Developing Young Talent

OK...we've done the money thing. Now lets go back to the basics and develop the younger talent coming up to the HIGH national leve,l and put a record number of NC girls on future college teams. How do we do it?

For those still here and those coming in, everything boils down to it's simpliest form. Mechanics. Both players and coaches. Players get extra instruction but some coaches know it all. I've been critical of daddy ball. Lot of people have, but if a guy does it correctly and develops talent and builds kids up, that's where you want to be.

I think we need more coaching clinics to start with. Even if a guy played played pro-baseball or someone played pro softball, we need really good educated coaches building teams from the ground up and developing talent. Good practices, time management, skills of the game, the whole thing. We need to have and promote more local coaching clinics, especially for daddy ballers. Certify coaches through the clinics, but get them in there.

Travelling coaching clinics. Off season. City to city. Certification.

Coaching styles come and go, but the absolutes stay the same. Build on that.

The biggest thing I've seen through my DD, especially when you guest play, once you have those absolutes and you go to practices you can tell if a coach knows what they are talking about. When player and coaches are on the same page and talent is developed all the way up from age group to age group. that's when the talent level goes up.

One last thing. My DD guest played this past Summer with the Challengers 14U for a tournament. The most impressive thing I saw was after an at bat one of their coaches would go up and talk to her about pitches. No one ever did that. Good coaching makes a world of difference.

 

Coaching

What teams or organizations have you played with and out of them how many had good coaches in your opinion?

 

The one she really liked the best was the 14U she got hurt on. She loved the practices. She did pick up a few things from other teams she played on, guest played with, but not like that one team. She loves drills. The main two or three coaches would break the team up kind of by positions, and with help from a couple Dad's run the kids through position drills. Sometimes they'd work the kids together on one thing. Can not say I always agreed on everything, but my DD liked it. She had to leave them for more PT and unfortunately after we left they broke up. DD is not one who likes to stand around. I guess there is no perfect team. But what she learned from those coaches the short time they spent with her carried her until she got to HS, and then it just got better because her HS coach and her hitting instructor took her to another level....... As an after thought, one of the first clinics we ever went to was at NSCU. One of the coaches told me that one of the most important things players and coaches have to do at any level is get the reps in. Practice how you play. Hope this helps.

 

Yep!!
“It takes pitching, hitting and defense. Any two can win. All three make you unbeatable. ”

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Maybe Slightly Off Target But..

One thing a good coach want do is coach during a game. Remember girls are mental, and if you start giving too much instruction during a game it only frustrates them. I agree mechanics must start at an early age ,and done by somebody that knows what they are doing, not by the want -to- be coach. If you don't know the game become a student of the game first then teach others after you become a good student. Transferring good knowledge is very important and is only successful if done under the correct guidelines of whatever you are trying to teach. In time you have heard the cliche Practice Makes Perfect..NO..perfect practice makes perfect...if you practice incorrectly then expect less success on the ballfield. Correct things at 10 not at 16,muscle memory is just about set in at that point. I have seen some very talented ballplayers over the past years that had all the potential to be great ballplayers, but either they had bad habits with hitting,throwing, or etc...and this kept them out of the next level. You can ask my DD she has spent many hours correcting bad habits,and it has paid off...JMHO

Guru

 

I have mentioned to some in my area that the coaches (from different levels and teams) come together and either attend clinincs or use videos but use a common approach to teaching the game. What I really want to say is "learn the proper way to do it then teach the kids". I have used this illustration before but it sums it up pretty good. My daughter was 8 and playing coach pitch. She is a lefty at the plate. Her head coach was telling her over and over "swing early so you can hit the ball to the third base side of the infield." She was litterally pulling it into the first base dug out and the coach kept right on saying "come on, swing earlier so it will go to third". Now I had worked with my daughter and she knew what was happening, but we get that same quality when it comes to all aspects. Most of our girls never turn their hips or shoulders when they throw. They "face up" to the target and throw. Shoulders and hips completely square, instead of in line, with the target. But when you try to teach the kids correctly these folks will say "well we sure seem to be winning". This will be my first year coaching the middle school team and I know I will be starting at square one because they will be taught the basics correctly. Going to upset some parents/coaches but I have always felt that a person is either part of the problem or part of the solution. Not that I know it all but I have spent the last 2 years studying anything and everything I can get my hands on to truly learn the game. Someone mentioned it earlier about being a student of the game. If you want to be a good coach or player you better be willing to study and learn the game.

 

As a Dad who started coaching fastpitch at 14U, one of the best things I learned to do is watch some of the other teams coaches to see how they handle the girls in different situations. You see what works and what doesn't. I coached baseball for about 18 years and the way to coach girls is alot different.