Jack Jenkins
Moderator
This is an interesting topic that I have discussed myself multiple times. It started for me when I was coaching with a childhood friend years ago (and before I became a hitting instructor). I said to him: "You know, when we were growing up we never went to hitting or pitching instructors, we just figured it out and we did just fine." Now I see a discussion about it in the General discussion group, and I think it is an important discussion to participate in and have an opinion on.
Along with passing on my knowledge about hitting in this format, I want to also discuss the overall athlete's experience and instruction is a big part of this. When "...we were growing up..." was a very different time and when I said "we" I was referring to boys, also a very different scenario.
The times were different and a majority of our time as kids (and especially as boys) was spent outside playing the games we loved. For me, and most of my friends, a big part of the rest of our free time was spent watching sports. These two factors provided a different sort of instruction, the desire to play, compete and just survive (sometimes with much older kids) and the natural training that occurred by watching hours of sports gave us something to imitate...and thats how we learned. A survival of the fittest sort of scenario. My Dad played football and was a great teacher of the sport but never was my coach. He never played baseball, so I had an even stronger need to figure it all out on my own or with the help of my uncle.
Again, these were very different times... we were allowed to leave first thing Saturday morning, or any morning in the summer and walk the several blocks or miles to the playground and not come home until dark. We ran all day, played all day and competed both as athletes and for our place in the neighborhood. There were fights, there was bullying and it was not always easy. Everyone on here had a similar childhood, and to a greater or lessor degree it was tough. But we learned and thrived and went on to be decent athletes who played in High School and the better ones made it to College to play. Also, as boys we mostly all gravitated toward and were encouraged to play sports. It didn't take long in this system for the kids who were not athletic, or did not enjoy sports to find their place in advanced classes, band or theater. It just worked itself out more naturally.
Today kids are not afforded the opportunity to leave the house and just be gone all day playing. Their free time is filled with mind engauging (or numbing) video games, computers and 400 TV channels that they don't have to get out of the chair to change. Although this does allow them to "go places" and "learn things" in a way we did not have, it also creates the need to learn some things in a different way. This is where instruction comes in.
I see myself and our gym (as well as other good intructors) as the playground for todays kids. It is where you should be taught not only the mechanics of pitching and hitting but also the desire to compete and find your place among other athletes. It may not be as tough, and certainly there is no bullying, but it is the enviroment that is needed for kids to get better today. In this environment I see kids who are blessed with talent and some who might not make it even in High School. But in all of these kids I see my job as helping them get better and reach their potential, whatever their potential happens to be.
Not all kids need one though. Mom or Dad may be well suited to teach hitting or pitching, but either way they need to be taught and immersed in it to get better and in most cases it is the role of the instructor to teach and the parents then need to immerse. I can't imagine there is a professional musician out there that grew up in a house where there was no music. So even though you have an instructor, Mom and Dad also have to create an environment that supports and grooms a love of sports and a desire to compete.
So instructors are needed and play an important role. If you are qualified to teach your own child and they are progressing and showing results on the field then you don't need one. But you must be one yourself. So, the only absolute in this discussion is that there needs to be organized instruction, whether you pay someone or do it yourself, their brain and body needs to be exposed to the concepts and trained to perform them.
So the playing field is level, girls and boys have similar opportunities to learn and get better and all are allowed to think they can be atheltes. Both boys and girls should be afforded similar opportunities and should all be treated as athletes. Too many times I see girls who are treated as girls playing sports while boys are treated as athletes, (even when they aren't.) This is the environment that is sometimes lacking: watch sports with your girls, talk about the schemes and nuances of all games. Teach them to be strong, teach them how to get stronger and teach them to be athletes. In this process you might learn from them too, so keep an open mind. Although the "pros" is not a viable option for most fastpitch athletes, there are board rooms and companies that will need the skills they learned from us on the diamond...and they might teach the men a few things about how to do it better!
Thanks again for taking the time to read my posts!
Keep working toward perfection!
Coach Jack Jenkins
Along with passing on my knowledge about hitting in this format, I want to also discuss the overall athlete's experience and instruction is a big part of this. When "...we were growing up..." was a very different time and when I said "we" I was referring to boys, also a very different scenario.
The times were different and a majority of our time as kids (and especially as boys) was spent outside playing the games we loved. For me, and most of my friends, a big part of the rest of our free time was spent watching sports. These two factors provided a different sort of instruction, the desire to play, compete and just survive (sometimes with much older kids) and the natural training that occurred by watching hours of sports gave us something to imitate...and thats how we learned. A survival of the fittest sort of scenario. My Dad played football and was a great teacher of the sport but never was my coach. He never played baseball, so I had an even stronger need to figure it all out on my own or with the help of my uncle.
Again, these were very different times... we were allowed to leave first thing Saturday morning, or any morning in the summer and walk the several blocks or miles to the playground and not come home until dark. We ran all day, played all day and competed both as athletes and for our place in the neighborhood. There were fights, there was bullying and it was not always easy. Everyone on here had a similar childhood, and to a greater or lessor degree it was tough. But we learned and thrived and went on to be decent athletes who played in High School and the better ones made it to College to play. Also, as boys we mostly all gravitated toward and were encouraged to play sports. It didn't take long in this system for the kids who were not athletic, or did not enjoy sports to find their place in advanced classes, band or theater. It just worked itself out more naturally.
Today kids are not afforded the opportunity to leave the house and just be gone all day playing. Their free time is filled with mind engauging (or numbing) video games, computers and 400 TV channels that they don't have to get out of the chair to change. Although this does allow them to "go places" and "learn things" in a way we did not have, it also creates the need to learn some things in a different way. This is where instruction comes in.
I see myself and our gym (as well as other good intructors) as the playground for todays kids. It is where you should be taught not only the mechanics of pitching and hitting but also the desire to compete and find your place among other athletes. It may not be as tough, and certainly there is no bullying, but it is the enviroment that is needed for kids to get better today. In this environment I see kids who are blessed with talent and some who might not make it even in High School. But in all of these kids I see my job as helping them get better and reach their potential, whatever their potential happens to be.
Not all kids need one though. Mom or Dad may be well suited to teach hitting or pitching, but either way they need to be taught and immersed in it to get better and in most cases it is the role of the instructor to teach and the parents then need to immerse. I can't imagine there is a professional musician out there that grew up in a house where there was no music. So even though you have an instructor, Mom and Dad also have to create an environment that supports and grooms a love of sports and a desire to compete.
So instructors are needed and play an important role. If you are qualified to teach your own child and they are progressing and showing results on the field then you don't need one. But you must be one yourself. So, the only absolute in this discussion is that there needs to be organized instruction, whether you pay someone or do it yourself, their brain and body needs to be exposed to the concepts and trained to perform them.
So the playing field is level, girls and boys have similar opportunities to learn and get better and all are allowed to think they can be atheltes. Both boys and girls should be afforded similar opportunities and should all be treated as athletes. Too many times I see girls who are treated as girls playing sports while boys are treated as athletes, (even when they aren't.) This is the environment that is sometimes lacking: watch sports with your girls, talk about the schemes and nuances of all games. Teach them to be strong, teach them how to get stronger and teach them to be athletes. In this process you might learn from them too, so keep an open mind. Although the "pros" is not a viable option for most fastpitch athletes, there are board rooms and companies that will need the skills they learned from us on the diamond...and they might teach the men a few things about how to do it better!
Thanks again for taking the time to read my posts!
Keep working toward perfection!
Coach Jack Jenkins
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