Being a coach is a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Coaches have an opportunity to impact players lives in many different ways. With that said, I think it is important to know what our players want. How do they like to be coached? How do they respond to criticism? How can I help them develop the most? In order to know these things, you have to spend time getting to know your players.
In this post I am going to talk about 3 things that players want from their coaches. Below is a breakdown of what player’s value the most.
1. Develop the player
This one might seem obvious, but I think it sometimes falls lower on the priority list than it should. At the end of the day, players want to get better. It is your job as a coach to help guide this process. What that looks like exactly could change depending on the level, but getting players better will always be at the core of what we do.
Based on the survey above, this was on average the #1 thing they want from their coach. If you aren’t going to help them, they will find another coach or trainer that will.
2. Develop the person
Our job is to get players better, but I believe there is a deeper purpose to what we do as coaches. Not only do we want to develop them on the field, but we want our player to become better people. In order to do this, I believe we have to spend time getting to know the person and building a relationship. I know this sounds good on paper, but can sometimes be a challenge to truly build a relationship with 15+ players on your team.
What I would encourage is to find opportunities to connect with each player. Maybe it’s weekly, or maybe it’s monthly. The effort and intention to do this will go a long way. It can be as simple as having a conversation about something other than baseball. Talk about their hobbies, family, food they like, or anything else that comes to mind. Maybe you take 2-3 players at a time out to breakfast each week. It might start off basic, but can turn into a deeper relationship if you show a genuine interest in getting to know your players.
Back in 2015, I was coaching at a high school in Phoenix, Arizona. One night around 10:00, I got a phone call from a player that was scared, telling me one of our players was hit by a car on his bike. I immediately drove over to help in anyway I could. Thankfully, the player ended up being okay with minor injuries.
What I thought about as I was driving home was that I was the person he thought to call in that situation. That was when I really began to think about my job as coach being much more important than how many wins we had. You have an opportunity as a coach to impact countless players every year. It is a platform I believe should be taken seriously.
3. Be honest and clear
One of the things that frustrates players the most is when the expectations are unclear and when they don’t know where they stand on the team. I hear this from players in high school, all the way up to professional players.
We owe it to our players to make it as a clear as possible where they need to improve and what they need to do to take the next step as a player. Not every player will ask these questions, but the ones that do, deserve an honest answer that isn’t vague and doesn’t paint a clear picture. When we are honest with our players, it leaves the situation up to them on whether or not they want to put in the work to get better. Doing this will also force us to develop a process on how our players need to get better.
If Billy comes up to me and says, “Coach what do I need to do to pitch more?” I can say, “Billy, you don’t throw enough strikes right now and as a result you are walking too many batters or are getting hit because you are falling behind. What we are going to do in your bullpens are simulated AB’s where we are only tracking how many pitches you throw in the strike zone. We will also have you throw live to hitters in practice on Monday if you don’t pitch this weekend. This will give you an opportunity to see batters, keep your workload up, and also show that you are improving.”
Be clear why he/she isn’t playing and give him/her a plan to follow to improve.
In Conclusion
These are just three of many possible things players want. They are all going to be unique and will value things differently. I do think if we focus on these things, we will have a great starting point towards helping our players.
What are some other things that come to mind? What else should be added to the list? I would love to hear from you. Email me at info@gaynorstrength-pitching.com or message me on social media to talk more about this important subject.
Enjoy the Process,
Jared Gaynor
