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13 replies

What is fun???

coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
You hear all the time that it has to be fun for the players - I agree overall but I have been pondering over these questions below for sometime

1. What is fun?
2. Who makes it fun?
3. How do you balance hard work vs. having fun?
4. How does a coach make it not fun?
5. How do players not make it fun?

I agree that it needs to be fun but my perspective is that a player has to already enjoy the game before it can be fun. A player must enjoy going to the ballpark everyday to catch a groundball, throw and hit. To me if a coach HAS to make it fun for a player then he is wasting his time because the player doesn't have that drive to play and be good. A coach can make it miserable by always yelling, criticizing, humiliating and other stuff like that. Not letting the players enjoy success on the field by always pointing out what they did wrong - don't get me wrong a coach has to point out the negative but can do it in a constructive way.

I actually get sick to my stomach when I start hearing parents yell out "make it fun for them and they will do better" or some nonsense like that. To me a coaches perspective of fun is totally different than a parents perspective. I try to change up drills and bring in different type of motivational strategies and all that but if a player isn't making it fun on their own then what can I do?

I was watching the NFL network a couple of years ago and it was one of those Training Camp shows (the Ravens I think) and one player said what was fun wasn't the drills and sprints and work that happens on the field but the experiences and relationships that are formed during the downtime in the dorms they stay in. I think that is the best way to explain what fun is for sports. Although there are some drills you may not like to do but you have to do them. A player has to enjoy the sport on their own and the coach makes it a stronger joy for the sport.

What does everyone else think?

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

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CM Coach May1,000+ posts
Nice topic coach. Real players have fun working at the game in order to be able to win and excell as individuals as well. Let me just say this , as a player or as a coach I have never had fun getting my azz kicked at anything at any age. When I was 7 playing baseball I knew what the score was. And if we didnt win I didnt have fun. I might have enjoyed the competition during the game but it wasnt fun untill the last out was made and we had won. Then it was a heck of alot of fun. But if we lost there was no fun to be found and there never has been. Fun is working your butt off and seeing positive results. Im talking HS players right now but the ones that I have coached that moved on to play at the next level were competitors and they were internally driven to suceed. You did not have to tell them to work hard in practice , hustle , work in the off season etc etc. They loved being at the park and working to get better. They were never satisfied with where they were or where we were as a team. They were always looking to get better and working to get better. That was the way they had fun. I think the parents that say "Make it fun and they will play better" never played. Never were competitors in the true sense of the word. JMHO
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
Racab, You will always enjoy baseball. You have the right attitude.

1. What is fun?
Fun is anything that a person enjoys doing!

2. Who makes it fun?
All those who are part of the surroundings and the individual themself.

3. How do you balance hard work vs. having fun?
People tend to want to get good at what they truly enjoy. Hard work is required to get as good as possible. So the hard work becomes part of the enjoyment. For most… the harder you work… the more “fun” you end up having!

4. How does a coach make it not fun?
This list is endless, but if the fun revolves around who the coach is, you probably don’t love it enough.

5. How do players not make it fun?
Bad team mates can be a problem, but the fun of the game becomes more important. Players can have a ton of problems that over take having fun. Here are a few…

Pressure becomes too much
Fear of failure
Lack of improvement
Lack of respect
Lack of desire
Lack of talent
Lack of success
Make excuses
Become satisfied
Used to being babied
Unrealistic about what is "fun"

Could go on and on, but not having fun or burn out are simply other words for failure. Most of those who are most successful don’t understand burn out! When their body and ability start to fail them, they quit playing but still love the game. IMO Burn out is simply an excuse for many other things that deal with being successful. The more successful a player is, the less burn out becomes a factor!
coach2709coach270910,000+ posts
Awesome answers so far and quillgirl thanks for the link to the other thread.

This is what I have felt for years but I don't know if I was ever able to express it like this. I am going to use these answers when talking to my guys next week when we open our preseason.

I hope we can get more answers and thoughts on this.
BumBum1,000+ posts
If you are losing, losing badly, and not improving I don't see how that could be fun. Winning is the ultimate elixir. Winning teams are more relaxed and apt towards team unity.

In your initial post, you opposed "hard-work" with "fun". As PG pointed out, these two concepts are not opposite. I have seen that the elite athletes become so focused, so singular in their approach to the game, that the hard-work indeed evolves into competitive bliss. One begins to enjoy his own sweat.
quillgirlquillgirl100+ posts
Here is a non-baseball example of how two athletes can interpret the same thing as fun or not, and the difference it makes in the end:

A top swimmer in our state (and club swimming teammate of my son) was featured in the paper last week. He described being in the water as his favorite place, the grueling 3-4 hours of laps and drylands a day as meditative and freeing, and that he'd tried other sports as a younger kid but nothing was as fun to him as swimming. He can't wait to get to the water at the end of the day, and he looks forward to continuing at one of the colleges where he's being recruited.

Another good friend of sons, a classmate, and probably one of the most talented swimmers in the state is a different story. At HS state this past weekend he was in a fast lane of the fastest heat as a 14yo Freshman (the only frosh at that level) and ended up taking 6th overall in the state, posting his best time ever. He has broken state and pool records consistently since the age of 10 and he's only getting bigger and better. This weekend was this boy's last meet. He is no longer going to swim, talented as he is, because he hates the water, the smell of chlorine, and the workouts feel tedious to him. He thinks he's missing something because he's never had time to try another sport. He has olympic potential, but not olympic passion for the sport. It's just not fun for him anymore. So sad, but what can you do?

My point is: Fun is something internal, and it may or may not have to do with winning. It might have to do with passion for what you are doing. And some level of fulfillment.
Last edited by quillgirl
CL Coach Labeots100+ posts
I tell my guys there are two types of fun.

Immature fun. The kind that lasts only seconds with no depth to it. The kind that you see in a playground where kids are laughing one minute and crying the next.

Mature fun. The kind where you work hard for something and when you achieve it, it is a deep long lasting fun.

We want mature fun in our baseball. Although once in a while we can enjoy some immature fun too.
T Texan1,000+ posts
Great post, CL.

The hard work in conditioning, practice, etc. will not always be "fun". Learning and acquiring the discipline will not always be "fun". The fun comes in playing the game at a high level, which was made possible by all the hard work in conditioning, practice, etc.

The fun is successfully executing at game time. The right to have that fun is earned through the work during the week.
YankeelvrYankeelvr100+ posts
The coach sets the "tone" and attitude for the team whether he wants to or not. Most teams do similar drills and practice routines, some simply are presented better than others. Its not always what you say, but how you say it. This of course assumes a minimum level of competence. Some of the most sucessful people in any field are those who people "want" to perform well for. Fun is pleasing others while being satisfied yourself.

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