Problem Parent - What Would You Do?

[joemcq51]

Just be careful since your DD is a pitcher. When you post ERA, you will get some comments from #2's parents I am sure.

 

[alabama_lowlife]

Stats are tricky. I kept the book during jv and varsity this year, initially for my own amusement. This was DD's 1st year of JV and I wanted to keep up with everything. Sitting there amongst all the other parents, I realized how little most of them knew about scoring.

Girl hits a clean base hit to right. RF throws home to try to get the runner from 3b. Batter goes to 2nd on the throw.....I hear them behind me saying "hey, there's another double!"

Same sort of thing with errors. Their kid puts the ball in play and reaches base, they think it's a hit. She might get on from 2 errors but her average still goes down. They think you're nuts lol

 

[ElmoBlatch]

I love seeing the team stats but I know others feel differently. It's an interesting debate.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

I always post our 12u stats for all to see. You would be amazed how this motivates some of the players to get better

While as a coach I love analyzing the stats, I do get concerned that sharing them with the whole team might have the opposite effect where the player becomes obsessed with their individual stats and puts too much pressure on herself each at bat? Sometimes stats don't tell the whole story about how a player might be contributing to the success of the team. For example, I recently had a player on my team that was a great bunter so she would frequently be asked to bunt to move the runners over but her batting average was around .150. If you looked strictly at her stats, you would think that she was not contributing much offense, but she was very valuable role player. Also, my #5 batter had the most RBIs but a lot of that "success" had to do with the fact that the #1 - 4 batters were doing a great job of getting on base which gave #5 lots of chances to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Also, parents might take the individual stat information and use it to rationalize and justify their arguments that certain players should be batting X in the line-up when lots of other factors come in to play (speed, contact hitter, good bunter, ability to steal a base, aggressiveness) that might not be easily noticeable to the parents or players. Bottom line is that I would be very careful when sharing this informaiton and if you do, make sure that you tell the famlies that the stats are only one of many factors in how the line-up is set-up each game.

 

[nanotech14]

haha! yes and yes!!!!

Thats most likely the reason for #2 pitchers parents,are starting to see if they can start thier own team.You know who's going to be #1 then.Your on a slippery slope,when you coach and have a dd as a pitcher.I will tell you that my dd is the #2 pitcher,I myself or my dd don't have problem with that at all it comes down to it is a team and you have to do whats best for the team.Now if you lose that girl and you need to find a new pitcher.Don't tell someone you need a #2 pitcher and this is where you have to be a coach and not a dad.Your dd needs to be told that she might not still be #1 if you get a new pitcher that is better then her.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

While as a coach I love analyzing the stats, I do get concerned that sharing them with the whole team might have the opposite effect where the player becomes obsessed with their individual stats and puts too much pressure on herself each at bat? Sometimes stats don't tell the whole story about how a player might be contributing to the success of the team. For example, I recently had a player on my team that was a great bunter so she would frequently be asked to bunt to move the runners over but her batting average was around .150. If you looked strictly at her stats, you would think that she was not contributing much offense, but she was very valuable role player. Also, my #5 batter had the most RBIs but a lot of that "success" had to do with the fact that the #1 - 4 batters were doing a great job of getting on base which gave #5 lots of chances to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Also, parents might take the individual stat information and use it to rationalize and justify their arguments that certain players should be batting X in the line-up when lots of other factors come in to play (speed, contact hitter, good bunter, ability to steal a base, aggressiveness) that might not be easily noticeable to the parents or players. Bottom line is that I would be very careful when sharing this informaiton and if you do, make sure that you tell the famlies that the stats are only one of many factors in how the line-up is set-up each game.

This is why a comprehensive group of stats needs to be analyzed. We have avg. , obp , RBI , runs , SB , Sac bunts , etc. Also , the stats actually help me when I have problems with parents. I have actual proof of how the player has performed instead of just the parent's opinion of how the player has been hitting.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Stats are tricky. I kept the book during jv and varsity this year, initially for my own amusement. This was DD's 1st year of JV and I wanted to keep up with everything. Sitting there amongst all the other parents, I realized how little most of them knew about scoring.

Girl hits a clean base hit to right. RF throws home to try to get the runner from 3b. Batter goes to 2nd on the throw.....I hear them behind me saying "hey, there's another double!"

Same sort of thing with errors. Their kid puts the ball in play and reaches base, they think it's a hit. She might get on from 2 errors but her average still goes down. They think you're nuts lol

Very good point. I had a very strict scorekeeper this year, and I'd bet a couple of parents would be stunned to learn how few real hits their DD actually had.

 

[CoogansBluff]

While as a coach I love analyzing the stats, I do get concerned that sharing them with the whole team might have the opposite effect where the player becomes obsessed with their individual stats and puts too much pressure on herself each at bat? Sometimes stats don't tell the whole story about how a player might be contributing to the success of the team. For example, I recently had a player on my team that was a great bunter so she would frequently be asked to bunt to move the runners over but her batting average was around .150. If you looked strictly at her stats, you would think that she was not contributing much offense, but she was very valuable role player. Also, my #5 batter had the most RBIs but a lot of that "success" had to do with the fact that the #1 - 4 batters were doing a great job of getting on base which gave #5 lots of chances to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Also, parents might take the individual stat information and use it to rationalize and justify their arguments that certain players should be batting X in the line-up when lots of other factors come in to play (speed, contact hitter, good bunter, ability to steal a base, aggressiveness) that might not be easily noticeable to the parents or players. Bottom line is that I would be very careful when sharing this informaiton and if you do, make sure that you tell the famlies that the stats are only one of many factors in how the line-up is set-up each game.

More great points. As I stated in another thread, batting average is overrated, but that's the first thing many people look at.

 

[chinamigarden]

As far as scorekeeping. My wife scores all the games with an iPod app called gamechanger. Via wifi she can then upload the info to a central website that then takes all the info inputted and comes up with a vast amount of data. There are more stats then you might even know. All the typcical, Average, OBP, OPS, Sluggin, Walks, Ks, plus a host of others One of them is quality at bats, it takes into consideration sacrifices, as well as at bats of 6+ pitches and at bats that go 3 pitches after 2 strikes. For pitchers it tracks the typical, ERA, WHIP, Hits, runs, earned runs, Ks, BBs, as well as Ks per BB, Ks per inning, batters per K, strike %, first pitch strike percentage, average pitches per inning, plus a bunch of other.

Some of the stats are great for tracking how the DD is doing, I like strike %, % of first pitch strikes, K per BB, Pitches per inning, and a few others.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

As far as scorekeeping. My wife scores all the games with an iPod app called gamechanger. Via wifi she can then upload the info to a central website that then takes all the info inputted and comes up with a vast amount of data. There are more stats then you might even know. All the typcical, Average, OBP, OPS, Sluggin, Walks, Ks, plus a host of others One of them is quality at bats, it takes into consideration sacrifices, as well as at bats of 6+ pitches and at bats that go 3 pitches after 2 strikes. For pitchers it tracks the typical, ERA, WHIP, Hits, runs, earned runs, Ks, BBs, as well as Ks per BB, Ks per inning, batters per K, strike %, first pitch strike percentage, average pitches per inning, plus a bunch of other.

Some of the stats are great for tracking how the DD is doing, I like strike %, % of first pitch strikes, K per BB, Pitches per inning, and a few others.

Also used the Gamechanger app (via an iPad) this past year and its a great tool for coaches and parents. If you sign-up for the premium service, users who are not even at the game can track every at-bat in real-time and stay up to date. Makes you want to throw away those hard cover scorebooks!