You might be a Daddy Ball Coach if,,

Wishuwereme

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Let me start and hopefully others can contribute

You might be a daddy ball coach if,,,

Your dd has never played for another coach.
 

crystlemc

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Just because a girl has never played for another coach doesn't make her dad a daddy ball coach. If Mike White was coaching his daughter, and she never played for anyone else, would you call him a daddy ball coach?
 

manitoudan

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I could crash the internet with just my stories alone.
 

coachjwb

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I would agree that there are many dads out there who have always coached their kids and who are good and fair coaches. With that being said, I think most players can probably benefit from having played for other (good) coaches at some point in their career before they get to high school and especially college. Chances are they will learn some new things, including how to deal with a coach whose not their parent! I observed during my days that most of the complaints about high school coaches came from parents who had always coached their daughters before they got there.
 

9ers_dad

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How about if you coach your dd in middle school and she's the only one all year that didn't come out, pitched 90% of the innings even in 20 run blow outs while the other 3 pitchers seen hardly any time in the circle. Then to brag all over social media about how great she is, might be wearing daddy goggles!
 
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When you leave a team to start your own team or club because no one else knows what they are doing. Reality is your DD shouldn't be playing short stop or pitching for that team either.
 

manitoudan

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Having already offered a negative comment I should add one of the best coaches my daughter had was a dad coach. My golden rule is the daughter has to be an absolute stud to keep all the accuser's mouths shut .
 

wpaguy

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Daddy Ball . So are all dads that coach automatically daddy Ball coaches ? What if the dad in question played in college , maybe even the minors ? are they still a daddy ball coach ??? Very few teams in the younger ages have a non dad coach. Until you get to higher age groups or elite level teams. Use this rule of thumb : If the coaches kid is a pitcher and your daughter is a pitcher . Play for another team ....same goes for short stop or catcher. This could at least reduce the chance of there being any conflict. and on a less serious note One of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnAsE9AnCSY
 

lewam3

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Thank god for daddy coaches. Think about that statement deeply and you will realize that there is no denying the truth to it. In this world there are do-ers and partakers. I am a partaker. Thank god for daddy coaches..
 

Practice?

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Thank god for daddy coaches. Think about that statement deeply and you will realize that there is no denying the truth to it. In this world there are do-ers and partakers. I am a partaker. Thank god for daddy coaches..

Well said Lewam3!
 
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Preface: My DD is 21 and hasn't played for 4 years.
But. There are allot of great dad coaches out there. To me the term daddy ball is defined as:
Treating your daughter better or more favorably than every other player on the team.
OR
Being harder on your daughter than every other player on the team.
Neither scenario is good for the player or the teammates. You have to be able to seperate the 2 and coach the team in the best interests of the team at all times.
 

Slammers06

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I am a Dad coach and my philosophy when it comes to my daughter is not only does she have to be the best player at the position she is to play at but she better practice and play so hard that the parents of the other girls would question why she isn't playing in that position even if it's thier DD getting the playing time. I do not coach her any different in practice or games this is a private conversation more over an explanation to her of why she may not be playing a position she may want to play more often. Is that fair to her???? Not really no its not and it's a hard place to be at as a father and a daughter to have to hold them to a different standard but that's the unfortunate reality of being a father coach and the daughter of a coach. But as we have seen in this forum that is just the nature of the beast. If you are too hard on them you are wrong and if you are not you are a daddy ball coach .... It's a fine line to walk and still be fair to all players and thats what this really boils down to. Can you remove yourself from being a father while on the ball field and be a coach..... if you can then I see nothing wrong with it if you can't it's time to find someone to take your spot and be an assistant or a softball dad.
 
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Softballfarm

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Im a dad coach...I think there are positives and negatives with all situations. But to answer the OP, a poor sign of daddy ball is if the coach's DD gets "1st in line" treatment for BP, reps, etc. Certainly include most-swings at BP too. I dont advertise my personal policy but many notice I won't even work individually with my DD at practice. That is done on our own time.

Joe Nay
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coachmsd

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to me daddy ball is a dad with a dd who is not good enough to play so he starts his own team so she can play
how many teams would be out there if all the dads stopped coaching
 

coachjwb

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My definition of a daddy ball is one where the coach's daughter plays significantly disproportionate to her abilities ... i.e., playing more innings, batting higher in the order, and playing positions she has no business playing. Sometimes the only way a daddy ball coach can accomplish this is to start his own team where his daughter is one of the better players on the team and/or the others players and their families find out too late. But there are definitely tons of great coaches who have daughters playing on the team, and sometimes the daddy ball coach phrase is overused as an excuse when other players who are less talented are playing less.
 

Fairman

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You might be a Daddy Ball Coach if,,


....If your dd is the first to arrive and the last to leave a practice.

....if your dd rides the pine even in close games just so you don't take the s--t from the other parents.

....if your dd plays all positions including pitching and catching because no one else will.

....if your dd takes pitching and hitting lessons in the off season.

....if your dd throws three times a week to you as you sit on a bucket...in the Fall!

....if you and your dd go out outside in December, in the snow just to hit because you are sick of the gyms and want to see how far a ball might go.

...if you have adopted the catcher so that you can get off the bucket and your dd has someone to practice her drops with...(other than you)

......
 

FastBat

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...a poor sign of daddy ball is if the coach's DD gets "1st in line" treatment for BP, reps, etc. Certainly include most-swings at BP too. I dont advertise my personal policy but many notice I won't even work individually with my DD at practice. That is done on our own time.
I saw another coach, that is a father of a player, like this. I almost wanted to tell him, "Ease up on your kid, coach." He was the absolute hardest on his own kid, I felt bad for her. It got to the point, my dd was pitching to her, and I was hoping his dd would hit it out!

I think as a coach, the only certainty is other parents/spectators will have an opinion about how you are coaching. That's just fact of a coach's life.

...if you have adopted the catcher so that you can get off the bucket and your dd has someone to practice her drops with...(other than you)
Great idea! I caught a drop ball in my mid-shin a few months ago, I'm shocked, I survived.
 
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This might go slightly off topic....

I am a Daddy coach. I am NOT a Daddy Ball coach. Tremendous difference. Those of you who know me or know the team I coach, know that my daughter has more to prove than anybody else on them team, and this applies to all players out there whose parent is a coach. They have to prove above & beyond the other player every time she steps into the batter's box, every time she takes a position, every time her name is read off in that specific spot in the lineup that she DESERVES to be there. If she doesn't and you play her anyway, then you are a Daddy ball coach who is out to serve one player & potentially harm the rest of the team. That will be obvious.
If she deserves to be there then you, like me, are out to serve the entire team. That TOO will be obvious.

Let's get real guys...our days are numbered here. We are on borrowed time. I know this. I have read countless stories on here, many of which have brought tears to my eyes about the last day he sat on the bucket, or that final day of her senior year, when everybody knew she would not step on the field as a player again. That day...that final day will be here before I know it. Same for every one of you, whether your DD is 17 or 9. This stuff is flying by. Seems last week I accepted this offer of coaching a 10U travel team, and now we are in our 2nd year of 14U. 5 years....and it went by like THAT (image of me snapping my finger).

And...as long as I am able capable of coaching and teaching at or above the level they are playing...as long as SHE still wants to play for me...as long as GOD allows me to have this GIFT of being able to coach my daughter's team, then I am going to take advantage of that gift and drink in every minute that I get to spend with my daughter and the rest of the girls on the team. She will not play ahead of somebody because she is my daughter. She will earn it because she wants to earn it.
I thank every single parent coach out there. It's because of several of them that I am here today with the knowledge that I have. I owe it to them to pass this along. Some day, God willing, one of my own daughters might choose to become a coach, and the circle will be complete. The day may come when her playing ability exceeds my own coaching ability. (Some suggest that happened 5 years ago :). When that day comes I will encourage and support her to play for another coach.

Nevertheless...thank you, Ohio softball, and thank you to my daughters for allowing me to be a Daddy Coach.
I love this game, and I love them!!!!

Chris Zaker
Ohio Glory '01
 

Passion4theGame

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This might go slightly off topic....

I am a Daddy coach. I am NOT a Daddy Ball coach. Tremendous difference. Those of you who know me or know the team I coach, know that my daughter has more to prove than anybody else on them team, and this applies to all players out there whose parent is a coach. They have to prove above & beyond the other player every time she steps into the batter's box, every time she takes a position, every time her name is read off in that specific spot in the lineup that she DESERVES to be there. If she doesn't and you play her anyway, then you are a Daddy ball coach who is out to serve one player & potentially harm the rest of the team. That will be obvious.
If she deserves to be there then you, like me, are out to serve the entire team. That TOO will be obvious.

Let's get real guys...our days are numbered here. We are on borrowed time. I know this. I have read countless stories on here, many of which have brought tears to my eyes about the last day he sat on the bucket, or that final day of her senior year, when everybody knew she would not step on the field as a player again. That day...that final day will be here before I know it. Same for every one of you, whether your DD is 17 or 9. This stuff is flying by. Seems last week I accepted this offer of coaching a 10U travel team, and now we are in our 2nd year of 14U. 5 years....and it went by like THAT (image of me snapping my finger).

And...as long as I am able capable of coaching and teaching at or above the level they are playing...as long as SHE still wants to play for me...as long as GOD allows me to have this GIFT of being able to coach my daughter's team, then I am going to take advantage of that gift and drink in every minute that I get to spend with my daughter and the rest of the girls on the team. She will not play ahead of somebody because she is my daughter. She will earn it because she wants to earn it.
I thank every single parent coach out there. It's because of several of them that I am here today with the knowledge that I have. I owe it to them to pass this along. Some day, God willing, one of my own daughters might choose to become a coach, and the circle will be complete. The day may come when her playing ability exceeds my own coaching ability. (Some suggest that happened 5 years ago :). When that day comes I will encourage and support her to play for another coach.

Nevertheless...thank you, Ohio softball, and thank you to my daughters for allowing me to be a Daddy Coach.
I love this game, and I love them!!!!

Chris Zaker
Ohio Glory '01





WELL SAID ZAKER!!



Jeff Hill
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El Spizo

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I can't lie, I've been a little more than just concerned about becoming "that guy" when it comes to my daughter playing softball.... But I've run into a problem already; I've successfully managed to not push her beyond encouraging her when she's upset, but she's pushing me!

She's constantly wanting to practice. She will be down right pissed at me if I don't stay after practice with her for an hour throwing pitches for her to hit, and she will run the bases and keep track out loud of how many she's hit and where... Or wanting to practice throwing/catching after a game, or wanting me to text her neighbor friends parents (who's girls play too) to practice fielding and infield scenarios.

Did I mention this is an 8 year old?

Ive thus far managed to stay a volunteer and avoided being a coach, I really don't see myself as a good daddy coach because frankly, I know very little about softball. Obviously I'm trying to learn more and take an interest in this for her, I'm here on this site for one, but am trying to avoid the easy slip into "softball dad guy" (no offense)

How do you suggest I handle this?
 

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