Thoughts on this Coach's Letter to Parents

[Sparky Guy]

he relies on outside private instructors

I know pitching. I know what a bad swing looks like. I know how to attack it. What I don't know much of is teaching a kid to hit well. My hitting knowledge is pedestrian at best. AND I KNOW IT!!!! That is why I tell my players to get a hitting instructor and I try to get someone who knows hitting to teach my teams.

There is nothing wrong with admitting your weaknesses as a coach and getting a team the help they need.

 

[Sweet Lou]

It is too long. I also hate that the coaches call pitches and he relies on outside private instructors (that seems like a cop out and because the letter is long, I fear the coach talks too much in practice, so the players must have outside instruction to get anywhere...). I don't like the religion thing.

I would also prefer that a short letter about the clothes, etc. go to the kids so they monitor stuff like that themselves. Parents should not be shouldered with being the go between.

But some of it is OK.

You do realize than Mike Matheny was a former MLB catcher who won 4 gold gloves and was generally known for being excellent handling a pitching staff but had to retire early due to concussion syndrome right? He wasn't much of a hitter as MLBers go though.

 

[Jon Case]

Well said Sparky. It's impressive to me that even as a former MLB player, he encourages this. It's because he has other areas to address with a team. It's why you should hit with someone...if you can afford to do it.

 

[Jon Case]

I think overall it was written with the best of intentions. The "tone" was probably something that could have been handled better. The parent involvement is at an all-time high. From Little League to high school. Things need to be toned down for sure in my opinion.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Screwball maybe I'm wrong but it didn't sound like he was putting together your typical LL-rec team. This was going to be a psuedo-travel team playing the best competition in a resonable driving radius. He also detailed how this approach resulting in 4 players from his youth team going on to play professional ball, an outstanding accomplishment for a single team.

He also didn't say he didn't teach hitting or wouldn't correct flaws but strongly recommened a personal coach. Doesn't sound much different from what I hear from most players who play top HS or A-travel ball in my area. A hitting coach can spend a half hour to an hour on a single student. A little league coach get's his players for like 2 hours at a time to cover all areas of the game.

Was the letter a bit over the top? Was it preachy? Probably yes on both counts but I commened him for laying out all the ground rules and expectations before hand rather than have something come up later that partents will be complaining about.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I take my responsibility as a youth coach and mentor very seriously, but do not take myself as seriously as the author does.

Tell the parents your plan and then go out and follow through on it. Treat their kids fairly and you won't have many problems at all.

 

[joeman39]

Yes, am I intimidated about telling him what I think? No. Does that make him a great LL coach? Perhaps. Many folks here think ex-players make crappy coaches.

He can do research on hitting (good grief, it is LL level), and as all the dads who are pitching experts here will tell you, you don't have to know how to do something to teach it. But I would think he should know and teach basic hitting. Plus what I am getting at is that he should take some responsibility for introducing varied topics and keep practice moving, not just hand off huge sections to others because he yaps for hours on end about MLB perhaps.

What I think is, is that dealing with parents about hitting in particular can be a huge pain in the rear, so easier for the coach to have an instructor deal with it.

*** I don't think he was coming across not being able to teach but realizing that every kid out there these days (no matter who is coaching) looks for instructors outside of there team. Hand it to him that if he saw something that didn't look right he would discuss it with the instructor. To me he is letting the parents know how things will be on this team and if don't agree than take your kid and leave (actually he does it a nice way).

 

[joeman39]

I take my responsibility as a youth coach and mentor very seriously, but do not take myself as seriously as the author does.

Tell the parents your plan and then go out and follow through on it. Treat their kids fairly and you won't have many problems at all.

LOL LOL OK ... Some parents no matter how your treat there kids they have something to say. You can tell them all you want and if they want there kid to pitch and they can't throw it no place near the plate than they get mad and here you go and than you battle the mom and dad trying to tell there kid everything they need to do from behind the backstop..shoot it's almost as bad at the college level....lol

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

Maybe a bit too long , but makes it pretty clear how things will be handled on his team. Parents just need to get out of the way and let the coaches do their jobs. If you dont like the way coach does things , then find another team or coach one of your own.

 

[abbygale]

I liked it except for the length. I also believe many parents think they are more of an essential part of the team on the field than their coaches perception. Been guilty of it many times in the past and probably into the future. LOL!