Tips from the Coach - 3/11/06

TIPS FROM THE COACH

“He’s a win at all cost coach". Some coach has just been hit with the most damning curse.

It has been my experience; this curse is uttered by losers that are not willing to pay the price to win. What is the cost of being a successful coach?

1. Time

The successful coach spends a great dealing of time practicing his team

The successful coach spends a great deal of time preparing for practice. He has each minute of practice scheduled to maximize the numbers of reps and learning experiences possible in a given period of time.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time scouting the other teams.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time counseling the parents of his team about how they can maximize the amount of fun and fulfillment to be gotten from the experience.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time organizing all the responsibilities his team's parents must cover such as concession stand and field duties.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time involved in fundraising ie. Carwashes and candy sales.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time analyzing the results of games and determining where improvements, changes in strategy and the lineup must be made.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time reading the rule book so that he knows and understands all the rules, their applications and ramifications so that he can insure that his team is always given an even shake. This knowledge is often at the root of the 'win at all cost' accusation, often from some coach whose lack of knowledge of the rules has resulted in his team losing.

The successful coach spends a great deal of time learning, reading books, articles, and viewing videos from the BASEBALL SKILLS AND DRILLS series and the other exceptional learning tools available at www.tipsfromthecoach.com .

2. Sleep

The successful coach finds himself lying awake at 2:00 AM trying to figure out a way to get a 9 year old out of a slump……and the kid isn't even his!

The successful coach finds himself lying awake at 2:00 AM kicking himself for not pulling his pitcher just one batter sooner.

3. Expense

The league is going to hand you a bag of equipment and balls. But the successful coach will want to acquire additional training aids to help him do a quality job. He will want Pickleballs so that he can have a circle drill station in the outfield so that the players can get a tremendous amount of cuts while BP is being conducted, without a whole bunch of kids standing around muttering 'why am I here'. He will want a StaybackTee and Hands Back Hitter for his Tee Stations. He will want a fungo so that he can hit quality infield practice and not look like a dork swinging his son's 29 inch bat, one handed. He will need a BullPen Buddy so that his pitchers can simulate game conditions when throwing in the pen. Of course, he can get these at www.tipsfromthecoach.com .

4. Friends

The successful coach is going to find that a lot of parents and coaches of players on the other teams do not like him. People hate to lose. They don't like people that beat them all the time. I was once told by an older and wiser coach, 'you can either win or be popular, not both.' The successful coach's responsibility is to his team and parents, to work and see to it that they have as much success/fun as possible. I suggest you get the COACHING PSYCHOLOGY-How to Handle Parents video.

Why expend all this effort? Why pay this price? When, if you do your job properly it is guaranteed you will be branded as a 'win at all cost coach'? Because the kids deserve your best effort, so that they can have the most success/fun playing baseball that is possible.

Yours in Baseball
Bruce Lambin
THE COACH

If you have any youth baseball or coaching questions, post them in the TIPS FROM THE COACH discussion forums. I and or other knowledgeable contributors will do our best to answer.

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