High School coaches

[CoachJD]

I may have posted this before, but whenever I see these threads, I reflexively get all #NotAllHSCoaches for a minute.

And then I think about the two years I've been doing this.

My first year, as an AC (but I planned all the practices), we made every mistake there was to make (wrist flicks, HE, etc.). Then I discovered DFP and actually did more research than googling "softball practice ideas." Last spring and summer were much better, though I know I still have much to learn.

I was one of those bad HS coaches. The one advantage I know I have is that I'm doing the work that other HS coaches aren't.

Other HS coaches? I've seen quite a few this year, and yep, most are terrible. Nearly every team we played would start their pregame warmup with their players 5 feet away, doing wrist flicks. Almost every pitcher uses HE mechanics (and my guess is their HS coaches taught many of them).

Of course, my sisters played travel ball growing up, and most of their coaches were terrible, too, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Finding good coaches is tough. TB gives parents an opportunity to find that good coach. Not sure how many parents know enough to spot one though.

 

[lynx]

Good points Coach JD, also a dumb question from me but what is HE mechanics?

 

[JAD]

Good points Coach JD, also a dumb question from me but what is HE mechanics?

"Hello Elbow"

 

[WI Dad]

Daughter's only a 9th grader, but whenever I see the HS coach posts, I think how lucky we are to come into a school with a great coach. See a lot of people get caught up in the high school thing. Have fun, represent your school, be a good teammate, is what I preach to my daughter. As far as if kids are behind that where leadership skills should come into place, teaching differences, if a kid is preforming on the field it's rare a coach will stop the game and remove a kid, because they didn't use the mechanics him/her taught...

 

[Cannonball]

I'll weigh in on this topic as soon as I can figure out what the heck I know.

 

[BB875]

I have coached both TB & HS. This is my 2nd year as a HS coach. The two are NOT the same. First of all, you just don't coach in HS. All of the administrative tasks are just as important as winning. As a TB head coach I was accountable to myself. My abilities as a coach attract (or deter) kids from wanting to play on my team. In HS, you're accountable to the AD and the rest of the administration. Facility use rules, bus times, making sure every kid is accounted for after games, managing booster involvement, getting home late, etc. In TB, I set the schedules that fit my needs. I picked practice times/days, I picked the tournaments, and I picked the weekends we were off. In HS you are required to play teams in your conference. Last year we drove almost two hours to a school, destroyed them 13-0 ( I put all of my JV players in) and drove back. I would NEVER do that in TB. In TB you pick tourneys to challenge your team.

Yes, as far as actual coaching, the two are not the same either. My biggest adjustment was realizing we will play a full 7 innings & understanding its 21 outs no matter what... Good games are much longer than the 70 min TB version. No free substitutions, courtesy runners have limitations, etc. And winning is important! Your record counts. You can't lose 3 pool play games on Saturday and come back and win the tourney in HS. The showcase feeling of individual performance is not there. SAC bunts and drawing a walk by being patient are HUGE offensive needs in HS as compared to showcase events.

I believe a good HS coach evaluates the players overall level of development. Fundamentals and understanding of the game are not hard to determine. The season is short. Working with the kids that need it vs. "fine tuning" the already good players is a better plan. Of course, its all about pitching, so my pitchers see their private instructors and all we do is work with them on calling the game & handling game pressure. I'm not a pitching guy, so why would I ever mention mechanics? Even if I was, no kid like contradictions.

 

[cvsoftball]

BB, I would add that there is a certain joy in seeing a walk on MS player, with little or no experience, make a game winning catch or get a game winning hit late in the season. In TB, such plays are expected. In HS ball, it's confirmation that you saw something in that player that no one else saw, and you helped bring it out for all to see.

 

[JohnnyO]

In Minnesota I'm a high school coach and a travel ball coach, 12 months, 24/7 my wife says... so anyways, In school ball we get very limited amount of time to work with our kids. If not for the travel ball season, which I also coach, we would not get enough practice time to go through everything we want with every kid we want. Some kids need more attention. Our high school session runs the same as most area colleges so our players are not as visible as they are to the college coaches as they are in the summer travel season. If you consider coaching as being equal for a moment then one organization needs the other to full fill it needs and kids needs for playing time and training time. I wish we would quit fighting as to who is better travel or high school and work together. It is about the KIDS not the darn coaches or teams. When it starts to be about the coach it's gone too far. If you have to have the awards and stars behind your name or brag about all the kids you got to Div 1 then I begin to wonder if you are doing it for them or if you are doing it for you !! Our high school team does not have the budget our travel ball team gets. Our travel ball team shares equipment and supports our high school team. Our high school kids we see every day for the school year, we grow with them, through their bad days on and off the field. We are there to lean on or ask questions of for many tests, exams or problems with friends. Our summer travel ball kids we see less often. We don't have them in class many hours a day for a full week. we only see them at practices and games. we don't always get the closeness with them as we do our school team. We try to go beyond the game and help these kids with life, work, friends and their faith. no matter what we try to be there to help. Yesterday I hit grounders to a high school kid from a competing high school for an hour... why, because she's getting ready for the next step. It's about her. Getting her ready for winter dome ball and college clinic. I may not ever get to coach this kid in a game and I might have to play against her. but it's about getting her ready for the next step. The best thing about last weeks NFCA convention in Vegas was it did not matter what team you coached. Everyone accepted and talked to everyone. From Div 1 down to the bottom. Ok, I'm rambling on. lets not worry about who or what is better. lets improve then game for the kids.

 

[Bob516]

In school ball we get very limited amount of time to work with our kids.

How much practice time do you get for your HS team?

 

[JohnnyO]

How much practice time do you get for your HS team?

12 week Season
2 hrs 5 days a week
Less 20 game days minimum
Gives ya 80 hrs for 30 kids with
2.5 coaches Or about 6.6 hrs per kid.

Travel ball “Season” gets me a similar 6.4 hrs per kid
BUT beyond The season I can work with travel ball kids that aren’t my high school kids 365 days of the year




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