CHAPTER
4
So you think you can coach kids. You know you can. After all, you have played the game – perhaps even excelled at the game. You know the rules. You have studied the fine points, watched the pros, and understand the strategy. All of this qualifies you to be a semi-failure when coaching kids. Lots of kid-coaches have those qualifications. Lots of us have been partial failures in our first season or two. For example, knowing your sport too well may cause you to make your teaching too complex for young kids.
I’m talking here about the formative years of elementary and middle school. When we are with young kids we need to keep it simple. Basics. More Basics. Add slight nuances depending upon the age.
In fact, if you’re a real student of the sport and it’s your hobby, then your chances of failure with young kids may be greater than the next coach’s. You will probably lose them before your first practice is over, instead of somewhere around the third game as I did. Of course, younger kids need more simplification than older middle school players.
I’ll use baseball as an example. At earlier ages, with someone on first and a ground ball hit to the infield, forget the double play. Keep it simple. Teach your players to make the throw to first and get the easy out. As they get older, teach them to cut down the lead runner. Then, at a later age, go for the double play. At exactly what age depends on the talent available.
Now don’t burn this book and call the league to tell them to forget it. You can coach. You will do a much better job than I did. You will also probably learn more than the kids will. And it will likely be more rewarding for you than for the kids.
The coach’s first priority must be to help young players enjoy the game. If they are having fun and practice moves fast, they will learn easily. If instructions or expectations are too complex, it will be difficult for both you and them to have fun.
I want you to have just enough doubt about your kid-coaching ability to finish this book. Maybe you can learn from this coach’s 472 mistakes. I’m well-qualified to tell you how to make mistakes when coaching kids. Please do not panic. I will not cover all 472 mistakes. I can’t even remember them all. I have, however, made some (or seen some made) over and over, and I remember those well. I will frequently slip into my coach’s ego and tell you how to do it “right.”
Experience is the best teacher, so don’t expect to progress without mistakes. Just resolve to recognize them and correct them as soon as is practical, which will probably be in the next practice instead of in a game. This book may help you avoid some mistakes. More importantly, it will help you recognize and correct them promptly.
Let me ask again: Can you coach kids? Of course you can. What you choose to teach them, how much you teach them, how much fun they have, how much they like the sport, how happy the parents are, and how much your team wins may all be different issues.