High school coaching

[patches]

I want to discuss high school coaches and this is not a slam but a question to help us get better as coaches. I coach at a local high school and we spend more time on the mental side of managing players then on the physical side . I also do hitting lessons and have kids constantly complaining about not understanding what is expected of them. I also hear these same kids praise their travel ball coaches and speak about how different the two seasons are .

I am not putting one over the other this is my question . How do we as coaches come to a happy medium for the kids ? Myself and the coach I work with at the high school level have come to the agreement that we cant make a bunch of changes in a 3 month period so we tweak but not a big change , is this the right approach ?

I also want to know how we get the high school coaches more involved with travel so we are all moving in the same direction year round again not a slam but looking for a solution to help the kids.

thanks
Mark Lloyd
Franklin community
Indiana Gators

[slapperdad]

Great post Mark!

I think to understand a lot it, we have to understand that there are varying reason why kids play each, or maybe one and not the other. Our team, the older Gators teams, most of those kids are playing at that level for one reason, to get to the next level. There is a very small percentage of kids playing school ball who are even thinking about the next level. There are a gazillion reasons why kids play school ball, I'm just saying moving to the next level is not high up on the list.

Keeping that in mind, I'll use my own kid and Basketball as an example. Basketball is a fun diversion for her. She's a decent enough athlete that she can contribute on the Basketball team without putting a lot of work outside the season into it. She hasn't played travel ball since she was in the fifth grade, she never did the AAU circuit, camps, none of that stuff. The extent of her off-season training is playing in a league at Southport on Tuesday nights, and only does that because it doesn't interfere with Softball. Now is the coach frustrated because if she did the extra work she could be a lot better player, absolutely, however that's not where her passion is.

Carrying that analogy over to Softball, and believe me, I'm in the same boat you're in. I have a freshman group this year with tremendous potential, very athletic class, not very good Softball players at this point. But as soon as the season is over, they'll move on to AAU Basketball, club Volleyball, piano lessons, 4H, everything under the sun besides Softball. As a high school coach, I'm not sure how I combat that. I make opportunities available to them, but sadly they will for the most part, not take advantage of them.

Like most high school programs, we start working in January after break. That basically gives me two months to make any progress as far as swing mechanics. Keeping in mind I'm sharing athletes with winter sports, so some of the kids, it's hit or miss when they can even be there. I say two months, because we start practice in March and once the season starts, you don't get a chance to practice that much, and that's not the time to be making major changes in your swing. I agree with you, you can tweak in the short time you have with them, but there's no way you're going to turn a .200 hitter into a .400 hitter.

Getting kids to understand what you're wanting....if you come up with that answer bottle it and sell it.

Getting high school coaches involved with travel ball, I think there have been some good changes in that direction. At the very least, I think people are understanding you can't keep your high school team together and go play in a couple of backyard tournaments in June and think you're getting better.

[coolstuff]

Mark I wish more HS coaches were like you. DD's HS coach absolutely hates travel ball, rides the travel ball players on his team mercilessly with comments like "why do you want to play on a team coached by somebody's dad." He rags on TB during the parent's meeting at the start of every season. It's a nightmare.

[patches]

coolstuff I am disappointed in the comments from several high school coaches and again this isnt a slam but lets face it travel ball is the answer to any high school coaches prayers, if you look at the top high school programs they have a feeder system and it isnt B class its players getting out and seeking the highest level of play and the best coaching year round not 3 months out of the year.

I am only hoping that at some point the adults can put their ego in check and remember this is about the kids. coaches get out and study what is being taught so the kids constantly advance instead of moving backwards, then the kids would continue to raise the level of play in Indiana both high school and travel .

I know this may be a dream but man the kids would benefit from this over and over

thanks
mark

[T1UP4ME]

But at what point in all of this do we pull our DD from bad high school coaching? How far do you let it destroy there confidence? Plus what can we do to hold the coaches responsible for their behavior?

[got it]

When is enough......enough? I have witness some bad coaching this year! One girl was so belittled by her coach that I wanted to take her off the field. If more parents would organize and go to their athletic directors we could rid our kids of the bad coaches! The issue of coaches using head games ,moving players from jv and varsity has grown old in our high school! Choosing talent should not be based on Coaches daughters friends!!. Are our kids learning life experiences or are they learning they have parents that will let them be mistreated?

[small ball 192]

I find this topic interesting based on the fact that I am currently a High school coach with over 19 yrs. of coaching experience at that level. In addtion I was also a TB coach for approximately 18 yrs.As well as a college asst. coach for a year.

I agree that no player should be belittled but rather be challenged to play to the best of their ability.I believe there is a delicate balance in coaching that requires positive re-inforcement and constructive coaching. I know we sometimes move players from V to JV for a variety of resaons.ie not getting enough playing or pitching time on the V ,not getting enough swings and so on. This is not playing mind games this is trying to help the young athlete to improve her skills so hopefully it becomes easier for her to compete on the next level. Do we watch the actions and reactions of the athlete when something like this takes place ..yes of course we do! We are looking for athletes that will take the opportunity to get better and the challenge to improve and react in a positive manner. We also tell all of our athletes that they can come to us at any time to find out what it is they can work on to improve their chances of gaining more playing time.( this should take place first before the phone call from mom or dad)As a HS coach there are a myriad of issues we have to deal with when it comes to the athlete.Her grades,attendance,the way she interacts with other teachers and students, as well as sometimes her behavior off the playing field. As a TB coach I basically had one responsiability and that was to get the girls to play to their potential as an individual and as a team. I didn't have to worry about grades,or their behavior off the field because either mom or dad were there to handle any issues that might arise.I understand wanting to look out for your daughters well being,but at some point and time we have to let them learn that life is not fair and neither is athletics and if they have a problem with the coach they need to be a young adult and ask to speak with the coach.Sometimes they may not like what they hear but if it is an honest and sincere response from the coach that is all anyone could ask for.
I love the game of FP softball and love to coach.Everyday we strive to learn something new so instead of forming a posse to run the coach out of town why not try to find a way to make him or her a better coach.

[10GatorCoach]

small ball 192,

I find 1 part of your post very interesting. You say that as a TB coach you didn't have to worry about grades, school attendance, etc..., just getting them to their highest potential in softball. I STRONGLY disagree with that statement. It really doesn't matter what the potential is in softball or what level they can play at if they can't get into a college. Any TB coach that only worries about softball is doing their players a great injustice. I know that our organization (Indiana Gators) stresses academics even at then youngest ages. The sooner that these young girls understand that they are "student athletes" and not "athlete students" the better. I know young women who have had the talent to play at the highest level of college and all the drive to, but not the grades. They were completely hartbroken when they found out that they couldn't play for the school they wanted to simply because of grades. Had they been well informed from the begining, they may have been able to do something about this. I think it is parents, HS Coaches, as well as TB Coaches to inform these young kids/young women about all aspects of the game and their possible future in the game/life.

Just my opinion and maybe many disagree with that.

[small ball 192]

10Gator coach, You are correct and I apologize for omitting that from my post. We have always stressed the importance of academics to our TB girls . My intention was to explain that because we had a collection of girls from different schools we as a TB coach were not directly associated with the academics of every young lady on our team and so there for not as involved as a HS coach would be on a daily basis. I thank you for your response.

[Charley1252]

I loved to read all the responses on this topic. They are all very good and valid. Like said before, depending on what type of players you have depends on how you can coach and handle your situations. Slapper, Patches... You both have it tougher than I have it. You are expected to be successful. (measured by wins) For me, I have one girl who travels. She also is the only one who takes any lesson of any kind. (also happens to be my daughter) Every one of my players plays either club volleyball or AAU basketball. At Morristown there is no youth softball program. We aren't expected to win or be successful. I started 5 on varsity this year who have never played softball before. Am I complaining about that. No. It is what it is. They play softball becuse they want to play a sport where they can laugh, have fun, and relax. As long as they give me 100% in practice and in games I'm ok. These girls come to me with school problems, family problems, boy problems......If I can be a mentor to the girls, help them have fun, and in the mean time teach them some softball skills, then I consider our team successful. I am working with younger girls from our town on softball so maybe sometime in the future I will have it hard like slapper and patches.....I do face some high school coaches who look miserable out there. The pay at their schools must be a lot more than mine for them to do it unhappy. I love to coach Morristown Lady Yellow Jackets Softball! Good Luck to all the High School Coaches in the upcoming Sectionals. Also, see most of you in June when the travel ball season starts.

Charley Powers