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bkball
173 Posts |
 Posted - 08/10/2009 : 18:33:16
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How would you handle this situation on a travel team
coach trying to teach every hitter on the team to stand the exact same way to hit or hit the same. Should the player not be comfortabel first and foremost. Should a parent say something, what if you have been paying a good chunk of money to a hitting instructor for hitting lessons that are contradicted by the coach. What would you do as a parent. What would you do as a coach if someone came with this to you. |
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bball2008
100 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2009 : 20:56:37
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| As a parent, run as fast as you in another team's direction. If you stay, it's going to be a long, miserable season with that kind of instruction. |
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gasbag
281 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2009 : 21:11:04
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Great question and very uncomfortable position to be in. I have encountered some similar scenarios and I'd suggest you get the coach and hitting instructor together and have a discussion on the correct approach for your athlete. If they are truly after the best interest of your athlete, they will "get together" and teach a unified stance.
Along those lines, I really resent coaches who have a "one size fits all" mentality regarding batting stance. This is especially true when they don't even observe an athlete hit in live condition and BP. They just have this overwhelming desire to change something for the sake of change ! I'd stay away from these coaches. There is no such thing as a one size fits all stance. It all depends upon your athlete and his strengths and weaknesses etc. I agree that there are some underlying fundamentals which may be traits of varying stance and swings but in my opinion, you have to know your athlete. Otherwise, I'd stay away from a one size fits all coach ! |
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bigcatsdad
22 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2009 : 21:16:53
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| My kid started travel ball at 8. That coach tried to have every player do the same thing. At 8, the same worked for most. Being comfortable(relaxed) is important, but not always effective. Teaching a kid to keep his weight on his back leg for the first time will not be comfortable. IMO the older the kids get, the more the stances,situations(lessons or not) vary. As a coach if a kid is taking lessons, I hold back the coaching a little to see if they are successful then put in my two cents if they aren't. Some kids are used to batting a certain way for years, then get to 13-14 and have no idea what "go the other way" means even with lessons. However, typically the player taking lessons is more successful.(not always) Every player will not hit .500. As a parent if the player is getting lessons and is being effective on the field you most likely will not have contradictions with the coach. |
Edited by - bigcatsdad on 08/10/2009 22:15:35 |
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whits23
596 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2009 : 21:26:57
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i will answer it with a question..how would you handle it in high school? Do you value your coach? In travel you can move on in school you cant.
wait till your about 20k in the hole over 8 years and the high school coach wants it his way. A lot of coaches like weight distributed a certain way. As a coach i would say do it your way and if you hit .400 keep it up, if you hit .200 do it my way or sit. |
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loveforthegame25
448 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2009 : 21:59:13
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| Whose right? The hitting coach or the team coach? What are the differences? |
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Reggie
70 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 08:06:07
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| I say tell the coach wait until the games if he struggles to hit change him, if not let him swing his way until proven he can't do it. Imagine how many coaches tried to change Kevin Youkilis after seeing his stance. |
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AA17Dad
211 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 09:08:15
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Show me a team with a coach that demands EVERY player swing the bat tha same way and I will show you a team that will NEVER reach their potential offensivly.
This is an EGO problem and a dangerous sign. Beware of coaches with EGO problems.
If you are paying for lessons this coach should be talking to you about anything he sees that he wants to change and maybe working with the coach that is giving him lessons or maybe suggest taking lessons with someone that is more inline with his idea of hitting.
You didn't mention the age or level of play this team is or the level of experience the coach has so......
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Dr. Old School
314 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 10:20:07
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There are a few reasons a coach would try to get everyone on the same stance.
1) At a young age, he may be trying to teach them a good foundational stance.
2) At the older ages, he may be trying to get them to hit with a stance that he is familiar with so he can see problems in their swing if they start to struggle.
3) He may be teaching a stance that he has seen, over the years, to be consistently effective for most of his players.
4) He does not know any other way to teach hitting.
Only the 4th one do I think is really a bad reason. The others have some merit to them. However, the rule needs to be, if a player is successful with his swing, leave him alone until he is not. Especially if he has a hitting instructor he is going to. A coach should know if he has players getting private lessons and try to have an open dialog with the instructor. If the kid struggles, pass the info on to the instructor and let them work it out. That is what they are getting paid for. That gives the coach the opportunity to work with some other players that are struggling.
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Edited by - Dr. Old School on 08/11/2009 15:00:23 |
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HITANDRUN
436 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 10:46:17
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quote:
Originally posted by loveforthegame25
Whose right? The hitting coach or the team coach? What are the differences?
I would say the team coach is wrong because he is trying to cookie cut every hitter when everyone knows every hitter has a different stance and swing from 9 years old to Major Leagues. Gasbag hit the nail on the head with his post. |
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jay
177 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 13:12:09
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I certainly don't think it's a good idea. I like whits conclusion personally. Amazingly I seem to recall a bunch of coaches singing the praises of the Banditos 12U's at the Super NIT a few years when it appeared that they were professing this very thing.
My we are a fickle bunch. |
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BREAMKING
323 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 14:30:38
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| Might be a long season for you bkball but at least its travel ball and this had to have been your first practice and many teams are still looking for players I think. |
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Sox
55 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 14:50:56
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| Most inportant thing is for the batter to be comfortable first and then work from there, I've never in my life from Youth Baseball to the Major Leagues seen every batter with the same stance, It's impossible. |
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ingasven
120 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2009 : 16:14:21
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What may be more important in this conversation is what instruction is that coach giving to the player regarding the actual point at which he begins his swing.
We may see 3,000 different stances, but ALL successful hitters look nearly identical at the point of contact.
I guess this is why I don't get too bent out of shape either way regarding stances...as long as from launch position to contact they are all nearly identical. Players have a plethora of timing hitches, twitches, jerks, steps, strides, no strides, toe-taps, crouches, etc, so let them be comfortable and pay more attention to the point at which they start the swing....just my opinion. |
Edited by - ingasven on 08/11/2009 22:13:26 |
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Batting Stances
