- Dec 20, 2012
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First off I don't know of very many people(men) that have not played a sport at some point in their life. So the chances of having a parent that NEVER had any expeience at a sport is not very likely. That goes back to my qustion, at what level must you have played in order to coach?? True, those who have not played a sport professionally are often overlooked to coach in the pros. But does that mean because you were a pro you are the most qualified?
Not sure what part of the country you are in, around here wrastlin is a big time sport. I would say wrestling is one of the sports you most likely need prior experience or would have been an asst. to LEARN the sport. Simply because of how complexed moves are. I would say the same about gymnastics but one of the greatest coaches ever, Bela Karlyi, never competed as a gymnast. In fact he was a boxer and threw the hammer. Not sure why he would be qualified to coach the women's US gymnastic team to 9 gold medals? Oh because he studied the sport and took gymanstic classes. The same way MANY bucket dads(and moms) have studied pitching and have gone to clinic after clinic.
I would compare golf to pitching or hitting. You can disect a pitch or swing and point out every detail that is done right or wrong. You do not have to be a former player to do this. If you have never played you can not explain game time jitters, anxieties, highs, and lows. Nothing can give you that but experience. I do agree with you on this. Not everyone that has a dd that throws can be a pitching coach. But there are several out there that put out the effort to actually learn the game.
I never played fastpitch softball, I played baseball, football, basketball. But in no way did that give me the credentials to teach my daughter to pitch. We started with a PC and I listened to everything he said. At games I talked to every parent that had a kid that threw. OK, started learning that what their kid is being taught is quite a bit different than mine. Started going to small clinics, got to talk to Ernie Parker as well as Jennie Finch and Lisa Fernandez. 2 different styles but both successful. After a year or so we shopped around for new PC. Would go to at least 4 lessons before making a decsion to stay or go. Most were past DI players, some held school records at top 25 teams, one with WCWS starts under her belt. I soaked up every bit of info I could from them. As she got older and getting recruited we had the privilege of getting to work with Doug Gillis and Mike White. Not to mention all the camps attended on UV's. By just attending these events would I or anyone else know a thing about pitching? NO. But by paying attention and asking questions or staying after and finally getting run off because I am drilling the PC's on the why's and how's of everything they do. My daughter gives lessons, I used to watch and make sure she was doing a good job. But I know I do not need to now because when she learned to pitch we didn't do things "just because". It's not that she can pitch, it's she knows pitching/ For everything she did there was a purpose. If she is struggling she can tell you why. Do you know how many pitchers(or athletes in general) can't tell you why things do what they do? Why is your rise balls staying flat? I don't know. I'll tell you right now a pretty good majority of pitchers go to lessons once a week or maybe 2 weeks, during summer it is even more hit and miss. Now the other 26-29 days of the month who do you think is working with that kid??? THE PARENT. Do you think they have any idea of what they are doing? Do you think all the knowledge the girls need to learn to throw is gained in a 1 hr every other week?? No, at one point the parent is actually the student, learning to pitch just in order to explain it to their 8 yr old that can't heads or tails of what she is doing. But, hey,that's just what I think.
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