Coaching is so much different than playing in many ways. Of course there are the obvious reasons like not being able to actually participate in playing the game or being able to employ physical skills in order to help your team. The biggest differences are things you would not really notice as an outsider. As a player you are used to just focusing on yourself and what you need to do. As a coach you need to have a broad perspective and constantly be checking on everyone. Before each pitch when I am playing defense I will run through what I need to do with the ball in certain situations. You will occasionally say the outs out loud but most of your thinking is internal. While coaching you have to voice all of these thoughts. Not only do you have to say them, but you need to explain them in a way that will get the players to understand and do what you want. The biggest challenge is getting them to understand what you are saying. I may say to widen out their lead. In return I get a puzzled look. In their head the fastest route from second to third is a straight line, why would you widen out? Bowing out at second base allows a runner to cut the turn at third base and score faster. After telling them they say that it makes sense, but they never would have thought to do that themselves. The problem is many of the girls have not been taught so many of the minor details from a young age. Even without being physically better than someone, being mentally more advanced allows you to take advantage of situations and have greater success. Little things that seem like second nature to me, other players would never think about. Seeing this gap of instruction encourages me to want to help them as much as possible in the time that I have to coach them. I have found that there is so much information and different things that I want to tell each player but there simply is not enough time to share all of it.
Coaching a softball game is like being able to control organized chaos. As I said before when you play you only have to worry about your job. Now as a coach, everyone is looking to you for what to do. Being the third base coach really opened my eyes to this. First you are helping to instruct the batter on what their plan of attack should be in the box. Next you change focus to any runners that are on base. You tell them to check the gaps and the fielders around them to know what balls are going to drop in order to score if the ball is put in play. While all of this is going on you are trying to read the other coach, steal signs, and pick up what the pitcher may be planning to do next. When I am playing the game seems to move very slow. I am able to pick up on many different things that most people would not because I have played so much. Coaching, the game feels like it is moving 100 mph. I am not used to having to do so many things for so many other people while still trying to pick up on the little things like pitching tendencies. The more that I coach the easier it becomes. but sometimes it still feels like the game is moving way too fast.
After coaching myself I am able to reflect on all of the amazing coaches that I have had. They have a very tough job to control all of the chaos and do it without any problems. These men also have been some of the most influential people in my life. How they coached me as a player and treated me as person shaped who I am. Not only have they taught me so much about softball, but also about life. I owe so much of what I am to how good of coaches they were. I only hope that I can impact someone else's life by coaching like they impacted mine.
Overall I think that coaching is a blast. If I can't actually be playing I would definitely want to be coaching rather than just sitting on the side and watching. The thing that I love most about coaching is seeing things click for a player. They may have been struggling on hitting an outside pitch. You help them make some adjustments and soon they are crushing that pitch. Their big smile and the reward of seeing them succeed and have fun is better than any thank you they could ever give you. Coaching allows me to share what I know about the game and hopefully help other players get better. After my playing days are complete I definitely want to be a coach and continue to share my knowledge of the game I love.
Coaching a softball game is like being able to control organized chaos. As I said before when you play you only have to worry about your job. Now as a coach, everyone is looking to you for what to do. Being the third base coach really opened my eyes to this. First you are helping to instruct the batter on what their plan of attack should be in the box. Next you change focus to any runners that are on base. You tell them to check the gaps and the fielders around them to know what balls are going to drop in order to score if the ball is put in play. While all of this is going on you are trying to read the other coach, steal signs, and pick up what the pitcher may be planning to do next. When I am playing the game seems to move very slow. I am able to pick up on many different things that most people would not because I have played so much. Coaching, the game feels like it is moving 100 mph. I am not used to having to do so many things for so many other people while still trying to pick up on the little things like pitching tendencies. The more that I coach the easier it becomes. but sometimes it still feels like the game is moving way too fast.
After coaching myself I am able to reflect on all of the amazing coaches that I have had. They have a very tough job to control all of the chaos and do it without any problems. These men also have been some of the most influential people in my life. How they coached me as a player and treated me as person shaped who I am. Not only have they taught me so much about softball, but also about life. I owe so much of what I am to how good of coaches they were. I only hope that I can impact someone else's life by coaching like they impacted mine.
Overall I think that coaching is a blast. If I can't actually be playing I would definitely want to be coaching rather than just sitting on the side and watching. The thing that I love most about coaching is seeing things click for a player. They may have been struggling on hitting an outside pitch. You help them make some adjustments and soon they are crushing that pitch. Their big smile and the reward of seeing them succeed and have fun is better than any thank you they could ever give you. Coaching allows me to share what I know about the game and hopefully help other players get better. After my playing days are complete I definitely want to be a coach and continue to share my knowledge of the game I love.
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