Do You Have A Clueless Coach?
/I see a lot of people have opened this email.
I wanted to title it, “Am I a Clueless Coach?” but I knew the click-through rate would be low. I'll be attempting to minimize my cluelessness soon. In December, I'll be heading off to the ultimate coaches' clinic of all time. The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) conference hosts almost all the DI, DII, DIII and NAIA coaches in the country. I get to learn from every coach you've seen on TV.
I want to tell parents why you should think about going to a coaches clinic too. After attending my afirst conference I was twice as confident in my skills and hungry to learn more. Whether you are a volunteer house league coach or an elite travel coach, you'll find that coaches clinics can be more fun and more valuable than any Youtube wormhole you've ever found yourself falling into.
Parents become coaches because they want to have spend time with their daughters and watch them grow. But lets be honest - no one else would volunteer! You think you’ll be okay because you played baseball in high school. You pretty much remember what you learned. You start to realize though that this sport of softball might be different. The hawk-eye glare of the other parents might be one sign.
There’s good news for you. If you educate yourself the right way you can save a lot of frustration and a lot of money.
I’ve conducted countless pitching clinics over the years. I've noticed that oftentimes coaches wouldn’t come along. Maybe it's a big time commitment Or they might think it will be too hard for them to learn, anyway.
I’d like a make a plea for parent-coaches to attend coach’s clinics. Here are 6 reasons why:
Leverage: I you send 12 kids on your team to a one-hour pitching clinic the total cost at $50 per kid = $600!! Also add 12 hours of your players’ time. Or, you go to a defensive clinic for one hour at the total cost of $50, with no extra time for the kids. Teach them what you learned during regular practice hours.
Cost: A lot more coaches clinics are free or discounted. Private instruction is $50-$150 per hour!!
Respect: Will your players respect you more or less if you send them to another expert to learn? Will they respect you more or less when they know more about hitting than you do? Players know when we don't know what we are talking about. They can sense it from a mile away.
Trust: If you’re players know that we have a growth mindset, something that they all learn about in school, they will believe what we say. They will want to grow with us.
Teamwork & Cohesion: If a team coach develops a philosophy, teaches his or her philosophy to twelve kids, the result is the creation of team culture. If they all field the same way, they will be able to help each other, give advice, and have a feeling of “our” way of doing things. Now that’s team culture.
Fun: It’s simply fun to learn new things and teach. There’s nothing more rewarding than watching our players grow!
To find great coaches clinics, I'd recommend visiting NFCA or Softball Excellence. If you know of any other companies, please share below.
If you can’t find a specific coaches clinic, I’d suggest going to player-focused clinics and taking notes. That way, not only will your current team learn the info, but every team for as long as you coach.
A note of caution. There is more than one way to pitch, hit, or field a ground ball. There is probably a BEST way, and we are all looking for that, but no one really knows for sure. Be careful on taking one coaches word as gold for everything, even if she’s the National Champion.
A lot of coaches who attend clinics get super-duper excited and change every single thing they do the very next practice. I admit I've done this every year but I'm trying really hard not to. After going to one clinic some coaches believe they have found the best way to do something. Now they know everything.
Maybe not. If one purpose of going to these clinics is to build trust as a coach, think about what will happen if you change everything. Your daughter will become resistant. Don’t forget, part of coaching isn't simply teaching fundamentals, it’s getting your a player to DO them!
Remember, as the great motivational speaker Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I know who I’m going to surround myself with. How about you?
