agresive coaches......

The honeymoon is over....

If you handled the recruiting process properly, you knew what you are getting into.

Personalities vary from coach to coach. The reaction from a player or parent will also vary from one to another. What some call aggressive, others would call assertive. Some coaches are screamers, some don't say anything.

My point is that if you did your homework, you know what you are getting into.

Did you go and " watch the coach" coach?
The coach went and "watched the kid" play....

Coaching styles don't change over night...

I see myself as one who has " skillful assertiveness".
In that, I hope to have confidence, good judgement,
quanitative decison making skills, and hopefully an
overall effectiveness for the whole team.

But all of the above, is gonna be done MY WAY.....

Most of the conflicts come from people refusing to
change....they refuse for many reasons, but mostly
because it is hard. Playing on a collegiate sports team is
similar to being in the military. The good one's function as one.

I see this as much more effective than a coach
that sits on the fence, tries to please everyone,
or doesn't want to rock the boat....

The line between coaching and abuse of a kid is definitive....
and should be investigated immediately and thoroughly.

Obviously, I don't know every issue about any particular
team or coach. My experience has taught me that female athletes
work very hard to please their coaches. They play more within the
"team concept" while their brothers are sometime more about themselves..
Discipline, while a necessary part of athletics, works better when it is
physical in nature with female athletes ( running, sprints, poles, etc)
instead of the verbal option...

Players often ask me about "playing time" and when will I give them more... my response is always "I have nothing to do with that decision...it is made by athlete..." It's not about when I'm gonna give it, when are you gonna earn it ???

 

Another outstanding post. The information and advice given on this forum is a credit to the wisdom of the many members.

This has truly become the place to go for information on fp softball in NC

 

WndMillr...

That was an extremely fine post! Couldn't have said it better myself! I have heard really good things about you as a person as well as a coach! This post only proves that you do know right from wrong as well as what it akes to be a great leader and coach! Not to mention a role model of the kind of person I would want my DD to learn from!

 

NOOOOOO

Please put this stuff to Windmillr in an PM. When good stuff like this gets posted or put on TBR, it will make him get a big HEAD!!!!! ha ha ha .

Met charlie once, had the honor to take him to lunch. I learned alot that day for sure about the game and the recruiting process. Great setup at Grandslam in Raleigh too, if you ever get a chance to meet him or go to a camp!!

 

I agree with Charlie on his post. And I must say first that there is no place in sports for degrading with name calling or abusing them physically.

That being said, there always will be situations where one person will view an action or incident as abusive and another will view it as just getting on a player.

Personally, I try to teach and encourage as much as possible. But I am also human and sometimes do or say something in the wrong way. When I was coaching football at the high school level many years ago, I had several situations that I handled incorrectly. In trying to motivate them, I lost my cool and verbally berated several players and the team throughout the year. I am not proud of my actions and can honestly say that that was the worst season of coaching I have ever had. I did not enjoy what I was doing and I feel that I have learned from that.

As I said before, now I try to teach and motivate in a positive way as much as possible, but there is always a place and time (and a correct way) to get on someone or the entire team. A good coach knows their player's personalities and how each one responds to different things. Some players can't handle being yelled at while others thrive on it. You need to know what makes each of them tick so you can get them to do what you want them to do and like it. That is the true art of leadership. Do I yell at the team sometimes? YES! Does an occasional cuss word come out of my mouth at these times? Unfortunately yes. But I make sure never to use swear words or degrading terms when talking about someone or to someone. There is a fine line as to what is acceptable and what is not.

There are also differences, just like Charlie pointed out, between college and high school. In high school, the kids don't really have a choice in coaches. They are assigned a certain school and must accept the coach there. However, I agree with previous posters that if there is true verbal or physical abuse going on, then it needs to be stopped. But parents must be careful before hurling accusations against someone without having documented proof of abuse. Is the coach a hard nosed, chew your butt kind of coach or is he/she abusive? There is a difference and people need to know that.

At the college level, however, just like Charlie said, the players and parents need to do their homework and go to a practice AND games to see the coach in action. Do your homework...ask former players or even current players what really goes on. Kids going to college have a choice of where they go. But they need to know that when they get there, the coaches way is the only way. Just as Charlie pointed out, many kids are going to have to change when they get to college. There is more at stake in college...kids are getting paid to go to school and coaches careers and lives are on the line. There is going to be extra demands and higher expectations. In most cases, college softball is going to be harder and more work than high school softball. Again, however, there still is no place, even in college athletics, for degrading or abusing players. Most coaches that I know don't do that. They are, however, very demanding and will expect many things from kids.

 

Thanks Coach for filling in some blanks for me.....