I began wading through my texts last night and discovered a few things. First, I have been overlooking my own knowledge of and experience with softball as a valuable tool. These assets plays a key role in this inquiry. In order to effectively search a topic, one must, "know quite a bit about the subject" (DiBianco 3). Otherwise, how can you know exactly where to begin? I realize that "quite a bit" is a relative term but it makes sense. You have to know a bit about any topic before you begin the process of inquiry. You may be researching a disease that you have never heard of, but at least you know that it is a disease and that can help guide your search tremendously. You are more likely to begin with medical resources and branch out from there. But I digress. Back to softball...
As I mentioned, I have been overlooking my own extensive experience with and knowledge of the game of softball. As I began looking through the books I checked out I realized that I knew many of the drills that were described. This is fortunate, because the directions and photos were not always clear. I immediately discarded Focused for Fastpitch because it dealt more with the mental aspect of the game and gave tips for keeping players focused during games, nutrition facts, and other things of that nature. I am more interested in the drills necessary to run a practice.
A second thing I realized is that much of the decision about what drills to include in a practice depend on a number of factors. First, what level is the team? Second, is this one of the first practices of the season or are we in the postseason? Are we running a practice that is between a series of games? Have I been working with these girls for several years or is this my first experience with this group? As a result I have decided, for simplicity's sake and my own novice status as a coach, that I will be designing a tryout plan. After all, when I do begin coaching this is the first thing I will have to do.
It looks like it is back to the books and the web for tryout resources. I was able to use a number of the drills in the books as tryout drills; however, I would like to find out what I will need to look for in players. I will also need to find out how to score and rank players.
Resources :
DiBianco, Phyllis. "Teaching Information Literacy Skills in the Age of Search, Click, Copy, and Paste." Information Searcher 14.4 (2004): 1-7.
Solomon, Gloria and Andrea Becker. Focused for Fastpitch: 80 Drills to Play and Stay Sharp. Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 2004.
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