Category Archives: Coaching
Being creative
There’s often a lot of talk about there being more than one way to perform various skills. But what many coaches miss is that there’s also more than one way to teach the same skills.
This is something I learned when I started teaching private lessons, and I keep re-learning it every day. For example, last night I was working with a pitcher who is starting to learn how to throw a change-up. I explained the technique, used some examples that had helped other pitchers in the past, and she still didn’t get it. So I had to find a new way to explain it yet again.
Everybody learns differently. Some need to see an example. Others need to hear an explanation. Some need to feel it.
Coaching is often like the old stereotype of trying to speak to someone who doesn’t understand your language. Shouting louder doesn’t help. You have to find another way to communicate. It’s what keeps it fresh and challenging. And fun.
Ken
Willingness to change
One of the biggest challenges facing any player trying to improve his/her game is getting out of the comfort zone in order to change what they’re doing. Before that can happen, though, first the player has to be willing to change.
I just saw this with one of my pitchers this week. She’d been struggling with getting the hang of staying loose and following through at release, due in no small part to a horrible “pitching coach” she’d had before who apparently didn’t know anything about pitching. She was pretty much stuck in one place. So I had to have “the talk” with her about working on what I wanted her to do. I told her no pitching at all in the next week, instead focus just on getting the arm to do what we’re trying to get it to do.
Lo and behold, this week she came back and had it nailed! I was so excited for her, and she was pretty pleased with herself too. And as promised, with the strong follow-through she had both speed and accuracy.
The key was that she was willing to make the change, and worked hard at it. Without that willingness, we’d still be stuck.
So I guess the point is you (if you’re a player) or your students (if you’re a coach) not only have to understand what to do but also have the mindset to go after it like a lioness hunting for food for her young.
Ken
Life in the Fastpitch Lane 