A coaching conundrum, on a serious note

[BuckeyeGuy]

I'll also add that there are certain battles that are very difficult to win when it comes to demanding that players change certain things. These players do have TB coaches and private instructors. I'm curious what kinds of things that this one girl is rebelling against.

Simple stuff. I try to teach Wasserman/Kobata/NECC and they just go through the drills and then ignore them after. I know that at least some of it is my fault for not presenting it properly, freely admitted. I'm still very new at getting 13-year-old girls to buy in.

That said, since they only know me from rec, I think they assume that their TB coaches MUST know more and better stuff than I do. So hey, let's just ignore coach.

I am still learning, and I know that I could have salvaged the situation had I recognized it earlier. I just need time and experience and probably some help from the professional educators at the school.

 

[CoogansBluff]

A good topic here might be whether a school-ball coach should put much energy in teaching the proper way (mechanically) to hit and throw, even if it's Wasserman himself. You've got only 3 months. Is your time better spent evaluating what you've got so that you have the right players in the right spots, providing repetition so that they're sharp in games and covering scenarios so that the team can better execute whatever skills they happen to bring to the table? Not ideal, but more realistic?

To make significant mechanical changes in throwing and hitting, it requires dedication and faith in the coach who is asking them to make changes. How many school-ball players possess both of those things in the school-ball setting? From the player's point of view, she already has a theory on throwing and hitting that's been instilled in them by parents, TB coaches and private coaches. Her mechanics might be horrible. But how do you convince her your way of hitting is better? An advanced player may resist that, often out of ignorance, although sometimes rightly so. You can make more headway with a novice player, but you don't have infinite time because you've got a whole team you're waking with, and the season is short. Significant mechanical changes take time.

I think you're a much better/knowledgeable coach that your players/parents realize. It's unfortunate but not uncommon that the players don't benefit more from it.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

A good topic here might be whether a school-ball coach should put much energy in teaching the proper way (mechanically) to hit and throw, even if it's Wasserman himself. You've got only 3 months. Is your time better spent evaluating what you've got so that you have the right players in the right spots, providing repetition so that they're sharp in games and covering scenarios so that the team can better execute whatever skills they happen to bring to the table? Not ideal, but more realistic?

To make significant mechanical changes in throwing and hitting, it requires dedication and faith in the coach who is asking them to make changes. How many school-ball players possess both of those things in the school-ball setting? From the player's point of view, she already has a theory on throwing and hitting that's been instilled in them by parents, TB coaches and private coaches. Her mechanics might be horrible. But how do you convince her your way of hitting is better? An advanced player may resist that, often out of ignorance, although sometimes rightly so. You can make more headway with a novice player, but you don't have infinite time because you've got a whole team you're waking with, and the season is short. Significant mechanical changes take time.

I think you're a much better/knowledgeable coach that your players/parents realize. It's unfortunate but not uncommon that the players don't benefit more from it.

I tend to avoid messing with hitting too much unless the swing is really bad, and then I keep it very simple.

On the throwing, I teach the waterbottle drill for the exact reasons you mention: lack of time to do anything else. That drill they can do on their own without need to be outdoors or need a partner.

With Kobata and NECC - go for the basics (stride to the ball, crossover/crow hop, throw & proper stances for receiving, proper blocking position, plus footwork for the throwdowns).

Anyway, it's faintly ridiculous that a 7th grader got me to this point. I obviously screwed up somewhere at the beginning and then waited too long to fix it.

 

[Cannonball]

It is this simple. When you instruct someone to do something and they don't do it as you instructed, put them on the pine. Stay consistent. Of course, you do have to make statements like, "sue I asked you do do this xxx and we practiced that. When you go against what is instructed, I don't have any other choice but to bench you. You'll get another chance at some point."

Per mechanics, I coach and so I coach all of the game. I put in the time to know what I am talking about. If you do your homework and have paid the price, don't shy away from what you know to be right. BTW, I never make suggestions for suggestion sake. I step in with regards to mechanics when I see players fail doing something their way. I have a feeling that this is going to be a topic near and dear this week for me.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

It is this simple. When you instruct someone to do something and they don't do it as you instructed, put them on the pine. Stay consistent. Of course, you do have to make statements like, "sue I asked you do do this xxx and we practiced that. When you go against what is instructed, I don't have any other choice but to bench you. You'll get another chance at some point."

Per mechanics, I coach and so I coach all of the game. I put in the time to know what I am talking about. If you do your homework and have paid the price, don't shy away from what you know to be right. BTW, I never make suggestions for suggestion sake. I step in with regards to mechanics when I see players fail doing something their way. I have a feeling that this is going to be a topic near and dear this week for me.

You are undoubtedly correct - probably too much rec in me. Maybe I'll look for an AC job at a high school for next season, I obviously have a lot to learn.

 

[JAD]

IMHO MS ball should be a "feeder" program for HS. I would have recommending approaching it with a REC ball mentality - get all the girls reps and liberally substitute all players and positions. A MS coaches job it to teach fundamentals and provide a positive experience that makes the girls want to try out for the HS team.

 

[55dad]

Interesting to me that players miss a lot of practice for other sports. Do they play multiple MS sports or is that club sports? What time is practice? Also, why do they miss games? Are they just skipping or do they have a legitimate reason? My DD1 got benched for a HS game because she missed a practice to attend an academic award banquet that the principal told her she was required to attend. I also saw players sit because they missed practice or a game to attend state level band or choir competition or FFA competition. I didn't think that was good business to bench kids who were doing other school related things. Their activities sometimes overlap. If girls just skip games that seems really odd.

 

[JAD]

My DD1 got benched for a HS game because she missed a practice to attend an academic award banquet that the principal told her she was required to attend. I also saw players sit because they missed practice or a game to attend state level band or choir competition or FFA competition. I didn't think that was good business to bench kids who were doing other school related things. Their activities sometimes overlap. If girls just skip games that seems really odd.

I always get a kick out of HS coaches who use the zero tolerance policy and think everything should revolve around their sport.....

 

[CoogansBluff]

My DD1 got benched for a HS game because she missed a practice to attend an academic award banquet that the principal told her she was required to attend. I also saw players sit because they missed practice or a game to attend state level band or choir competition or FFA competition. I didn't think that was good business to bench kids who were doing other school related things. Their activities sometimes overlap.

While I wouldn't necessarily do it this way, I can understand a coach having a policy that says that the starting lineup will consist of players who attended every practice since the last game. That doesn't mean anyone is getting 'benched' or punished. To say you are benched presumes there is a set starting lineup. Coach views the lineup as game to game, no presumptions. It could be that a coach has found this to work better than having to decide what is and isn't an excusable absence. You can open a can of worms when you allow some and not others. There are lots of academic opportunities that students could choose over practice. Which ones are valid? Which ones aren't? My DD didn't start a game last year because she was sick and missed school/practice the prior day. I was salty at first because she had spent the previous weekend practicing on her own. But as I've watched school sports more and more, I can see that point of view.

 

[let it be fun]

While I wouldn't necessarily do it this way, I can understand a coach having a policy that says that the starting lineup will consist of players who attended every practice since the last game. That doesn't mean anyone is getting 'benched' or punished. To say you are benched presumes there is a set starting lineup. Coach views the lineup as game to game, no presumptions. It could be that a coach has found this to work better than having to decide what is and isn't an excusable absence. You can open a can of worms when you allow some and not others. There are lots of academic opportunities that students could choose over practice. Which ones are valid? Which ones aren't? My DD didn't start a game last year because she was sick and missed school/practice the prior day. I was salty at first because she had spent the previous weekend practicing on her own. But as I've watched school sports more and more, I can see that point of view.

To me missing due to a required academic event is far different from missing due to being sick. A "zero tolerence" policy might be easier for the coach but I prefer to weigh the reason a girl missed. A funeral, confirmation, acting in the school play, playing with the band, etc... are all excused in my book. In a small school we need kids in multiple activities. A player can't miss practice and have it excused for a travel ball practice, their private hitting lesson, a non-school volleyball/basketball/whatever event or because they have to work. I will open the can of worms and deal with it. I think blanket policies are bad. I told a pitcher to miss a game for her grandma's birthday because grandma was terminally ill. Grandma died a short time later and that kid got to celebrate grandma's last birthday. Some things are far more important than softball.