Coaching Dilemma

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Apr 24, 2019
9
3
One of my assistant coaches went to the local high school coaches (husband & wife coaching staff) and told them that I am teaching the girls to hit "like baseball players" and teaching the IR pitching method as opposed to the HS coaches' preferred "hello elbow" style. The head HS coach asked for a meeting with me. She told me that I will be teaching her way. She doesn't want me to teach the girls to hit using their lower bodies just focus on the upper body movement and she will fix everything when she gets them in 8th grade. (!?!) She also insisted that I cease referring my pitchers to a local coach that was a very successful pitcher at a D1 school despite the fact that she is highly qualified and actually pitched in college in the current century!

How do I handle the HS coach and her ultimatums? Generally, in our geographic location, the school coaching staff has nothing to do with softball until 8th grade.

The girls I am sending up to her in two years will be excellent, coachable athletes but she stated all she wanted was "coachable" girls that will do everything her way.

Our part of the state is behind the times when it comes to teaching softball. It's like they are stuck in the 80's and 90's.

She told me that my experience with the game (I played NAIA 1992 - 1996 and went to nationals in 1996, plus a couple decades of coaching nieces and now my daughter) wasn't near her level of expertise (D3 pitcher and a High School coach of a small town school for the last four years). Feeling a bit peeved because I spend a lot of time educating myself on what is new in softball to stay current. I feel like she is setting up these girls for mediocrity!

I have a pitching coach and a very successful hitting coach set up for monthly clinics during the upcoming off-season (November - February). However, I have to use the High School gym because it is the only facility available. Should I cancel them or stick to my guns?
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Sorry, I'm missing why you need to be connected at all to this woman or her expectations.

How does your team tie into the High School team?
 
Apr 24, 2019
9
3
Sorry, I'm missing why you need to be connected at all to this woman or her expectations.

How does your team tie into the High School team?
She will be my daughter's high school coach. They don't have select softball here. If my daughter wants to play in high school, this is pretty much her only option.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
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I will be coaching them through middle school but the teams play through a local league not the school.

Gotcha, thanks.

I'd kind go with the polite "bite me" response.

I mean Hello Elbow is ridiculously out-dated and quite honestly goes against any common sense applied to how pitching works. And not using your legs when batting?!? What on Earth is that?

If you're feeling super generous, love the girls and the game... you could try to get these people to update their knowledge of the sport. But that sounds like a long, frustrating battle.
 
Apr 24, 2019
9
3
Gotcha, thanks.

I'd kind go with the polite "bite me" response.

I mean Hello Elbow is ridiculously out-dated and quite honestly goes against any common sense applied to how pitching works. And not using your legs when batting?!? What on Earth is that?

If you're feeling super generous, love the girls and the game... you could try to get these people to update their knowledge of the sport. But that sounds like a long, frustrating battle.
AMEN! I asked her about it and she had a long list of reasons why you don't teach young players these "new, unfounded methods". She claimed that college coaches can change their swings and pitching. I told her I don't think any colleges will be interested.

Thanks for the reply!
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
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If you poke around here on DFP, you'll read about a lot of girls who have had to forgo playing in high school because of lunk-head coaches. It's not ideal, but if you've got a team of girls playing outside the school system, and the HS coach doesn't want them, that's going to be their loss in a big way.

The situation you describe sounds like a no-win: you're not going to convince these coaches that they're doing it wrong, and even suggesting so would probably put your daughter on the outs. If they reach out to you again, you can politely suggest that they are free to donate as much time as you do to helping the younger kids prepare for HS.

I assume you have some parental buy-in working for you. I don't know what participation is like in your area, but if the HS coach pissed of the parents of the girls born between 2005-2007 where I live, there wouldn't be a high school team in three years.
 
Sep 28, 2015
150
18
Will you win and what does that look like?

Short version just let her “win” and do what you do and claim there is no way you can teach at her level . My guess is you will find out you have more in common than your first impressions and eventually just chill out.


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