quote:Originally posted by Daque:
Why do you think that most HS/college coaches have more experience with baseball injuries than youth coaches? I have had to get rid of ex-pro baseball players turned youth coaches because they were poor teachers for youth.
You are correct in the aspect that some ex major league players cant coach. They dopnt know how to relay the knowledge they have not only to youth players but also Hs/college level players.
However a good HS/college coach can relay his or her knowledge to any age group. Its just a matter of being able to use terms that this particular age group can relate too.
As an example. I teach rotational hitting. When I am relaying to a youth player say someone 9,10,11 or 12 yrs old. I use terms like caveman, spiderman and so on because kids can relate mentally to what I am saying and understand the meaning of the key phrase to perform a certain aspect of the hitting mechanics.
However I wouldnt use those terms with a 15 or 16 yr old because they have a greater maturity level and understanding of those mechanics.
This is the difference between a coach with knowledge and a ex MLB or college player with knowledge. Its how they can relay the knowledge they have.
quote:The problem with youth pitchers throwing breaking balls is that they call them all, "curves." Every time I get into a disccussion about curves I have to first define what they are talking about. Curve or slurve. I suggest you look at the ASMI site for more on topic.
Coming off of the mound to any position other than catcher is not considered dangerous by anyone that I know who has researched it. There is a big difference between throwing a ball and pitching a ball.
I must respectfully disagree with you. Even a slurve does damage to the growth plates/tendons/ligaments of a young pitcher.
Most of the stress from throwing the curve ball is on the ligaments of the elbow, the biceps and forearm muscles. The ligament that is usually damaged mostly in youth and adult pitchers is the unlar collateral. I would suggest you read the study done by Lyman.
Now to the growth plates. Its very simple. Overuse of an arm prior to skeletal maturity will result in growth plate seperation and will cause permament elbow/arm problems.
quote:If a parent is having the type of problems you mentioned then he did not research the coaching staff in advance. Or he figured he could bowl over a woosy coach with his credentials.
Now most parents dont research coaching staffs. All the parents see is a winning or losing record and base their judgements off of that. They ASSUME that if the team has a winning record, the coaches must be good.
I will direct you back to your first statement about those MLB coaches you got rid of. Now the avg parent see's wow this coach played in the Major Leagues, he must know how to coach or if he play MLB then he has to have a lot of knowledge to pass on to my child. You can figure out the rest of my conclusion.
quote:I have seen way too many HS coaches who believe that HS ball is the big time. They tend to look down on youth coaches in general. When I was coaching I kept them off of the field and out of the dugout. The ones with their heads screwed on straight were never a problem.
Well this is one coach that doesnt. I have the highest regards for ANYONE who volunteers to teach kids anything. If this individual is coaching my son, as a parent and ex coach its my responsibility to insure that this coach is not over stepping the boundaries I have set for MY CHILDS DEVELOPMENT.
Now as I mentioned I am new to youth baseball but let me ask you a question as it relates to your comment about keeping those guys off the field or leaving the uniform at the gate.
Lets say you have a stud player. The type of player every team in your area would die for.The kind of player that is a game changer. You mean to tell me that if that players dad said you need to do this with my son or that with my son, you would tell him to get lost?
See if you say yes I know you are lying if you have a VERY COMPETITIVE TEAM. Even though I have been around youth baseball for a short period of time. I know that coaches tend to walk on egg shells with stud players parents.
If you say yes I am also going to go out on a line and guess you dont have a top elite team.
I can say this with 100% confidence. We have some of the best teams/players in the country in travel ball here in Florida and I have seen my fair share of conflicts between coaches and stud players parents. I have yet to see any coach tell a parent of a stud player to hit the road.
One of the best pitchers here in this area, his dad will only allow his son to throw no more than 80 pitches for the whole tournament. This kid is 10yrs old throws in the mid to upper 60s and currently plays 10u and 11u Usssa majors and not one coach has told his dad to **** off.
This is only a guess but I would say you have lost some good players as a coach because of your attitude, its my way or the highway in youth baseball. I will also take a stab and say you have had serveral knowledgable parents question some of your decisions and this has caused you to become very defensive.