I have been coming to this forum for quite a few years. I have had my share of bad parent moments. I think I might just be entering into a bad coach moment era. Hope you all have a minute for a little story.....
As my DD has grown up and improved as a pitcher, she has developed sort of a cult following in the local rec leagues. Since I have been a coach way before she was even born, I have naturally worked with her on her game. Because of all of the long hours we spent together at the parks, parents have naturally asked about who my DD's pitching coach was. Her answer is always the same. My Dad is my pitching coach. We got to know many of these younger kids and after a while, they asked me to work with their DD. I said no for the longest time. Finally about 3 years ago, I accepted my first girl. I have a very basic set of rules to follow. One of them is there are many pitching coaches and many differing styles. If you don't like me or my style, that is fine. You cannot keep switching between coaches. It will only confuse a player and ultimately hurt their success. Basically, if they pitch for me, I don't want them getting "advice" from any other coach. It has worked really well and at one point I was up to about 11 girls taking lessons.(That was way too many) This one girl came to me who I have known for several years. She was big and strong, but mentally a wreck. She needed help. I started working with her and within a few weeks there was a very obvious difference. She started throwing strikes consistently and winning games in the circle. I could tell the parents were very proud and would talk with anyone who would listen about their DD. Sure enough, a local TB coach got in their ears and convinced them to play on his team. Personally I don't like the guy, but I didn't really care who she pitched for. As long as she pitched. Plays for this team for six months doing fantastic. Suddenly out of the blue, she stops taking lessons from me. I guess my feelings got hurt for whatever reason. Fast forward six months. She is a wreck again. Cannot find the strike zone and mentally she is done. Of course the TB coach kicks her to the curb and she ends up on a different local team. I run into her parents at the park one night and they ask if I have any openings. I tell them I am booked solid and barely have time for the kids I see now. They have called me three or four times to see about an opening. My wife thinks I should have taken her back and helped her. My thought was if the grass looked greener on the other side........Am I a bad person? I currently am working with 6 girls and my DD. That number is perfect. I can get them all in and not feel like it is a second job. The girls I have are all doing great and I don't want to lose any time I could be spending with them. Tough lesson for her parents to learn. We all live with our choices. Is this one going to haunt me?
As my DD has grown up and improved as a pitcher, she has developed sort of a cult following in the local rec leagues. Since I have been a coach way before she was even born, I have naturally worked with her on her game. Because of all of the long hours we spent together at the parks, parents have naturally asked about who my DD's pitching coach was. Her answer is always the same. My Dad is my pitching coach. We got to know many of these younger kids and after a while, they asked me to work with their DD. I said no for the longest time. Finally about 3 years ago, I accepted my first girl. I have a very basic set of rules to follow. One of them is there are many pitching coaches and many differing styles. If you don't like me or my style, that is fine. You cannot keep switching between coaches. It will only confuse a player and ultimately hurt their success. Basically, if they pitch for me, I don't want them getting "advice" from any other coach. It has worked really well and at one point I was up to about 11 girls taking lessons.(That was way too many) This one girl came to me who I have known for several years. She was big and strong, but mentally a wreck. She needed help. I started working with her and within a few weeks there was a very obvious difference. She started throwing strikes consistently and winning games in the circle. I could tell the parents were very proud and would talk with anyone who would listen about their DD. Sure enough, a local TB coach got in their ears and convinced them to play on his team. Personally I don't like the guy, but I didn't really care who she pitched for. As long as she pitched. Plays for this team for six months doing fantastic. Suddenly out of the blue, she stops taking lessons from me. I guess my feelings got hurt for whatever reason. Fast forward six months. She is a wreck again. Cannot find the strike zone and mentally she is done. Of course the TB coach kicks her to the curb and she ends up on a different local team. I run into her parents at the park one night and they ask if I have any openings. I tell them I am booked solid and barely have time for the kids I see now. They have called me three or four times to see about an opening. My wife thinks I should have taken her back and helped her. My thought was if the grass looked greener on the other side........Am I a bad person? I currently am working with 6 girls and my DD. That number is perfect. I can get them all in and not feel like it is a second job. The girls I have are all doing great and I don't want to lose any time I could be spending with them. Tough lesson for her parents to learn. We all live with our choices. Is this one going to haunt me?
