What to look for in a new team/coach

[elizabeth]

We have been looking to move teams. We have only been to 1 tryout where the coach loved my daughter and immediatly asked her to be on his team. I seemed to really like the coach alot. However, I just do not know what to look for in a coach. He has been coaching for over 15 years but he is starting this new 12U team from scratch. His teams in the past have done really well. What kinds of questions should I be asking? What should I be looking for in their workouts? Is there any red flags that I should be looking for? Any advise is appreciated.

Elizabeth

 

[mudbug]

If a travel coach has been coaching for 15 years, hes probably not coaching his own daughter anymore (a plus) and he probably has some idea of what he is doing by now (another plus). Its usually a safe bet that coaches like that are decent to very good.

Are the practices well organized and disciplined? Are they constantly correcting girls during drills and hittiing? Telling them how to hit outside pitches vs inside pitches, etc.? Or are girls just up there swinging with bad form?

Very good coaches will not let girls get away with poor mechanics or bad form, you dont get better by practicing the same incorrect things.

They will constantly be reminding girls to stay down, keep the glove out in front, that they are letting it get too deep, extend after contact with ball, that they are castinig out, keep hands in, etc.

Once you have experience just watching good coaches and the way their drills and practices are run, you can spot poor ones in seconds. In fact just looking at how the girls on a team swing a bat or field a ball will tell you a lot about the coach. If the basics are not there, well there probably isnt much there at all.