Why Personal Development Should be a Prerequisite for Coaching, not an Option
“Coach whatshisname won’t listen to me because he insists the arm care program he’s been doing for two decades works”. Getting your coach to understand and listen to you is a common battle players put up with. The issue often stems from the fact that coaches are inherently stubborn and take any feedback from players as questioning their knowledge of the sport. Now clearly I’m painting with a broad brush here, and there’s a lot of fairly understanding coaches out there, but every coach falls victim to being hard-headed occasionally.
If you expect your athletes to develop and self-improve, you should have to as well
“Righteousness is like being pregnant, you can’t be a little pregnant”
Coaches set high expectations for their players. Not only is it our job to teach them the game of baseball and try and win ball games, but we play a big role in the raising of young men. Life lessons on the diamond can be easily transferred to an off the field situation. As the leader of these young men, we need to be examples of what good decisions look like and how to carry yourself. Vulnerability, accountability and willingness to fail are traits us coaches need to start portraying to athletes. Players respond better when coaches are willing to own up to mistakes and demonstrate humility.
Baseball is a game that evolves, don’t get left behind
“You win unconventionally, you lose unconventionally”
We are seeing this happen in pro and college baseball right now. Teams are cleaning house in player development and replacing them with coaches that can interpret and relay technology outputs to athletes as well and be relentless learners. Stubbornness is no longer accepted at the high levels. You must be willing to evolve your skills and demonstrate you are a continuous learner, otherwise teams no longer deem you useful. Willingness to try new things and fail should not be looked at as a weakness, rather it should be celebrated because it shows you are comfortable moving outside the box in order to gain an edge.
Having your opinions challenged is a GOOD thing
“If you are the smartest guy in the room, you are in the wrong room”
I touched on what I love about today’s athletes in my blog Lessons Learned From My First Year of Varsity Baseball, and that is they are much more in-tune with their development and ask more questions when it comes to the activities that relate to them. Coaches can often feel threatened when a player asks WHY they are doing a certain hitting drill, and WHY we do bunt defense a certain way. As coaches we should have an answer to those WHY questions, otherwise we shouldn’t be making the athletes do it. I also think coaches should seek out the opinions of their players and other coaches on their methods and demonstrate some vulnerability when it comes to your coaching methods. This allows you honest feedback and multiple angles on your doings that you might not get without asking, and here’s the wonderful part, your players will respect you more for it! If the players get the sense that they have say in their development and that their opinions matter, they will have more buy-in to what is going on.
Small steps you can take to be a more open-minded coach
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”
- Don’t be so quick to give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer when presented a question. What may seem like a ridiculous question to you, could be an athlete that is legitimately curious. I can’t count how many times I asked a player to explain his question or decision just to have him win me over on his argument. I do not believe a player should be scolded for making a mental lapse or asking a silly question, if they can present a reasonable excuse for their actions. They will be more willing to listen when you correct the mistake if you first hear them out!
- When digesting new information, ask yourself how you could implement this into your teaching instead of just copying down and regurgitating the information. This allows the material to stick easier if you can find it’s USES instead of it’s CONTENTS.
- Ask a ton of questions. The world of coaching baseball is incredibly divided right now with both sides dug in. Nobody is willing to open dialogue with each other, they would rather crap on any idea that doesn’t line up with their philosophies. Coaches need to start listening to understand instead of listening to respond.
