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Happy Monday, today I’m on a rant about what separates great from lazy coaches. There’s really good money to be made now in softball so the profession is attracting some coaches for reasons that aren’t always about helping their players. We’ll also look at how competitive your pitcher’s misses should be. I hope you enjoy.

Let’s Go!

Great or Lazy - Which Type Are You?

Let’s start off with a rather controversial statement:

Great coaches are great problem solvers. Lazy coaches blame players for having problems.

Another way to think of this is, “nobody thinks they’re a lazy coach - but what would your players say?”

Recently I was talking to a pitcher who is frustrated by her current coach whose always criticizing her players and blaming them for all her problems. This pitcher told me she hates softball now and doesn’t want to play it anymore.

This struck me as so very sad, and so backwards. Coaches should help players love their skill and love the game, not hate it.

This conversation led to a post I made last week that resonated with tons of people.

It’s easy to complain about your players and expect them to put in all the work and do all the hard things. But that’s what lazy coaches do…they expect their players to be good so they’ll be seen as good coaches.

Great coaches know they need to put in the work. They’re the ones attending clinics, watching eCourses, studying film, talking to peers and learning anything they can to better help their players. Great coaches make coaching look easy while underneath the surface, they’re working incredibly hard.

Coaching is an obligation contract. When you agree to coach you’re agreeing to put in all the work you can to be as good for your athletes as possible to help them as much as you can. You aren’t signing up to be seen on ESPN, or have cool gear, or hang out with the famous players or get a huge salary.

Your entire job is to do everything possible to help your players and your coaching staff. If there’s something your head coach needs you to do you should anticipate it ahead of time and already have it done. If there’s something one of your pitchers can’t do, you need to call someone, study some past clinic notes or just find another way to help this player solve the issue.

With softball becoming such a high profile sport so many coaches want into the college game. But, they don’t have a clue the amount of work it takes to do the job, let alone do it well.

Our game doesn’t need more coaches. It needs more good coaches. It needs more coaches that will outwork their players, that will learn everything they possibly can, do anything their head coach asks, and find solutions to every problem.

Great coaches are great problem solvers. Lazy coaches blame players for having problems.

I know this list might seem extreme, almost insulting, but do yourself a favor and read it without being defensive:Do yourself - and your players - a favor and give yourself an honest self-check. Work toward great…you and your players deserve it!!

How Competitive Are Your Pitcher’s Misses

A very simple and yet powerful after-bullpen report is the Location chart. You can do it using technology, or a simple pen and paper.

It’s easiest and most accurate when you use a 9-ball net since catchers are trained to turn all balls into the strikes.

The outside box with the dotted line are considered “competitive pitches”. MLB average for competitive pitches is 85%.

Often times the biggest difference between an amateur and a pro are their misses. If we can eliminate bad misses, we’ll give ourselves a great opportunity to get a chase even when we miss the zone.

For perspective, non-competitive pitches are only a strike 9% of the time in MLB.

NOTE: I do need to add a note to the information above…for a pitch to land within the dotted line area outside of the zone and still induce a chase, it must have started within the zone, or appear to the hitter to be heading into the zone. This is where so many softball pitchers fail - their pitches just go directly from their hand into the dotted zone making it a completely non-competitive pitch from the minute it leaves her hand.

Thanks for reading this week’s Curveball Chronicles. I hope it helped give you some insight to help your pitchers, and to give yourself some grace.

Make your week Great!

Missed some previous issues? Don’t worry, I’ve got them all for you on my website: https://pitchingcoachcentral.com/curveball-newsletter/