I'm Sort of Sad

Coach9,

I really didn't take Bean's post the way you did. I saw it as a lament that there are so many well meaning and under trained coaches out there. I also took it as a lament that fundamentals often go out the window in favor of winning or a plane shortcut.

I have watched many of the coaches in my league run their practices and I can tell you that I see some very qualified coaches and many that either don't know the game or don't know how to teach it. My league, as most, has done a poor job in training the coaches. Some of us were fortunate in that we played at a higher level where coaching was "professional" and/or found mentors or resources.

In my case, I had no idea what I was doing when I started coaching and I started coaching at the highschool level. The ONE thing I did know was pitching, at least enough to teach it to those young men. The manager of the team had done it for years so I shut up and learned from him when I wasn't working with the pitchers.

When my son came of age to play baseball, my wife signed me up to manage even though I told her I didn't want to do so (that was the last time she went to registration). Once I got stuck with the job of coaching rug-rats, I bent the ear of the guys that had coached at that level before. I learned how to "coach down" to that level.

Then I discovered the internet's wealth of knowledge. I got more involved in my local league and was exposed to more knowledgable old veterans from within and without.

Recently, I learned how to run a LL tournament from an older guy that came down to watch over things from the District office. He was the original mold of the "grumpy old man". For the first three days, I felt like I didn't do anything correctly...which was pretty much the case. I know because he told me as much. At the end of the tournament, I sent a letter off to LL headquarters thanking the gentleman for his time and making his supreme efforts known to his "superiors".

In that same type of situation, I wrote a review of Bean's book on the Amazon website. I've been doing this for a few years now so I didn't "learn" a whole lot from his book. It did, howeveer, give me some things to chew on and I put some new thoughts to use. The book was a good tool for me and I believe it is a good tool for many coaches from new to experienced. New coaches can take it as a how to and more expereinced coaches can take it as a review. The book helped me so I wrote a good review recomending it to others. If you read the board regularly, you will also note that Bean and I do not always agree. Yet I respect the fact that he has his methods that work for him (also note that we agree more often than not).

There is no substitute for experience. Single L, Bean, Old Ag, and others probably have more experience than I. That's ok, they let me chime in most of the time without boxing my ears. I have my way and I am still learning, keeping my mind open and listening for things I may not know. I know they all do the same.

Now, a lot of coaches in my local area come to me for advice. I have a handfull of coaches who I go to when I need a thought or two or if I need an opinion on an aspect of a kid's playing. Like me, most of those coaches whom I respect and who's opinions I take seriously give effort to make themselves better as coaches. One of my favorite quotes came, I think, from the title of a book by Earl Weaver, "It's what you learn after you know it all that really counts". I like that, so true.

So, in my opinion, Bean was correct. From experience, I know there are too many coaches running around without a real clue. There are also a LOT who want to get a clue but don't know where to start. I tell the latter to get Bean's book because they can read it in one afternoon and keep it around for reference. It's not THE definitive work on baseball as that book does not exist. If it did and there was only one way to coach baseball, we would all read that book and never come together to hash things out. His book is a tool, around one hundred and twenty pages of the basics and how to teach them. There are others out there, but this is the best I have seen for the basics because it is fairly comprehensive and short.

Coach9, I wish more coaches would do as you do and come to boards like this where they could learn and better themselves as coaches. I count myself no better than you, nor do I count the other contributors to this forum as "betters". I do recognize them as coaches in the truest sense of the word. We all come to places like this to discuss the game we love, to put our opinions and methods out there for ridicule or as a tool for another, or even just to learn from others. Given the fact that the game's future and that of the current young player's is influenced by coaches, it is too bad that more don't take the time and effort to teach and more importantly, learn.

Splitter