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Coaches' Advice

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W Will1,000+ posts
Be fair and consistent. Easier said than done. Do not make a lot of rules. Make the rules you need and apply them. Do not let outside influences dictate what you do. Learn now you can not please everybody and do not try. If you do you are in trouble. Do not try to reinvent the game. Work on the fundamentals. do the little things right and the big things will take care of themselves.
CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
If I could give myself one piece of advice is that don't leave your family behind when you take this position. We ate supper last night at 8:05. My wife understands. My child understands. Still, it is an awful lot to ask of them to endure everything. This week:

1. Lost an old friend because I had to cut his son.

2. Mailbox attacked with a bat or stick or...

3. Had to tell a Senior that he is not starting and it hurt him a lot.

4. Missed my girl's s****r game, her singing in church and didn't get to help her for a major test.

DON'T FORGET YOUR FAMILY!

"There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming of the man you want to be and start being the man you have become." Bruce Springsteen
CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
Yes, my mailbox was destroyed. We are a small rural community and so, the mailbox is almost always going to get attacked. It is the other stuff that is happening in society that should make a person even more afraid. Things like worrying because your schedule is posted in the paper and then someone calling you home to tell your wife that they know when I'm on the road. Things like my brother calling and saying that he has heard that this year a lot of people are angry at me about the cuts. We have 18 uniforms for the varsity. We have to make cuts. Heck, if we don't pass a referendum on Tuesday, I might not even have an entire level so ordering new uniforms is out of the question. Therefore, you do what is right and fair and then... Just had my parent meeting. I had about 60 parents at it. I sent home a letter/inviation and then an open invitation to ask questions, any question at all about the program. How many questions were asked? ZERO! Dare I take a bet at how many games it takes to be second guessed about something that could have been taken care of today? NOPE! As much as all of this detracts from the game, I still love it and the kids and so...

Oh, I forgot to mention, my varsity assistant lost his mailbox as well. At least he still has an unlisted phone number. LOL

"There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming of the man you want to be and start being the man you have become." Bruce Springsteen
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L larrythompson500+ posts
CoachB25, et al...sounds like your mailbox may have been the victim of the infamous "bar car". Little trick some of my country folk relatives tell me about living in rural areas. The drinkers have regular cars, and a "bar car" for Friday and Saturday nights. If they drink and drive and wreck the car, no big deal. But seriously, sorry this happened and God Bless you and your family for your efforts. Back to the vet vs. rook advice. After 15 years of managing (in the middle of vet and rook), my advice would be:

1. Be organized
2. Be honest
3. Don't label players from the outset (only a starting pitcher, only a reliever, will only play 2B this season, etc...)
4. And most importantly, live by the same rules you impose on the players.
5. And one more...remember, it is supposed to be fun!
E eagle_fan100+ posts
CoachB25,
You gave the best possible advice in your last post. You said that:
1) You still love the game
2) You love the kids
If any coach has these two attributes, he (or she) will be an excellent coach.
If you love the game & your kids, you can do whatever you know that has to be done, do it fairly, and live with yourself afterwards.
Keep up the good work, and don't let the distractions take you away from doing what you love. Believe it or not, there are still parents that will appreciate the job you do. For one, me.
S svd16u10+ posts
Me personally being so young in the game (22) I have a solid 4 years of year around experience at the JV h.s. level 18/16/14/13u levels. I would first have a parent meeting with all the parents and lay down the rules and make sure that every parent knows how the season is going to work. Then have a player meeting and do the same. If possible explain the role to the kids and let they know that it is not set in stone and the roles can change if they can prove they can perform on a constent basis. Explain to them that is all about the team not about one or two players and they are only as strong as their weakest player. Try hard not to change your rule and stick to them. Try make practices productive and work on what you need to work on to win games. Have practices with very little standing around time where nothing is getting done, maximize your time on the field. Every once in a while make a fun one. As make a friendly competition between the players and let them know or remind they that they are fighting for a starting position and what did they do today to earn that spot and how hard did they word today. Whenever possible try to get subs their innings. If their is a playing issue never talk to the parents about it first. The kid are young adults and they should act like them. If they have a problem with playing time they should at a appropriate time and discuss it man to man. Then if there is still a problem then all three or four people will get together and discuss it. I thing I know the colleges do and I like to do is have the player anonymously rate the players 1-... from the most valuable player down. Have them do it based on their opinion alone. Then get the results they usually are the same as yours. For some reason if a kid that never plays is on the top of the list keep an eye on him and give him a shot to see if he can help you see what your players see. If a young coach reads this and has more question feel free to email me at rip00_18@yahoo.com
BishopLeftiesDadBishopLeftiesDad10,000+ posts
Originally Posted by ironhorse:

I posted this question 11 years ago. Jeez. This was when I first got hired at my first baseball job. 

 

Starting season #12 in a few months. Wouldn't trade my job for anything,

 

Still a great question posed to all coaches. Feel free to answer or add on.

After 12 seasons what advice would you give your younger self ironhorse?

I ironhorse5,000+ posts
Originally Posted by BishopLeftiesDad:
Originally Posted by ironhorse:

I posted this question 11 years ago. Jeez. This was when I first got hired at my first baseball job. 

 

Starting season #12 in a few months. Wouldn't trade my job for anything,

 

Still a great question posed to all coaches. Feel free to answer or add on.

After 12 seasons what advice would you give your younger self ironhorse?

I would have a ton of advice after some of my mistakes!

 

Perhaps the biggest would be to make sure you maintain perspective on where baseball fits into your life.

 

I used to carry losses around way too long. If we had a good season than I had a good year in my life. If I had a bad season I had a bad year. I couldn't separate being a coach from being a person.

 

Having kids changed all that. Doesn't mean I enjoying losing any more than I used to, doesn't mean I'm any less passionate about my program, just means I can move past it faster when things don't go as expected. I think that it what will keep me coaching my entire life rather than simply burning out.

CaCO3GirlCaCO3Girl10,000+ posts
d8 posted:

Find what a player can do and let him do it.

Coach like you have to not like you are supposed to.

Family is more important than whether the field getting mowed, uni's getting washed, etc.

Make sure both you and your players enjoy playing ball.

 

I LOVE the Coach like you have to not like you are supposed to!  Thank you D8!

coach2709coach270910,000+ posts

Don't expect the guys to love the game as much as you do but make expect them to respect it.

Not everyone loves baseball and they play it because of ________________.  But they can hustle because it's right thing to do, they can work hard because it's right thing to do, they can perform to the best of their ability because it's the right thing to do and they can take it serious because it's the right thing to do.

I would get frustrated with guys when they didn't love the game as much as I did.  They were able to bounce back from losses fairly easy.

CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"

Learn how to coach fundamentals for several different angles.  I was working with a hitter tonight in the cage and it was not going well.  Then, I made a silly comment and demonstrated.  The player started laughing and then tried to imitate what I was doing.  From there, I there a few and the light went off.  Ropes all over the place.  Make it fun and laugh some. 

LB luv baseball5,000+ posts
coach2709 posted:

Don't expect the guys to love the game as much as you do but make expect them to respect it.

Not everyone loves baseball and they play it because of ________________.  But they can hustle because it's right thing to do, they can work hard because it's right thing to do, they can perform to the best of their ability because it's the right thing to do and they can take it serious because it's the right thing to do.

I would get frustrated with guys when they didn't love the game as much as I did.  They were able to bounce back from losses fairly easy.

This is one of life's great insights.  When you are a leader of anything you should not expect anyone to care about anything as much as you do.  Once you understand and accept that - figuring out what makes each individual tick becomes the trick to getting what you want.

C cabbagedadHSBaseballWeb member since 2011
luv baseball posted:
coach2709 posted:

Don't expect the guys to love the game as much as you do but make expect them to respect it.

Not everyone loves baseball and they play it because of ________________.  But they can hustle because it's right thing to do, they can work hard because it's right thing to do, they can perform to the best of their ability because it's the right thing to do and they can take it serious because it's the right thing to do.

I would get frustrated with guys when they didn't love the game as much as I did.  They were able to bounce back from losses fairly easy.

This is one of life's great insights.  When you are a leader of anything you should not expect anyone to care about anything as much as you do.  Once you understand and accept that - figuring out what makes each individual tick becomes the trick to getting what you want.

No, THIS is a great insight 

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