what do you think of a coach who yells at a player for taking a BB?

[obbay]

DD had an off game today with no hits. 0-3 with a walk, scored a run and got 3 RBIs, but no hits.
Coach thought she could've hit ball 4 and let her know he was pissed that she didn't swing at it.I dont get it so I dont know how to help her learn from it.He also made a big deal congratulating 2 other kids who have been hitless all seson who got their first varsity hits (if you score an error as a hit)

she's a freshman playing Varsity. batting leadoff. hitting about .500 and this is the first game she's hit below .300 and hasn't hit a double.

She's beating herself up over it now (the fact that she didn't hit AND the coach yelled at her) and I want to nip it in the bud.

any advice?

 

[Ken Krause]

The leadoff hitter is a table setter. Her job is to get on base. Doesn't matter how - hit, walk, HBP, defensive error.

Maybe the coach was hoping she would drive in a couple of runs with a hit. Were there runners in scoring position? Not saying I agree with him, but that could've been his reasoning.

That said, she did her job. If everyone on the team took a walk at least once an inning, you would score a minimum of six runs. That's 42 runs in a seven-inning game. That should be plenty for anyone.

Tell her she did fine. Other people on the team can and should hit too.

 

[RetiredCoach]

He's stupid. Getting on base is very important. Also, it sounds as if he'd rather have your DD swing at bad pitchers, which is very, very bad.

 

[CoogansBluff]

DD had an off game today with no hits. 0-3 with a walk, scored a run and got 3 RBIs, but no hits.
Coach thought she could've hit ball 4 and let her know he was pissed that she didn't swing at it.I dont get it so I dont know how to help her learn from it.He also made a big deal congratulating 2 other kids who have been hitless all seson who got their first varsity hits (if you score an error as a hit)

she's a freshman playing Varsity. batting leadoff. hitting about .500 and this is the first game she's hit below .300 and hasn't hit a double.

She's beating herself up over it now (the fact that she didn't hit AND the coach yelled at her) and I want to nip it in the bud.

any advice?

You're presenting this as though the coach is a complete idiot. "I'm pissed because you took ball four! Why didn't you swing? What's the matter with you!"

So there are only two possible answers: (1) player needs to get clarification on why coach was pissed, or (2) coach is a complete idiot.

 

[riseball]

DD had an off game today with no hits. 0-3 with a walk, scored a run and got 3 RBIs, but no hits.
Coach thought she could've hit ball 4 and let her know he was pissed that she didn't swing at it.I dont get it so I dont know how to help her learn from it.He also made a big deal congratulating 2 other kids who have been hitless all seson who got their first varsity hits (if you score an error as a hit)

she's a freshman playing Varsity. batting leadoff. hitting about .500 and this is the first game she's hit below .300 and hasn't hit a double.

She's beating herself up over it now (the fact that she didn't hit AND the coach yelled at her) and I want to nip it in the bud.

any advice?

Meaningless stats aside, how did she do at the plate? Were they quality AB's or was her performance well below her potential. If so why did it happen? Did she lack focus? Did she simply freeze and fail to execute? Something else? Sounds like the coach is focused only on the end results and not on the process. That said they will be hard pressed to help your DD improve. Need to look a little deeper. Softball is a game of chess and you can't approach it with a checkers mindset.

 

[ConorMacleod]

Depends. Was the 0-3 nine pitches down the middle without swinging? Was the walk because she froze after going 0-3 at the plate and was afraid to swing? One game in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Maybe the coach was frustrated at the whole team, but he usually expects great things from your daughter, so he acted out more emotionally than he should have. We coaches tend to do that. I'd brush it off and move on if it doesn't present itself as a regular occurrence.

 

[Jojo]

I'm also curious as to where the runners were if any.

If he wanted her to move runners. Just sounds like some communication problems.

 

[obbay]

Softball is a game of chess and you can't approach it with a checkers mindset.

That is just plain Genius right there!

DD usually has good, multi-pitch ABs. 1st out was 6-3, 2nd out was a hard hit ground out to 2B (good play by F4) that scored a run. 3rd out was a long fly ball that scored 2 runs, so actually it was a sac fly. Last time up she walked, stole around to 3B and scored on a hit. they won 13 - 4.

CB- I'm sorry, its hard not to portray him as an idiot,I've complained about him before- football coach who coaches girls like they are boys- though he has gotten a lot better over the years.
I have told DD that whether intentional or not, this coach can teach her mental toughness and thats how she needs to look at these episodes. she did the right thing, be confident in your choice, but find out why he got upset for her getting on base. I say that your Answer 1 is the way to go but, based on past experience, answer 2 may prove to be true as well. in the pre-season scrimmages he would pull any batter who got two called strikes and would replace them with another player to finish the AB.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Repeat after me - HS season is almost over, HS season is almost over, HS season is almost over...

 

[Jojo]

he would pull any batter who got two called strikes and would replace them with another player to finish the AB.

There used to be a coach around here that would do that, called strike or swing and a miss. Even pull the pitcher in the middle of the batter if she threw a ball.