Do you coach to the game or the players?

[MTR]

Confusing subject line, but wasn't sure how to word it.

My question is, do you coach the players to do the best the can and win or lose the game based on their performance? Or do you coach to win the game by any means possible?

Do you get on the umpire about ruling a runner out for violating the Look Back Rule (LBR) just because they momentarily lost contact with the base while clearing their spikes to set their feet for the next play? Do you automatically send runners when you see a delayed dead ball signaled for OBS and then argue with the umpire when a runner is called out?

Do you whine about the opposing pitcher being illegal when your pitcher is just as guilty or know full well that the umpire cannot see what you are from his/her position?

Not suggesting you not coach to win, but just how far do you go to get that win? Will you try to nitpick the hell out of everything or have an understanding that the players' skills are what should be the detemining factor on the w-l column?

Thoughts?

 

[stephanie]

As always, this is different depending on the what you coach: Rec, Travel, select..

I coach Rec. I have to play avery player. I have to let every batter bat.
That being said, If I only coached to win, I wouldn't change their positions AT ALL during the season. I would have my ace infielders and my outfielders.
But what fun is that for the girls who are trying JUST AS HARD to be better? (and I have a team full of those girls this year)
So, I coach to win, by coaching to the players. I never coach to lose...isn't in my DNA.
I am coaching my players to have three positions that they are proficient in. (proficient for a 10 YO) BUT, if we play a really good team, they may only get moved to two of them in that game.
If it's a weaker team, I use that game to sit out my best players for an inning or two. Let the other girls have fun for a game!

I don't point out stuff about the other team. That's the ump's job to see. I will argue a call that goes against my team if I thought it was a bad call. But when I say argue, it isn't the screaming, get red in the face argue...I have 12 little girls watching me.

I've seen the illegal pitchers...I always pull their base coach closest to me over and point it out to them. In private. Usually, they haven't realized it, and the next inning, you can tell the girl is working on it. It's REC BALL. Heck, I'll even let the other team's pitcher know when I thought she made an awesome pitch.

 

[SnocatzDad]

I have told my own daughter ( because she tends to be a walking collision ) that if she runs into a fielder rounding a base she should look to see if the umpire's arm goes out (signalling obstruction) and use that information in her decision process to proceed or not. For the rest of the girls I coach I've hesitated to press this issue because I'd rather they just make the decision based on whether they think they can make it or not and not rely on Blue to #1. See it. #2 Call it #3. Rule it correctly. We play way to many 1 umpire games in MN for a coach to expect a lone umpire to see obstruction on a runner 100% of the time.

I won't argue judgement calls or press for calls on IP's. I probably have missed many opportunities to take advantage of other teams BOO or illegal subs, because I don't come to a game hoping for the chance to win the game for my team by properly appealing BOO. I've keep book to keep the other team honest, but if someone BOO by accident and we don't catch it I don't lose sleep over how I lost the game for the team.

The last time I got really mad at an umpire was when one tried to end a game at 60 minutes when it was 70 minutes no new inning. Had nothing to do with win or lose, (we were down 6 and had a 5 run max per inning rule for league). I felt he was cheating the kids out of playing time and that the girls deserved at least their 10 minutes to make plays/get hits. I badgered the guy until he relented and umped for 10 more minutes and I told my girls they better swing at the first three pitches they saw. Turned out he had misunderstood the direction he got from his assignor on when to end games and the next time I saw him we were copesetic.

 

[SoCalDad]

Whining to umps is about as effective as whining to my wife. You can try it but the outcome never goes your way. I coach my girls to know the rules and use them to our advantage.

Examples:
1. All of my pitchers know how to properly appeal a missed base.
2. My base runners know the difference between obstruction and interference (i.e. don't run into a player setup to catch a pop-up even if she is in the base path and expect an obstruction call).
3. Runner on 3rd my batters know how to turn to the 3rd base coach to inhibit the catchers ability for a throw down.

 

[Coach JV]

SCHNOTZDAD- I echo your sentiments where rec ball is concerned. I have a parent do the book,
if the BOO comes up I am passive, as by the time he notices, it is too late anyways. Let the girls play,
it's rec!

When coaching rec, I coach the kids. I have a dozen families that come to see their kid hit, play IF, etc. Nobody comes to
the park to see dd sit at the end of the bench at the expense of wins. Rec ball is plagued with bottom feeders
of the talent pool, these are the ones who need to be 'coached up'. At season's end, I am god in the eyes of the parents.
As coaches we all know there are some sure outs in the line-up, but we play them and smile when they
look at 3 waist high pitches before returning to dugout. We tell them 'go get 'em next time' and pat them on the back.
If it is all about wins, then rec is not the game for you!
As far as playoffs go, yes it is more about the game, the weaker players become role players and still play, just
not as much.

Travel-I coach the kids and the game--the kids know how to play, so the coaching is more in-depth and 10X more enjoyable.
At game time-they know what is expected and they are prepared to play so I coach the game. I am old school, coaching
within the integrity of the game, very few trick plays etc. They play hard, run hard, and have fun doing it. We teach them to
hit, field and play fundamentally sound softball. When all this comes together, we win plenty--winning is the cure to all ills.

Rec ball is a balance of wins, whines and happy families. For every rec team that goes undefeated, there are at least a couple girls
who don't play enough and have the enjoyment of the game sucked out of them to the point that they stop playing. There are plenty
of bad rec coaches in every city-please weed them out for the sake of the game!

 

[rayallen]

I coach the kids and the game too!

 

[druer]

I must admit I'm a TERRIBLE game time coach. My heart is always in coaching the players and encouraging them to use each game as practice to make them better for the next game. I'm always encouraging them to establish long term goals, mid term goals, short term goals and then game time goals. So in coaching younger girls lets say and her goal is to get a clean bunt down. Then with bases loaded, 2 outs and 2 strikes that girl is going to work on getting her bunt down to hit her goal. If a girls goal was to steal third base cleanly and do a slide by to catch the base with her hand, then if she gets on second base, even if there is a catcher with a cannon I'm going to give her the steal signal. There are times where we've lost badly doing things like that, but the girls leave floating on a cloud because they've hit their goals. Also times where we've spanked teams badly and other teams get mad because the girl was trying to steal third and we had a 10 run lead or something.

Fortunately I learned a long time ago that I'm much better at instruction than I am in game time coaching decisions so I focus on that instead. I love to encourage, motivate, build self esteem and see girls setting and achieving their goals as they reach for bigger and bigger ones. The wins and loses don't really matter to me. I can't believe I just said that out loud.

 

[InsidePitch]

I have coached rec a couple of years and always play within the rules. Nothing pleases me more than seeing those you wished magic on hit for the winning score or scoop one at second to throw out the run at first. My DD plays tourney and there I only want the best everywhere in the lineup.

 

[Rambler34]

Player first then the game. In rec my job is to make the girls a little better each week. I do not however play every girl at every spot through the year. Out of my ten girls eight have played in the infield. The other two do not put any effort into anything to do with softball. These are also the two that have parents that will bring them to every other practice. I believe even at a young age kids should be rewarded for effort to instill a work ethic that will carry into all areas of their life.

 

[Mike]

socaldad,

3. Runner on 3rd my batters know how to turn to the 3rd base coach to inhibit the catchers ability for a throw down.

Can you elaborate on that please.

Thanks,
Mike