So, I've coached rec for 6 years now, basically following my DD through the age groups. I'm a baseball guy, and that's how I coached until this fall season. For 6 years I've had the same disappointment hit me after the 1st practice: these girls can't throw or catch! There have always been exceptions, but the rule has been that they pretty much stink. My expectations were such that I kept the instruction as dumbed down as possible because they just didn't get it.
I have come to realize that they didn't stink, I (and previous coaches) did. The instruction shouldn't have been dumbed down, coach was just being dumb. It's not that they didn't get it, I didn't get it. I dodn't know how to offer them methods of overcoming poor mechanics, poor training, poor coaching.
At the beginning of this season, our 1st in 12U, I could only play my DD at 2B or 1B because she just didn't field that well and couldn't throw the ball farther than 30 feet without it flying all over (and nowhere near the target). I couldn't help my pitchers because all I knew was HE. I had no comprehension of the huge differences between baseball and fastpitch.
In the short time I've been here on DFP, I have been able to take in so much info I feel like I'm going to burst (that could also be my lunch talking: lasagna from home, yum). More importantly, I have been able to bring this info to my fall ball girls. I've got a 10yo playing up who couldn't throw more than 10 feet, literally, at the start of the season. My DD couldn't throw either. And with the info from a simple video someone linked for fixing low elbow, the 10yo can at least make the throw from 2B now, and my DD is 1-hopping ropes from behind the plate to 2B (when she's not being lazy and falling back into bad habits).
I have drunk the Kool-aid that is DFP (NECC, Hillhouse, and Kobata DVD's are on my desk and ripped into my iPad, and I think I've memorized BM's IR threads), and it has made me a more effective coach. Next on my list: Wasserman maybe, and possibly Bustos - I'm still looking for the most effective hitting instructionals.
My girls have always loved playing for me, but now I can give them more than just enjoyment back (we have ALWAYS had fun), I can help them improve as SB players. The rapidity with which my DD is soaking up all of this stuff (she's my lab rat) has completely changed my expectations of my girls. They can do anything if I present it correctly (and conversely, if they don't get it, that is MY failure).
Thanks, DFP!
I have come to realize that they didn't stink, I (and previous coaches) did. The instruction shouldn't have been dumbed down, coach was just being dumb. It's not that they didn't get it, I didn't get it. I dodn't know how to offer them methods of overcoming poor mechanics, poor training, poor coaching.
At the beginning of this season, our 1st in 12U, I could only play my DD at 2B or 1B because she just didn't field that well and couldn't throw the ball farther than 30 feet without it flying all over (and nowhere near the target). I couldn't help my pitchers because all I knew was HE. I had no comprehension of the huge differences between baseball and fastpitch.
In the short time I've been here on DFP, I have been able to take in so much info I feel like I'm going to burst (that could also be my lunch talking: lasagna from home, yum). More importantly, I have been able to bring this info to my fall ball girls. I've got a 10yo playing up who couldn't throw more than 10 feet, literally, at the start of the season. My DD couldn't throw either. And with the info from a simple video someone linked for fixing low elbow, the 10yo can at least make the throw from 2B now, and my DD is 1-hopping ropes from behind the plate to 2B (when she's not being lazy and falling back into bad habits).
I have drunk the Kool-aid that is DFP (NECC, Hillhouse, and Kobata DVD's are on my desk and ripped into my iPad, and I think I've memorized BM's IR threads), and it has made me a more effective coach. Next on my list: Wasserman maybe, and possibly Bustos - I'm still looking for the most effective hitting instructionals.
My girls have always loved playing for me, but now I can give them more than just enjoyment back (we have ALWAYS had fun), I can help them improve as SB players. The rapidity with which my DD is soaking up all of this stuff (she's my lab rat) has completely changed my expectations of my girls. They can do anything if I present it correctly (and conversely, if they don't get it, that is MY failure).
Thanks, DFP!
