Who is the most responsible for player growth/performance?

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Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
I know some parents didn't want to sacrifice THEIR summer weekends at their beach house. Guess what happen to the kid? She got pushed further down the bench, since she couldn't put in the work.

I see this type of thing a lot. It's clear which kids have parents who played sports or have older siblings who play sports and which ones don't get it. Had a girl last year who was once dropped off at our 11 AM game at 11:45 just because that's when mom felt like getting her there. We've built our program to the point where we no longer have to accept that kind of thing. Enough of our kids have parents who get it and, at the very least, get them to practices and games. We don't have to settle for people who treat the team like an optional activity during the season.
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
I am still a little bit sad about 1 player that learned to pitch on YouTube.

Funny story. The best 14U pitcher I ever saw playing against us was just lights out. About as unhittable as you can imagine. I walked by their bench and I heard her father say something about doghouse videos on YouTube. I looked and found nothing. She really looked good with great mechanics.

About 3 or 4 tournaments later here she comes again and is on point. I walked up to dad and complimented her. Then I asked who her pitching coach was because the team coach was a dodo. He said she's never taken a lesson. I asked if he was a former pitcher and he said hell no I'm an accountant ive never played sports. Then he said I found this skinny nerdy guy with glasses on YouTube and he sounded like me. I showed her the video and she said I could do that. Then he said the guys name was Bill Hillhouse (not dog house)
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
113
A mom once told me, that you are better off spending your money on ACT/SAT prep than you are a hitting lesson. That got me thinking. Do I want my kid to play at a mid major D1 in the middle of nowhere, get an okay degree while getting some athletic monies? If this is your goal, go for it!!! Or go to an Academically challenging school with no athletic money, but get a well regarded degree from a D3 that I will have to pay for most of? Our family just had different goals, and we were trying to be as realistic as possible based on total overall fit for our family. I knew my DD would not thrive at the D1 level, and she didn't like the prospect of devoting all of her time to softball. Don't get me wrong, she spends A LOT of her time with softball in college, but it's not her entire life.

That mom that I just spoke of has twins. One pitched (JWOS recently featured her)and graduated from an Ivy and recently transferred to a Major D1 school on the East coast to get her 5th year of softball, and her twin sister played with my DD on her college team who also graduated, and will be going to Vet school in Kansas. 4 years to set up the next 40 y'all!

Yep - people can definitely use sports to achieve different goals. Would my dd get into the college of her choice (dream academic reach school) without going to a good private school or not playing softball? I honestly don’t know. We sacrificed to set her and her brother up for success 10 years from now, and so far it’s been working in their favor.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
Funny story. The best 14U pitcher I ever saw playing against us was just lights out. About as unhittable as you can imagine. I walked by their bench and I heard her father say something about doghouse videos on YouTube. I looked and found nothing. She really looked good with great mechanics.

About 3 or 4 tournaments later here she comes again and is on point. I walked up to dad and complimented her. Then I asked who her pitching coach was because the team coach was a dodo. He said she's never taken a lesson. I asked if he was a former pitcher and he said hell no I'm an accountant ive never played sports. Then he said I found this skinny nerdy guy with glasses on YouTube and he sounded like me. I showed her the video and she said I could do that. Then he said the guys name was Bill Hillhouse (not dog house)
@Hillhouse would ya just look at that!
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
The question at hand is a bit open ended. Is the coach hired and or expected to show results?

A coach is a teacher. Someone who can read their players and develop them. Does the player fail despite having a fantastic coach or does the player fail because they have a crap coach? Too many people are coaches just because and they know they can't push a player to great things, but they stick around anyway. A solid coach can squeeze every ounce of greatness out if a player
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
A mom once told me, that you are better off spending your money on ACT/SAT prep than you are a hitting lesson.

Truer words were never spoken. DD has team mates and knows others who are phenomenal players but can't break 20 on their ACT. I'll wager that hamstrings many, many good players.

Being great at softball or any other isn't worth much for college if you don't meet the entrance requirements, or have no prayer of making it through school even if you squeak in.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
The question at hand is a bit open ended. Is the coach hired and or expected to show results?

A coach is a teacher. Someone who can read their players and develop them. Does the player fail despite having a fantastic coach or does the player fail because they have a crap coach? Too many people are coaches just because and they know they can't push a player to great things, but they stick around anyway. A solid coach can squeeze every ounce of greatness out if a player
There a different coaches for different things. Team coach: Manages the team, conducts practices, game time decisions, etc. At the lower ages, the coach is looked upon as the person showing them the "how to's" of softball. How to field, how to hit, where to throw the ball, when to steal,etc. Teaching them the game. As they get older the coach should be working on the nuances of the game, situational defenses, bunting situations, 1st/3rd, strategy. Ways to win a game.

Hired coach: Pitching, hitting, catching, fielding, Conditioning coaches. These people you pay to refine certain aspects of the game. This is where DD's get better and then bring their skills to the practice field to demonstrate what she has learned.

I never paid for a lesson until it was obvious my DD (8th grade)needed next level catching/hitting lessons since all of sudden I had no idea what I was talking about for the past 6 years. At some point mom/dad will have taught their kid all they know and needs someone else to take them to the next level. For much of what the coach was teaching, has already been taught by myself. She is just being told by someone in an "authoritative" position that she will listen to.

When we hit the cages(very rare), I am primarily the ball feeder with some comments to refine (stay back, wait for it, focus on hitting oppo, etc). Teaching for me is over for the most part.
 
Mar 10, 2020
734
63
1. Parent starts with guidance.
2. Children follow the guidance.
3. Coach is selected by parents as part of guidance.
Coaches have least control of daily activity.
Grows to become
1. dd player
2. Parent overseeing guidance
3. Coach
Paid instructor is a technical coach that provides a sports classroom and guidance selected by the parent.
Then by the dd player.
Would place paid instructor above team coach.
Teams and coaches change to much to be considered a constant in long term goal.
 
Oct 22, 2010
87
8
SO CAL
Player , Parent then coach.
1) as a player they have to work hard and put the work in on the side. Like hitting, bullpens and what ever they need to work on.

2) as a parent it's your job to help them get that stuff done.

3) as a coach it's up to you to fine tune and teach all your players. Many of the players have hitting coaches and pitching coaches and don't want any butting in on those. Even if a player is hitting 120 and getting lit up like a Xmas tree it's still going to be your fault 😁
 
Nov 4, 2015
320
43
Parent is number 1. That is who puts a ball in their hand and creates the enjoyment of the game in most cases. A 4 year old has no idea how to put work in. They are playing and they need someone to play with. If it isn't fun, it's going to be hard get them to continue. Then it helps to have a coach they love at an early age. Many kids have been pushed to other sports by a bad coach. After enjoying and learning the game early, the players responsibility will gradually take the place of the coach's and then the parents. So when young, I say parent, coach and then player. Then it evolves into player, parent, and coach. Then finally to player, coach, parent. JMHO
 

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