how and when to talk to coach??

Ben,

Coach rules. You have two choices, IMO, be quiet and accept the consequences or transfer your Son to a different school. If transfer is your choice, make sure you have the conversation with the new Coach as to his philosophy on hitting before you enroll your Son.

big ben- If your son crushes the ball, your coach will say, "now that's what I'm talking about". You have to coexist with this guy whether you want to or not. My suggestion is to get along while instilling the mechanics you feel are best.

Regarding Rotational versus Linear- No swing is just one or the other. A great swing incorporates both. In what we teach, you have to stride forward (that's linear). At that point, you're going to hit off a stable front leg and rotate around the front hip (rotational).

So Old timer what your saying is that If somebody has new or different way to play Your gonna change him to play your way come hell or high water coach dad don't know nothing he just pays the bills and coach can do what ever he wants to with anybodys son becuase it is his team I just can't help myself becuase his salary is being paid by my tax dollars. I feel as if I am a customer and being ripped off here. Shouldn't we teach them to be all they can be?

At that level,all you will do is hurt your son.Teach him the proper way to hit and if he is succesful,the coach will say nothing but if he is struggling,he will most likely sit.

A freshman at the varsity level is at a disadvantage maturity wise. He should be down on JV learning how to ask the questions you want to ask.

Ben- I think you are replying to the other guy but, either way, he gave you good advice. You either have to get along or move on. The coach is obviously an idiot and you are not going to win that battle- period. In closing, if you ask for replies, don't rip the guy trying to help you. Really poor form.

quote:

Originally posted by big ben:
So Old timer what your saying is that If somebody has new or different way to play Your gonna change him to play your way come hell or high water coach dad don't know nothing he just pays the bills and coach can do what ever he wants to with anybodys son becuase it is his team I just can't help myself becuase his salary is being paid by my tax dollars. I feel as if I am a customer and being ripped off here. Shouldn't we teach them to be all they can be?

Why is it one of the choices is always "transfer" ?

You can only "move" so many times and in many districts it cannot happen even once unless the boy enrolls in a private HS.

If the kid hits the coach won't change him, trust me.

Incidently if my Dad ever talked to my coach he would have been in hot water with me, but he never would have thought about it.

TR,

I think the conversation should be had before a kid enrolls if it is that important to him or his Dad. At this point, those are his only options. I've even seen this happen in College and the kid will sit. Since the Dad already had his first confrontation with the Coach, it sounds to me like he is unflexible. Again, it is just my opinion.

Sounds like to me the coach has already spoken on this. Its his team and he is going to coach it the way he sees fit.

The players in college that are unwilling to make adjustments asked of them either end up with splinters in their butts or end up somewhere else real soon. And if they didnt learn their lesson they end up with even more splinters or out of the game completely.

Hey just transfer but before you do have a conference with each potential coach. "I want to know your philosophy on hitting. I want to know your not going to change anything about my sons swing. You see I have done a lot of research and I know what he needs to be doing and I dont want you messing him up. So whats it going to be coach?" That way you dont get back in the same situation again. I guess you could also try this with anyone that recruits him as well. That should do the trick. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by big ben:
So Old timer what your saying is that If somebody has new or different way to play Your gonna change him to play your way come hell or high water coach dad don't know nothing he just pays the bills and coach can do what ever he wants to with anybodys son becuase it is his team I just can't help myself becuase his salary is being paid by my tax dollars. I feel as if I am a customer and being ripped off here. Shouldn't we teach them to be all they can be?

Your tax dollars entitle your son to a K-12 education. Playing sports is a priviledge, not a right. It's the coach's way or the highway. The only alternative is for your son to have a discussion with the coach. Parents of high school kids should not be intervening unless there's abuse.

The guy who lives down the street pays taxes who doesn't have a kid in school pays taxes. It's not like you have some market on paying teacher salaries. Using your logic you could say that teachers pay for themselves because we pay taxes too.

How did you approach the coach? I'll be honest with you if I get a parent come up to me spouting off how he's researched hitting and his son is really good will automatically put me on the defensive and I probably won't talk to them. I really can't see a halfway decent coach even listening to a parent on this.

Let me pose this to you - coach all of a sudden says your way is right and your son now doesn't have to participate in drills because he's going to work on things at home with you. How long do you think it will take before other parents start doing this? What will the outcome be on this season once all the players are doing their own thing? There's an old saying - There's one chief and a whole bunch of indians.

This coach has to put his program in and get 25 or so players to all follow it. It's easier to get 25 people to learn one thing than to get one guy to learn how to do 25 different things. I agree with those above who said that if your son is crushing the ball all will be fine. When I got a kid who is crushing the ball all my coaching consists of is "atta boy, nice job - you hit the bejeezus out of it, keep it up". I'm not messing with a good thing.

If you do decide to transfer and interview possible head coaches and what they teach then you are going to be sorely disappointed or on a very bad team. A good coach won't want you because he's going to see you as an interfering parent who's going to be a problem or you will find a coach who runs a terrible program because he doesn't have a plan in place.

You are actually hurting your son develop overall. There are many correct ways to teach baseball and just because you don't like it doesn't make it wrong. Your son will have to eventually move to another coach beside yourself. He's going to have to learn how to adapt what another guy is teaching and apply it to what he's doing. You can't follow him throughout life being his coach. At some point you have to let him go and stand on his own two feet.

I can relate a bit to your situation, to a point at least. My son has been playing ball for 15 out of his 19 years. He plays because he can hit. He has always hit well but when he was 10 he began to take hitting instruction from a former pro hitter. By the time he was 15 we moved to another former pro, now instructor, who had a very similar approach and took it to the next level and then the next. My son remains a very good hitter.

However, when he was recruited by his current college coach we had significant conversations about hitting and we believed we were on the same page. Son signed.

Once on campus the Coach indicated that the team had a specific approach to hitting that if you wished to be in the line up you must "master".

If my son wanted to play he would have to adjust to this new mechanic. It completely changed his approach. Once his swing was a powerstroke off a firm front side. Now his rear leg slides forward, more linear.

Interestingly as a result of this new swing, his hands have gotten "much" quicker. His body needed to adjust to make the swing work. The adjustment was his hands.

Now, he is hitting fine .394 with 5HR, 8 Dbl 2Trp and 41 RBI. The ball does not go as far as it once did however.

The point is though that although he is hitting this way now, it does not mean he will hit this way forever. Once he has the freedom to bring back elements of his powerswing and combine it with his quicker hands that are a result of this new "enforced" swing, the results should be better than before.

Take what you can and adjust. The game is about adjustments. Each at bat is a series of adjustments.

The key though is to be in the line up. And to be in the line up your Coach needs to let you play.

Your guy has plenty of time to make these adjustments and ultimately develop the swing that will work best for him.

Do not express your concerns or frustrations to the coach. The outcome will not be beneficial to you or especially your son.

This last post was something I could understand. It is nice to read and taught me something, thank you for that. I will be able to adjust and let things happen this is very good thanks to everones coments they all helped in thier own way. We'll see what happens on the field now, see you at the park!!