Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,975
- 113
I wanted to share some of the conversations my DD and I have been having. As I have pointed out, she has been eaten up by softball most of her life. I've posted several times before that we constantly had to tell her that softball was what she did and not who she is. With the college conference tournaments starting this week, she has been over at our house most of the week watching the games. She is pregnant and having twins so that situation is weighing on her because she wants to make it through the HS season before having the twins. (Ping and Pong) We have talked a lot about how she was raised etc. and why she wants to be a coach. I wanted to share a couple of those conversations:
We were talking about a player who has a lot of potential and she truly is excited to coach. At one point, she mentioned that she tried to give this player a sense of what she did to be successful and how hard she worked. I stopped her and mentioned to her that she needed to be careful doing that. In reality, most players don't care about how successful a coach was. Instead, they want to know what the coach can do to help them. What we agreed on is that sharing those types of things is good if a player is doing well. However, if a player is not doing well, forget the resume and just coach. It was a great conversation and I think that many new coaches could learn from that.
We were watching the Georgia/Auburn game and when it went into extra innings, she said that she had to leave to go breakdown stats, former practice plans, ... that they had to prepare for a game that would determine their conference championship. I told her that she is putting too much effort into this. She spends hours doing this stuff. I mentioned that players change but that coaches often do not. Know the coach and you'll have a great idea about how to approach the team. For example, we have a coach in our area who will bunt with a runner on 1st and no out regardless of who is up to bat. This coach is as consistent at this as water being wet. So, we discussed that for a long time.
One night we were talking about defensive positioning. DD asked me how I always knew where a player was going to hit the ball. Players often say that it is scary how I move an outfielder and then, the ball gets hit to them where I positioned them. I told her that I kind of know the players BUT I absolutely know my pitcher. I go from there. I will give you all one more key to what I do as a coach that she and I talked about. I often yelled stuff from the dugout. Many parents, fans and opposing teams didn't like it. Those were really key phrases for how we were going to pitch someone. Each year, I asked players to keep those phrases a secret. I didn't/don't care if parents, fans, ... like me. I do want my teams to be ready for changes in how we are pitching someone.
Finally, and this is getting too long. DD sent me a text last night. It made me really proud. In short, they won. To paraphrase, she said she loves coaching so much. She mentioned that she loved playing so much and needed to keep softball in her life. Then, she mentioned that she now understands why I have done it for so long. The feeling of winning as a player and coach are different and yet so great.
I apologize for the rambling. I hope this all makes sense.
We were talking about a player who has a lot of potential and she truly is excited to coach. At one point, she mentioned that she tried to give this player a sense of what she did to be successful and how hard she worked. I stopped her and mentioned to her that she needed to be careful doing that. In reality, most players don't care about how successful a coach was. Instead, they want to know what the coach can do to help them. What we agreed on is that sharing those types of things is good if a player is doing well. However, if a player is not doing well, forget the resume and just coach. It was a great conversation and I think that many new coaches could learn from that.
We were watching the Georgia/Auburn game and when it went into extra innings, she said that she had to leave to go breakdown stats, former practice plans, ... that they had to prepare for a game that would determine their conference championship. I told her that she is putting too much effort into this. She spends hours doing this stuff. I mentioned that players change but that coaches often do not. Know the coach and you'll have a great idea about how to approach the team. For example, we have a coach in our area who will bunt with a runner on 1st and no out regardless of who is up to bat. This coach is as consistent at this as water being wet. So, we discussed that for a long time.
One night we were talking about defensive positioning. DD asked me how I always knew where a player was going to hit the ball. Players often say that it is scary how I move an outfielder and then, the ball gets hit to them where I positioned them. I told her that I kind of know the players BUT I absolutely know my pitcher. I go from there. I will give you all one more key to what I do as a coach that she and I talked about. I often yelled stuff from the dugout. Many parents, fans and opposing teams didn't like it. Those were really key phrases for how we were going to pitch someone. Each year, I asked players to keep those phrases a secret. I didn't/don't care if parents, fans, ... like me. I do want my teams to be ready for changes in how we are pitching someone.
Finally, and this is getting too long. DD sent me a text last night. It made me really proud. In short, they won. To paraphrase, she said she loves coaching so much. She mentioned that she loved playing so much and needed to keep softball in her life. Then, she mentioned that she now understands why I have done it for so long. The feeling of winning as a player and coach are different and yet so great.
I apologize for the rambling. I hope this all makes sense.
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