Practice Limitations

NDD, I do not know this to be certain, but I assume these rules are to protect baseball players from coaches demanding their players practice 12 months out of the year with their high school program. It gives players breaks from coaches such as this. I understand rules and want to abide by them, but baseball is a sport of repetition and it takes longer to get ready for a successful high school baseball program that most of these state associations give. It's not just about hitting, throwing, or catching, but the correct techniques and mechanics. Most basketball coaches to do not have to spend time on the correct way to shoot the ball or rebound the basketball, and if they do these are things that are corrected much quicker than a baseball swing or throw. It's a little frustrating, especially when so many schools abuse and totally break these rules.

actually, baseball and basketball similar in this regard. i coach both. head coach in baseball, varsity assistant in basketball. you cant wait until november 1st to pick up a basketball and be a good shooter. you cant wait until feb 15 to pick up a bat and expect to be able to hit. we abide by the rules 100%. don't have a problem with them at all. the problem is the kids won't do anything on their own anymore. nothing is stopping them from going to the field or cage to hit on their own. they just won't do it. or ours won't anyway.

I am about to get started again. BTW, I am putting my coaching shoes back on. We will have open gyms as soon as I get approved by the board. We will follow out state's regulations for open gyms. In other words, we will not take roll, we will have other activities available I will not coach etc. I will make sure that all is safe and supervise. No really just supervise. We've been fortunate in the past that when we've set up open gym, we've also been able to get a fair number of track kids to come in and so, it truly is an open gym. Everyone does what they want. The baseball players in the past and now the softball players will have drills taught to them by next year and so, they will be able to set up their own workouts per those drills. This year I'll just have to let them hit in the cages. We will also have an area where they can throw. If we have times that the gym is empty of other people, we can shoot lite flite flyballs off of our balcony. The kids really love that. Those suckers are hard to catch with a glove.

Really, a coach can achieve a lot in open gyms and stay well within the rules. Of course as pointed out, the kids have to want to do it. I'm pumped getting back in to the fray.

Coaches Butler and Dixon,
Thank you for your replies. I have thought about this quite a bit and I don't disagree with protecting young players. I'm not sure this is the way to go about it though. I feel that players are more likely to be injured when they don't get the work in and rush when the date comes.

It seems like everyone is worried about pitchers more than anything else and maybe rightfully so. If it is, then they need to address that. What I see is several players working uncoached on their own. I would much rather have the coaches there than not. They don't warm up properly,etc. unless they are very disciplined. The next thing you know, they are throwing live BP hard with no helmets, etc.

Not to mention the bad habits they develop that then have to be coached out of them.

How are they going to get good as a team if they can't work as a team?

I agree Coach Dixon that a lot of players don't do much on their own. But a lot of them are and are frustrated because they need help.

I have read thread after thread on here about conflicts between the coach and the instructor. Isn't this part of the reason? The coach can't be the instructor because he can't help the players when the time for help has come.

I coach my son. We looked at the results from personal hitting instructors in this area, watched them teach and weren't impressed. Now if I had a Englishbey or Epstein nearby I would step back. We went to the top facility within probably an hour the other day. Nice place, got a tour and everything. I asked the guy what type of hitting they are teaching? "Huh?"
"Are you teaching rotational, linear, what?"
"Oh we just teach them hitting. Hard hitting."
$25 an hour plus monthly fee.
Ok.

I am a defensive minded guy, especially infield. So I had to get smart on hitting. I have learned a ton from you guys here and after my research, I got the videos and we went to work. I plan on taking him to Englishbey first opportunity, maybe over the holidays.

Anytime there has been a difference of opinion between what we are doing and what the coach wants, I tell him, "You're wearing his uniform, you do what he says." Fortunately we have a baseball man for a coach. He and I have developed an understanding and I frequently ask him how he wants his players doing this or that, then train to it with my son.

I love to work with my son, nothing I would rather do. I just wish they could all work together. When we field, I hit and he throws to a net. How much better would it be to have the first baseman? When we work double plays, we split it. He throws to the net. Then I flip them to him on his turns. How much better would they all be if they could work together and have somebody coach them as they do it?

I hear parents complain that the coaches aren't teaching them. How can they?

I agree that perhaps they shouldn't have the coaches all year. it might be a bit much. But why can't they work together during the school year? How is a kid ever going to reach his full potential if the coach that is going to influence him for 4 years (the most formative baseball years) only gets him a couple of months each year? How are we going to build a great program that people will come out and see from Feb-Apr?

Can't start until this date, only varsity season runs through the end of the year. Most of the games are in the cold. Rain outs all the time.

Now we can do conditioning all year. How are they more protected by doing conditioning all year but not sport-specific? How is lifting weights 4 days a week less dangerous than lifting 3 days a week and working skill 2 days?

Then you have to pay this guy or that guy to make up the instruction. Travel ball, tournaments, everyone going their own way, etc. And then in January we expect them all to come back and play for the school as a unit?

It's no wonder that so many kids lose interest.

When I coached in Colombia, I had the poor kids. The ones that couldn't afford to pay to play. My partner and I pooled funds and payed for uniforms etc. And we coached them. I was by myself one day and a father was standing there watching. He corrected an error his son made and got it right. I asked him what he knew, he had played some semi-pro. I put him with the outfielders with a fungo. Next practice another father was there. Then two more. These were 13-14 y/o players. Guess who loved it the most - the kids. Their dads were doing something with them together. When the season started, we had a talk. It was my team. They agreed and got T-shirts and caps, kept score, etc. From the dugout. Best thing I ever did and not one problem. The ones that gave me problems were the ones in the stands. The other teams payed "professional" coaches. We lost 3 games in two years in our league.

I told my son a long time ago I will never politic for playing time for him. It's taboo. He told his current coach what the rule is. I respect him and because of the way we have handled things he respects me. It's a good relationship.

I know I'm rambling a bit, I'm frustrated. The kids want to play, they need help and once again the adults are getting in the way. We're making HS baseball an indirect business. Paying people to coach our kids one at a time somewhere else? Why?

A baseball coach, a real one, loves the game. He eats, sleeps and breathes it. Where else would he want to be? He won't hurt them. And if he starts down that path, he can be fired.

I disagree that basketball or any other sport is the same. Baseball is the sacred art. A smaller, slower kid can be really good. Technique matters more than in any other sport. Raw athleticism doesn't get you a .400 hitter. Just because you can throw a ball 90MPH doesn't mean you can win the game or even pitch at all.

Anyway, thank you guys for coaching our young ballplayers. Don't ever stop. We need you.

And while I'm at it, I would like to thank all the umpires as well. You get more of them right than you do wrong by a wide margin.

Yep, yep, and yep. I am with you guys all the way... We don't cheat but some around here do... The good news is I do have some guys this year that are staying active and my weights and conditioning coach is willing to incorporate baseball friendly workouts
I still have plenty of frustrations but I can find some positives
Good luck you guys I appreciate all your input on this site, it's very helpful

NDD, thanks for the thoughtful post. It wasn't rambling at all. I'd have to say that first, I disagree that a coach can't instruct as the season goes on. In fact, I'd say that it is a coach's job to find ways to instruct. Let me give you an example, I often had hitters and/or pitchers come in before school. We'd do whatever we needed to do in a one on one or even one on two setting and I believe that the players cherished those times. I had great assistant coaches who would tape hitters and talk to them about whatever flaws that they saw during practice. In other words, I'd be out on the field doing what needed to be done and they would be one on one with players. BTW, the key to any good program is to get assistant coaches who you trust completely who can take players aside to do one on one. I was always blessed that way.

Back to the topic. I will be taking over a bunch of young players I haven't seen play. I'll be coaching my own child. I am going to ask my child that while she films herself as we always do, that she film others. That will give me a head start on when the season starts. I haven't check the rules on that and so, if told that things have changed, I'll have to avoid that. I know the argument that bad swings just promote more bad swings. However, I'm from the camp that says that if they are working toward a goal either self improvement or team improvement then we benefit in the long run. I can fix almost any problem I see that they have.

Finally, I am going to create a handout for our open gyms detailing what my players should know. If you have open gyms, I think it is important that you make clear to those attending that attendance will not have any bearing on who makes the team and/or starts. Open gyms have their own set of problems including one of entitlement. Some believe that they came to open gyms and so they start. I think that it is important to note that no one will be coached. Otherwise, you will cut a kid and if you coached one kid, the kid cut will run to the AD saying that you were coaching the kids that made the team. I always tell kids the hours and let them know that they can come for any amount of that time and leave when they want. I always include a statement that if they are engaged in any dangerous activities like horse play, I will throw them out. I'm sure others here can speak to more about the pitfalls of open gym.

I didn't mean to imply that no coaching goes on during the season. In fact I see a lot of over-coaching during the season because they couldn't before hand. And the players not doing things they should have known to do.

I believe that the majority of the instruction comes in the off-season. When the season starts we are making adjustments, not so much learning completely new things.

Some of these skills take time and help to develop.

Good A Coaches are great.

Should a player that comes out and works his butt off at every voluntary practice or open gym be cut for one that shows up a day before the season starts? I'm all about competition, winning and the best play. But how do you know who the best is without having spent time with them?

How many great players were cut just because somebody a little bigger or faster came along this year? How many of them would sit the bigger, faster kid if they had a little help with technique and motivation?

I saw a post on the start up thread: Try outs 15th, games 30th. Two weeks to select a team, learn the system, mesh them and get them ready for games?

NDD, there aren't any right answers. I was cut twice in high school. Then, my junior year, because a PE teacher spoke up for me, the baseball coach kept me on the team. I earned a starting spot and did extremely well. Believe me, cuts are never easy.

Regarding the kid that comes to the open gyms and then gets cut while keeping the bigger faster and stronger player, according to our rules open gym can not have any impact on the decision of who makes the team. NDD, my child would fall in to that category. She is big, strong and a load for anyone to have to handle. If our coaches said that open gyms were Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, she would never be at one. So, according to your scenerio, she would just tryout and make the team.

NDD, there is always the unknown. On Mondays, my child has manadatory weight training for her summer team. It is with a professional strength instructor and the session is 2 to 1. She will start at 3:30 and she will drag herself out at 5. She will then have to get home and do homework. On Wednesdays, she reports at 6:30 for speed training with a speed coach. This is also mandatory. At 7:30, she has team hitting. At 9:30 she will head home. On Fridays, she has position workouts that start at 5:00 and end at 7:00. I didn't mention what she has to do on Thursdays since that is "optional" and her team practice every Sunday evening from 6:30 until 9:00.

NDD, no high school program can match that program which is much more like a college program than a summer select program. When I start open gyms, I am not going to demand that she attend. Tuesdays are about her only night off and even then, she has homework.

However, don't lose sight that some parent will be upset that she makes the team when their child came to all of the open gyms and was cut.

NDD, we don't have the advantage of a crystal ball or always have time for "poential" to develop to skill. That's as honest as I can be about it.

CoachB25,

Glad to have you back! I enjoy your insight and experience.