Coaching Baseball

Why Coach?

Ask any really good coach why he/she coaches and you'll get a number of worthy reasons. If you were able to nail down the most important reason, I believe the majority would tell you that they coach because they enjoy it. You can say you're giving back to the community or you want to spend some quality time with your child; but in the end, if you don't enjoy the experience , you won't be doing your best and your coaching career will be short.

There are other misguided coaches who say it's about the kids, but in reality coaching is really a way to stroke their own ego. These are coaches that believe their teams should take on their competive nature and winning becomes the primary goal and the standard by which success or failure is measured. Those coaches probably aren't reading this page, so I won't waste any time on trying to convert them.

Finally there are many coaches that are "forced" (not physically of course) into coaching because "someone had to step up and do it". Other coaches volunteer because they really want to help out and understand the importance of having good youth coaches. Either way the volunteer coach often comes in at the last minute and many times has no real knowledge of how to coach or even much knowledge of the sport. The primary focus of this website is to help those coaches that want to do the best they can at coaching but realize how difficult it can be to be a good coach. If you're one of those coaches then I hope you find the website helpful in providing quality information that really helps you provide a great atmosphere for your team to learn and enjoy the game of baseball.

This section of the website is dedicated to help you get started on the right foot or help you get things back on track if things haven't started off the way you hoped.

Have Fun!!!!

Before I get into specific aspects of planning practices and meetings and diving into skills, I first want to touch on something that I have over time realized is the most important aspect of being a good coach. If you think it's that the kids on your team have fun then you are partially correct. The correct answer is for you to have fun! It might seem strange that I place your enjoyment over the kids, but the fact is, if you're having fun coaching and enjoying the experience, you're kids will most likely feel the same way. I think it's very easy, and I've done it myself, to get so wrapped up in preparation, planning practices, worrying about all that needs to be done, that you end up getting stressed out and find the season to be a grind rather than an enjoyable experience.

Being a coach allows you the opportunity to be part of a team, to play and have fun, to improve your coaching as your players improve their skill. It's a great opportunity to share a special experience with a group of kids. Don't miss that opportunity by being so wrapped up in "being the coach" that you forget to be "part of the team". I hope throughout this section and the website that you will keep this in mind and think of your enjoyment first.