Part Vent and part observation:

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May 17, 2012
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As a coach I have found that parents do not like to admit that they are paying money for poor private coaching.

I have the same observations as you do in that if they aren't having success hitting/pitching/fielding/catching I often wonder and sometimes point out to the parents that they should be looking for a different private instructor. That conversation goes poorly 90% of the time.

As a coach I just want the players to play at a high level (and win)...I don't care who you go to for private lessons (mom, dad, sister, neighbor, pizza delivery guy, ex MLB player) I just need to see results at a high level on the field. If you aren't getting that why do you continue to pay for it?

Don't get me started on the players that have multiple hitting coaches (and are hitting in the mid .200's halfway through the summer)...
 

ArmyStrong

Going broke on softball
Sep 14, 2014
87
8
Pacific NW
CB, thanks for posting this. It is very timely with my DD's journey. As we "try out" hitting coaches and pitching coaches, a great many come highly recommended, but often criticized by other coaches. Unfortunately ego gets in the way many times. In the end, as a parent, I'm trying to find the skills coach that DD will improve with because she can relate with that coach and can understand his/her cues. I am conflicted with the "forced loyalty" to work with the skills coach recommended by the HC, especially when DD doesn't get what the skills coach is trying to get her to do.

Now, as an AC, I know something about being loyal to a team, but when DD is struggling at the plate, changes need to be made to make her successful and able to help out her team.
 

ArmyStrong

Going broke on softball
Sep 14, 2014
87
8
Pacific NW
As a coach I just want the players to play at a high level (and win)...I don't care who you go to for private lessons (mom, dad, sister, neighbor, pizza delivery guy, ex MLB player) I just need to see results at a high level on the field. If you aren't getting that why do you continue to pay for it?

^^Exactly. Unfortunately, many HCs out here have difficulty putting pride aside to think that way.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
I think part of the problem is everyone is directed to judge an instructor by that instructor's best, most successful students. Who usually are also the most talented athletes who would succeed no matter what you were teaching them.

To me, the best way to judge an instructor is to look at his/her least-gifted students. If the instructor is helping those kids succeed, you probably have a winner there. Also the instructor's willingness to take on that type of student, i.e., one who is willing to learn but a bit challenged on the ability side. A lot of instructors won't take on that type of player because they only want to work with the "good" ones. I know of one near me who is like that.
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
I think part of the problem is everyone is directed to judge an instructor by that instructor's best, most successful students. Who usually are also the most talented athletes who would succeed no matter what you were teaching them.

This is the most frequent response I hear. I go to 'Private Coach X'. His daughter played at "Big Time College" 10 years ago.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
I think it comes down no matter whom or who you have as a hitting coach or guru it comes down to your God given talent.....Size, weight, speed, ect.... We all seen 'bad' swings that succeed and 'good' swings that have failed. Comes down to God given talent. Plus most parents are lazy and wont or can't put in the time that some do.
My DD plays DIII she wasn't 'blessed' with God given talent. She is able to continue to play because she is willing to work hard on the off season. Lucky she has a dad that is still able to manage to help. Getting harder for dad.
 
Last edited:
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I think it comes down no matter whom or who you have as a hitting coach or guru it comes down to your God given talent.....Size, weight, speed, ect.... We all seen 'bad' swings that succeed and 'good' swings that have failed. Comes down to God given talent. Plus most parents are lazy and wont or can't put in the time that some do.
My DD plays DIII she wasn't 'blessed' with God given talent. She is able to continue to play because she is willing to work hard on the off season. Lucky she has a dad that is still able to manage to help. Getting harder for dad.

If given the opportunity the six sigma talents (we'll assume the talent distribution is Gaussian for this conversation :cool: ) are pretty much going to succeed (in terms of playing and succeeding at the highest level) no matter what, as you said. Likewise regarding "failure" on the other end of the spectrum. Everybody in between, e.g the other 99.999% of the population, is effected by many things including environment (e.g. were you born in CA or MA), instruction, work ethic and unfortunately luck. Thing is nobody really knows what their ceiling is. If after a girl is done with her playing career she can say she did everything in her power to succeed (this includes controlling the mental aspect of the game, something which I personally was an abject failure at) then that, to me, is the definition of success regardless of what level she played at.
 
Last edited:
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
One of the problems I see is that many parents think going to 1 1/2 hour lesson a week and hitting for an hour or 2 with their team, in which they maybe get 50 to 100 swings, is enough. For most kids it isn't. How many swings do you think your (Cannonball) DD took a week in her formative years? 500? 1000? More? While I am pretty sure she had good instruction, you still have to put the work in. Same thing with fielding. Everybody marvels at how many MI come out of the Dominican. Most of those kids are taking 100 to 200 ground balls a day in those academies each MLB has down there. How many ground balls are American kids in TB getting a week if they only work during practice? 100? It makes a difference....
 
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Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
I agree with nearly every post made in this thread so far. But it is not limited to hitting/pitching instruction. I see it in other walks of life as well. In general people realize when they don't have the skill or knowledge to handle something on their own. So they seek out someone that has more skill or knowledge. Sometimes they find a person that can talk a good game but may not be able to provide the results. I have a friend dealing with this right now with a financial advisor. Based on the return he is getting, I would have switched advisors a long time ago. But he remains loyal and is not interested in other opinions.
 

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