ABCA Convention

I just recently had the privilege to attend the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Philadelphia. It was extremely well organized and was by all accounts an overwhelming success. From the clinicians to the exhibits to the banter outside the lecture rooms I would contend that any baseball coach anywhere would find the weekend experience beneficial. However, I need to write about some lasting impressions.

Here are my five lasting impressions:

1) Most men are balding.
2) I know why I thoroughly enjoyed competing against Mike Martin.
3) The baseball swing is not fully understood by anyone.
4) I know why my brother speaks so highly of John Anderson.
5) High School Baseball Coaches are being neglected.

1- It's amazing how hard it is to locate one bald friend in a Convention Center attended by only men. I think having hair as a 30+ man is the exception rather than the rule.

2- Mike Martin enjoys baseball. He enjoys competing against other baseball people. He enjoys all that the game offers and his approach was refreshing to me as a player at Wake Forest and it's even more refreshing as a coach watching him share. Mike Martin is "old school" in his approach but it appears he's "new school" in philosophies. I guess a sense of humor is good at transcending time.

3- Hitting a baseball is widely recognized as the single hardest thing to do in sports. To this recognition, we constantly have coaches standing up and presenting to wide eyed coaches the secrets to the swing. Invariably, though, a new clinician will emerge the following year and present new information and coaches will frantically copy down their theories to hitting. I think the average high school coach would do well to steer clear of advice and simply allow a players natural athleticism take over. I have heard many coaches offer advice that another coach will contradict. With respect to hitting, I believe it's safe to say "the more you know, the less sure you are."

Having said that, I wonder why I have never heard hitting coach address the idea of handedness. I have always contended that a righty thrower who hits from the right side will have different tendencies than a lefty thrower that hits from the right side.

Also, I am still waiting on the hitting instructor who begins with the "contact point" in mind. Every one always starts at the beginning. My humble opinion believes that if coaches don't comprehend how valuable that moment in time is where ball meets bat nothing else matters.

4- To me it seems like John Anderson gets it. He understands that motivating a player and a players emotions matter far more than a players ability. His topic that he spoke on wasn't the most highly attended session. It didn't address bunt defenses or 1st and 3rd offenses or hitting the breaking ball. But, it may have been the most important session of the weekend. His five tenets of truth will stick with me. Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Fairness, and Compassion. Without trust, who cares if you know how to teach the swing.

5- High School Coaches are not getting the message that they need to receive. I'd like to go into detail with this last impression.

Without knowing exactly what percentage of coaches in attendance are high school coaches it makes this argument slightly more specious. However, suffice it to say the percentage probably looms around the 70-80% mark. That means that at the least 7 out of every ten paying customers are high school coaches looking to improve their program. They come to this awesome confluence of knowledge hoping to implement what they learn. Their aspirations are noble and their desire to improve are exemplary. But, they don't receive what they need.

Let me begin by saying in order to improve as a coach, the ideas and information that you believe in must be conferred to your players. It is never enough to simply know something or believe in something. Rather, you must be able to implement something. There are thousands of teachers nationwide that fail not on what they know but rather on what they fail to communicate. It is the sole reason why coaches become "expert" coaches. They are recognized by their peers based upon the success that their players have. No one cares what a coach knows if he can't transfer that knowledge to his players. Therefore, the absolute most important thing that a high school coach must hear is HOW TO IMPLEMENT THIS KNOWLEDGE. This is distinctly different than the message of HERE IS HOW WE(THE COLLEGE COACH) DO IT.

High school cultures are so different than college cultures that attempting to do similar things can be tantamount to organizational chaos. I listened to most of the speakers and no one addressed the constraints that mitigate high school programs. In fact, high school coaches themselves don't even recognize this disconnect. They phrase their questions in the form of "How do you.." rather than "How can I..."

I'd like to list the cultural differences here and how they affect high school programs.

1) TIME AND WEATHER.

College coaches simply have more TIME at their disposal than high school coaches. Many of the video clips that were shown to a high school coach were documented in a college's fall practice. High school coaches don't have a fall practice to implement their system. High School coaches have a spring practice. Furthermore, the beginning of spring practices are very cold. Any time used to implement something new is very difficult in cold weather. The players(and coaches for that matter) would much rather do something fast paced than be instructed on something new.

So, what's the secret to implementing something new at the high school level? You have to make the time. How? I believe the answer can be two fold. The first option is have winter workouts. You can certainly implement most of what you want to do inside. But, what if your whole team isn't there? I believe the answer lies in technology. Our players today all have access to computers and other tech devices. They are learning at a rate never before seen. They just aren't learning baseball. High school coaches need to create DVD's demonstrating their new techniques to their kids. These DVD's can be viewed at a player's leisure or in a teacher's classroom if the coach happens to be in the building. It's a huge time saver. Quite honestly, it's the best way to expect information to be disseminated. It's a major time commitment to prepare the first DVD but it certainly saves time in the long run.

2) COACHES.

College coaches have great baseball resumes. The head coach is obviously an accomplished baseball guy. The assistants undoubtedly played college baseball. And, if they are fortunate enough there is a graduate assistant available.

High schools are much more limited. A head baseball coach must first and foremost be willing to teach his assistants what he wants implemented. It's naive to think one man can teach everything to everybody. In order to implement something new, all coaches need to be on the same page. This means that numerous meetings must be scheduled before the season and all details ironed out.

3) 4 YEARS VS. 2 YEARS

College baseball programs revolve around a 4 year cycle. HIgh school baseball programs sometimes have a 2 year mentality. This means that some programs run their Varsity and JV programs autonomously. This would have to change. In order to utilize the teaching resources of your upperclassmen you must have freshmen exposed to the seniors. If this isn't done in a high school program, I find it inexcusable.

But, if this is done, you need to be a master at organizing practices. High school programs can have upwards of over 45 players. This requires tremendous organizational and management skills. Team managers are essential at helping with practice organization.

4) ONE SPORT VS. MULTI-SPORT

College teams have one sport players(for the most part). Certainly, that could exist for the high school team as well. But, it is certainly more reasonable to expect that a high school player is a multi-sport athlete. How does this affect what you teach? If you are choosing to educate your players before the season on a concept that requires much understanding, you must find time to talk to these players. Whether it be face to face or in the form of a DVD, you must present the new material to your players before the spring season is under way.

If you are interested in preparing a pre-season training program you need to have the ability to be flexible with this athlete. In fact, playing another sport is a great way to create a high stress environment for your baseball players. More than anything you probably need to relax and allow that player to finish his sport. This does, however, have an impact on your teaching practices that colleges don't really have to deal with.

5) PARENTS

College coaches don't have parent issues for the most part. There are the obvious groans but nothing as insidious as high school parents can be. Many times, parents alone can be the reason that an idea isn't embraced by the player. Dismissing parents as unimportant is ignoring the big white elephant in the room. Parents need to be included. They need to be kept abreast of changes in the program and of any issues that could impact their kids. I have found that a newsletter is an excellent way to communicate with parents. I have also found that amazingly parents volunteer their time and resources when they feel like they are involved.

6) SKILL LEVEL

High school baseball players simply can't do what their college contemporaries can. I watched coaches speak about how to defend 1st and 3rd defenses and I couldn't help but thinking "we'll defeat most every high school team that would do this" because high school athletes don't have the arm strength. Many of the plays demanded of a college team should flat out be dismissed in the high school realm. High school coaches need to hear what TV viewers sometimes hear "actors are trained professionals. Please do not try this at home."

The ABCA convention is a tremendous event that is designed with the baseball coach in mind. It attempts to address how to best impact coaches nationwide.

From my viewpoint, there needs to be a high school coaches session where someone discusses our culture and how it is different than the college culture. To that end, the high school coach must understand what might need to change first in order to adapt some more esoteric college perspectives.

Whew!