Frustrated....

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Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Every time I see one of these threads about bad HS coaches, I wince. But then I smile because these are the people I'm going to be coaching against.

That said, I sort of understand coaches not immediately jumping to agree with advice from parents. A few months ago at one of our open field sessions, a few junior high girls who had never played before were tossing the ball around. None of them knew how to throw. I saw this, and I had already mentally made plans to start them on the Wasserman High Level Throwing program in the future.

A guy comes up to me out of the blue, asks what level they are, etc. I explain how it's open field for Junior High/High School. He mentions their throwing, and I say that I'm aware and we just haven't done any instruction on that with them. He then tells me that he coaches a travel team (I think he said 10U, may have said 12U), and if he were me, he'd start doing some wrist flick drills. I gave the ol' nod and smile, then told an AC "That's exactly what we're not going to do" once he left.

Thankfully this guy wasn't a parent of one of the girls there, but just a guy at the park trying to be helpful (and he's a TB coach, so let's not pretend like all TB coaches are good; my experience watching my sisters as they grew up suggests plenty of them are just as clueless as HS coaches).

I've also had two players who would stare at their grip on the bat for a good long while before each swing. I asked them why (I knew, but still asked). They were lining up their knuckles the way their parent/guardian told them to. Both were lining up door-knocking knuckles, even though it was uncomfortable and awkward and made them a worse hitter. I told them both to grip the bat the way that felt comfortable, without looking, and both naturally went with a box grip and their hitting immediately improved. I don't look forward to their dads (one may have been an uncle) finding out I made this change.

The point is that, yes, HS coaches need to be more open to the possibility that there's a better way to teach (or that they've been teaching something incorrectly). But coaches do not know what parents actually know (most are not nearly as knowledgeable as the folks who post here), and they likely have random dolts giving them unsolicited coaching advice all the time. I'm not saying you shouldn't reach out to them, but I think you're a lot more likely to get through to some coaches if you understand that they're used to tuning out the noise from parents because usually it is noise.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
When my DD was a freshman I had a very direct conversation with the HS coach letting him know that I had spent a lot of time and money developing my DD as a pitcher and I would appreciate it if he would not do anything to change her mechanics without consulting with me first. She just completed her final season of HS ball and he never called...and DD now holds just about every pitching record in school history.
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
The OP is on solid ground with recommending the smile, nod, and say thank you strategy to his DDs.
IME, the only possible way to convert coaches/instructors/parents (or any other non-believers) from DBSF to the high-level swing (HLS) pattern is to have them ID a pro or accomplished college hitter who has a model swing and then use video of that swing as the reference point for comparison of their players/ students.


What I find completely ironic is when a bug squisher employs that smile and nod when being introduced to HLS mechanics.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Thankfully this guy wasn't a parent of one of the girls there, but just a guy at the park trying to be helpful (and he's a TB coach, so let's not pretend like all TB coaches are good; my experience watching my sisters as they grew up suggests plenty of them are just as clueless as HS coaches).

The difference is that bad TB coaches get weeded out because parents and players have a choice, and if the coaching is bad, the players switch teams. While HS coaches get tenure...

There are some good HS coaches, and most of them also coach TB. If a coach can put together and maintain a good TB team, there is a good chance they will be a good HS coach too.
 
Sep 11, 2014
229
0
Pa
I have to say, I love the discussions on here.

So, couple things to add. The Head Coach isn't a teacher at the school. He and the head coach of the JH team both started coaching last year. I am not sure about the HS coach's background, but I assume baseball. I know that the JH coach played baseball and was the assistant coach last year for the first time. He has told me that he has no other coaching experience, but he is very open to ideas, has admitted he is inexperienced at coaching and told me that he is thankful that I am on board with the experience that I have. Good dude. Young, he's like early 20's. He's also told me he knows baseball, but not to much softball. Its good he knows there is a difference.

I like what was said about the coaches being selective with what parents say, as I do this all the time being that I have coached for a few years now. Been there, done that and I am sure it will continue as I continue to coach. I do however, listen to what other known coaches have to say about things and see if its something I agree with or we can try and see if it works better. To me, constant improvement isn't just for the players, its for the coaches as well. That's why I am on here reading a lot. Studying college games to see how they do things, talking to college coaches to see what they are teaching, etc. My goal is that no matter how good a player is, they improve noticeably till the end of the season. That makes me stay on my toes and learn.
 
Nov 28, 2016
7
0
He then tells me that he coaches a travel team (I think he said 10U, may have said 12U), and if he were me, he'd start doing some wrist flick drills. I gave the ol' nod and smile, then told an AC "That's exactly what we're not going to do" once he left.

Ok someone help me out with whats wrong with the sequence of drills or drill that start with a wrist flick for throwing? I assume that is what you mean, but I don't follow the issue with it. TIA
 

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