Telling your coaches they need to change there ways

General Pitching Topics
#1

how do you tell a coach that his methods are out dated and dont work anymore, a couple of years ago both of our top pitchers hurt there shoulders because they were throwing his way, This year was better because me and a couple of other players starting going to a pitching coach and we started teaching the other kids on our team how to pitch a safer more affective way.

I would say our team batting average was about 200 because him and our assistant coach believe that inorder to get lift on the ball you have to swing down and hit the top of the ball then roll your wrists over, now i have no idea how that even make sense, not only would swinging down cause you to hit ground balls but rolling your wrist over would cause top spin and that would make the ball sink,

They also believe that in order to get kids better defensively you have to hit ground balls at them non stop which makes sense but most of the kids on our team don’t know how to do it but our coaches think they should know it already so they wont break it down and teach it step by step.

I know I shouldnt argue with a coach and I should let him do the coaching but how do you not argue with him when at our state tournament we got out score 44 to 1 in 2 games.

I have delt with these methods and have been losing because of them for 5 years how can I tell him he needs to change and be respectful about it? and actually get him to listen about all I can think of doing is not playing for this team next year and go somewhere else because im am sick of losing.

#2

I wish you luck.
I have heard of coaches like that—real sticks-in-the-mud—the “my way or the highway” types who insist that theirs is the only way to do things—they are mired in a quicksand and are perfectly content to stay there. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just them, but when they, in effect, teach their teams how to lose games…
You would probably do very well to seek out another coach, preferably one with pro experience—maybe even a former major leaguer?—who would be willing to take you and your team in hand, work with them, and teach you guys the real major league way to play and win. It would be a whole lot more profitable than trying to talk to the wall, which is what your current coach seems to be. If he won’t even halfway listen to a suggestion or a different idea, no use knocking yourself out trying to get through to him. :baseballpitcher:

#3

Hey, man I hope you can get through to him. I’m sick of it after just one year. I don’t like his philosophies or ideas either. I mean I appreciate that he’s putting time and effort into the team. Oh and if you choose to go elsewhere to play baseball, let me know, you, Mick and Papa Doug are basically my pitching mentors and I’ve gotta’ be around you guys to help with my mechanics.

#4

I wouldnt mind them if they didnt take people who are doing just fine and then try to change them

#5

Ya I assume you’re talking about Bill and Ross right?

Do you remember that Cheyenne tournament? I was hitting over .300 for that tourney and then Ross was off trying to change my swing the first practice back, then I got into that long slump as you remember.

#6

ZW#17, you hit the nail on the head! I couldn’t begin to tell you about the kids who lost interest, who just gave up on the game because of coaches like that. I remember one day, long ago, when I was watching my pitching coach conduct a workshop for some middle- and high-school pitchers, and he was spending a lot of time with one of them—a high-school junior who was seriously thinking about giving up on baseball because of his coach who, to put it bluntly, was a “child’s garden of misinformation” and who kept feeding Junior all the wrong stuff. My coach, an active major-league pitcher who could coach and teach as well as beat the Cleveland Indians to a pulp (not to mention several other teams), worked with the kid, got him completely relaxed, and set him straight on several things. For example: this kid was being made to throw over the top, straight overhand, all the time in spite of the fact that this was not his natural delivery, and as a result was risking serious arm and shoulder injuries—and he didn’t know where his release point was or should be, etc., etc., etc. Steady Eddie helped him find his natural motion and told him how best to use it—and he said not to pay any attention to that coach. The whole thing was instructive and reassuring, and believe me, I got a lot out of just watching.
I’ve seen this happen in the major leagues as well. There was a pitcher named Fred Sanford, whom the Yankees picked up in the late ‘40s. He wasn’t a bad pitcher—in fact, he might have been a good one if they’d just left him alone—but pitching coach Jim Turner didn’t like the guy’s herky-jerky motion. Neither did third-base coach Frank Crosetti (how did he ever get mixed up in this?), and they started monkeying around with his delivery. They all but destroyed him; he wasn’ t a good pitcher any more when they got through with him. A year later he was traded. The moral of the story: NEVER MESS WITH A PITCHER’S NATURAL MOTION.
Juist show him (or her) how to make the most of it. 8)

#7

What about going through captains of the team to get to the coach? They are supposed to be the barrior of the coach and other players.

#8

Im just glad my coaches arent like this but i hope u can find a way to get through to ur coaches

#9

ZW is someone I would consider one of our team captains but really they don’t exist in Wyoming.

#10

this goes all the way back to little league. you play for a team and hope you get a coach that good otherwise you end up with a kelvinp. i helped my uncles little league team out with there pitchers for about a month. my uncle had to work so wasnt at the practices but the coach was a complete moron. if the kids didnt swing the coach would argue that it was a strike even when it was above there eyes, imagine that a grown man arguing with a 9 year old. he knew nothing of what he was talking about and id try to help the kids with there swing and he’d go and change it after, almost like i was 1uping him. he asked about my knee surgery then proceeded to inform me about his “real mans surgery” where he had both knees done in the military…point is most coaches are out to prove that they know something better than anyone else and usually dont. all i can say is ummmmmm i dono man you arnt gana change him so just practice on your own after practices and do what you know is right.

#11

“Telling” your coach he’s wrong is tantamount in his mind to telling him he stinks. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t…but forcing the issue is a sure way to make playing for him even less enjoyable than it may be at present. Your call. Whatever is more important to you, but if I didn’t respect my coaches’ ability, I’d find another coach rather than trying to “educate” him.

One thing you might try if your outside pitching coach is willing, is to have him come to a game and watch and then perhaps speak to the team coach afterward. Not too many coaches are going to be willing to do this, but it might be worth asking before confronting your team coach.

Hose

#12

That particular plague spans all of Man’s poor existence. Thankfully, a few manage to rise above the collective foolishness.

Hose