So You Wanna Be a Great Softball Coach?

softball coaching tips

If you really truly want to be a great softball coach, here are 5 tips that can help you…

  1. Care – You won’t be a great softball coach if you don’t genuinely care for the players you work with.  You actually have to give a hoot about your players!
  2. Learn – Never stop learning.  Don’t be the coach that won’t listen to others because they feel insulted that someone is making suggestions on how they can do things better.  Look at information from clinicians, instructors, other coaches, etc as an opportunity to learn, not an insult to what you’re already doing.  Be willing to listen and take what you can to become a better coach.
  3. Fail – The faster you fail, the faster you learn.  You won’t know if you’re idea is a good one or bad one unless you actually try it wholeheartedly!  If you only sorta try something it’s unlikely you’ll get great results.  If you only think about it and keep wondering if something work or not, you’ll never know and you’ll always have distracting “what if” thoughts in your head.  There’s already enough second guessing going on around your decisions as a coach, don’t add to it.  If you believe in something, go for it.  Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll be smarter going forward.
  4. Be Present – Most coaches expect players to leave their non-softball drama off the field, but are you doing that?  Or do you bring work problems and daily life stress to practice with you?  Are you talking to your team but thinking about the idiot at work that made your job 10 times harder?  Are you thinking about all the stuff you still have to do when you get home while running your players through drills?  If so, you are not being “present.”  If you want your players to be focused on the field, you must be also.  They can’t tell when you’re not.  They may not know why or even realize what it is that they are feeling but they will sense something is not quite right!
  5. Serve – As a coach, you are a leader of your team.  I once heard that true leadership is serving.  True leaders put the best interests of those that follow them ahead of all else.  You cannot be a great coach if your main concern is you.
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Comments 1

  • Hey…I must be a “great” coach because I actually practice these five tips!  Especially the “fail” part!  Okay…I wouldn’t say “great”, but I am learning every day how to help the girls in the game of softball and life!  Thanks for the post.

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