Assessment of Players

[radness]

Pardon long read, but important!

It is an interesting thing that happens to be contacted by a family who has a daughter already goes to another instructor's catching workout/ lessons.
( they are NOT looking for new instructor, just assessment)

I ask
Would you like an assessment of what your daughter is being taught and how well she is applying it? aka: Is she doing what she's being taught correctly?
Or
Would you like an assessment of your daughter's performance as a catcher to include feedback of what I think she needs to work on to improve?
aka: things that may need to be changed to grow.

Parent replied,
We already have an instructor we just want to know how well she is doing.

Which brings a very important point I would like to make.
*** When you select a set of mechanics that you are going to work on. Whether that is catching hitting pitching fielding throwing
Those are the tools and the philosophy that goes with those mechanics that a player is trying to reproduce effectively and efficiently.

As far as productivity on the field~

You can either
1. Stay with that set of mechanics and philosophy that goes with it. Try and get better with it.
Or
2. Recognize that if the player overall performance is not getting better
(after say, *3 months of dedicated weekly application) that there may be something they are doing that needs to be changed.

Important to consider ~
* if you go from one instructor to another instructor or one coach to another coach and these separate people have different ideals of what they think is the right thing to do, they may inadvertently cause you the family player confusion because there are different sets of mechanics/ philosophies that people prefer.
*Feedback you received during the assessments can be confusing.

(Thankfully I recognize this scenario happens. Recognize to ask questions before just doing an assessment. Because I'm very familiar with certain other instructors and what they teach at their workouts. What I teach is different than what they are being taught.
and I would not want to inadvertently cause a player confusion. Makes goal of assessment important.)

***Bring this topic to dfp to point out this is a conundrum that can cause revolving door confusion for young players.

***For people to recognize that sometimes the more people coaches instructors people listen to can really open a can of worms.

I suggested weekly dedicated application of at least *3 months on mechanics that people are working on.
*That time May be different for different players.

Now to ask DFP for your wonderful responses...
Have you encountered the confusion of being told different things by different instructors/coaches?
How long do you think players should be working on a set of mechanics before they decide they may need to change the mechanics they've been trying to work on?
How and when to utilize new resources.
  Your feedback can help others stay out of the revolving door of confusion!!!

GO DFP

 

[Rolling Hard]

May we know the age of this player?

If I were you, I would make an honest assessment and take the assessment money. I would also gently explain 2 or 3 main differences in what you teach and why you teach it. Maybe they will buy-in. Maybe they won't. But at least you will know, you gave them options.

 

[Northball]

Pardon long read, but important!

It is an interesting thing that happens to be contacted by a family who has a daughter already goes to another instructor's catching workout/ lessons.
( they are NOT looking for new instructor, just assessment)

I ask
Would you like an assessment of what your daughter is being taught and how well she is applying it? aka: Is she doing what she's being taught correctly?
Or
Would you like an assessment of your daughter's performance as a catcher to include feedback of what I think she needs to work on to improve?
aka: things that may need to be changed to grow.

Parent replied,
We already have an instructor we just want to know how well she is doing.

Which brings a very important point I would like to make.
*** When you select a set of mechanics that you are going to work on. Whether that is catching hitting pitching fielding throwing
Those are the tools and the philosophy that goes with those mechanics that a player is trying to reproduce effectively and efficiently.

As far as productivity on the field~

You can either
1. Stay with that set of mechanics and philosophy that goes with it. Try and get better with it.
Or
2. Recognize that if the player overall performance is not getting better
(after say, *3 months of dedicated weekly application) that there may be something they are doing that needs to be changed.

Important to consider ~
* if you go from one instructor to another instructor or one coach to another coach and these separate people have different ideals of what they think is the right thing to do, they may inadvertently cause you the family player confusion because there are different sets of mechanics/ philosophies that people prefer.
*Feedback you received during the assessments can be confusing.

(Thankfully I recognize this scenario happens. Recognize to ask questions before just doing an assessment. Because I'm very familiar with certain other instructors and what they teach at their workouts. What I teach is different than what they are being taught.
and I would not want to inadvertently cause a player confusion. Makes goal of assessment important.)

***Bring this topic to dfp to point out this is a conundrum that can cause revolving door confusion for young players.

***For people to recognize that sometimes the more people coaches instructors people listen to can really open a can of worms.

I suggested weekly dedicated application of at least *3 months on mechanics that people are working on.
*That time May be different for different players.

Now to ask DFP for your wonderful responses...
Have you encountered the confusion of being told different things by different instructors/coaches?
How long do you think players should be working on a set of mechanics before they decide they may need to change the mechanics they've been trying to work on?
How and when to utilize new resources.
  Your feedback can help others stay out of the revolving door of confusion!!!

GO DFP

As a pitching coach I have had students working on their own in the gym or school fields given free well-intentioned advice by former coaches or parents who happen to be walking by. These people usually have a LITTLE knowledge or outdated knowledge that does not correspond to what I teach. I then have to reinforce what I teach to counter the "advice", and I also have to know my stuff so I can explain why I teach the way I do. All while keeping an open mind knowing this game evolves.

 

[uncdrew]

As a pitching coach I have had students working on their own in the gym or school fields given free well-intentioned advice by former coaches or parents who happen to be walking by. These people usually have a LITTLE knowledge or outdated knowledge that does not correspond to what I teach. I then have to reinforce what I teach to counter the "advice", and I also have to know my stuff so I can explain why I teach the way I do. All while keeping an open mind knowing this game evolves.

My DD knows to smile and nod when anyone gives her pitching or hitting advice. And then to quickly forget everything said unless it came from her pitching or hitting instructor.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

My DD knows to smile and nod when anyone gives her pitching or hitting advice. And then to quickly forget everything said unless it came from her pitching or hitting instructor.

But what if her pitching or hitting instructor is not teaching best practices? Wouldn't you want to know?

 

[uncdrew]

But what if her pitching or hitting instructor is not teaching best practices? Wouldn't you want to know?

But it's not the random parent observer who would let us know that. Know what I mean? It's the "know it all jackass" type that feel they should give advice to girls in a sport they've never played - or the over-achieving assistant coach type. There are certain people who know to discuss mechanics with me, if needed - they wouldn't mention it to my daughter. I do keep tabs on her pitching and hitting coach's reputations in the community and do still hear them mentioned amongst the best in our area.

Fortunately, her travel and school coach know not to give her hitting or pitching tips. They know she's being taught by professionals who know better than they do. The coaches are great at managing the game, keeping spirits up, etc.

 

[radness]

May we know the age of this player?

If I were you, I would make an honest assessment and take the assessment money. I would also gently explain 2 or 3 main differences in what you teach and why you teach it. Maybe they will buy-in. Maybe they won't. But at least you will know, you gave them options.

(This is not a question of whether or not I would do the assessment
-it is a discussion about people/players in that situation.)

What you suggest can cause a lot of confusion and that is why I brought this topic up. Changing what someone is doing may not be there intention of the assessment.

 

[radness]

As a pitching coach I have had students working on their own in the gym or school fields given free well-intentioned advice by former coaches or parents who happen to be walking by. These people usually have a LITTLE knowledge or outdated knowledge that does not correspond to what I teach. I then have to reinforce what I teach to counter the "advice", and I also have to know my stuff so I can explain why I teach the way I do. All while keeping an open mind knowing this game evolves.

✔So you see/understand the conundrum that people are impacted with different versions of what to do!

 

[radness]

To add to @GunnerShotgun and @uncdrew 's conversation...
think there are people that may question the route they are taking and/or possibly are looking to reinforce their decision they made.
Two groups emerge,
Basically, while some people may be looking to find better ways to do a skillset and seek other opinion,
There are some that just look to confirm what they think they are doing is right.

~Towards the goal of producing results~
There can be a conundrum when doing mechanics correctly and still not getting the benefit of better results.

Comes across like this
we're doing what the coach or instructor is telling us to do but it does doesn't seem to be producing.
* How to get past that point?
* How/ when would should a player take on new mechanics?

 

[uncdrew]

To add to @GunnerShotgun and @uncdrew 's conversation...
think there are people that may question the route they are taking and/or possibly are looking to reinforce their decision they made.
Two groups emerge,
Basically, while some people may be looking to find better ways to do a skillset and seek other opinion,
There are some that just look to confirm what they think they are doing is right.

~Towards the goal of producing results~
There can be a conundrum when doing mechanics correctly and still not getting the benefit of better results.

Comes across like this
we're doing what the coach or instructor is telling us to do but it does doesn't seem to be producing.
* How to get past that point?
* How/ when would should a player take on new mechanics?

It's hard to know when to move to another instructor, that's for sure. We went through a few pitching coaches before getting to ours. At some point I think you sense improvement has slowed/stopped. Or that you're not doing anything new. Or you sense there must be better out there.