How long till they want her to change

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What??? Parents actually teach their kids on how to deal with life's situations? Isn't that what the school is for?

Just sarcasm but an excellent point made by coachjwb.

We have a new coach for this season. Don't really know his credentials except that he's the Boy's varsity basketball coach. Have already had numerous conversations with DD on how to handle his instruction. "Keep an open mind, learn something from everyone, good or bad, and always be respectful. In the end use what works for you."

Basketball is still going on so we haven't been to open gym yet, but neither has the head coach. I am VERY interested to see how things go this year.

 

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I struggle with how a HS coach is going to change anyone. They have the player for 3 months tops. What you have is what you have. That time is so short that the only thing you can do is tweak existing swings and such. There is just not enough time to "fix" an issue.

This very topic is why my wife passes on Varsity coaching jobs and stays in travel. In travel you can actually teach a player the game and all the proper technique from the ground up. As a HS coach my wife would have to constantly compromise to maximize a player due to lack of time to make any major adjustments.

Now I am sure there are some HS programs that rock the house. But they would require having a large amount of control over a players time and commitment. Not sure if it is going to happening due to the position travel has in regards to college scholarships and such.

I think the best thing a HS coach can hope for is that at tryouts every girls shows up dragging behind her a summer travel team bag.

 

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i think the best thing a hs coach can hope for is that at tryouts every girls shows up dragging behind her a summer travel team bag.

exactly!!!

 

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I think the best thing a HS coach can hope for is that at tryouts every girls shows up dragging behind her a summer travel team bag.

Even better if it's a good pitcher.....but it depends on what travel team........

 

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Even better if it's a good pitcher.....but it depends on what travel team........

need I say more? ;& :lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

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I think there's one thing that exacerbates the situation where a school coach may be trying to help correct a flaw -- simple terminology. Our dd was upset, when during a tryout, one of the coaches tried to help suggest some things while she was batting. Afterwards away from the field, I made her go through what the coach was saying. It seems he had a good point, but was using terms unfamiliar to her. So I stressed the point that when she's in a situation like that, she needs to LISTEN closely to see how it relates to the style (Bustos-Carrier) she has been taught. Confusion frequently occurs when two parties are speaking a different language.

 

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need I say more? ;& :lmao::lmao::lmao:

And I'll take a left-handed power hitter, as long as she's dragging a hawks travel ball bag and dad watches from center field.....:lmao:

 

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It seems that although travel ball can go 12 months a year the actual practice time is very limited. Most teams will be practicing maybe twice a week for a couple hours during the 'off-season'. During this time a bunch of the players are jambed up on life and other sports making attendance somewhat spotty. When the travel season starts and every weekend is dominated by 5gg tournaments there is very little actual practice and improving skill sets away form games in simple non-existant.

In high school you have the open gyms typically starting in early January but some running all year. Then you have the 2-3 week run up before games starts. After the games start we will have practices on the off days and occasionally Saturdays.

My point is that there is a lot of contact hours on a regular basis that are pure practice time is high school ball. There can be a large number of reps in the cage and in the gym. A good coaching staff does have the luxury of concentrated time and can make a difference. The argument that the high school coaches don't have time simple does not hold water.

 

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A good coaching staff does have the luxury of concentrated time and can make a difference. The argument that the high school coaches don't have time simple does not hold water.

I agree with that, the only exception would be in tearing down a swing or pitching motion and rebuilding it. But there arent a lot of travel ball coaches out there that have that kind of time either, so I think its a wash. I think you see parents act a little bit like snobs towards high school ball...travel snobs lol...their attitude is ________ is lucky my DD is going there, and when coach trys to change something they take it personal and cant believe the coach isnt jumping up and down like they won the lottery when their DD showed up. Many Freshman parents undervalue the age difference in maturity both mentally and physically of high school Juniors/Seniors and their DD's, they've only really been around ball players their kids age. I think the travel snobs carry their attitude over until around the DD's Junior or senior year...IMO that is why year in and year out we see so many negative high school posts from parents of Frosh/Sophs and quite a bit fewer negative posts about high school from parents of Juniors/seniors.

Just IMO, but this topic regarding high school and travel has always kind of bothered me, just enjoy watching your kid play both in high school and travel, it goes by fast and they are not performing life saving or life improving work. Way to many ways to enjoy being parents to let a very small portion of their lives cause as much stress as softball seems to cause many people.

 

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Very good post, Uber.

 

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Also, it takes more time to properly teach a player to where it's ingrained and the player feels confident with it. It takes far less time to tear them down.

 

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If a HS coach who attends many clinics with some of the best coaches in the country like, Patty Gasso, Heather Tarr, Don Slaught, Howard Kobata, Patrick Murphy, Mike Candrea, Doug Gillis, Leon Woods, Jeff Janssen etc.. learns from the best and takes what he/she learns to heart and makes everything learned part of their own philosophies. Then observes their HS players not executing proper mechanics fielding and throwing or hitting. They are not suppose to try to teach them to do things better or more efficient because there is not enough time to do so? Having a pitcher for a daughter and attending lessons with her over the years I know when she is taught how to better her mechanics from experience a lot of problems can be corrected in as little as a week or so. I agree with Uber, most problems with the players are the parents. One only needs to coach a few years to realize that.

 

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Two points...

1. If a coach went to all those trainings and clinics by all of those experts, then they should have an idea to find out if the player, like a pitcher, has a pitching coach first, what the player has been taught, and then go from there. But hopefully not blindly just change things because they want to because then you could put a player (and maybe parents) in a conflicted situation of who to listen to. That can be a tough spot especially for a younger player. There is a way for a good coach with expertise to help a player and my experience is most players and parent respect that from a good coach.

2. Not all coaches go to those clinics and training and don't have the expertise to truly know what they're talking about. Just to give a coach card blanche because they wear a coach hat doesn't cut the mustard today. There are bad coaches out there. I've even seen Daddy-ball coaches purposely submarine other players to promote his DD. Those types of experiences make players and parents nervous and protective.

Just saying...

 

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Last night after dd's practice, I asked her if she talked with her high school coach about what she has been shown different to what she has been taught. Luckily, there isn't much difference between what she has been shown and what her hs coaches have told her. The only difference was masking the ball.

The good thing is, dd's hs coach was in the dark ages concerning softball. However, after watching Hawks 18U team last year because his dd played travel (I believe for the first time), he talked to them about some of the training tolls they used for hitting (TCB and Whip-hit). He had nothing but praises for them. He has incorporated their methods into our high school training. I have to say I am blessed to have a coach that loves to learn.

 

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This is why its so important for a parent to start early with your DD's mechanical understanding .

1- Girls that Apply their mechanics , but ignor the work it takes understanding their mechanics ,..can be influenced by misleading instruction .

2 - Girls that apply their mechanics and also understand their mechanics , Can instinctively deflect 95% of misleading instruction .

I simply tell my DD ,.. first an foremost be respectful ,..listen to the suggestion and weigh it out .If its something you feel worth considering ,then try it. If it effects you in a positive way , spend some time exploring it. If its a hair brained idea and you know it ,.play dumb , smile an focus on what youve been taught .

 

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As a High School Coach, this has been some very interesting reading, I would be curious to know how many of the people posting are parents that have never coached. No disrespect intended, just would like to know.

 

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I simply tell my DD ,.. first an foremost be respectful ,..listen to the suggestion and weigh it out .If its something you feel worth considering ,then try it. If it effects you in a positive way , spend some time exploring it. If its a hair brained idea and you know it ,.play dumb , smile an focus on what youve been taught .

Bingo!

 

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As a High School Coach, this has been some very interesting reading, I would be curious to know how many of the people posting are parents that have never coached. No disrespect intended, just would like to know.

Lol, now come on now fpdad, you already know the answer, just look at the 4 or 5 above your last post. :lmao:

 

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Lol, now come on now fpdad, you already know the answer, just look at the 4 or 5 above your last post. :lmao:

Well I know that 1 of the 4 or 5 is not only a parent but a current travel and high school coach who has studied and applied himself to the game. I certainly respect him.

I think that rod03 has it about right. Your dd and yes preferably even a parent must understand the mechanics and know from study, trial and error (practice and repetitions) what works. Then, they must listen and be respectful even putting the coaches thoughts to a test. We should never automatically think we know it all. We can learn every day. On the other hand, I do not want a player to use the specifics hitting techniques because I or someone else tells them. I hope to teach them to do it because it feels right and that they will have a better chance of making contact and driving the ball hard on a rope!

We do know much more about hitting than several years ago but that does not mean all players have truly accomplished the techniques. Just because someone has gone to some lessons does not mean that they have truly worked hard to perfect the techniques (just as Crystal cringes when she asks how many swing kids are taking) so maybe the coach is seeing something that could help. I remain convinced that many kids are not really working hard enough at perfecting their skills AND understanding their mechanics. Most mean well but they need to analyse each swing at practice and feel what just happened. The ones that do are easy to identify and I have read common characteristics in this forum. Good things happens to the kids that do!

Heck, I was helping out at a clinic a few weeks ago when this young 5th or 6th grader was obviously rolling the bat through the ball at contact to the point that the top hand was crossing over the bottom shortly after contact. As I was speaking to the little darling and trying to help, she said "but thats the way I swing!" I quickly decided more help was needed beyond her swing if we are to help her reach her potential.

 

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fpitchdad -- to answer your question, I coached fastpitch for 12 years. In doing that, I learned that players advance farther and faster when they have expert coaching. I do not claim to be an expert, but I can and do put my dd in the care of pitching and hitting coaches who are expert in what they do in the belief that if my dd wants to be the best softball player she can, then her mother and I will do what we can to help her achieve that.

If we're paying for private lessons with quality, respected instructors, the lessons and mechanics they impart should be respected by a team's coaching staff. If a team's coaching staff detects what they perceive to be a flaw, I think the flaw should be discussed with the player, and then presented to the private coach to correct. Because in my experience and observation, travel ball coaches rarely have the time to work with a player to correct a mechanical error, whereas a position coach does.
Having been a coach, albeit, rec league, I respect the rank that the team head coach has. In travel ball, it is the parents responsibility to find the best teams and coaches for our dd to play and learn the game.