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Once again it's been too long between newsletters but my team web site products have been dominating my time for quite awhile. I'm not sure when it will let up but I'll continue to work on the site and send out newsletters the best I can. If you have never had a team web site or have one through eteamz, check out the What's New section below to learn about our web site products.
Being involved in athletics can teach us many valuable lessons and certainly one of those lessons is the desire to be the best at what we do. We all want to be perceived as being a good coach, parent, spouse, employee and friend. In coaching it's easy to tie that belief in our ability as a coach to our win/loss record or that championship trophy. It gives us a feeling of validation in our approach if we can win. Unfortunately coaching to win many times can come at the cost of coaching to make a difference.
Why did you get involved in coaching? Was it to win the local youth baseball league championship? Probably not. Whatever the reason for getting involved, I believe the true reward in coaching is in making a difference in the lives of the players you coach. It sounds like a huge responsibility and it is.
Think back to the people who were influential in your life. If you're lucky some of them you addressed as "coach". When I think back to the people who had a big influence in my life, it starts with my family and then goes immediately to many of the coaches I had over the years. I learned valuable life lessons and they all helped shape the person I am today. Coach Jamison was one of my first coaches and I learned to love the game of baseball playing for him. Coach Hill made me believe in myself. He helped me gain confidence that improved my level of play in all sports, not just on the baseball field. It's no coincidence that my schoolwork improved during those years I played for him. Coach Beaty taught me about loyalty. He coached what would be considered a select team in this era but unlike many of the teams today when he took you onto his team, you were on his team. One of my friends had a really poor season his first year on the team and it wasn't even a question, he was on the team the next year. He believed in us win or lose and was a wonderful person to be around. Coach Johnson was my first college coach and he taught me what it was like to give it everything you have. I learned a work ethic in that program that has been a benefit to me ever since. I've had many other coaches of course, some good, some I barely remember and some I would like to forget. That's the influence of being a coach.
As a coach you have the power to influence in so many ways. When you think about what it means to be a successful coach try to not think about the record you've had over the past seasons. There are many championship trophies sitting on the mantles of coaches that you wouldn't want coaching your kids. If you feel you need to win to prove that you're a good coach then you're not thinking long term. What you teach your players that they can apply to other areas of their lives are the lessons that what will stay with them long after they are done playing for you.
As you take the field this spring and begin coaching try to keep in mind that your molding young minds not just working towards a championship.
Until next time,
Don Edlin
QCBaseball.com
"Those of us lucky enough to be part of the game have a tremendous responsibility - we're charged with giving back to the game all the good things the game has given us."
--- Sparky Anderson
I've received many requests to provide stretching and conditioning information on the web site. I'm pleased to announce that Dana Cavalea, a Strength and Conditioning Coach for the New York Yankees Organization, and owner of Major League Strength and Conditioning will be sharing his expertise with QCBaseball by providing a series of articles on the subject. Dana is a graduate of the University of South Florida where he earned a B.S. in Exercise Science. He has worked with a number of Major League organizations including the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates in addition to his current position with the New York Yankees.
Current Conditioning Articles
It's that time of the year where many teams are working out at the nearest indoor facility. I've been spending my Friday nights the same way throwing a lot of batting practice to my son's team. I've also watched some of the teams that have come in before and after us and it seems like many teams fall into the mode of just working on hitting. Even if you can't pull a cage or two back to create some space, you can still work on fielding and baserunning inside a cage. If you have a couple cages at practice, use one for hitting and the other for fielding. It breaks up the practice for the kids and can give you a chance to teach some fundamentals before you get outside. Here are a couple of indoor drills that can be done in a cage.
Just remember that although you have limited space and resources, you can still get more out of your practices if you break them up and have the players work on multiple skills.
One of the most uncomfortable places on the diamond for many players is leading off of first base. It's pretty straight forward if a player is never expected to steal, but for a player who may be given the steal sign or has the green light, leading off can be one of the more intimidating parts of the game. Certainly learning and gaining confidence in how to read the move of a pitcher is critical to getting a good jump. I hope to cover some of that information in future newsletters. For this issue I would like to provide some basic information on leading off that can help a player develop a comfort level when leading off of first base.
When not given the steal sign and you don't have the green light, try taking your lead off the back side of first base. This does a few things.
It gives the pitcher the impression that you are taking a bigger lead because of the angle (see the diagram to the right #1). This may prompt a throw which is what you want since you're not stealing and are ready to get back.
It allows you to dive back in to the back side of the base which takes the first baseman longer to get to with the glove to if it's a close play.
This allows you to see how interested the pitcher is in you and determine if you have the appropriate lead or not.
Once the steal sign is given, take the same lead or slightly shorter but this time to the inside part of the bag (see the diagram to the right #2). The angle change gives the pitcher the impression that you're not taking as big of a lead as you did when you led off the back side of the base. The goal here is to not draw a throw and hopefully get a great jump. The combination of a slightly shorter lead and moving to the inside of the bag can be effective in giving the pitcher the impression that you are not as much of a threat at the precise time you're going to steal.
I've had a few requests for a practice plan template in a format that could be edited on the computer. I created one in MS Word format that you can downloaded from the site.
If you've never had a team web site it may be time to check out the benefits of having one. I went from having to make numerous phone calls and passing out updated schedules every other week to having the web site and email take care of the majority of my communication needs. If you're an eteamz customer you'll find my sites are a big improvement over what they have to offer. You can find out more at my other web site: www.rteamsite.com. Take a look at a sample site to see what your team site could look like.
© QCBaseball.com, 2006. All rights reserved.
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