One of the biggest things I have learned since becoming a coach a few years ago is to NEVER let a “Teachable Moment” pass. If, and when, coaches do, they are doing that player a disservice and quite frankly, not living up to their name…”COACH”.
I got to watch my 10 year old son play last night which was a special moment. With all the traveling I do, I don’t get to watch him play much in person. He started the third inning on the mound. Here’s a summary of how it went…
He fell behind in the count often which made the hitters comfortable, so when he did put the ball over the plate, there were a few hard hit balls. Added a walk in there and unfortunately his defense had a tough inning too.
Here are the negatives we talked about after the game. First, we talked about hitter’s counts and what they are (whenever there are more balls than strikes). Second, when there were runners on base and the ball was hit to the outfield, he just stood on the mound. We talked about how he should always be moving to either cover an unoccupied base or backing one up incase of an overthrow.
Here are the positives we talked about. His mound presence was great. He didn’t hang his head or show emotion when things weren’t going his way (giving up hard hit balls or his defense making errors behind him). He covered home perfectly on a wild pitch, though the catcher didn’t throw him the ball and tried to tag the runner himself who ended up scoring (hope the catcher was talked to about that). He was able to self adjust a mechanical issue half way through the inning which helped him get his FB back in the strike zone. The thing I think he did best was that he didn’t give up. Even with nothing going his way, he kept competing. As a coach, that is all we can ask.
In every game, win or lose, there is always something to learn from it. As a coach, it is our job not to let a single “Teachable Moment” pass. These are the little things that can make or break a team/player. Help the players understand that we need to learn from the negatives and focus on the positives.
Founder of Baseball Dudes. Blessed with three beautiful children and an amazing wife. Baseball is my life, after my family, and I love sharing what I have learned from it. Thanks for taking the time to view what we offer here at Baseball Dudes.
