day and continue to play this game for a long time, which as coaches is all we can ask for.
Gatorade Player of the Game:
By far the most fun of these methods is this one. This method can be attached to any of the methods above to do before or after you discuss the game. For this method whoever you and your fellow coaches feel played the best game wins “Gatorade Player of the Game.” and you toss a Gatorade their way. This is a cheap way to reward a kid and recognize them in front of their peers for the good work they have done. One tip I will give, is to track which players to who you have given the Gatorade. Let’s say that your average roster size is 12–14 players, every single player should win the Gatorade at least once that season. It does not always need to go to the #1 pitcher on the team. Find ways to reward kids for backing up bases, hustling in and out between innings and whatever else that you and your team find important values for your program.
I have used this method with ages 8 years old all the way through varsity baseball. It may seem cheesy for the high school kids, and they will smirk at it when you first give it out, but the players will be drinking that Gatorade proudly as they head off to clean up the field with their teammates. Anything we can do to enrich our player's experiences while they spend time with us is what we are meant to do as coaches.
Any questions about what we do at Centralia College feel free to email me at coachharley25@gmail.com or DM on Twitter @Coach_BenHarley.
