quote:
Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
quote:
Originally posted by coach2709:
Well you do it your way and we'll do it ours. Problem solved.
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I'm not super eloquant when it comes to putting my thoughts on "paper" so to speak. I post things in here and when I read over it it seems like a train wreck instead of a coherent thought. So I'm going to quote a couple of posts in this thread to explain what it is your missing.
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Originally posted by BillBill;
Nothing wrong with this. The best coach any of my boys had made the team practice running on and off the field at the beginning of the season. I felt it instilled discipline and made the team stand out from other teams that, in comparison, lazily went on and off the field.
When the team was at its best they exploded out of the dugout within 3-5 seconds of the last out, with players always picking up the last batter, on deck, and whoever was on base.
Some kids, including my son, continued this practice throughout the season after many of the other kids slowed down as the coaches enforced it less.
Let your kid be the first to his position and the first one in the dugout and see how much he'll get noticed just for his hustle.
I tell my kids that, on their best day of baseball they might run close to full speed for only 40-60 seconds. Running in and out of the dugout is good practice and good for speed training.
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Originally posted by IESBL;
I agree there is no problem at all. We go on the field in 12 and off the field in 9. We do take into account the type of play and understand when a RF can not get off the field in 9 seconds. I.E. I just ran down a ball in the right center alley 380 feet away and now I have to get into the dug out.
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Originally posted by Coach_May;
Its a mindset your creating for your team and players. Its not just getting on and off the field. Its getting to the cage, drills, etc with a purpose. With the same type of energy and sense of urgency that you are going to display once you get there. So your ready to compete at a high level, your ready to go all out to win, but then all of a sudden when the inning is over your going to walk on or off the field? If a player doesn't have enough energy to bust on and off he doesn't have enough energy to bust during the inning.
Walking on and off the field is simply lazy. Its reeks of disrespect for the game. It takes away from the time that can be spent preparing for the inning your about to play. On the offensive side instead of being in the dugout getting a read on the opposing pitcher your still walking to the dugout while he is warming up. Instead of being in the on deck circle your just getting back to the dugout. Instead of already taking a ground ball and throwing it back to first your just getting to your position.
Our players will not walk on the baseball field period. In practice or a game. There is no difference to me. If a player is too lazy to run on and off a baseball field they are too lazy to play the game. Ask an umpire what they think of teams who walk on and off a field. Ask a college coach. Ask a professional scout.
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Originally posted by Bulldog 19
My high school coach talked about one of his former players. He was a decent ballplayer, but not a stud. He ended up spending four or five years in minor league baseball and in a couple of independent leagues.
The only reason he got noticed by a pro scout? The way he busted his @SS during warm ups before a game. The scout was there to see the opposing pitcher. He walked up to our coach after infield to get the player's name.
Hustle or sit in the stands-- Your choice.
And then this gem....
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Originally posted by Coach_May;
Great post Bulldog. You know there are many things you can do that have nothing to do with talent that will allow you to stand out. Some of them will allow you to stand out in a positive way. Some of them will allow you to stand out in a negative way. Imagine playing on a team that walks on and off the field. Imagine your playing a team that busts on and off the field. Imagine a scout and some college coaches there to take in the game. Now imagine which team you wish you played on?
There are so many ways to stand out without it having to take one bit more talent. Showing up dressed like a ball player. Wearing your uniform in a manner that shows respect for the game. Personal appearance. Clean shave. Neat hair cut. Clean shoes. Body language. Carrying yourself with confidence. Getting everywhere you go with a purpose. Pre game. Not going through the motions but preparing for the game. Stretching properly. Warming up properly. Infield - Fielding and throwing like it was an actual game situation. You know practicing the way you expect to play the game. Striking out and keeping control of your emotions and not being a negative for your team and the guy passing you on the way to the plate. Not taking a negative attitude with you to the field because you had a bad at bat. Picking up your team mates even though you are not having a good day. Showing the same abiltiy to control your emotions even when you are having a good day.
Someone could watch you play when your 0-4 and 4-4 and not be capable of telling the difference. Someone could watch you play when your down 10-0 or up 10-0 and not be able to tell the difference. You run everything out no matter what the situation is because thats how you play the game. Not because anyone is watching or no one is watching because thats how you play the game.
I could go on for days on ways a player speaks to those watching that matters without saying a word. How he tells those that are watching that have a clue what he is about by never saying a word. As a coach I never tell a player to hustle. Never. If he has to be told to hustle I have failed and the player is not a player. If you have to tell a player to get on and off the field then he has never been taught some very basic rules of the game. There are some baseball character issues in play here.
People can say your too slow. People can say you don't throw hard enough. People can say your not a great hitter. People can say you have a weak glove. But no one should ever be able to say you dont get after it. That is something you have 100% control over. And if you can not take 100% control over the things you can control your in a heap of trouble once you add in the things you can not.
Your team may be more talented than my team. I have absolutely 0 control over that. Once we reach the field to play my team is as good as they can be for that day. But - We can get after it harder than you. We can approach the game with more sense of urgency than you. We can want it more than you. We can be more sound in the bunt game than you. We can be more sound in the cut game than you. We can produce more quality at bats than you. We can run the bases smarter than you. We can hold runners better than you. We can put ourselves in a position to keep a single a single, a double a double , a triple a triple by busting our butt better than you. We can defend the 1st and 3rd better than you. We can compete harder than you. We can be more mentally tough than you. We can be better at everything we can control than you can be. And we can beat you even though you are more talented than we are.
So as your walking on the field and walking off the field we will be busting our a** getting on it and off it. We will be in complete control of everything we can control. And when your standing in center field getting ripped by your coach for losing to a team that you are more talented than think about what just happened. And enjoy your fresh legs on the ride back home after getting your a** whipped by a bunch of country boys that had no business beating that a**.
And just imagine the butt whooping your going to take when we are more talented than you and we still do everything else better than you? Go hard or go home. Or play for the other team.
These gentlemen have just explained why coaches use this method for teams getting on and off the field. The two most powerful tools a coach has for teaching a player a lesson happen to be the lineup card and a stopwatch. If a player cannot figure out they are wrong and create change after being subjected to these two things then they are probably not going to get it.
Kids by nature are lazy - they will look for the easy way of doing things. It's our job to teach them how to hustle and how to do things the right way.
You come on here and in a condescendingly way to tell us we are wrong. We are just a small sample of coaches out there who use this method successfully. Maybe you accidentally skipped over these posts that explain why coaches do this so here you go. Hope you get something out of it.