What is the team's responsibility to the player?

A coach's responsibility is to WIN. Certainly, in HS there may be other responsibilities that occasionally "may" (or so I hear) get in the way. In college, though, it is to WIN (and graduate players/keep them eligible). I will add, however, that a good college coach will help his players get summer placements.

I think once at the HS level it is to win. But I think developing the lesser skilled player to become better is important as well

The coach's responsibility to the team is to place them in the best position to win. It involves training, preparation, leadership and in game strategy. The best way to lead is to communicate.

Lead by example. Words are just words. Lead by what you do not by what you say. A coach's responsibility is to assist each player in reaching the highest level of ability in the game that their God given talent , work ethic and desire will allow them to reach. This in turn will allow the team to have as much success as possible.

A players ability or talent level coming in you have no control over. The goal is to see each kid leave your program the best they could possibly be. Much of that is up to the player and his desire to achieve. I have never seen a kid talked into being a better player. It takes work , dedication , desire , discipline and a passion for the game. The coach leads by showing the same dedication , desire , work ethic and passion for the game that he requires from his players.

At some point and time you have to put the petty bs behind you and just go to work and be the best you can be. Focusing on the things you can not control is time waited that could be spent on the things you can control.

Great post coach.
Work hard and control what YOU can control.
Enjoy your HS years because as we old folks know you can't get them back when they are gone.

Seems our coach is a win at all cost. I think most would agree they need to win. But our team has 2 kids that have been arrested. Plus kids that are trouble makers , getting wrote up at school, not getting home work done, always causing trouble, any kids on the team thats a threat to them they bully them constantly. Makes for a bad team approach.

JT,
I went back and edited it to add the emphasis on HS coaches. My bad.

Well had to give my 2 cents worth on hs coach role...of course we are playing to win but hopefully its more than that or i'm wasting my time . Coaches should also teach pride, poise, accountability,responsibility, team work...just to name a few...we do this in order to make kids better people and learn the importance of being part of something bigger than themselves. HS ball isnt about getting kids scholarships, thats a byproduct of the "team" doing well, in my eyes...

texasbaseballcoach,
Good post but I've got news for you. Scouts don't come to see good teams. They come to see good players. One of the weaker teams in our league had the most scouts at their games last year because they had a couple early rounders on the team.

Well of course they do but as a coach, i dont care if scouts come to the game or not...thats not my job...if that team had a few early rounders, they prob shouldnt be last...maybe that guy should have taught some of the principles that i talked about...jmo

As a high school coach, we get these kids at 14 or 15 years old. Some are more troubled then others. Some more mature and some just flat more talented than others. it is our responsibilty to mold these kids into young men, while at the same time winning on the field. In each state, their will be up to 5 teams that reach the ultimate goal of a state title. So I would like to think that my first responsibility and most important is to help these kids grow whether it be academically, athletically, maturity, or just to become more social. Each kid is different, and each kid needs something different. So what I owe the team, is to always be positive, always give 100% no matter the score, always there for them if they need someone to talk to, or always their to give them a kick if needed. Coaching high school baseball is a privelage and most coaches take their job seriously. I rate my success on how many kids come back to games or call me after they are long gone. That means I had success at some level. So yes, I want to win and will try to win every possible game. but if keeping a kid on JV to help him realize the work needed to make him reach his fullest potential. then i will take my chances in early games. if I lost one because of it so be it, I owe it to that kid and our team.

Texas, I believe we do have responsibility to help kids get to the next level. So while it may not be our job to ensure the scouts attend our games. It is my responsibility to make phone calls or send emails on a kid's behalf. JMO

of course it is, and i do the same...but as you know, thats not your main focus and if its the kids main focus you prob. wont win a whole bunch of games...best talent team I ever had a 8th rounder(signed for 800k)4th rounder, 5th rounder, 21st rounder and 50th rounder...knocked out the first round. Those guys had other things on there mind and hs ball wasnt the most important thing to them. Went to the state tourney in 03, 7,8,9 whole hit combined .200...but they were a "team" and had a find a way to win attitude...so all those scouts that came to watch us play, probably hurt the hs team concept as a whole...again, just my view

quote:

Originally posted by texasbaseballcoach:
of course it is, and i do the same...but as you know, thats not your main focus and if its the kids main focus you prob. wont win a whole bunch of games...best talent team I ever had a 8th rounder(signed for 800k)4th rounder, 5th rounder, 21st rounder and 50th rounder...knocked out the first round. Those guys had other things on there mind and hs ball wasnt the most important thing to them.

Fortunately, not all top prospects fit that mold.

well, some do..and i do understand the pressure and their minds not being right...all those guys could play and are still playing...but the pressure thats put on 18yrs old who are getting 800k can be a bit much to handle and i think the focus isnt where it should be...not that any of those guys didnt play to win but they were being pulled 10 different ways

You are the baseball coach first. Your not the social services director. Its your job to teach the game. And if you teach the game you will also teach lessons through the game.

Be on time.
Dedication.
Discipline.
Work ethic.
Team work.

The list is long. But the same things that will make you successful on the baseball field will also make you successful in life.

Your first job is to teach the game of baseball. Thats why the kids are there in the first place. You teach them what it takes to be successful on the baseball field which in turns helps them apply those same principles to their life now and later. You assist those that have the talent , work ethic and desire to play past high school any way you can. Why? Because you care about your guys and you want them to continue to play because they love the game.

change your name to wise coach may...nice post

They were tied for 4th with a losing record in league. Most of the other teams had far more depth especially in pitching and a couple also had kids who might go in the early rounds this year and next. One kid on another team threw a total of 11 innings mostly in non-league games and was drafted. Pitched more innings per game in rookie ball and did well. I believe 10 pitchers playing D1 or signed D1 and 3 playing pro ball from that season. Tough league.

sounds very tough...always good ball in cali...

kinda off subject but while you guys are reading this post, coach may...pastime... maybe give a normal prac. schedule...love to see what u guys do at practice

The easy answer is winning or being put in the position to win is an expectation. Let me knock on the back door.

This board is for the most part made up of successful coaches, and parents of players who have had a lot of success personally, and in most situations from a team perspective. I always have felt that HS baseball population wise, the board looks at issues from an elitists perspective. I'm guilty........and proud of that stance, because of the work it took to get there.

Now a different take...........

For every year-in, year-out HS powerhouse there sits a multitude of teams that rarely scratch .500.

For every stud that can be relied on to produce, there is a bench full of players that will never live up to those expectations.

For every community that has great feeder programs there are many other that have rec ball mentality.

For every coach that lives and dies for baseball, there are others that do it for the kids.

For every program that has great facilities, there are many playing in pastures.

For every program that sends kids to the next level, many more will see their kids leaving competitive baseball when HS ends.

What is the coaches responsibility to the player? My initial thoughts went with those already listed. However after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that there is no "set" answer because programs and teams are made up of multiple personalities and intangibles. IMHO, while all players should be treated alike, a coach has a different responsibility to every player.

Bottom line, when looking at the big picture, a coach is responsible for preparing his team to take the field respecting the game, teammate, and opponent, and teaching players to give 100%, 100% of the time. It may be that simple. I'd say 90% of the nations HS players will not take that next step, but those moral lessons just listed will follow a kid throughout his life.

good post coach, well said

We start every practice with a short 5 minute talk.
What is the focus of todays practice? What do we need to concentrate on today specifically to get better at? When then give them an idea of what we will be doing today.

Stretch. We work specifically on dynamic stretching.
Throw and catch. We work on throwing and catching with a purpose.

Every practice starts like this. We believe that stretching and throwing and catching are as big a part of our practice as anything we do. I got to this point after seeing so many coaches say "Hurry up and get loose so we can practice." Nothing irks me more than that statement.

Then we have individual skills practice.
Pitchers with pitching coach working on mechanics etc
Catchers with catching coach working on posistion specific drills.
MIF with MIF / Corners with Corners / Outfielders working on specific drills for their posistions.

We break from individual work and go into hitting.
We break down into groups. While the pitcher onlys get in their conditioning.
Group 1- Cage work which includes many different drills
Group 2- Bunting group - drills for bunting
Group 3- On field bp
Group 4- Shag

We break from hitting and if its an offense day we go to live bp with defense playing everything live as we teach situational hitting and baserunning at the same time.

If its a defense day we go to the following:
Cut plays with no runners.
Cut plays with runners.
1st and 3rd plays with no runners.
1st and 3rd plays with runners.
Bunt D with runners.
Bunt D with no runners.
Situations - with and without runners.

We do not have to do alot of conditioning after practice because our practices are designed to incorporate this into them.

We then prep the field for the next practice
We then critique the days practice.
We then hold a few kids over for extra work based on the days practice or game performance.

Thats pretty much a typical day.

coach May, thanks!! i'll write more later, gotta get the field ready

Coach May almost described our practice schedule to a t.

Now if we could just get the rain to shut off long enough for us to be outside.

What is the players responsibility to the team?

A team can only be successful if everyone of its members are on the same page.

This allows the coach to do his job properly.

Coach May,

sorry it took me so long to write back....great post by the way...thanks for the insight. I always like to see what other people do.

We are very similar in the hitting rotations but instead of bunting(do that during on field bp)we use that as bull pens so someone is always throwing their pen during b.p. we also stopped the shagging part. I was getting tired of saying "break up the rock pile" so now we work it out where we have someone at each positon (starters play together) and they play all balls off the bat and the final cut is live so we play it live...give them closest thing to real game as we can get without intersquad...