One of the highest compliments a coach, journalist, parent, or other observer can pay to a player is to say he or she is “coachable.” I’ve said it myself many times, both about individuals and as a general character trait, and I still believe in the concept.

When you say an athlete is coachable, what you’re really saying is that he or she isn’t stuck in his or her ways, or doesn’t tune out coaches when they offer instruction, but instead embraces the opportunity to learn and grow their skills. Seems like a pretty important attribute in my book.

As with anything, however, there is also a downside to being coachable. One that doesn’t often get talked about, which is why I’m bringing it up today.

Basically, the downside is this: What if what the athlete is being told just isn’t good advice? Or worse, what if the coaching will actually make the player worse in the short- and long-term?

Lord knows there is plenty of bad coaching out there. Some of it comes from well-meaning volunteers who don’t have much experience so they rely on what they remember from their own youth playing days or something they may have heard at a coaching clinic they once attended.

The problem is they may not remember the information correctly, or completely, or they may remember it correctly but the fastpitch softball world moved on from those teachings years ago. Squish the bug, anybody?

Then there is the contribution of the Internet to spreading bad information. At least back in the day a poorly informed coach was only affecting his/her team, or program at worst.

Now with the ready availability of Facebook groups, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, etc., that bad information is being amplified and shared around the world. Some of it by famous names who really ought to know better but apparently don’t.

So what ends up happening is that the coachable athlete, especially at the beginner level, gets shown poor or sub-optimal techniques that quickly become ingrained habits.

They are able to get by with those techniques for a while if their natural athletic ability is superior to their peers who require more training. But eventually that natural advantage levels off and those peers start catching up to them.

At that point, the coachable athletes may find they have hit a plateau or are even falling behind their peers who, while not as athletic, have received better training. But since they may have two, three, six, or more years doing things the way they’ve done them, the techniques are so ingrained they may struggle to learn new, better mechanics or approaches.

It won’t be for lack of trying – they’re still the same coachable athletes they always were. But they’ve been down the rabbit hole for so long that finding their way out can be a long, painful journey.

How can you avoid this issue with your coachable athlete? The #1 way is to ensure you have good information about what is considered high-level in pitching, hitting, throwing, fielding, conditioning, agility training, strength training, and other pertinent aspects of the game.

It’s going to take some time to research, to be sure. The key is not to believe something just because a famous coach or athlete says it.

Seek out a variety of perspectives from a variety of sources, and see what makes sense. Give preference to those who explain the “why” behind what they’re saying, and see if that makes sense as well.

After all, if an explanation doesn’t seem to make sense from a biomechanical or physics standpoint, it’s probably just so much word salad.

Take the old “swing down on the ball to get backspin” belief in hitting. Its proponents will tell you that doing so will help the ball carry farther in the air.

But when you really think about it, any ball you hit on the bottom half will have backspin, regardless of whether you swung down or up. And any ball you hit on the top half will tend to spin downward.

Then realize that if you swing from the bottom-up you’re more likely to hit the lower half of the ball, while swinging from the top-down is more likely to give you contact on the top half of the ball. Also keep in mind that a popup has plenty of backspin, but it tends not to go very far.

And how much backspin is needed to actually overcome gravity to get more carry on a softball weighing 6.5 oz.? Probably more than you can apply with a bat no matter which way it swings.

Once you believe you have a pretty good idea of what makes sense, compare it to what high-level, highly accomplished softball players do. Notice I didn’t say compare it to what they say, because there are plenty of examples of high-level players (including former Olympians) who don’t teach the same mechanics they used themselves.

Use those high-speed video examples to see what most of them have in common. (Don’t use one player because there are always exceptions.)

Look across a variety of players once you know what you think you’re looking for. Then, when you’re pretty sure you know works best, look for programs, team coaches, and private instructors who will teach those techniques to your coachable athletes.

That way, when they’re a few years into their careers, they won’t find themselves having to break deeply ingrained habits that are no longer working for them.

Being coachable is a tremendous asset for athletes. But always keep in mind the old computer saying: garbage in, garbage out.

Be sure what your coachable athlete is learning is correct from the beginning and it will save him or her a whole lot of heartache and frustration later.