Coach the coaches

Did some searching, nothing here on DFP, so I'll ask the question in the hope of starting a dialog: Where are all the coach the coaches clinics?

I've been here a short time, and I have no TB experience at all. That said, I read all over this board about how there aren't enough good pitchers, about how thinly spread the talent is (blamed on too many TB teams mostly, but I'm not buying), about TB girls who lack this or that knowledge of how to play the game.

I coach rec. This was my 6th year as a rec HC, just following my DD along and using my old baseball skills and knowledge to try to teach my girls. It was not until I found DFP that I had even the vaguest idea that softball is not baseball. It is even worse for 1st year rec bucket dads/coaches. If Candrea is a 10, and A level TB coaches are 5’s (just to give us a scale to work with), then 99.9% of rec coaches are in negative numbers. Some of us are in double digit negatives.

Now, I know some leagues have 2 or 3 hour coach the coaches clinics, but really that's just basic "how should the catcher stand," "what should the pitcher do," and "don't make the girls cry" stuff.

I posted this elsewhere, but if TB coaches and organizations want more, better players, organize a real coach the coaches clinic or 3. Get with the local rec leagues to offer it. Push for the rec leagues to make it mandatory for coaches. Then make sure that the rec coaches are brought up to speed on how different softball is from baseball, how to deal with pitching issues (does she have a PC? What is IR/forearm fire? How can you help her?), how important small ball is as skill levels increase. How to run effective practices, effective drills. What you can expect from girls at 8U, 10U, 12U. Think about all the things you wish you’d known then and offer it to the rec coaches. Hold the meeting at one of your TB practices so that we can see how it is supposed to work.

Don’t cry about misplaced player talent, help fix the missing coaching talent so that we can get you more quality players trying out for your teams.

We do our own coach the coach sessions plus we have mentors for new coaches in rec which work with them in practices and occasionally games. Everything is mandatory. We also bring in skills coaches and also have a relationship with the local high schools, colleges and pro instructors who help with our leagues and organizations. Took a lot of work to put in place, but as an organization we have reaped the benefit over the past few years.

There are lots of other opportunities. A lot of our coaches also attend baseball coaching clinics where you get much the same coaching as many of the skills translate well.


Softball Coaches Clinics by National Sports Clinics

ACE Coaching Certification

Softball Excellence

https://nfca.org/ (excellent convention)

And so on...

I am not sure if this is where this thread is going but I typed it all in so ...

A lot of TB organizations ask/ require their players to take private lessons outside of practice. IDK, if it is important that the coach knows how to pitch.

Rec is a little bit different. You want to keep costs way down and a lot of times take what you can get. It would be great if the coach knew how to pitch but that skill set is pretty low on the list in what you are looking for in a coach.

For rec anyways I wish our league would develop a relationship with the local HSs and have weekly, hopefully free, pitching and/or hitting clinics. Doing this the coach again doesn’t need to know anything.

Our club did setup free indoor space for pitching during the winter, no instruction just a free place to practice. No one showed up to take advantage of it. They are trying something new this year.

You know before the season what Teams are going to be good and it is not because of the individual coaches. It is because the organization provides their players a lot of opportunities to learn.

(Plus I did not need any special training to yell "Just throw strikes!", it came naturally)

NFCA has the National Fastpitch Coaches College with its Master Coaching Program. Absolutely wonderful

quincy said:

Rec is a little bit different. You want to keep costs way down and a lot of times take what you can get. It would be great if the coach knew how to pitch but that skill set is pretty low on the list in what you are looking for in a coach.

For rec anyways I wish our league would develop a relationship with the local HSs and have weekly, hopefully free, pitching and/or hitting clinics. Doing this the coach again doesn’t need to know anything.

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I don't think the coach needs to know how to pitch (though that'd be hugely helpful), but he/she does need to know what to look for in a struggling pitcher, and how to help her if something isn't right. Broad ideas like why is the ball coming in left or right of center, why is it bowling in or skying over the backstop. And then they need to know how to coach it.

Some of these other ideas are good, but maybe not so much for bucket dads/coaches? Plus, rec is pretty localized, so localized help is more likely to do more good IMO.

I am at a loss to understand the misguided notion that in order to be a competent coach you must have played the game. Following that logic the only people delivering babies in a hospital should be women who have given birth.

marriard said:

We do our own coach the coach sessions plus we have mentors for new coaches in rec which work with them in practices and occasionally games. Everything is mandatory. We also bring in skills coaches and also have a relationship with the local high schools, colleges and pro instructors who help with our leagues and organizations. Took a lot of work to put in place, but as an organization we have reaped the benefit over the past few years.

There are lots of other opportunities. A lot of our coaches also attend baseball coaching clinics where you get much the same coaching as many of the skills translate well...

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This is what I was thinking of. In fact, I'll be reaching out to our attached TB league commish soon about getting something going, and I have volunteered with our rec league in the hopes of influencing our commish here to put something in place.

riseball said:

I am at a loss to understand the misguided notion that in order to be a competent coach you must have played the game. Following that logic the only people delivering babies in a hospital should be women who have given birth.

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I don't think the analogy fits at all, but I agree with the sentiment. You should, however, understand the game to a certain extent, yes?

BuckeyeGuy said:

This is what I was thinking of. In fact, I'll be reaching out to our attached TB league commish soon about getting something going, and I have volunteered with our rec league in the hopes of influencing our commish here to put something in place.

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I strongly believe that any organization beyond a couple teams needs to have someone specifically charged with providing instruction. They need not be a softball guru, just have the ability to develop resources and organize the delivery of instruction to coaches and players. This is a great role for someone with DD's that have aged out and still want to give back in a role without strict time constraints. One of the biggest challenges any organization faces is retaining seasoned coaching talent and the development of new coaches. The top organizations do this very well.

BuckeyeGuy said:

I don't think the analogy fits at all, but I agree with the sentiment. You should, however, understand the game to a certain extent, yes?

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Absolutely. But as far as it being a critical success factor having played is way down on the list.