Coaching is hard. As a coach, we are teachers, stand-in parents, and guidance counselors. As players, the goal is to give effort, have a good attitude, and be coachable. That term gets thrown around a lot. Most players come across as very coachable while others are the “tough ones to work with”. In that case, what does it look like to be coachable?
Attentive
When a coach is speaking, they listen. When a teammate is speaking, they listen. Coachable players can hear you give instructions on a drill once and go complete the task. Non-coachable players are the guys that look right through you while you are talking and the minute you start the drill, they are a deer in the headlights. Baseball can be a very slow game at times. It is ok to check out in between pitches. I believe it is even ok to laugh and joke while you are in line waiting for your turn at the drill. However, the minute the coach begins to instruct, those mouths are closed, and the eyes are forward. When a coach is giving instruction to one player, they are right there soaking up the information so they can get that instruction as well.
Understanding
In order to improve, coaches need to give constructive criticism. This goes one of two ways: either the player accepts the criticism and learns from it, or the player feels attacked and doesn’t. Criticism is not personal. One more time for the people in the back: CRITICISM IS NOT PERSONAL. Coachable players get this. The minute a coach stops giving you constructive criticism there is a problem. They feel it is not worth their time or effort. Players need to understand when a coach is hard on you it is not because they like getting on guys or enjoy the power trip… it is because they care. If player can see this, move past feeling attacked, and get to the meat and potatoes of the information, the coaching becomes much easier.
Willing
“I have done it this way all my life” has come up hundreds of times in conversations about swing adjustments. Well yea, buddy, but did you come here to be the same player you have always been or to get better? I am not saying every swing adjustment a coach recommends will work. Sometimes it really is the complete opposite of what works for you, and that’s OK. Try it, have the conversation afterward, and move on. When I say try it, I mean really try it. I want to pull my hair out when a player hops out there and gives the half effort on a small tweak to the swing just so they can fail and get back to what they are doing. It is extremely obvious and will not make you better in the long run as a player.
What does it look like to be coachable? As stated above, coachable athletes are attentive, understanding, and willing to adjust. When they combine that with a good attitude and effort, watch out! And as a reminder to all the coaches out there, all of this takes time and every athlete needs the same amount of attention. If we give up on them, they give up on us. At the end of the day, coaching is hard.
