Travel vs. School vs. Private Coaching Conflicts

[Cannonball]

Best Little League baseball coach from 1975? So...the guy in your avatar?

I was my area "Amature Coach of the Year" for baseball in 1974. I was 16 years old. Maybe the explains why I don't know anything.

@ANNASDAD unfortunately, there are poor coaches at the MS, HS, AND TB level. I am absolutely positive that the parents of the players I have cut over the years think that I suck as a coach. Heck, some might who had kids play for me. Most likely, I have sucked a few times. Still, I'm the coach and I don't think I ask players to change for change's sake. To be sure, I won't have a player telling me what drills they will and will not do. I took the same approach with parents/players I take here. At our parent's meeting, I made/make it clear that if they don't like what is going on with how I coach, please remove their child. We'll both be happier.

 

[radness]

... and I commented that you don't really know the whole story. Imagine, if you will, a 13-year-old who has become so advanced at playing TB at the B level that she feels empowered enough to tell the MS coach that this coach's drills suck. Imagine as well that this might be a drill that the young hitter is struggling with and so would not opt to understand the drill might expose the hitter's flaws but instead the young player decides instead to blame the coach. In this setting, I can't imagine that this young player would then take this to all aspects of the game where the player believes that they know more than the coach. Imagine, if you will, that the player's parent knows this coach's resume to the point that the parent knows that his 13 year old knows more than the coach. Finally, imagine, if you will, any parent wanting their child to play for such a pathetic coach. Why not instead be the parent and remove the child if you think that this coach is so inept. Imagine if you will, a parent sitting in the stands telling anyone who will listen just how inept the coach is ... but I digress. DON'T "TOLERATE" THE COACH. REMOVE YOUR DD FROM THE TEAM.

Keep sharing yours thoughts on hypothetical situations!
Good to see perspectives.

I was direct in my responses on purpose.

Hmmm today is friday.
Maybe only 7 weeks left...

 

[KrisHur]

What position? Because if she's playing third, the backhand is probably better than shuffling into foul territory to field it.

I'm sure there's more than what you described, but simply teaching (and preferring) a backhand doesn't sound so crazy.

First base, wanted her to backhand everything, all the time. Crazy. Same for every other position - if the ball is coming up to your right, back hand it - didn't even have them try to shuffle, not sure he knew they are supposed to. It was well known that he's a soccer coach and this was his first year doing softball - it was an easy off-season check.

 

[Shiloh]

First base, wanted her to backhand everything, all the time.

Did anyone ask him why - ?

Maybe he knows something, maybe he doesn't.

If approached in a curious not confrontational way, I bet he'll talk about it.

 

[Gambler Bob]

All I would like to add is that I am happy that my daughter's jr. high does not have softball.

 

[HunterMO]

This thread makes me appreciate DD’s JH coaches (also the HS coaches). They don’t try to change any girls mechanics unless it’s obvious they need some help. Overall they run a good program and DD has learned a lot. The feeling I get is they’re very much about helping the girls continue to develop. Both have 15+ years coaching experience. The way the assistant coach throws during coach pitch scrimmages I wouldn’t be surprised if he played men’s fastpitch in his younger years. He doesn’t take it easy on them.

 

[KrisHur]

Did anyone ask him why - ?

Maybe he knows something, maybe he doesn't.

If approached in a curious not confrontational way, I bet he'll talk about it.

He wanted nothing to do with the parents and put in a *minimal* amount of effort. He practically ran off the bus to the field and then back to the bus--never any time to talk, just "send me an email". No parents allowed at practice and parking is far from the field so you couldn't catch him after practice (parents had to stay in the parking lot). He was clearly there for the $3k coaches get.

 

[Shiloh]

He wanted nothing to do with the parents and put in a *minimal* amount of effort. He practically ran off the bus to the field and then back to the bus--never any time to talk, just "send me an email". No parents allowed at practice and parking is far from the field so you couldn't catch him after practice (parents had to stay in the parking lot). He was clearly there for the $3k coaches get.

Ugh. Yeah so he’s a lousy coach. Probably feels like he is doing everyone a favor by being there.

good thing the season is only two months.

 

[radness]

When I was coaching high school I had a player come to us in the eighth grade who had a nice swing, but I didn’t like his back elbow action. I told myself as soon as he slumps I was going to make the adjustment that I wanted to make. He was all-state as a freshman and ended up having one of the better high school careers of any player I coached. He went on to win a National title at UVA where he was on scholarship all 4 years....

...every so often I remind myself that I never got around to fixing that back elbow...

Mike Stith told me this story
(BatBuster top coach also does private hitting)
He told me he had a very powerful hitter he had been working with for over a couple years. She also played for him. There was one thing that he considered a glitch that he kept trying to train her out of. One day Gary Hanning (another coach that was associated with BatBusters at the top level) said to him
"Why do you keep trying to change that part of her swing? She's a tremendous hitter and probably hits better than anybody we've ever seen." Mike Stith replied,
"You're right" and let it go.
She went on to be one of the top hitters in the nation.
...for several years.

i keep saying this
Look For The Success!

And will add
Over the many years of teaching hitting,
Never has any two hitters been exactly the same as another.
Simply athletes have individual nuances.

Hitting drills, while some may seem irrelevant if only done as a drill, not applied in a game.
Can help and/or may corrupt muscle memory.
That said
its good to inquire with students/players what drills they do at practice.
( at practice or at lessons visa- versa)
Just in case detail is needed how to apply a similar drill or apply an adjustment in the drill...that can improve performance, not throw off desired mechanics and results.
Also we speak about how to
communicate with a coach if needed in situations that may arise from different approaches in mechanics.
Noticeably~
Coaches who apply interactive communication with players about training and goals...
By FAR have a positive resulting impact when they include respecting players ability to think and communicate.

The opposite is the case with coaches who have lousy interactive skills.
Players tend to recognize disconnected coaches.
And tend to think less of them.

 

[texasheat]

The weird part about this is that a college coach recruited a good hitter whose swing needed to be completely remade.

Not really if the girl is 6' tall and runs like a deer and has a cannon for an arm. Lots of college coaches recruit players based on projections/high ceiling.