Many who played this game and eventually went on to coach this game were greatly influenced by someone who taught them the game. Every one of us has been taught this beautiful game a little different. And every one of us is wired a little different. That is why it is important to remember that there are many different ways to relate with players.
I was talking to a successful high school coach a couple of days ago. He stated that he realized that this year, he needed to change the way he motivated his players.
He saw that if he continued to harp and yell at his players that they would eventually tune him out. He also knew that he needed to sternly get across to them that what they were doing was not going to be good enough.
He realized that this team needed positivity more than anything else. He sat and talked to them about his respect for them and his yelling stopped and their attitudes and level of play improved.
A coach’s job is about reading his players. Some react to yelling. Some players play better mad. Some players shut down when yelling occurs.
Some parents don’t realize that the moment they start yelling, their son shuts down in the dugout. A coach can see the eyes of the player.
Some players simply do not react well to yelling. It does not mean that they are soft, they are just motivated differently.
Most coaches coach how they were coached. Most coaches coach how they were influenced. Sometimes this works but it never works for all the players and a coach and parent needs to realize the difference.
There is not one way to motivate. There are thousands of ways to motivate and to get the most out of a player. It might not be the same way you were motivated. It does not make it wrong simply because you were taught differently.
The fundamentals and the right way to play the game are essential. But how we go about this process is not single-minded. If what we’re doing is not working, then we need to change.
Because as Albert Einstein stated “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”