Saw a coach this past weekend react to a player that didn’t turn the middle piece of a 6-4-3 double play well. Player is 12 years old and plays for a Majors division Cal Ripken League team. Coach greeted the player coming off the field by yelling at the player “How many times have I TOLD you…..”
The boy’s head dropped and he headed back to the corner of the dugout to hide. I was standing at that end of the dugout and heard the boy mutter, “Like he’s ever SHOWN me how to do it”.
After 3 years as President of a town Cal Ripken program that has over 700 kids playing from ages 5-12, I have heard this kind of situation before. Now I have never been to one of that teams practices and have never seen that coach work with the kids on a 6-4-3. However the incident reminded me that we as coaches must remember a simple rule of teaching. If a child continually fails at learning a new skill, consider that the problem may be found in YOUR mirror.
All children learn through different sensory channels. While one child may learn best by hearing the explanation, another may learn best by watching someone else perform the skill. Still another child will reach mastery very quickly if someone moves their body through the correct movements for them so they can feel the movement.
Most people teach/coach through the method that they themselves learn best. That however may not be the channel the child learns from. When you teach players new skills, be sure to incorporate as many different approaches to teaching the same drill so that the players get the skill presented in a wide range of sensory channels.
If you have a player that just can not seem to get it, check your own teaching technique and see if maybe you have been favoring one approach that may not be the way this child learns best. As coaches we need to be wiling to look in the mirror and admit that maybe the dropped fly ball was OUR fault.
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