Okay, this is a new year. I didn't write anything during or after the 2014 baseball season. Suffice it to say that I think I did a bad job of coaching. It wasn't so much the preparation, which was pretty good, or the pitch calling or even the decisions about personnel on the mound, etc. My poor coaching was the result of my impatience and the way I handled adversity.
As coaches, we often talk to players about handling negative situations and adversity on the field, and it is our job to be an example of doing that the right way. Last season, I was all over our guys for little things, for their negative thinking and bad body language, and for many other things. I therefore, was a bad example of handling adversity in the way we would like the players to handle it.
Did my attitude and impatience have an effect on our record and on-field performance? Sure it did.
Since last May, I have thought extensively about how I need to be a better coach and mentor for our players and for the rest of the coaching staff. That is ten months of self-evaluation and creating a new vision for myself. It would be impossible for me to expect our players to respond positively to me if my dugout demeanor isn't 100% better than it was in 2014.
Therefore, we open the 2015 season next Saturday, again in Louisville. My role during games remains as it was last year, but my vision of myself is a much calmer, gentler (but competitive), compassionate coach is a whole new thing. I guarantee it will make for a much more successful and enjoyable season for me, the players, and the other coaches!!
As coaches, we often talk to players about handling negative situations and adversity on the field, and it is our job to be an example of doing that the right way. Last season, I was all over our guys for little things, for their negative thinking and bad body language, and for many other things. I therefore, was a bad example of handling adversity in the way we would like the players to handle it.
Did my attitude and impatience have an effect on our record and on-field performance? Sure it did.
Since last May, I have thought extensively about how I need to be a better coach and mentor for our players and for the rest of the coaching staff. That is ten months of self-evaluation and creating a new vision for myself. It would be impossible for me to expect our players to respond positively to me if my dugout demeanor isn't 100% better than it was in 2014.
Therefore, we open the 2015 season next Saturday, again in Louisville. My role during games remains as it was last year, but my vision of myself is a much calmer, gentler (but competitive), compassionate coach is a whole new thing. I guarantee it will make for a much more successful and enjoyable season for me, the players, and the other coaches!!
