when players dont agree with coaches.

Never hurts to ask the coach to explain why something is done in a certain way. (Just don't approach him with the attitude that he's wrong and you're right.) You just might find that he knows what he's talking about and can teach you something new.

As far as fielding backhanders, one way is for "normal" backhanders and the other is for where you need maximum reach to get to the ball.

Doing drills with either foot forward is good coaching. The reason you back hand ground balls is that you do not have time to get around the ball. You will not always have a choice as to which foot will be forward on balls hit deep in the hole. You need to be comfortable throwing off of the off foot if ness. in a game sit.

If you want to play ball on that team you do what the coach tells you.

knowing more than one way to tackle any situation is going to make you a more rounded player and person. Wether it's baseball or life things are not always going to fall in place the way you might expect.

What happens when you end up having to come off that right knee and you have never practiced it?

Sounds to me like the coach is simply trying to put another tool in your belt. Take it and go to work.

I'm not one that believes the coach is always right. However, there is always something you can learn. The day you stop learning is the day you will see other players pass you by. You will not always be able to get your feet in the proper position so practice what the coach is showing you it might help in a game one day.
My son has come to me a couple of times with questions about what his coach is teaching. Each time both him and his coach were correct from their point of view. So he learned something new from his coach.

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Originally posted by bb1:
So he learned something new from his coach.

That my friends sums it up.

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Each time both him and his coach were correct from their point of view. So he learned something new from his coach.

Which one is the coach ? Only one opinion counts.

Actually they were both correct depending on the situation in the game. There are many good coaches out there and some that are not so good. All players should take in what a coach is teaching. Take out of it what will be a benefit for them and move on. My son will always be respectful of coaching that does not mean his opinion does not count it just means he can't express it.

I went through a simular situition with my son yesterday at practice but I was also the caoch.......this is what I told him(give me your eyes and ears dont talk back and do what I am telling you without an additude ) after practice is when players&coaches can talk about their differences.

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what should players do if they dont agree on what the coach is teaching them.

If you are smart you keep your mouth shut. there is a time to question but the way you do it is the key. Many years ago I had a kid who was struggling at the plate. After practice one day I spent about an hour pitching BP and working on things. He started hitting the ball solidly. His comment to me was it felt uncomfortable and he did not like it. I stopped and we went over to the bench and I asked him how comfortable that felt. He got the point.

Although I agree with d8 & deaconspoint that this isn't one of them, there are times when a coach isn't teaching the best method.

One of the coaching staff on my son's hs was holding practice with the catchers. He was an older gentleman, and my son said he had often wondered how catcher's like Yogi Berra were taught....and now he knows. However, the JV and backup catcher were in the session as well. Coach would explain his point, and my son would say something to the effect of, "I understand that would help with X, but if we do it this way, doesn't it have the advantage of helping with Y & Z as well?" Then the coach could answer the question, incorporating the method into his lesson. Even if he rejected the idea, the younger catchers had the opportuntity to consider the point.

As it happened, this was a good, if a bit outdated, coach and he took the discussion well. A coach with more of an ego might not have been as receptive. But that is something a player would know. As in any dealings with 'authority', attitude is everything.

I have no interest in starting an argument here but I am curious about portions of your post. You refer to this coach as an older gentleman and a bit out dated, also the reference that he now knows how Yogi Berra was taught.
A lot of coaches develop philosophies and maybe that was part of his. It may have been his assesment of the talent level and that was his concept to teach to that variance. I thought it was wise of him to listen to your sons question and I am assuming that he responded in a positive
mode.
Any coach worth his or her salt will always continue to learn and adjust teaching methods accordingly. It may have been that your son was advanced enough to work at a higher level than the other two and he felt that they needed to know step a before moving on to b and c because he was working with multiple people and not individually. Egos work for both sides and the bottom line is that you still have to do what is best for the whole even if it means that you have to take a small step back personally.
Just my two cents worth.

CoachO,

First off, I pretty much define "older" as 20 years older than I am. When my son was a senior in hs, I was 51. The Yogi Berra comment, while facetious, was as chronologically correct as, say, my son at 21 discussing how Pujols was coached.

The incident was four years ago, and I'm hazy on the specifics of the coaching points, but I believe one was something regarding glove/meat hand handling as if the glove had no breaks. It was not, I'm sure, a building block approach as that would have been more my my viewpoint; my son is far, far better than I on the more esoteric points.

But the particular skill involved or the age of the coach wasn't the point of the post. I was merely suggesting that when a player disagrees with the coach as in austin's original question, he might acknowledge and show he understood the point, present his perspective and his perceived reasons/advantages, and ask for the coach's reasoning. Had austin done that, he probably would have gotten the original answers he was given here.