Coaching Tip...

General Coaching Philosophy…

As a coach (and parent… you can help reinforce these qualities), our coaching philosophy has a tremendous impact on the development and performance of our players. How we think, what we do, how we motivate, how we conduct practice, and how we manage games determines to a large degree success or failure of our teams and players. There is an old saying about good coaches, “he can beat you with his players or your players, doesn’t matter.”

Talent is important no doubt; however, it is not and never has been the determining factor in success. If it were so, then the Yankees would win the World Series almost every year. Winning is a combination of things, talent only being one element… but one thing is for sure, “the best team (talent) doesn’t always win, the team that plays the best does.” … And so, the value of the coach.

Here are some thoughts that permeated my thinking over the past 25 years related to coaching players and teams. I will break it down into those two segments (individual player / team)…

·        Individual player

o  I must be able to identify his strengths and
weaknesses

o  I must be able to guide him in his work to
overcome weaknesses and highlight strengths

o  I must be able to change how he thinks in regard
to his work ethic

o  I must be able to elevate his confidence and
expectations

o  I must get him to subjugate his wants to the
team needs

o  I must teach him the value of humility and
selflessness, which will lead to greatness

o  I must instill in him a love and respect for the
game and how it should be played

o  I must get him to believe in and trust me

·        Team

o  I must be able to identify strengths and
weaknesses

o  I must be able to put players in the right positions (not necessarily for them individually, but in positions that make the team better as a whole)

o  I must create the environment… (if I am a deadbeat, they will be too / if I whine and complain, they will too / if I blame, they will too / if I’m lazy, they will be too / if I quit, they will too… they will always be a reflection of me)

o  I must guide them to a right attitude about playing together as a unit (we, not I)

o  I must remove pressure from them and provide a relaxed environment for them to excel

o  I must conduct practice that is fun, generates excitement and enthusiasm, and is efficient (no standing around… i.e., 1 line of 10 players to field ground balls)

o  I must get them to believe in themselves and me

This is not an exhaustive list, but is some highlights. I found through the years that the better I did with these things, the better my teams and players performed.

Included below are some more thoughts…

·        The flight of the ball (hit or thrown) tells you what happened. Watch the ball and ask, “WHY”… that will tell you what you need to correct or work on

·        I must be able to explain well (confusion creates poor performance)

·        I must be able to put myself in my players shoes… how does he feel, what is he thinking

·        I must be able to read body language  

·        I must simplify, not confuse (more is not always better)

·        I must know the difference between principles / fundamentals and freedom to utilize unorthodox or different methods/techniques. I can’t be too dogmatic… I must allow some freedom for my players to do what “feels” good, athletic, and natural

·        There is more than one way to skin a cat. I don’t know it all. There are people who can help me and I need to seek them out and use them

·        I must be process oriented, not result oriented. I must trust the process. Results are ALWAYS determined by the process (good or bad)

·        I must realize that we don’t all react to words in the same way. The differences in our imaginations (what we see in our mind when we hear words), particularly about something so subjective as baseball, makes us more likely to grasp an idea in different ways. So, I must find what works for each individual player (one size does not fit all)

So, good luck coaching. You have chosen and are blessed with what I think is the profession that has the greatest impact on the life of a kid. I would encourage you to treat your role as a God-given opportunity to change lives for good and His glory! Stay the course, it gets lonely at times. To be a good coach takes courage, consistency, love, mercy, leadership, and an iron will. However, the rewards are forever!