Yesterday, in Part 1 of this three part series, I talked about the importance of being aware of your surroundings both on and off the field. I also addressed the difficulty of teaching our players how to be more aware. At the end of the post I offered an Awareness Game that could be played to get your kids/players to see more around
Noticing this type of thing may make it less likely that your players will do this in the future.
them. Today, it’s Awareness Game #2.
Awareness Game #2
This game is similar to yesterday’s but instead of looking at your environment and later being able to recall what you saw, this game has kids/players purposely looking for things in their surroundings. When I play this with my children, I do it this way …
Let’s say I’m taking my kids to the local mall. Before going in I might tell them they need to be on the lookout for these three things:
- Someone with an unnaturally colored hair like blue, green, pink, etc.
- Someone who looks visibly angry or upset.
- Someone who is being very careless with their pocketbook, money, or wallet.
In general, all three force my kids to be more observant when in public. Specifically, each one serves a unique purpose. The first one forces them to see things that stand out or seem out of place. The second forces them to see people who might pose a problem or a threat. The third forces them to see how many people are careless in public which hopefully makes THEM less careless in public when I am not around.
For baseball teams, a coach can have his players be on the lookout for three things as well. They might include:
- A player on the other team who is wearing their uniform incorrectly.
- A player who let his emotions get the better of him.
- An opposing player who does not get in the ready position before the pitch.
- An opposing player whose arm appears to be bothering him.
- A player who seems to have another injury. (limping, pulled muscle, etc.)
- A bench player on the other team who is the “bad apple” – pouting or angry that he is not playing.
All serve the purpose of getting your players to look around and see things most players miss. They also get a chance to see how THEY look when they make some of those same mistakes.
Next post: Awareness Game #3