Private coach vs team coaches

[JAD]

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.

I would suggest having a discussion with the team coaches letting them know that there are differences and that you do not want to confuse your DD. As a coaching staff we never tried to change a girls swing if she was taking private hitting instruction - especially if she was knocking the cover off the ball!

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Part of the problem is that parents don't like to admit they are throwing bad money at the hitting coach that may or may not know what they are doing. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.

 

[Pop time 00]

I told her how to politely tell the coaches she is getting private instruction and she is getting confused. I said follow that up with a "please help me." She never wants to go against coaches. She won a coaches award in a prior organization for having a good attitude with team mates and on field. I think this will work out. I was looking for ideas on how others handled similar situations.

 

[1bucketmom]

The most important thing.......
Don't let the player be confused! Multiple different instructions leads to confusion, especially at the younger ages. Nothing worse than incorporating a mixed bag of instructions.

Some elements are style instead of absolutes but when you change style it can have downstream impacts on absolutes that can create a hitter or not.

 

[riseball]

I told her how to politely tell the coaches she is getting private instruction and she is getting confused. I said follow that up with a "please help me." She never wants to go against coaches. She won a coaches award in a prior organization for having a good attitude with team mates and on field. I think this will work out. I was looking for ideas on how others handled similar situations.

If asked can she articulate the differences between her private instruction and her club instruction? Is she producing at the plate? If the answer to either of these questions is no, a coach of the club team I would have significant concerns.

 

[KCPRK]

Good coaches will make an effort to get to know all the quality instructors in their area and building relationships so the instructors can help their team succeed. Theres a dozen ways to say the same thing. I find myself saying every term I know until a player says-yeah that one-then I use that term so I am on the same page as the instructor.

Then Im clear with everyone as to any style choices being a choice and I support it. I will explain all style choices to my hs players and let them know what they choose and work on is acceptable. Ive seen some change styles for no reason but choice saying I like that.

Thousand ways to skin a cat guys. Find a coach and instructor that are flexible enough to understand this. That's when egos step aside.

 

[sb03dad]

Spoke with a TB coach, and respected hitting instructor, about one of his players who was struggling at the plate. He said the girl has good eyes, fast hands and great instincts. But, she goes to the d@#n hitting coach that teaches a linear hitting method. He teaches a rotational hitting method. It's amazing how deeply buried these guys get into their hitting philosophies. We see it on this board.

I think a lot of it depends on the girls build and arm/wrist strength. Some girls crush the ball with one method, but couldn't hit it to the outfield if using the other. I guess if every girl hits as well as the other with one method this board wouldn't be as lively as it is.

 

[obbay]

Make no mistake, hitting philosophies are like religions, everyone believes they are correct and theirs is the only true way

With linear vs Rotational you should have them both explain to you what they are teaching. It should be a combination of both but something makes me think the Team coach is teaching them to spin without any forward movement so he's labeling the other coach a linear advocate.

He said the girl has good eyes, fast hands and great instincts. But, she goes to the d@#n hitting coach that teaches a linear hitting method.

All the more reason to have them talk. Its very difficult to select the best private instruction for you because the hitting instructor should know more than you no matter what his belief system. after the coaches talk, if they are not on the same page you can ask each of them to explain their differences to you and then make an informed decision.

Many team coaches that I have experience with (not national qualifier-caliber or anything like that) teach what they were taught and do not consider that there is possibly a better way.

I coached a U14 team last year with a guy (coach Bill) who is a good coach but not strong on mechanics and is probably better with more advanced players. He played DI baseball in college on a scholarship. Bill brought in an assistant coach who had actually played for him in the same organization a few years ago. Some of the players and a couple parents told me that she was trying to change swing mechanics, so we had a little talk. She explained to me that when she was younger she developed a problem because she had a "baseball swing" as diagnosed by Coach Bill. one by one, she went through all the things she was doing wrong and how he had "corrected" them. This included everything from grip to contact. she had been doing everything with textbook perfection (except hitting)before he "fixed" her swing. after which, she started hitting again so she assumed he was right. one of the corrections he gave was that she should be fully extended at contact. it went downhill from there...

 

[SyndreSoftball]

As a coach when the parents tell me they have a private coach, I take time to ask what style or what it is exactly they are teaching, so I can try and reinforce whatever it is during practices. Tell me what he says when she is dropping her hands, or when she rolls early, and I try to use the same key words or phrases. I dont see why a coach would be upset if you tell him the information he is giving a particular player is conflicitng with her lessons.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Cannonball, with all due respect, "My team" in a Public high school context is not the same as "my team" in a private team context.
How so? The players in high school don't really choose the coach, and the HS coach knows this, which sometimes leads to more closed minded coaching. In TB the players choose which team (coach) they play for, giving rise to more open-minded coaching due to competition for players.