When success shows up....

[radness]

To Add
Really nice to read everyones posts! Feedback, opinions, intelligence....stuff.

Everyone brings something!

Lets GROW SOFTBALL!

 

[Jdaddy]

I’ve got mixed feelings on this one. My issues with coaches “messing” with players directly relate to pitching, catching, hitting and now even throwing where parents are paying for private instruction.

Outside of rec ball and HS, you are choosing your team. Discussions about lessons and leaving kids to the training of private instructors should always be discussed before accepting a position. It doesn’t take more than a few seasons at the younger ages to figure out who the best local coaches are and who your DD should be playing for at 10-12U. We were lucky to have friends with older DDs to help guide us from the beginning, so DD never played for anyone I considered a bad coach, with only one exception.

Im not a fan of telling kids to smile and ignore a coach. It can be viewed as disrespectful and makes a player “appear” to be uncoachable. My question would be why in the heck is your DD on this team anyway? This includes HS ball. If the coaching is that bad, don’t play.

I’ve mentioned this in another post, but DDs college coach made it clear that she and her staff would be solely responsible for ALL of the coaching of her players. This includes all position specific training and hitting. Her reason being that her job depends on her success and she doesn’t leave that to outside coaching. We were fine with it, but there may have been others who weren’t. But, communicating it before players commit is important. I don’t think players are going to get by with smiling and ignoring instruction at the HS and College level, so why are parents training them to do it at 10U-14U? Just my opinion.

 

[NBECoach]

Many players have success at the level they are at, but their faults will get exposed as they age and the competition gets tougher. In those cases, if the change is legitimately beneficial and the player/parent understands the reasoning then the sooner the change the better.

Not saying that the change in this case was correct, but it sounds like the coach can do a better job of communication.

 

[Xplode22]

I’ve got mixed feelings on this one. My issues with coaches “messing” with players directly relate to pitching, catching, hitting and now even throwing where parents are paying for private instruction.

Outside of rec ball and HS, you are choosing your team. Discussions about lessons and leaving kids to the training of private instructors should always be discussed before accepting a position. It doesn’t take more than a few seasons at the younger ages to figure out who the best local coaches are and who your DD should be playing for at 10-12U. We were lucky to have friends with older DDs to help guide us from the beginning, so DD never played for anyone I considered a bad coach, with only one exception.

Im not a fan of telling kids to smile and ignore a coach. It can be viewed as disrespectful and makes a player “appear” to be uncoachable. My question would be why in the heck is your DD on this team anyway? This includes HS ball. If the coaching is that bad, don’t play.

I’ve mentioned this in another post, but DDs college coach made it clear that she and her staff would be solely responsible for ALL of the coaching of her players. This includes all position specific training and hitting. Her reason being that her job depends on her success and she doesn’t leave that to outside coaching. We were fine with it, but there may have been others who weren’t. But, communicating it before players commit is important. I don’t think players are going to get by with smiling and ignoring instruction at the HS and College level, so why are parents training them to do it at 10U-14U? Just my opinion.

Jdaddy, I never want my dd to appear disrectful or uncoachable. But an example of this is: dd has played for same coach for 3 yrs. she was struggling at the plate and it was holding her back. I pay for private lessons for her with a reputable hitting instructor in or area. She is turning the corner now and I don’t want him to change what she is progressing with. No disrespect to him at all, but his hitting style wasn’t working for her. She is 12 and pitches. That’s her strong point. But she realized that to advance, she needed to fix her hitting. But I do see your point of view and do agree that it is a fine line.

 

[Jdaddy]

Jdaddy, I never want my dd to appear disrectful or uncoachable. But an example of this is: dd has played for same coach for 3 yrs. she was struggling at the plate and it was holding her back. I pay for private lessons for her with a reputable hitting instructor in or area. She is turning the corner now and I don’t want him to change what she is progressing with. No disrespect to him at all, but his hitting style wasn’t working for her. She is 12 and pitches. That’s her strong point. But she realized that to advance, she needed to fix her hitting. But I do see your point of view and do agree that it is a fine line.

I agree with what you say. This is why I believe it should be discussed before accepting a position, or continuing to play for a coach. I think private training is far more accepted today than say 8-10 years ago. I think DDs 10U-12U coach would have been less apt to keep a player he couldn’t coach at certain things. He had 30 years of experience and knew what he was teaching, or at least I believe he did.

 

[radness]

So....
At tryouts.
Is it appropriate to tell a player change thier approach to success?


One student at a tryout just looking at her swing... a coach wanted to change her hitting stance. Very inteligent young person said
" Is it ok for me to hit how i've been taught and train so you can see the results first?"
Coach said ok.

She was the only one to make solid contact at all hitting stations.

I wonder if the coach learned a lesson

Perhaps how to communicate during this situation is the valuable discussion here.

Can understand both the player and coaches should be evaluating eachother.

IMO
this is part of the learning curve to select the right team!

 

[Cannonball]

Darn dumb coaches! Speaking as an ex-expert, I say do away with them all. I do remember the days of being an expert. I tried to coach then. LOL

 

[Jdaddy]

That was the perfect way to handle that situation! This coaches statement would have been a red flag for me as a parent. I would have been perfectly clear with this coach that before DD played on this team that he would not interfere with her private hitting instruction.

 

[_MIA_]

Darn dumb coaches!

Some coaches are idiots, some aren't. Same thing can be said for car mechanics, doctors, lawyers, landscapers and professors (this is particularly true). Up to the parent to figure out the best way to proceed. If a parent has seen the improvement they want from their child with the instructor, and the coach still wants to get involved and change things, then it is best for all parties involved to move on.

Too many parents leave their child's development in the hands of a coach/instructor/agility coach/palm reader/etc.

 

[Xplode22]

That was the perfect way to handle that situation! This coaches statement would have been a red flag for me as a parent. I would have been perfectly clear with this coach that before DD played on this team that he would not interfere with her private hitting instruction.

Easy enough for me cuz we have coached together for a few years now.