Coaching Advice

0x9

I am pretty sure you are about to get some great advice from some great coaches. Stay tuned and best of luck to you!

My favorite books are Cal Ripken's

First I love the enthusiasm and eagerness to do some good in the game you love. I tip my hat to you and first of all wish you luck. Also, welcome to the site because if you're really interested in becoming a coach there are some guys who really got it going on. When they post take some notes.

My two cents happen to be - get on a field and teach the game. You can watch videos, read books, google stuff and / or whatever but until you get on the field and teach kids you don't really know what's going on. I truly believe nobody is ever really ready for their first coaching job. You can learn all the stuff you want but until you deal with that kid that's when you learn how to coach.

If you want to coach then my advice is to (if possible) go to your old high school and see if your old coach will let you be a volunteer coach. Get your foot in the door and learn how to coach. Then after a few years you can start looking to getting your own head coaching job. If you aren't able to go back to your old school then contact one after you figure out who has some good coaches and see if they will let you volunteer. Sit down with the coach and interview for the job. Explain your experience, what you want to do, qualifications, philosophy and tell them you're willing to be flexible to make sure you're teaching what they want.

All this being said - if you want to be a high school coach then get a teaching degree. High school athletics needs.....NEEDS good baseball people coaching / teaching. Now if you want to be a summer / travel / elite etc..... coach then major in something that will give you the freedom to be able to have practice. Nothing I hate worse is guys who want to coach, and can coach, but aren't reliable because they have to work. Now I can't blame them because they have to make a living and support a family but if you want to coach then be available to coach.

Another thing is get to some clinics / camps and talk to knowledgable people. I like the fact that you're taking the initiative to learn from books, videos and stuff but if I'm interviewing you it's a little bit of a red flag. I have to ask myself - why hasn't this guy been on the field teaching the game? Is he one of those self - titled gurus who know everything......except how to teach a kid or is he someone who just hasn't been given a chance yet but can learn to be a good coach? You can go to law school and learn everything they have to offer and then do all kinds of research but at some point you got to get a client and do your job. That's kinda how I see you right now based on what you've said (I really hope this makes sense).

Rules of thumb to coaching I've discovered - these may not apply to you but it's made things easier for me over the years.

1. You can't make a kid love the game the way you do but you better expect them to respect the game so they will give you everything they got.

2. Never shoot down an idea without ever considering it. It may not be the best idea but after hasing it out between you and your staff you may end up with something that will work. Nothing worse than shooting down something without ever putting any thought / discussion to it. The original idea may not be possible but it might be if you take knowledgable people and kick it around.

3. You don't know everything and you never will. There is this story you hear in coaching circles about a guy at a clinic one time and there was really old guy in the front row taking notes. All kinds of people came up to this old guy talking to him. This one guy asked him why he kept coming to these clinics when he's been coaching as long as he has. The old man said no matter how long he's been in the game he will never know everything. I have no idea if this story is true or not but the message is true. The game is always changing and evolving - you have to keep up with it.

4. Coach every kid like you're trying to turn them into a pro prospect. You picked them and you decided they should be on the team - now coach them even if you may have made a mistake in keeping them. You never know when it clicks. Example is the team I coach on. We played HORRIBLE tonight and made so many mistakes it wasn't funny. Obviously all of us coaches were in our after game meeting (not around the guys) and we did the typical "we're the worst team in the state", "we won't win five games", "why in the world has so and so not gotten any better" and stuff like that. If you were a fly on the wall in that meeting you would have thought we were ready to fold the tents and call it a season. I know this about the staff I'm on - tomorrow at 3:30 you can guarantee we are going to go to work to get these kids better. This is your job - coach the hell out of them. There's nothing wrong with a pity party as a staff because it's frustrating to play bad. But you better get over it and coach them kids. Tomorrow at lunch we're going to sit down and figure out what we need to do. We're going to attack the problem. That's your job.

Hope this helps some and I'm glad you're interested in coaching. But let me say this - it's tougher than you think it is but you will love it if you do it right.

Good luck

That was great, I really appreciate you taking the time to help out. I know more than I did previously already. I would have loved to coach before but with needing to work and trying to finish school it hasn't been an option as of yet. I just recently tore my second ACL and have had some time on my hands. I watched the documentary with Augie Garrido and it really inspired me. Mostly because of how Coach Garrido taught his kids about life, not just baseball. He wanted them to be better men and he equipped them with the tools to do just that. I have always wanted to do something with baseball for the rest of my life whether it be work in the front office for an MLB team, or coach. I feel coaching is a great way to touch other people, I know the influence my HS coach had on me and if I can do the same and win some championships then I am game.

Great, great response, coach 2709!!



...and best wishes for your success, 0x9!!

Do you know what age, level or type of team you want to coach? HS or travel, etc?

Wow, not sure what I can add to Coach's post, but here's a few thoughts...

I think success in youth baseball comes in coaching your practices (duh)...but there are good practice coaches that can teach the game, and there are good game coaches that can manage the situation on the field. Sometimes however, they are not one in the same...I think becoming a good game coach takes experience (which means making mistakes and learning from them) and common sense...certainly reading a good book from somebody with more experience than you can help. As far as a practice goes, create an experience for the kids where they are always busy...but everything they do has a purpose...that keeps them engaged and interested and learning. Spending 3/4 of your practice taking BP on the field, where one kid hits and the other 10 or 11 just stand in the field waiting on a ball to come to them is really a waste of time...organizing a good practice IS something that can be learned from others (like a book)...develop/create/adopt a system that works, THEN use your knowledge and experience of baseball to teach them the game within that context.

Good luck with it...sorry, I don't have a book recommendation though...so, really, I didn't answer or address your question...

quote:

Originally posted by 0x9:
Hey guys how is everyone doing? I created this just looking for a little bit of information. I am a 21 year old 3rd year college student. I played 2 years of college baseball before tearing my labrum, had surgery, never got better so just hung em up. Needed money so got a job and finishing school. I love baseball, I won 2 state championships in HS and have pitched my entire life. Now I want to get into coaching a little bit. I know my fair share about pitching mostly because I was a home schooled student so I had allot of time to study pitching mechanics, techniques ect... from guys like dick mills, tom house, as well as a ton of other guys. I broke down videos, read advice, read books ect.. I am really just wondering if you guys have any suggestions on books I can read about coaching and how to succeed. I had a great HS coach who ran very efficient practices so i remember most of all of that but I know it can greatly be compounded on so that is why I have come to you guys. Just any reading material, personal advice, things of that nature you guys could give me I would great appreciate it.

Thanks allot in advance

Welcome and guys like you should make terrific youth coaches. Best of luck.

I'm curious, and please don't take this as an afront, but wondering with the amount of time you've spent studying mechanics, to what do you attribute your labrum tear? Mechanical (my belief), inadequate training/preparation, bad luck, or just an inevitable consequence of pitching (seems to be the belief of many here?)???

Great, Great posts by Coach2709 and scdigger. I've spent thousands of hours learning things from books, videos, coaching clinics, message boards, watching/listening to other coaches, etc. But I've learned just as much from my kids by paying to attention to how they react, what works and what doesn't, what motivates them, etc.

[/QUOTE]


Welcome and guys like you should make terrific youth coaches. Best of luck.

I'm curious, and please don't take this as an afront, but wondering with the amount of time you've spent studying mechanics, to what do you attribute your labrum tear? Mechanical (my belief), inadequate training/preparation, bad luck, or just an inevitable consequence of pitching (seems to be the belief of many here?)???[/QUOTE]


I think is was overuse. In HS my senior year i threw 50 inning give or take on the year. I went to college and was the Saturday starter as a freshman and finished the year with a little over 100 innings pitched. right after that I went and pitched on a summer team. Never felt good after that. That is mostly what i believe mine was attributed to.

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:
Do you know what age, level or type of team you want to coach? HS or travel, etc?

as far as what age, I think i want to start at the 12 year old level.. something small, teach then fundamentals. Give pitching lessons on the side for ones who want them. Maybe create a travel team out of it. Create relationships with some of the boys I teach. Eventually I would like to move to HS though as I see myself there in the long haul.

Good luck

I have three suggestions: First of all, get Ron Polk's "Baseball Playbook". It's an all-encompassing coaching resource that every baseball coach should own. Secondly, join one of the national organizations like the ABCA or the BCA and attend their national clinics. Great coaching information at these every year. And lastly, check out sites like Chamnpionship Productions where you can purchase coaching books and DVD's. Use these sources to strenghthen your coaching weaknesses.

Good Luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Ryno23:
I have three suggestions: First of all, get Ron Polk's "Baseball Playbook". It's an all-encompassing coaching resource that every baseball coach should own. Secondly, join one of the national organizations like the ABCA or the BCA and attend their national clinics. Great coaching information at these every year. And lastly, check out sites like Chamnpionship Productions where you can purchase coaching books and DVD's. Use these sources to strenghthen your coaching weaknesses.

Good Luck!

Thats good stuff, I appreciate it.

For general coaching and leading a team, "Wooden" by John Wooden and Steve Jamison. Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by 0x9:
as far as what age, I think i want to start at the 12 year old level.. something small, teach then fundamentals. Give pitching lessons on the side for ones who want them. Maybe create a travel team out of it. Create relationships with some of the boys I teach. Eventually I would like to move to HS though as I see myself there in the long haul...

...I had a great HS coach who ran very efficient practices so i remember most of all of that...

...Coach Garrido taught his kids about life, not just baseball. He wanted them to be better men and he equipped them with the tools to do just that....

...I feel coaching is a great way to touch other people, I know the influence my HS coach had on me and if I can do the same and win some championships then I am game.

From the things you say, I think you will make a great coach. Others have given excellent advice. I'll just ramble for a bit...

-Expect this to be a labor of love. Tons of hours for very little pay.
-Find balance between discussion and instruction. Kids (including HS teens) don’t like to sit and be lectured.
-Find balance between winning and development.
-Show consistent and reasonable fairness.
-Don’t be overly anxious to impress the parents. Just focus on reaching your players and the rest will take care of itself.
-Be prepared. Don’t come to the field without a plan.
-Be consistent with your message.
-Every player, every group responds differently. Figure out how to reach each specific individual.
-Be aware that if you run a travel team, paying parents will want a return on their investment and expect it in playing time unless your rules clearly state otherwise in advance.
-Find age appropriate motivation.
-Get good support help. Be on the same page.
-Mix up drills. There are often many ways to teach a point.
-Incorporate fun into learning.
-Keep it moving.
-Always communicate in advance to parents what your goals and objectives are and how you will run things. Make sure they know what to expect and then follow through.
-Figure out which mode of communication will be most effective with the given group and parents.
-Don’t ignore the fundamentals.
-Make sure the players see that you enjoy being there.
-Anticipate that there will be unhappy parents, regardless of how well you do things.
-Incorporate lots of competitions.

Regarding HS coaching...
Be aware that HS coaching involves a high % of administration and non-coaching functions. These include involvement to varying degrees in grade checks, field and game equipment ordering and monitoring, field maintenance, uniforms, spirit packs, transportation, coordination/communication with AD and other levels of the program, scheduling, grounds upkeep, fundraising, physicals, other medical concerns, summer programs, fall conditioning, parent issues, staying abreast of rules and regs changes, etc., etc. I know more than a handful of good coaches that have left the scene because all they wanted to do is coach and didn’t want to deal with all of the other stuff required. Many get around much of this by just assisting. Best to know this in advance. I think most of us who still do it really love it but you have to find peace with the fact that it all comes with the territory.

Some books I use as reference...
ABCA The Baseball Coaching Bible
ABCA The Baseball Drill Book
Think Better Baseball (Bob Cluck)

There are lots of good drill and conditioning ideas on Youtube but you have to sort through a lot of cr@p. Some of the college baseball programs put some good stuff out there.

Best of luck and keep us informed.

I really appreciate the advice, i am copying all of the stuff you guys post down on notes.

I know parents are going to be something you will always deal with. The way my coach went about them was he just used the mentality of if they don't like whats going on then you can leave. He really believed in he needed 9 guys to buy in to the system and he could win. what are some of the approaches you guys use?