Coaching from the last point of success

Coaching from the last point of success

                Every athlete brings unique tools to the table. But they can all improve in a myriad of ways. All of them. One way to ensure that you’re encouraging improvement for each athlete is to attempt to help each athlete to grow from their most recent success.

                Before we get there, let’s make sure you’re recognizing success properly. I’m not talking about a successful result. Anyone can recognize that the ball going in the basket is good. If you can’t tell that when Jane crosses the finish line first, she successfully won the race, maybe you shouldn’t be the track coach.

                We’re talking about process here.

                We’re talking about an imaginiary boy named Connor. We’ve all seen Connor. He’s the 9-year-old kid in right field who gets a ball hit to him and has no idea what to do. He’s scared. He’s nervous, and the screaming and shouting of the parents who probably couldn’t make the play themselves doesn’t help him.

                Let’s face facts. If Connor is routinely playing right field at 9-years-old he’s in one of 3 situations.

A.      He’s not destined for Major League stardom

B.      His team is very good and he’s fulfilling a subordinate roll

C.      His coach does a pretty good job of rating players around so they all get to play multiple positions

Regardless of which category little Connor fits in, we as coaches and parents need to recognize where Connor is in his development as a ballplayer to help Connor improve. In this case, the big questions here are:

1.       Why doesn’t Connor know what to do?

2.        How can we help him?

If we operate on these two simple questions, we are likely coaching from the last point of success.

Have you seen Connor do what’s asked of him as a right fielder before? Remember, we are talking about mentally. As much as we’d like to, we have very little influence of who is and in not physically capable or making plays, especially with young children.

                If you have not seen Connor field the ball and throw in to second base, or to the assigned cut-off man (depending on your team’s structure), you can’t expect more than this from Connor. If this is where Connor is at developmentally, maybe his last point of success was remembering which was right field and which was left field. His next point of success is to remember to whom he should throw the ball if the ball should come to him.

                Let’s say little Connor has hit the cut-off man on throws to second base several times already this season. It’s perfectly acceptable to expect that of Connor moving forward regardless of your perception of Connor’s ability. He’s shown proficiency in that area. He’s achieved that level of success. Connor should be rewarded for that success, he should know that the coaches know he can do it and do it well, and he should be aware of what comes next in his development to improve as a right fielder. Here’s an example of verbage that can help Connor after that success when Connor comes back to the dugout.

                “Hey Connor, nice job getting that ball right in to the cut-off man. I trust you to do that every time. This week at practice, we’re going to work on getting your body in position to field that ball with two hands.”

                Connor has been rewarded for doing a part of his job well, he’s been told that this is something he is trusted and expected to do routinely, and he’s been made aware of how he can improve.

                 But what if Connor forgets to throw to the cut-off man even after doing this successfully several times. It happens. Kid’s forget. Or maybe they try to progress too fast and think they can or should make a throw that differs from what they’ve done in the past.

                Connor, and the rest of the team, needs to be reminded or expectations. “Outfielders: Remember that we want you throwing strikes to the cut-off man.”

                When Connor comes back to the dugout, ask what happened. Shouting that question during the inning doesn’t help anyone. Maybe Connor just forgot. It happens. He’s 9. Maybe he saw something you didn’t. Remind him of the expectations, express your confidence in Connor to do that consistently, and move on. It’s over.

                Now, remember what you said to Connor after he made the right throw? You told him you’d work on body positioning so he could field the ball with two hands at next week’s practice.

Connor now has expectations of you. He expects to be coached. He needs your help. Chances are, Connor isn’t the only player on the team that can stand to improve on that skill. If you told Connor you’d work on it in practice, make time for it in practice.

                During that drill, you’ll notice that some of the players show proficiency and some do not. Those who show that they can do this routinely need a new challenge. Those who do not should keep working on it throughout the season until they show that it’s routine. Sounds simple, right? It is. That’s just one example of one skill at one position in one sport.

                We can’t expect Connor and Joey and Lisa to all be capable of the same things. But we can expect them to do what they’ve proven to do repeatedly and routinely. And, with our help, they can improve from their last point of success.