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25 replies

Coaching idiocy!

G govols100+ posts
The 15 year old son of my significant other was playing in a tournament today. His coach, and I use that term loosely, decides after his team was beaten twice by scores of 16-2 and 16-0, to run the kids for punishment. Now, as a head high school baseball coach and someone that cares about someone on that team, this really angers me.

First off, the so-called coach, still plays in college. During games, he does not seem to know what to do. I laugh at some of these "select organizations" that think just becuase you take a kid that plays Division I college baseball, they can coach. In the first game today, they gave up 16 runs in the first inning and the pitcher was left in for the entire inning. Hey, Joe Torre wannabe, 1-800-BULLPEN.

The team is 0-4 so far in the tournament, so what does our young coach do, he runs the kids after the last game today...which by the way is at 5:15pm with a 110 degree heat index. My boy has asthma and struggled to finish only 3 of the 10 sprints. He was then made to feel bad about that. My S.O. was very upset and called me to fill me in on the details. They have one more game tommorrow and that will be it for him this summer. The parent in me wants them to come home tonight. The coach in me wants him to stay and tough it out for one more day. We are leaving it to the 15 year old to decide for himself. He is not a quitter, in fact, he is a real tough kid.

My big question for the so-called coach is this. By running the kids, how did that help them field the ball better...or make more accurate throws...or throw more strikes...or get on base?

I was just wondering how many of you are spending big money this summer to have your kid get high quality coaching like this.
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W Will1,000+ posts
Baseballmom

Why would you be banned. Speak the truth. if you spend thousands of dollars on a car and it breaks down you would do something about it. I will be honest(gets you in trouble but I am way past that). I have read on this site about select showcase travel team etc etc etc. I then hear about the cost involved. I will be honest I could not afford to spend several thousand dollars for my kid to play baseball. However i feel that some people feel if they spend money they will get the best and their son will automatically become a good player. Just like anything else this showcase academy baseball school idea is a business. There are good and bad. Some will take your money and tell you what you want to hear.
B baseballmom
I'm vociferous (sp?)
I"m speaking in jest, of course...concerning being banned...Just trying to see some humour in this summers' experiences...

Son is an '06, 2 year Varsity starter @ 5A multiple decade District winning school in N. Texas. Pitches 88-89, touching 90 this summer, also plays 3rd. Has received very good evals. from PG, Midwest Prospects, Area Code, etc...

Pitched 110 on 2nd day of showcase, asked to go back in on 1 days rest, then again on 2 days rest...

"The light bulbs' on, but nobody home"... would be a nice way to put it!
G govols100+ posts
Actually, it was my contact with the head of the select organization that got him on the team. The head man only pays attention to and coaches the 18U team. He gets college kids to coach his younger teams. The head man is a good man, but the some of the coaches, this one inparticular, are giving him a bad name.

baseballmom, I feel your pain.

As a high school coach, it is just real irritating to see it and now experience this.
Last edited by govols
C Coach_SMember
This is a very tough situation. First of all if they only had to run ten sprints that is nothing! Especially nothing to really complain about. I have run players a lot more than that. My question is why were they run? Does you SO know why? They might of been run for a differant reasons. Some coaches run kids after every games. If they were run for punishment is it because the kids did not show up to play? If they checked it in that is one thing however if the coach was just runing them to run them that is wrong.
D dbg_fan1,000+ posts
quote:
My big question for the so-called coach is this. By running the kids, how did that help them field the ball better...or make more accurate throws...or throw more strikes...or get on base?


govols,

I know you're a good coach. I know about the success you had last year & where you've moved to. You have more credibility than most on this site when we talk about coaching a baseball team.

Now - welcome to the other side of the relationship between parents & coaches. Your description (quoted above) could have been written by me describing the off-season workouts of the high school team my son played on.

To others: running for punishment rarely produces any positive results. One of the best t-shirts I've ever seen is the HS cross country team practice shirt. It reads: My sport is your punishment.
T TT5310+ posts
Govols,

As the parent of a select player, it is interesting that you are bemoaning the CHOICE that you made for your son...at least you had a choice and still do. IMO, select baseball IS very much like buying a car....you need to do your research and not just join a team/organization because they have a history of success or the head guy is a "nice guy". Unfortunately, too many BB organizations talk a good game but that's where it ends!

TALK and LISTEN to as many families as possible who are both with and have left the organization you are considering. The truthful assessment of the organization is probably somewhere in between what you will hear. I have found that assessing the "character" of the organization will lead you to the right choice.

By the way, I would consider discussing your unhappiness with both the coach and the head of the organization. This college player/coach is either "raw" (is this his 1st year) or a bad apple. Either way,your discussions could help him/head of org. see the situation from your side which he might correct or point out that maybe he isn't cut out for coaching.

Unfortunately, parents of a HS player, have NO CHOICE! Discussions/concerns can be prohibited or retaliated for with no REAL recourse!
CW Coach W.Member
Running/Extra fitness should be accepted as a viable step to increase alertness and mental performance during practices and games. Running for physical mistakes (i.e. striking out or making a throwing error) is counter productive. However, running to increase physical and mental endurance has always been and will continue to be a part of athletics. Every sport uses extra conditioning to pose pressure situations in athletics. In basketball, one person is selected to shoot a free throw, if he misses, than the whole team has to do a suicide run. You can make that process realtive to any sport, most of the time it is used to create intensity, pressure situations and team unity. Extra running should not be distributed out of anger or disgust but can be used in an appropriate way as part of the educational process. Run to increase the mental edge so important in baseball, but do not be a sore loser and run the players because they lost. If the team loses by 16 runs two games in a row, introspection by the coach may be a good idea, something is not being done right.
CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
I have never understood running itself as a punishment. However, I am a big fan of motivation through the cardiovascular system. Sound strange that I would type this doesn't it? Well to run as a punishment will produce negative results. However, running can be done in such a way as to motivate the players and to increase their skill level. In other words, if you are going to run them, use a ball. Have the kids catch more balls in an intensive workout. Put conditions on those fielded balls to allow for reward and, yes, run to fence and back if they miss x out of x amount. Outfielders will have a lot of running to do but all infielders can be worn out as well catching balls to their left and right.

I believe any time a coach has punishment in mind after a game, they need to give it a day's rest and think about it. I believe one other thing and that is that the team will often reflect the coach. Did he run with them?
S SBK500+ posts
This topic seems to get recycled every few months.

Everyone witnessing something like this should thank the coach for letting every one in the park know that he is weak although the chances are that most of them already knew that.

Getting beat on a regular basis 16-0 is most likely the result of a couple things, poorly prepared players or players not being able to compete at that level. Neither of these can be fixed by run punishment after games although one of these can be improved by a coaching change.

If punishing or humiliating a kid by running after the game is your style and if you think a kid deserves it, go for it. However I can’t believe every kid on the team was doing everything wrong and in this case, they certainly weren’t.

The college player “coach” simply made the kids run to take the pressure off himself or else it was his way to immaturely demonstrate to all that he is not happy with the results. (Kind of like throwing your helmet after striking out to show people that you care)

You mentioned you are a high school coach and I’m sure much wiser, perhaps you might explain how his actions are really a bad reflection on him although his intentions may have been honorable and suggest how he might handle the situation more wiser. I would probably ask him how the NY Yankees would feel if they had to line up and run while the fans are leaving the stands.

There is a chance he might learn or in the worst case reinforce something you already suspect.

Sounds like the team might need to postpone the running even during practice and work on pitching, catching and hitting.

Good Luck
Coach KnightCoach Knight500+ posts
Running kids for punishment rarely works. As a head coach at the high school level, I never use running as punishment because it is contradictory to what I teach. If I use running to punish, but then tell them they must be in good physical condition to play baseball, isn't that a bit confusing? So I'm punishing them with something they HAVE to do to get better, but I'm using it as NEGATIVE reinforcement?
The worst punishment for any true athlete is this: the bench. Most great players would rather run until they puke than have to sit the bench when they are good enough to be playing.

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