Parents: Things you wish your head coach would do.....

The most important in retrospect would be to set up a meeting with the players and the parents before every season and explain the following:
1. The number of seniors that moved on to college or pro ball and why.
2. The involvement you can expect from the coaching staff on recruiting.
3. Hand outs on local training, showcases and other off season help available and endorsed.
4. The pro's and con's of recruiting services.
5. Core GPA,and the NCAA clearing house requirements, forms etc.
6. HS baseball web
7. How Northern schools are second class to the South and West coast.
8. The importance of team chemistry.
9. Hitting with wood bats separates the boys from the men.
10. Parental coaching, play time, opinions etc. are not encouraged.

IMHO, Steve

* Be involved with the local youth leagues (run a "Back-to-baseball" camp or something like that in the early Spring for free). Give the kids a taste of what HS baseball is like...and invite them to the games. Work with local youth league officials to improve their program.

Coach Knight, You must be doing a very good job or you wouldn't be asking this question. My son's coach does a great job in my opinion although I do like a couple of Steve's suggestions. In my experience, if a parent isn't happy or has criticism they usually offer it! I would like to see more support given to a job that is very litte pay for a whole lot of work. I know there are exceptions to every rule!!! Our coach goes above and beyond and does things that most parents have no idea he's doing. I guess I would like more education though on the recruiting process if I had to pick something to improve. I think that is an overwhelming thing that has life long consequences (or maybe I just need drugs!).

Looking at past experiences (not any current coaches! ) of things that could have been improved in high school, I'd put organization at the top of the list. Publish schedules and position specific workout plans for practices as well as games. Every player should know what is expected of them at all times, no guessing. Especially from a pitcher's perspective, knowing game rotations is critical to plan their conditioning routines around starts. Use practice time efficiently. My pet peeve is seeing players just standing around or worse a practice where pitchers mostly shag balls for position players instead of position specific workouts.

Better organization of practice for sure! The pratice time needed to improve skills for specific positions should be built into a practice plan and pregame workout. Specifically for catchers my grips are:

1. making 15 minutes available each day for the catchers to practice some skills togehter (i.e. popups, throws to third or first, blocking, framing etc)

2. not making the catcher catch every bullpen (the pitchers can catch a bullpen or two themselves)

3. catching batting practice and being the last guy to hit. The guy catching BP should be the first guy to hit. There's nothing like squating for an hour and a half then getting a short BP session in darkness!

4. When taking pratice or pregame outfield or infield have a pitcher or batboy catch and hand the balls to the coach while the catchers work on drills or taking/making throws from bases etc.

5. The catchers should not miss infield to warmup a pitcher, a non-starter can catch in the bullpen. Infield is usually the only real opportunity for scouts to see the catcher in action and to work on skills before a game.

There should be a plan for each position, not just catchers and pitchers to teach specific position skills and to allow the player time to work on skills during practice or before a game.

2parent,
Like it or not pitchers are quite valuable to teams and using them to catch bullpens is not a good idea. Most pitchers make poor bullpen catchers anyways.

Teams need to carry more catchers if they have the problems you've noted.

2Parent makes a good point.

1. The starting pitcher should have more than 15 minutes/practice to get their work in.

2. The bullpen should be divided between backup catchers, backup infielders, backup outfielders and catchers at the lower level. Our Right fielder did so well 2 years ago when he was working bullpens that I've now decided he is going to become our catcher.

3. The Catcher should start in the bull pen and catch #1 and #2. At times, they need to catch #3. Then, they should rotate onto the field and catch those pitchers as they get their live arm in to one or two hitters. Then, they should head to the cage. After this, they should get their live arm. Really, they should be able to get in a turn or two with the live arm. Then get their own work in. We typically round out a practice with the starting catcher catching our #3 or #4 who has been saved for the end to get their live arm in.

4. I just have to ask, who does the old type infield anymore? We have so many balls in flight or on the ground that the catcher is working on almost every play. BTW, we don't use just one fat old coach (me) out there hitting infield. We have 3 coaches hitting most of the time.

5. I agree with #5 however, I will say that, at times, we have a storm moving in etc. where we want #1 to get their work in quickly. If so, our #1 catcher ALWAYS catches our #1 Pitcher.

All of this is just my humble opinion. My opinion is basically worthless unless you play in my program.

Coach Knight,

I appreciate the fact that you are looking for input. IMO the #1 thing i would like as a parent is information on the recruiting process! If you don't have the info--help direct the parents to someone who does. My son now has a wonderful coach, who feels it is his responsibility to help the seniors get to the next level, whatever that may be. I realize that is asking a lot, but just some information is helpful. I would surely recomend this site for info.

#2 REALIZE THAT YOURS IS ONLY ONE OPINION! If you asked 5 scouts about a player, theres a real good chance that you would get 5 different opinions. Be open to the fact that you--the player--and the parents dont know everything--learn from each other and keep an open mind. I watched a player practically have to beg his HS coach to let him pitch, coach thought the kid was a pretty good outfielder and didn't 'see him' as a pitcher. Bottom line, kid pitched Senior year as the #1 guy and receied a generous scholly to a d1 program!

#3 actually this should be #1--BE HONEST!

lafmom-
Thank you for the compliment. I try to do the best I can.
I appreciate the input. I believe we do all of these things, but we need to improve in some areas. I thank all of you for your comments...and if you have anything else, I always welcome more information that can help us win some hardware! Coach Knight

CADAD

Catchers are important too! And hard to come by. I think most HS teams are hard pressed to add capacity at this position. My point is that postiton players, including catchers can't get better unless time is made at each practice to work on position specific skills. Its especially tough on catchers if they spend all thier time in the bullpen or catching BP. Additionlly catchers risk knee and arm injury by incurring high "throwing counts" during the week by catching bp and bullpens. Multi position players that pitch have a similiar problem.

I don't have a problem with a youth league or hs pitcher catching a bullpen, or at least warming the pitcher up prior to the catcher arriving.

A decent catcher can break your team if he's sitting on the bench with a sore arm. If a catcher can't block balls or catch popups etc. because he didn't have time to work on these skills in practice, you're team will suffer!

Make time in your practice for all players to work on skills and watch out for overuse of arms.

Although not many coaches are in position for this, there is something they can do if they have a pitcher who the scouts want to see. Over the years, I have worn out the phone lines tring to find out when a kid is pitching and most of the time, the coach is not in or has his answering machine on. If he would leave a message on his phone saying that (Joe Smith) is pitching on a certain day, it would make his life a lot easier.I know coaches that get hot, because some scout called them at home at midnight wanting to know when so and so was pitching.

All good points! Main one I agree with is recruiting for juniors and seniors. Most parents (unless they've visited the HSBBW) have NO idea what getting to the next level entails (especially if they don't know about camps or showcases).

bbscout,

I had to laugh at your post. My son's HS coach actually got mad at him because it was the first time in his coaching career (6 years) that he had to create a pitching rotation to give the scouts.

bbscout - I actually think that our HS coach didn't put that information on his machine, despite being asked/advised too many times, so that he might get to talk to some of you guys. I think he wanted to be in on it and that was his way.

The website for our HS team has an online calendar, so the coach just updates the online game schedule with the starting pitcher assignments a week or so in advance. Scouts just hit the website for updates.

Foothill Knights Baseball

Now that's what I call organization! Nice!

Proper perspective of BB in comparsion to academics, family, community.
Character/Sportsmanship - The right way is not always the easy way, win with class and lose with dignity, what will be remembered 5-10-20 years from now.
Work Hard AND have fun!

Maybe the way things are today the high school coach should retain a business or PR man to deal with all this. I guess I was foolish and spent too much time coaching.

To me the most important would be to have a website that is kept current. Doesn't need to be fancy.

It is tough beating info out of kids.

Our school took over our High School Web-site. I tried to keep it current with a "Coach Says" link where I addressed several topics. Now, trying to keep it updated is almost impossible. In fact, the school has now taken my site down.

The main problem our coach and AD had with our 'prior' HS website was having to rely on an outside webmaster to post any updates ... which took forever ... the old site was all static. Net result was the coach & AD just gave up on trying to keep information up to date. I was looking for a way to help the program, and I work in the web business, so I offered my time and the hosting pro-bono to our HS club last year to create a new site.

We put together a site where a lot of the content is database driven, so the coach and AD can just edit/update stuff themselves, even the look & feel. Even the static text can be directly edited online by the coach and AD. The AD was in heaven, and "ran with it" ... he then built additional sites himself for the football team, Athletics department, a local Little League program, even his church.

Now they just have one of the players keep the calendar up to date during his office assist period, several parents that tote around digital cameras at the games keep the online photo albums fresh with new game pictures, the AD posts updates to the season stats, and the coach owns the homepage.

Two things, one a wish and one a story:

1, As a parent I'd wished the coach had met with all the parents (with players) individually once near the end of the player's Junior season, to talk about the future. The coach could offer an honest acessment of where the player is, what to do or where to go to try to make his situation better, and what the coach can/will do to help. Some places have these kind of meetings as part of the end of the season, but I think it is especially important for Juniors, because it gives them time to do something about their siutation. This would have helped us a lot.

Story: When I was a senior in high school, our coach made a practice of having the seniors over to his house after the season for a final get-together. As it worked out, the coaches 9-year-old son cut his hand opening a can that day and needed stitches. Daddy kind of freaked out. One of my teammates was a volunteer junior fireman/EMT, addressed the wound, a couple of us took him to the doctor with the coach's wife and a couple of us stayed with the coach, who finally stopped throwing up. The son was fine and, looking back on it, the father never looked at us the same way after that.

Funny the things you remember.

Communication is the key to any organizaton. Everyone (coaches, players, parents & adminstration) must be on the same page if the team is going to be able to compete for a state championship. One school that I know of has a dinnier (fried chicken, etc...) that the players and parents are required to attend before the season begins. The coach sets the tone and let's everyone know what to expect before the season ever starts and before things can get crazy. Included in this dinner is a queston & answer session with the parents. This coach is so organized that he has the season ending team party at his home planned for the Sunday after the state championship game.

I think it is important for the Head Coach to focus on the entire baseball program, not just the Varsity team. Freshman and JV teams need quality coaching as well. These younger players will be your varsity players someday, so be aware of how the coaches are handling things.

i love this site!!
i have been a head coach for 9 years and coaching high school for 22 with a short visit in college, and i still learn things everyday on here.
great input on this subject. coach thanks for starting this. i think a few things are hard to do, but for the most part all of these things we try to do, or will NOW try to do. the only suggestion i have a personal problem with is listing the starting pitcher on the web page. i really don't want my opponents to know who i am throwing against them. yes i know they have a good idea anyway. but what i do... is that all the college coaches in the state have my e-mail address, and when they need to know who is pitching, they just drop an email to me.
thanks for all of you guys (and girls) input on this subject.

Our HS head coach meets individually with each player at the end of the school year, after the season is over, to discuss what he sees as their role in the program for the next year, what the player's goals are, and what activities the player needs to focus on to achieve those goals. My understanding is that the discussions are pretty direct, i.e., regardless of whether you're a starter or a bench player, you know where you stand and what you need to do, including whether a player's goals dovetails with the program's needs.

I was thinking about this topic some more ... and it struck me to shift it a little towards naming some of the best attributes I've seen from a many of my son's coaches:

- Teach the game, teach the game, teach the game.

- Set a high expectation for respect of the game: no trash talk tolerated, 100% effort all the time, carry yourself like a ball player on and off the field, wear your cap straight, 100% focus on the game during the game ... one coach made sure the boys were responsible for polishing their cleats before each game. He wasn't a neat freak ... just making a point about making them responsible for mentally preparing before each game and being ready to take the field "looking like a ballplayer".

- Positive re-inforcement: I've heard many coaches yell, curse, etc., ... the best coaches do have that 'intensity' streak in them, but they consciously reserve the yelling or "Sgt. York" nose-to-nose conversations for things like bad attitude, lack of hussle, inappropriate words or behavior. Simple mistakes are used to reinforce the teaching, pointedly but patiently ... they don't want players to be afraid of making mistakes by coming completely unhinged if they fail to achieve perfection. They want a mistake to be turned into a positive motivating power for the player to work harder and correct it. Don't negatively berate, yell, curse, scream, throw caps, etc. simply because a play didn't go your way.

- Zero tolerance for bad attitudes, trash talk, or any behavior that undermines the coach or teammates: a few years ago at an out-of-state USSSA tournament, a player in the dugout went off on the assistant coach because he demanded to go in for a struggling pitcher ... we're talking full-on cursing at the coach. The player was told to collect his gear, his parent, and drive home ... for good.

- Every player has to earn his position every day: doesn't matter how good you are, if you're an upperclassmen, or what relationships may exist off the field, what 'rep' a player may come with. On the field, every starter has to earn their position every day with their glove, bat, and arm ... not their mouths or what they did last year. Not talking about punishment for having a bad day or outing ... just if a reserve is consistently stepping up their game, and a starter is resting on his laurels or demonstrates he simply can't get it done, he loses his position to the guy who is working every day to earn the spot.

- Everyone has something to contribute to the team and a role to play. Players need to accept their assigned role, and work productively and positively to change their role if they have a goal of a different position, more playing time, etc. A couple years ago we had an out of state club tournament with a team that was stacked with talent. There was a little 'grumbling' in the dugout regarding playing time/positions. The coach held a team meeting after the game ... with the parents present. He calmly said "Every player on this team is a standout on his respective HS team. Every player on this team is capable of being a star player somewhere. Every player on this team will probably play D1 college ball. On this team, there are no stars, only role players. Play your role and you will take this team, and yourself, very far. If you want to be a star, please leave now, because I'm sure you can find another team where you can be the star player." Everyone stayed, the team got that much closer, and they went on to win the U15 AABC National Championship.

- Be direct and honest about expectations, goals, roles ... then live by those values consistently in front of the players and their families.

- Let leadership among the players emerge naturally, i.e., through who the players grow to trust and respect with that leadership ... let the leaders among your team earn that respect and build the 'follow-ship' of their teammates through their own actions and performance. Our club team has no official team captains ... but there are 3-4 natural leaders on the team that the rest of the players respect and follow of their own volition.

- Be aware of who the players think is really working hard and bringing their game ... they usually know who is walking the walk and who is all talk.

- Measure progress in a visible way, reward success publicly, watch closely to catch players in the act of doing something right so you can reinforce it positively and immediately. Make sure any scoring mechanisms you use can't be 'skewed' by players competing for positions, or don't keep scores ... e.g., if you have a great-hitting underclassmen that gets 'zeros' in the batting cage from upperclassmen but hits the c**p out of the ball during BP ... something isn't 'right' with the scoring mechanism.

- Keep it fun.

Parent meeting let every one know what to expect. Even tho the coach has been threw it many times, it may be a lot of parents first time with HS sports. Recruting help is good may be the Booster club could help by putting a hand out together. If the coach could tell the players how much work needs to be done to get to the next level,some times its better coming from a coach than a perant! WE are lucky are HS coach puts a lot of time in. An old coach I had " said you dont coach to get rich but for the game and the Kids" I think he has that same Idea,and Ithink you do to

One of the things that always made me and other players/parents mad was when a Coach would put his son above anyone else... just treat him as an equal member of the team when you coach him

For instance if Billy asks to play shortstop and you say no dont say yes to your son, that happened to my brother lol