Recent Former Players Make Good Coaches

[Screwball]

I see a barrage of comments that former players of softball in their 20s or 30s don't necessarily or even outright make good coaches. I even read one comment on a board that they don't communicate the game very well...

I have never heard of this in any other sport nor in college, where it seems former players are welcomed as the best pool for coaches, especially assistants, and of course, the pool for on air commentators. I see videos by USA players, where they are very good. I would think parents would be happy if a coach had no vested interest in any player on the team.

I am talking youth softball not college or higher.

Why is this view so prevalent? Why don't we give them a chance? Let's encourage them and give them a chance. Please comment.

 

[sluggers]

I have never heard of this in any other sport nor in college

Perhaps you should get out more. Come on, Screwby...you don't hang out around travel teams in basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc., so *of course* you wouldn't hear people talk about other sports. My DD#3 played travel hoops, and it was same there. "Fresh out of college" basketball coaches generally are not very good.

I was talking to a hoops coach, and he was talking about how silly he was when he started coaching. He said he taught his first HS team more than 100 plays--even though he only ran 10 or 15 plays.

Generally, young coaches don't have the experience to know what is or is not important at the lower levels of softball. E.g., at D1 level, the pitcher has to throw breaking pitches. At 12U, the most important thing is for the kid to throw strikes.

I even read one comment on a board that they don't communicate the game very well...

Because they don't communicate very well. A youth softball coach has to talk to children 10 or more years younger and to adults 15 to 20 years older. Most kids out of college have a tough time with this. (My DD#1 lectured on this topic last year at Ohio U...some new teachers have a very difficult time relating to children as well as their co-workers.)

 

[Ken Krause]

Screwball it all depends on the former player. The problem is too many people hiring coaches assume that because someone played the game they know how to coach it. That's a huge mistake, because it's simply not true. I've also found that former players themselves think they're experts because they played (regardless of the level at which they played), even though they have a lot to learn.

The best ones are the ones who says "I really want to coach, and I really want to learn how to coach." I've known a few of them too and they are awesome. But I've also known some who say "I'm just doing it for the money" or to build their resumes.

A lot of players in all sports think they know it all. Humility is often an attribute you learn after finding out the hard way how much you don't know. In my opinion you can't be a good coach until you acquire some humility.

I also agree with Sluggers on the communication issue. It's critical, both going up and down the age differences. Communicating with younger kids especially doesn't always come easily to twenty-somethings. And they're easily overwhelmed by aggressive parents. You have to be willing to learn those skills if you're going to be successful.

 

[chinamigarden]

Its hard for someone for whom the basics of the game came easy, to understand that the basics of the game are not easy for everyone. With experience they will figure out that not everyone can just pick up a ball and throw it properly, or has an innate ability to catch a pop up.

 

[bobbyb]

In our area its not just softball. I don't see young college boys coming back and teaching youth baseball. The ones I have seen don't stay with it long. I think most of the reasons have been stated above. Its also their formative years for career and family and many have still have their own activities (SP, Golf, Fishing ect). They are more likely to do it when they have kids of age that want to play. Thats when I see females come into coaching around here too.

 

[starsnuffer]

Can't stereotype. Some people can coach, others can't. Some people are students of the game, others are not. There are probably an equal amount of recent college grads who can be phenomenal coaches as there are those who are abysmal coaches.

What can be a problem is when a recent player depends on what they were taught verboten and passes that on, instead of trying to learn why they were taught these things, doing away with the bad, refining the mediocre, and keeping the good. It's just way too easy to fall back and say, "This is how we did it at Ux, this is how we're gonna do it here", without having the first inkling of why.

-W

 

[sluggers]

My DD#1 (the softball player) said that teaching students coming out of college now are having difficulty in interacting with their older co-workers. They sit around a table at lunch or a break with their co-workers, and instead of engaging in a conversation, they pull out their cell phones and start Facebooking and texting.

 

[starsnuffer]

My DD#1 (the softball player) said that teaching students coming out of college now are having difficulty in interacting with their older co-workers. They sit around a table at lunch or a break with their co-workers, and instead of engaging in a conversation, they pull out their cell phones and start Facebooking and texting.

Ah, yes. I have this conversation often with interns I hire for my day job. I tell them to put it away, then I tell them in a very serious and straight manner "what you just did is EXTREMELY rude". Never ignore people in your present company and never look at, use, or answer your phone when you are having lunch.

Unfortunately, many adults continue to be rude and show poor judgement. They don't have long careers. If your life is so chaotic, disorganized, and hanging by a thread that every phone call might be an emergency, then I don't need you to work for me. It's sad really.

-W

 

[Sparky Guy]

Screwball it all depends on the former player. The problem is too many people hiring coaches assume that because someone played the game they know how to coach it. That's a huge mistake, because it's simply not true. I've also found that former players themselves think they're experts because they played (regardless of the level at which they played), even though they have a lot to learn.

That is VERY true Ken. I'll give you an example of it. Last fall my DD and I were helping an organization with tryouts. We're looking at the pitchers for them. 11U team has two college girls as assistants. One knows how much she doesn't know and wants to learn. The other one know everything because she's playing in college. I was talking to them and tell them I only see one real pitcher in the group. Know-it-all says "I see three." At that time my DD comes up to the group after talking to a parent. I asked her how many pitchers she saw. She answers "one." It was the same one I pointed out. BTW Miss K-I-A wasn't a pitcher. She was an outfielder.

 

[3'sDad]

DD's 2nd year 14U team has two current college players as assistant coaches - one works with the girls on hitting, the other fielding. The team manager as an older male member of the organization.

The girls really like the older more experienced male coach as he is tough but fair and has a great sense of humore. The girls love the 2 college girls!