Good Coach - Bad Coach

[Sam]

R1 on 1B....no out....sac bunt. R1 goes all the way to 3B because neither my F2 nor my F5 has bothered to cover the base. I have absolutely no problem humiliating the player responsible for covering that base. None. One of my only real pet peeves when coaching. It hasn't happened in quite a while but I still have clipboards and buckets that bear the scars of past tantrums.

[badcallblue]

When I say really only coached rec I did take a 14's team in winter, all 1st time travel ball players and play travel. We were 16 games over .500 and played pretty well.

I have coached rec because I choose to coach rec. It is where you can teach. If your parents are complaining in rec then you are not doing your job. When parents in travel complain it is because "they are spending all this money"

Look almost any half way decent coach can take talent and produce. But can they do it with very little talent?

Dusty Baker himself said in USA Today (just yesterday) That "he has yearned for a younger team since he started managing so he can teach the game"

I would much rather coach rec it is why I choose to do so. I have been offered several opportunities to coach travel ball teams but up until this past spring (see topic: daddyball) I have always said no.

In no way am I trying to dispute team and individual discipline. I am just stating a line needs to be drawn between discipline and downright stupidity thats all.

I have seen very good coaches get their message across in ways I might not have but noticed the tear down was always followed with a positive. Remember as coaches we always tell the girls it is not how you start but how you finish. The same could be applied to coaching.

[Skarp]

If your parents are complaining in rec then you are not doing your job.

Sorry for the delayed response...I've been in an uncontrollable fit of laughter since I read this. If you think that your job as a coach is to keep all of the parents happy, you must be an incredible joy to play for.

Rec parents live to complain. It's hard-wired into their DNA.

Rec parents complain because they are absolutely convinced that their dd is God's gift to the universe and entitled to virtually everything she wants, pain-free.

They complain because they think they understand the game better than the coaches (because they played a little high school baseball 25 years ago) and believe they are entitled to tell the coaches what they should be doing--during games, or whenever--even though they've never so much as thrown a bucket of soft-toss to the girls.

They complain because they, alone in the world, can't see that their dd absolutely sucks at the sport and has no interest in being out there at all, let alone improving. They can't figure out why she isn't playing shortstop.

They complain because they don't understand the sport at all, so they don't have a clue about their kid missing signs, missing coverages, missing back-ups, watching birds fly by rather than watching the game, etc. They just remember the one good hit she got (5 games ago, when she missed the bunt sign and swung away) and think she should be hitting cleanup.

And they complain when their kid doesn't improve, even though the biggest culprit for that is staring back at them in the mirror every morning. They endow their kids with gigantic senses of entitlement with no expectation of commensurate effort, and then they make excuses (or worse, lay blame elsewhere) for every failure that their kids experience.

And then they b**ch to high heaven (to anyone who will listen, frequently on internet softball forums ) when someone (i.e., the coach) has the temerity to suggest that perhaps little precious could afford to put forth a little more effort.

[thatguy]

If your parents are complaining in rec then you are not doing your job.

Sorry for the delayed response...I've been in an uncontrollable fit of laughter since I read this. If you think that your job as a coach is to keep all of the parents happy, you must be an incredible joy to play for.

Rec parents live to complain. It's hard-wired into their DNA.

Rec parents complain because they are absolutely convinced that their dd is God's gift to the universe and entitled to virtually everything she wants, pain-free.

They complain because they think they understand the game better than the coaches (because they played a little high school baseball 25 years ago) and believe they are entitled to tell the coaches what they should be doing--during games, or whenever--even though they've never so much as thrown a bucket of soft-toss to the girls.

They complain because they, alone in the world, can't see that their dd absolutely sucks at the sport and has no interest in being out there at all, let alone improving. They can't figure out why she isn't playing shortstop.

They complain because they don't understand the sport at all, so they don't have a clue about their kid missing signs, missing coverages, missing back-ups, watching birds fly by rather than watching the game, etc. They just remember the one good hit she got (5 games ago, when she missed the bunt sign and swung away) and think she should be hitting cleanup.

And they complain when their kid doesn't improve, even though the biggest culprit for that is staring back at them in the mirror every morning. They endow their kids with gigantic senses of entitlement with no expectation of commensurate effort, and then they make excuses (or worse, lay blame elsewhere) for every failure that their kids experience.

And then they b**ch to high heaven (to anyone who will listen, frequently on internet softball forums ) when someone (i.e., the coach) has the temerity to suggest that perhaps little precious could afford to put forth a little more effort.

Great points Skarp and we haven't even touched on Rec All-Stars where you are lucky if the your DD's mom doesn't complain, let alone the other 10-11 parents.

[Demonboy]

If your parents are complaining in rec then you are not doing your job.

Sorry for the delayed response...I've been in an uncontrollable fit of laughter since I read this. If you think that your job as a coach is to keep all of the parents happy, you must be an incredible joy to play for.

Rec parents live to complain. It's hard-wired into their DNA.

Rec parents complain because they are absolutely convinced that their dd is God's gift to the universe and entitled to virtually everything she wants, pain-free.

They complain because they think they understand the game better than the coaches (because they played a little high school baseball 25 years ago) and believe they are entitled to tell the coaches what they should be doing--during games, or whenever--even though they've never so much as thrown a bucket of soft-toss to the girls.

They complain because they, alone in the world, can't see that their dd absolutely sucks at the sport and has no interest in being out there at all, let alone improving. They can't figure out why she isn't playing shortstop.

They complain because they don't understand the sport at all, so they don't have a clue about their kid missing signs, missing coverages, missing back-ups, watching birds fly by rather than watching the game, etc. They just remember the one good hit she got (5 games ago, when she missed the bunt sign and swung away) and think she should be hitting cleanup.

And they complain when their kid doesn't improve, even though the biggest culprit for that is staring back at them in the mirror every morning. They endow their kids with gigantic senses of entitlement with no expectation of commensurate effort, and then they make excuses (or worse, lay blame elsewhere) for every failure that their kids experience.

And then they b**ch to high heaven (to anyone who will listen, frequently on internet softball forums ) when someone (i.e., the coach) has the temerity to suggest that perhaps little precious could afford to put forth a little more effort.

Travel parents aren't much better. I now recruit my pitchers exclusively from orphanages.

[badcallblue]

Sorry for the delayed response...I've been in an uncontrollable fit of laughter since I read this. If you think that your job as a coach is to keep all of the parents happy, you must be an incredible joy to play for.

Never said the parents only the players are too be made happy. I try to work with the player(s) enough in practice and games. I coach because I love it not because I have too.

And whats the difference between a travel ball parent and a rec parent?

LOL, maybe this should be a new topic !

[SSdad]

Sorry for the delayed response...I've been in an uncontrollable fit of laughter since I read this. If you think that your job as a coach is to keep all of the parents happy, you must be an incredible joy to play for.

Never said the parents only the players are too be made happy. I try to work with the player(s) enough in practice and games. I coach because I love it not because I have too.

And whats the difference between a travel ball parent and a rec parent?

LOL, maybe this should be a new topic !

Nothing, except you can add, that they pay money, so they think they deserve to be heard.

[SSdad]

If your parents are complaining in rec then you are not doing your job.

Sorry for the delayed response...I've been in an uncontrollable fit of laughter since I read this. If you think that your job as a coach is to keep all of the parents happy, you must be an incredible joy to play for.

Rec parents live to complain. It's hard-wired into their DNA.

Rec parents complain because they are absolutely convinced that their dd is God's gift to the universe and entitled to virtually everything she wants, pain-free.

They complain because they think they understand the game better than the coaches (because they played a little high school baseball 25 years ago) and believe they are entitled to tell the coaches what they should be doing--during games, or whenever--even though they've never so much as thrown a bucket of soft-toss to the girls.

They complain because they, alone in the world, can't see that their dd absolutely sucks at the sport and has no interest in being out there at all, let alone improving. They can't figure out why she isn't playing shortstop.

They complain because they don't understand the sport at all, so they don't have a clue about their kid missing signs, missing coverages, missing back-ups, watching birds fly by rather than watching the game, etc. They just remember the one good hit she got (5 games ago, when she missed the bunt sign and swung away) and think she should be hitting cleanup.

And they complain when their kid doesn't improve, even though the biggest culprit for that is staring back at them in the mirror every morning. They endow their kids with gigantic senses of entitlement with no expectation of commensurate effort, and then they make excuses (or worse, lay blame elsewhere) for every failure that their kids experience.

And then they b**ch to high heaven (to anyone who will listen, frequently on internet softball forums ) when someone (i.e., the coach) has the temerity to suggest that perhaps little precious could afford to put forth a little more effort.

Travel parents aren't much better. I now recruit my pitchers exclusively from orphanages.

I thought that red head looked familiar