Private coach vs team coaches

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Nov 23, 2014
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What do you do when your daughter's private hitting coach is teaching different technique than her team coaches are teaching? How do you handle that? Her private coach is a well respected coach and I also like her team coaches. They are just teaching slightly different footwork. Don't want to disrespect the team coaches but I pay good money for this guy and I really like what he is teaching.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
THIS thread has the potential to go viral here!

I can be a no-win situation. That is, suppose your pitching coach is teaching your daughter to swing much the same way that is advocated here on this site by the best who post here (there are many). Suppose her team coach teaches or expects a different swing, maybe even a swing that doesn't come close to the best stuff we see here on this site.

What are you to do? If she doesn't do what her coach expects, she'll be seen as "un-coachable," which will hurt her prospects on the team. If she does what her team coach expects in this regard, her hitting coach will become discouraged and wonder why she works on hitting with him/her.

Personally, due to egos and people's inability to loosen up their ropes just a bit, I'm a real pessimist in this regard. In rare situations a simple chat with her coach that she sees and has been seeing a hitting coach for hitting instruction will get the coach to let up on her a bit and allow her to stick to what that hitting coach is teaching...... As long as it's working. Problem is, anytime she struggles at bat, it will be blamed on what that hitting coach has taught her. Funny thing is, all hitters have times when they struggle.

If you and your DD like what her hitting coach is teaching. Stick to that. If you think the team coach will not like that, simply have DD say, "OK," or simply nod as if to agree, but continue to do what she and her hitting coach are having her do.
 
Nov 23, 2014
84
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Her team just started indoor winter practice. They dedicate one practice a week just on hitting. She listens to what her coaches are telling her, it's just when we went back to her private lesson we had to undo what she was doing in her team practice. Neither is wrong, just different I suppose. She will do what her coaches tell her I'm just trying to figure out how she can learn and not get confused.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Well, as part of this discussion, it might be good to point out the most significant difference between what the team coach and the hitting coach teach.

Also, I think it is really quite rare for a team coach to have any respect at all for hitting coaches who are not directly affiliated with the team.
 
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Mar 23, 2010
2,019
38
Cafilornia
IMLE, when you have two coaches that you like and respect, this is a non-issue. Good coaches don't mind technical discussions, they tend to show professional courtesy, and they understand there are different solutions to the same problem.
If what your hitting coach teaches is working, they will be glad to spend their time on something else.

IF they can't agree on mechanics, then your DD has to learn to translate what the team coach is trying to fix into the vocabulary of her hitting coach.

In either case, your first move is for your daughter to open a dialog about the differences one-on-one, outside of team practice time.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
IMO, banning the use of a stride or mandating one be used is pure nonsense. It is also generally nonsense to ban or mandate the raising of the back elbow. Yet there are coaches out there who do this, and it's nonsense. Show me the problems of striding and I'll show the the problems of not striding. Show me the problems of raising the back elbow as part of the coiling process and I'll show the the problems of not doing it. These are silly things to be arguing about in a team practice context.
 
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Nov 23, 2014
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That is what appears to be the difference. The private coach is teaching stride and the team coaches are telling her to keep her feet planted pretty much, the load vs not load. Load moving the center vs not moving the center if that makes any sense. . Excuse me for my ignorance as I am new to this. I am just learning all the technical stuff that goes into hitting. She had a pretty good fall season, I couldn't tell you the batting average but seemed to bounce between the 4th, 5th and 6th in the order. She's been working with her hitting coach since around last March. We just started winter practice and they are teaching the other way, I guess you could say. I'm definitley not trying to start a debate on which way is better, just wondering how others might have handled a similar situation.
 
Jun 11, 2012
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I've never had a problem with DD telling a coach that her hitting instructor told her to do something different. What works for one kid does not work for the entire team.
 
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