If you’ve been on a ball field long enough, you’ve heard virtually every single coach blurt out pearls of wisdom to their young ballplayers. Many of these sayings are regularly spoken (or shouted) at every level of baseball, from tee ball to the MLB. But if you listen to what the coach is actually saying, you realize that they aren’t very helpful at all.

So many coaches just repeat things they heard themselves without really thinking about WHAT they’re saying. Nearly every coach that I’ve met (as well as instructors and trainers) are well meaning individuals, interesting in improving their kids. But if those ballplayers listened to the exact word that their coaches are saying and responded to them, it would be illuminating. And entertaining.

So in that scenario, I bring you Coach Clem and Bobby Ballplayer.

Coach: “Whadda ya say, Bobby?”
Bobby: “Well, I wanted to discuss the unrest in the Middle East, but because that’s a long discussion, perhaps we should wait until after my at-bat…”

Coach: “Show ‘em where you live, kid.”
Bobby: “But I live like a half mile directly behind home plate. Well, OK. Everyone, follow me…”

Coach: “Just throw strikes.”
Bobby: “Do you think that I’m trying to throw balls, walk people, be taken out of the game and embarrass myself?”

Coach: “Just swing at strikes.”
Bobby: “Well, to be technical, if I swing at a pitch, whether I touch it or not, isn’t it a strike? Yeah, I thought so…”

Coach: “BACK!!!”
Bobby: “Coach, by the time you see the pitcher start his pickoff move to first, and you shout ‘Back!!!’ to me, and I hear it, and I start to react, I’m pretty sure it’s too late by then. But if it makes you feel like you’re doing something positive, then knock yourself out…”

Coach: “You kids didn’t come ready to play!”
Bobby: “Oh, did I forget my pants at home? My bat? My glove? No… OK, I stunk today, but I was ready to play when I got here.”

Coach: “You gotta make that play!”
Bobby: “Umm, obviously I don’t. I really would have liked to, but I didn’t get it done. So sue me.”

Coach: “Bear down!”
Bobby: “Quick! Give me your cell phone! I gotta call Animal Rescue…”

Coach: “C’mon! Everyone in the ballpark knew THAT was coming!”
Bobby: “Except me. Thanks, Coach. You really know how to make a 12-year old feel awful.”

Coach: “Go down swinging!”
Bobby: “Wouldn’t you prefer I get on base so we might score a run?”

Coach: “Just make contact!”
Bobby: “Cool. The other team wants weakly hit balls, too.”

Coach: “Swing down and hard!”
Bobby: “Yep. The pitcher wants lots of ground ball outs. Let’s help him out…”

And you parents, you aren’t immune to using these pearls either.

So think before you speak. Learn from those that have experience and success. And communicate with clarity.

Years ago, all youth sports clearly developed in two main directions. One is the traditional recreational leagues and teams, designed for provide simple instruction and a place where everyone who wants can find a spot. But many traditional leagues and organizations are finding growth and even maintaining their numbers difficult with the allure and explosion of elite youth teams.

Just a decade ago, the landscape of elite youth baseball was very different than it is today. In the summer in every area of the country there were perhaps a handful of elite teams. Depending where you live, these might be called premiere, prospect, travel, elite, select, all-star, tournament, or showcase teams. If a ballplayer earned a spot on those teams, especially in their high school years, it was an accomplishment.

For many reasons, the market has changed. More young players wanted to have the experience of playing baseball through the summer. If you love baseball, then why not spend more days enjoying it? Many, many teams and organizations sprouted up to fill this demand. This is a double-edged sword. Now more ballplayers can enjoy playing more ballgames over a longer season than their local league provided. However, obviously with so many teams for each family to choose from for their ballplayer, the level of talent has generally become diluted for every team, organization, and league in the country.

As an example, from 2005 through 2008, a team called the Houston Banditos Black (their 10U team which eventually aged into 13U) won an incredible 155 games in a row. This was not accomplished by intentionally playing inferior competition. This was a carefully selected, frequently-practiced and well-coached team that won every local, state, regional, and national tournament they played for nearly three years. This record is considered to be the longest winning streak of any sports team at any level, and brought much attention to their organization. This brought inquiries from the families of youth players of every age, so they began a 15U-18U showcase program in 2008. This growth has continued to accommodate the demand of parents to have their son be a Bandito. As of September of 2013, there are 24 Banditos teams headquartered in Houston and Austin, Texas.

On Long Island in 2005, there were approximately 30 12U travel teams, and less than half of those traveled out of state, according to Lou Maietta, long time youth and school coach and owner/operator of the Long Island Baseball Academy. Now there are over 200 teams playing at that age.

“So now, of course, the players are spread out,” said Maietta, who is passionate on the subject. “So good players are playing against inferior competition. Those ground balls through the infield that count as base hits would have been fielded by better players. So all stats and team records are misleading. And as far as developing players, there are now 200 coaches of all levels (of knowledge) coaching just this age level.”

“I probably saw a difference around 2003 or 2004,” explained Craig Everett, Head Baseball Coach at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York. “I saw more people wanting to be in showcases and showcase tournaments than players or teams actually trying to win.

“When I first started coaching summer baseball, it was team oriented. Now it seems to be all about the individual,” continued Everett. “If a player or their family have a different opinion of what the organization or team philosophy is, I‘ve seen many dads start their own teams. Also, I’ve seen coaches post an innings chart at the beginning of the weekend, making sure that kids have equal playing time. But I believe that its hard to compete that way.”

Everett’s experience is typical for a college coach. Like many of his peers, he feels that the talent is spread so thin, it’s almost impossible to see all of the kids he might want to see.

“I feel like its so diluted now,” stated Rob Savarese, pitching coach at Briarcliffe College in Bethpage, New York. “The overall quality of baseball is down, especially in respect to the players knowledge of the game. I mean knowing the situations of the game. The mechanics have gotten better, but the knowledge is not nearly as good as it used to be.”

Bruce Lambin brought travel/select baseball to Texas. In 1984, his team of twelve-year olds won the first Continental Amateur Baseball Association World Series, first national tournament for independent teams.

“Since then, travel baseball became a big money maker,” explained Lambin. “The number of teams exploded and they diluted the quality of the players on the teams. I started the Lone Star Baseball Club, the first high school-aged travel team in Houston over two decades ago. Back then, all my players went on to play college or pro or both. But a few years ago, because there were so many teams (for these players to choose from) I felt that the talent on any team was diluted. There were maybe three potential D3 players on our team. I walked away.”

Lambin stressed that learning the game and practicing and playing the game will determine a player’s ultimate level of success, rather than the team whose uniform he wears.

“There are no shortage of organizations/teams who will take your money with the delusion that the fact that because you are a Bandito or a Tornado that you are good and will get to play at the next level,” said Lambin. “They just want your money.”

To help each ballplayer (and coach) have the most fun and success they can, teams and leagues should give their coaches many types of support. I can help with training and tools on all aspects of training. Call me for live, in-person coaches clinics which we can arrange for free (Check out this page for details). Or check out our training videos to help make your next season the best one yet.

Last week I wrote about taking responsibility for things you see as a coach. Besides teaching your ballplayers about working together as a group, ballplayers need to learn that the skills you need to succeed in baseball are largely individual. A good coach should want not only what is good for his team today, but what will be best for his players in the long run.

Coach Bruce and I discussed this at length last week. Not saying anything to a player developing a bad habit is a bad choice for a coach. But a far larger problem in youth baseball is over-coaching.

Over-coaching can take many forms. The most common is a coach who just won’t shut up when he’s in the dugout or in the coaches box on the baselines. Hitting and pitching are not easy tasks in which to become consistent. Pretty much all athletic success comes in situations where your mind is clear and you just focus only on your task. In the great baseball movie “For Love of the Game,” Kevin Costner plays an experienced Detroit Tigers pitcher who know how to “clear the mechanism.” Here’s a short clip from that movie…
But most youth ballplayers (and young people in general) just can’t shut out the world like Billy Chapel so they can better achieve their task. Yelling a constant stream of commands, no matter how well meaning or accurate they may be will not help little David hit more consistently or little Matt throw more strikes. It’s perfectly alright to cheer, especially short phrases like, “Good job, kid,” or “That’s the way!” Anything more than that will take away from the ballplayer’s success by taking away his focus.

Even on a practice field, coaches spew too much information. To a young player after five seconds this sounds sort of like “blah, blah, blah.” Word your instructions in the simplest, shortest phrases possible. Give frequent praise.

Now is a great time to refresh your coaching skills. We hope you’re giving helpful, positive, and proper instruction. I’d like to help you with that. First you can order a library of easy-to-follow teaching videos like the Tips From The Coach series. You’ll learn what you need to lead a group of players through a season. You’ll improve their understanding of the game, their rate of success, and you’ll have a more pleasurable time yourself. As my friend Brent Strom says, learning never takes a holiday. See a preview and get Tips From The Coach videos here…
Use the promo code TURKEY2013 and get the entire set for just $40. (our lowest price ever). But that’s just until Saturday 11/8/2013.

Also, I can help out your league in person by putting on a Coaches Clinic this fall, winter, or spring. It will be the most enlightening and entertaining learning experience you can provide your coaches to help your ballplayers and league. This can even cost your league nothing out of pocket. Check out this page for details.