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I am a 3rd yr Varsity player. I have played baseball since I was young, travel baseball, fall ball etc.

Two yrs ago, our coach retired. The principal of the school had the choice of bringing in a younger guy with great experience/college /minor league. Instead, he picked his friend, who teaches at the school and played college baseball. His practices consist of no reps. He concentrates on smaller details like first base and home becuase he says that is what wins the game. Today one of our best pitchers pitched 100 throws and rather than rest, he put him at shortstop. There is no batting/hitting practices (he says we have to do that on our own time), no reps, no fielding. no defense. The kids on my team have played and worked much harder on their travel teams. We are frustrated because he expects us to win, but without tough practices we are all use to. The parents won't talk to the coach because they are afraid "their son" won't play. We have tried to talk to the principal but because he is a good friend,he will not do anything. For those of us who love baseball, this has destroyed us. Any suggestions?
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quote:
His practices consist of no reps.


quote:
There is no batting/hitting practices (he says we have to do that on our own time), no reps, no fielding. no defense.


quote:
We are frustrated because he expects us to win, but without tough practices we are all use to.


You guys must have the shortest practices in the history of the game. According to you there are no reps in hitting, fielding and no defense. So what do you do for two hours?

First of all welcome to the site and please stick around because it is a wonderful resource. You are going to find all kinds of people in here from parents, players like yourself, college guys and coaches. Some of us are pretty smart, some of us are nice and some of us are kinda mean. Don't come in here without some thick skin.

That being said you are already starting off on a bad note. I'm not trying to insult you or tick you off but reread what you put in your post - especially the parts I quoted. You are blowing things out of proportion to the point they are ridiculous. You may have the worst coach in the history of coaching but then again maybe it's just a case of you didn't get the guy you want so you are projecting a negative light onto the guy you have. I honestly have no idea and based on what you put I can't even begin to try and come up with an answer because I still don't know what the situation is.

Look at the last quote I have above. You talk about tough practices that you used to have but maybe the guy is teaching some great stuff but you can't see it because you are so fixated on not doing things the way you want / used to.

There are all kinds of people on here who would love to help you and / or give you strong advice but you need to try again. Come back with something that more is realistic and we might be able to help.

Best of luck to you.
LL,
This is the response you can almost always expect on here. There are a lot of people on here who will back up the coach regardless.

Gotwood has given you good advice. I've seen very much the situation you're describing happen to another team in the league my son was in. They went from the CIF SS Div 1 championship game to a complete mess because a coach who wasn't interested in being a coach was put in there. It has taken the program years to overcome that despite finally getting a good coach in place.

Even so it is important to take advantage of whatever your coach has to offer. Don't argue with the coach. Listen, do your best to do what he wants at practice then go and work on fundamentals with your team on your own time.

BTW,
Great advice Coach May. Way to help out. Roll Eyes
Last edited by CADad
If we were not dedicated to our team and the sport of baseball..we would not still be playing. Practices? Yes, they are short and ineffective. Our coach REFUSES to do reps. No fielding, no hitting, no ground balls, no pop ups, no strengthening,only base running,plays infield because he feels the smaller details win the game.He has us throw the ball back and forth to each other. We all love baseball. Every one of us on the team have played since t-ball age 4. We all play Varsity, then Major summer travel and then Fall ball. In the Winter, we have inside practices. In terms of coaching, we don't care how tough a coach is as long as he runs practices effective enough for us to compete with the other teams in our division. Many of us are 2-3 Varsity sports players. Our Varsity basketball coach is one of the toughest and most well respected guy in the state. The practices are killers but we love it and we win. He knows how to coach. With baseball, we listen to what he says. We all pay extra (60 per lesson) to take bi-weekly hitting and batting practices all year long at an indoor facility..on our own. Why? Because we are athletes and we love the game and no, we are not use to sitting around. As long as we have a coach who is willing to coach, we don't care..old, young, experienced or not. Just Coach. Don't make us stand around for 2 hours without hitting or fielding when we have a double header the next day at 8am and think we are ready.

Does he show up to all practices? NO.
Does he report scores/stats to the paper like all other sports at our school? No.
Does he say he is TOO busy to run a full practice? Yes.
How about last year when he put a 6'5 300pd student on the team and said to him
"You can be on the team but you are going to sit all season because you are too slow..you are there to "intimidate" the other teams.

Unfortunately, this is a reality at our school and the other schools in our division are aware of this and have been for last last two years. The parents are aware of it. These are our practices. These types of situations do exist and for us..as Seniors and Juniors ..we have to take on this responsibility and make this happen for us because we love the game.
LL - welcome to the hsbbweb!

The good news is you found us and you are welcome!

A little bad news is these forums are not here to bash the coach - sorry. There are two sides to every story. Perhaps someday you can go to college and become a coach and learn from the mistakes from this coach. Also, my advice to you is to stay out of the politics. Pay no mind to what other teams are saying or what is being written in the newspaper. Use your play on the field to do all your talking for you.

Please no more whining about your coach or the thread will be closed.
LL
This type of situation is quite common. At our small high school where baseball is considered second rate I truly doubt my two boys have learned a single thing in baseball that they didn't already know from playing travel ball or working on things at home. To us, high school baseball is there to get in more games and batting practice. At least there are some reps in fielding, etc. Nothing new is learned by the three or four guys who play travel because everything has to be dumbed down for the rest of the team that last played in Little League ball. It gets frustrating but you just have to work on your own. Older son was still able to get multiple college offers and Junior son is doing well and starting to hear from a few colleges. There are still ample opportunities to improve yourself as a player but you are going to have to market yourself and improve yourself on your own or with some teammates.
your coach refuses to do reps? Back in the neanthedral days when a fungo and a bucket of balls were the norm I remember one of my infielders say seems like all we do is turn double plays basically he was moaning. A game or 2 later we turned 3. I calmly went over and said "does that answer your gripe about turning double plays" I guess there are extremes I guess it is what works.
Welcome! This is a great site. Sorry you are being threatened with the "closed thread" thing(Cleveland Dad - that made me sad Frown. Sometimes I do not get this site - seems some people can complain and others not. The people here do care and want to help you succeed as a ball player. There are good coaches and bad ones. Our son has had both. It is what it is. You sound like a player and want to win. So when your coach does not show up like you say. Run practice. Run the reps you want to run. Worth a shot. Keep doing what you are doing in the off season. Be an encourager to your team mates. Do not complain among one another - that makes things worse. Ask your teammates if they want to practice outside "official practice". Best wishes as your season progresses. Keep us posted.
LL , if you are actually a player you are the first one that I have ever heard describle: "I am a 3rd year varsity player." Every player I know would say "I am a Jr and have played varsity for three years." or "I am a Sr and have played varsity for three years."

"I have played baseball since I was young, travel baseball, fall ball etc.'

Sorry but this sounds strange to me as well. Most would say "I have played baseball my whole life."

"The kids on my team have played and worked much harder on their travel teams." Most would say "My team mates or We have worked much harder"

"Today one of our best pitchers pitched 100 throws rather than rest, he put him at shortstop."

"pitched 100 throws" Uh first time I have ever heard a player say "100 throws"

There are many more examples in your post that lead me to believe that this post has been made by the parent of a player and not an actual player.

"For those of us who love baseball, this has destroyed us." Just another one.

I apologize if you are actually a baseball player and you actually made this post. But this post sounds like a parent of a player talking as if they are a player.

You have been given some good advice and I wish you well. Again if I am wrong I apologize.

THERE ARE BAD COACHES. I DO NOT DEFEND SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE A COACH. I never have.
Whether or not it's a kid or a parent there's a problem. The problem can be addressed. However, parents tend not to roll with the problem as well as the kid and see more into it than there is. Parents also tend to get more upset when lack of leadership leads to losing when they think the team should be winning. The only advice I can give is the situation isn't going to change unless the coach has a coaching epiphany or is replaced. The player needs to do what's necessary to be prepared to compete and succeed whether it's at practice or on his own. My son's team has a coaching situation. He refuses to let it be a distraction or an excuse in his ability to personally succeed. I only discuss the situation with him when he brings it up. Then I remind him to keep his opinions to himself outside the house and be prepared to play.
Last edited by RJM
LL -

Welcome to CSI Baseballweb. We have carefully analyzed your writing style and have compared your story against a database of other similar stories with known outcomes. We then used our cadre of Old-Timer Profilers to prepare a most-likely analysis of your true identity.

After this extensive analysis, we have determined that you are not in fact a high-school baseball player, but that you are actually an old Korean woman living in a trailer park in Hoboken, New Jersey.

We're all very annoyed. Please stop it, or this thread will probably be closed.
Last edited by wraggArm
The first post had me suspicious right off the bat. I had to go back and reread it because I thought I misread that LL was the player and not the parent, yet it sounded so much like the parent. Sure enough he was claiming to be the player. Then the next reply solidified it for me.

If you are indeed a Junior in HS, you should seriously think about journalism as a major.

Regardless, in this situation, the player should just use his HS team as more practice and find a travel team that will give him the experience he needs. As someone else said, if the coach doesn't show up for practice, be a leader and take his absence as a gift and run a REAL practice.
I was also just a little suspicious of the original post, but I wanted to remain neutral. But since CSI Baseballweb was assigned to the case I thought I'd give my 2 cents. WRAGGARM, your post was very funny, I laughed my rear off! I don't know you, but I'd have to assume that you did not mean to bring anyone's ethnicity into play in your joke/post. The one thing that I've learned reading this Forum over the years, is that there are many different people that participate on HSBBWeb from All Walks of Life that give tremendous advice.

Going back to the original post on this thread, I stated that I was a little suspicious? I read it twice, and then decided to bring in two of my own detectives! Yes, I had my Junior son and Sophomore daughter read the post...they both suggested that a parent wrote it. My son said that a three year varsity player would not say "after 100 throws", he would have said after 100 pitches. My AP English Sophomore daughter suggested that a parent wrote it due to the use of the forward slash...experience/college/minor league. Who really knows?

Seriously though LL, if you are a 3rd year varsity player in high school, I sincerely apologize! Either way, whether you're in high school or a concerned parent that wants the best for his/her son, I truly hope everything works out in the long run!
quote:
Originally posted by Coach_May:
D1 something tells me that last post will assist you in finding out. lol


I already have a pretty good idea who it was. He became a mod a little over a year ago and since then the state forum he watches over has become destitute.

Serious question, why is it members get treated differently around here? Some people get away with straight up bullying and when that person gets called out the mods go into action. I dont get it. I know most of us are adults here, but why are some allowed to lift their leg on EVERYONE and when someone retaliates that members posts get deleated?

It would be great to understand this because I need to know.

You know what, I dont want a moderators explanation.
JULIE! WHY IS BULLYING ALLOWED ON THIS SITE?
Last edited by D1
D1 and wraggarm chill.

These are judgement calls. We are not a smack-talk board and that is why I indicated I might close it. I have done no moderating in this thread however. Free speech is allowed here! A one-sided b*tch session on one coach should not imho. It's not constructive or realistic since it is only one side. That is simply my judgement as a moderator. The main rule is to be nice. Disagree all day long with any point but be constructive. That is the main rule and yes, we are human thus, the rules cannot ever be applied 100% equally.

D1 - you are not to post things that you know will cause others to flame (see site rules). Your egging on of TrHit you know will get a response.
I guess I don't see the problem.

Coach has his priorities. You disagree. But you are not the decision maker, and those who are have made it clear they are not interested in your efforts to go over his head (or behind his back, perhaps).

So you have resolved to do extra work on your own.

Seems to me that solves any problem you had. Enjoy the rest of your season.
To the OP (original poster). I think the advice of getting the team together on its own, and getting your extra reps of fielding and batting in, at that time, is the most you can do. He is the coach for this year. I comend you and your teammates for taking pride in your school team.

I don't think that last post from Cleveland Dad is actually from Clev dad.
Therefore and henceforth, I will not offer advice and only critizie the imposter.

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