Are We Coaching Baseball or Football?

I have little beef with football as a positive sport that teaches many life skills and I encourage players to participate especially in high school. I was a very mediocre high school quarterback back in my hay day.

The beef I do have with the gridiron is the coaching demeanor that is so often easily accepted as the norm, like a critical tone of voice, and angry level of verbal presentation of many football coaches.

They often have a free license to yell loudly, get in your face, scream, and use bad language, which is taken as just the conventional, exclusive way you treat your players by our society.

Treat Ball Players with Respect

I always go back to the professional baseball training model. You treat your players with respect realizing how much difficulty it is to playing the game.

How do I recommend teaching the game? Never embarrass a player in front of others.

More and more you will witness our coaches shouting at players across the ballfield. Yelling loudly with a critical tone and embarrassing players in front of peers, opponents and their families.

Players are commonly yanked out of the game right in the middle of the inning for committing a mistake.

How Can I Do It? Best Advice Is to Follow the Pro Model

What can I do? Follow the pro model when giving your hints and tips.

The pro ball coaches are more apt to take the player(s) aside between innings and ask them What was your assessment of the play?

Take them out of the limelight and get their perspective. Then, reply by using this as a teachable moment. Go over the correct way on how to play baseball using the compliment sandwich technique.

Tone

Your tone can be firm without being harsh. It is worth repeating. You never want to embarrass your player in front of others.

You can speak in a gentle, quiet voice and still be firm. Review, recommend, teach, instruct, give advice, build self confidence and get ready to play ball.

Between Inning Huddles Kill Skills

Many youth coaches have players huddle up before taking the field and after taking the field every inning.

It is like they have to give out all these quick help hints and how to play baseball instruction tips before and after each inning or they see themselves as not coaching. This is over coaching.

By huddling up coaches are taking valuable time away from the pitcher getting his between inning warm-up pitches in.

The firstbaseman is responsible to making sure each infielder gets at least two grounders between innings to keep their throwing arm warmed up. Outfielders also need at least a couple of throws minimum to stay tuned up.

By wasting time huddling up the players get cheated out of proper warm up repetitions. Watch the pros. Do they huddle up? No! No! No!

Red 42, Red 42

Often coaches will call out a football type play when a first and third situation comes up or a bunt is in order. Blue 38 or Green 98 which I guess is a certain defensive play. Players have to memorize their team play book.

Professional teams use a sign system. Either the coach will give a sign from the bench to the catcher or thirdbaseman to relay the signs to the rest of the infielders.

Both methods work. I just do not get why baseball people keep copying football.

Our Coaches Dress like College Football Staffs

They look really good on the sidelines. Only now, our youth level coaches are starting to dress that way.

Many coaching staffs are spending a good amount of money on sports apparel collared shirts that match their teams’ colors. They have their names or team coach screened on the backs of the shirts.

More and more youth leagues are taking on a football likeness.

I remember my first season in pro ball in Elmira, New York in 79’. The famous lefty, Johnny Podres was in town as a traveling pitching instructor.

A couple of our pitchers were playing catch with a football before the game. Johnny yelled out, Get that blankety blank football out of here. If you want to play football then go play football.

Stop and think folks. This is baseball, our great game. We do not have to football-ize it. Back to Youth Baseball from Baseball Football Coach

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