Selecting a Good Assistant Coach - By: John Nowly

It is a good idea to have at least two assistants. This will give your team more flexibility in working with individual players and different aspects of the game. Ideally, one coach will work with the pitchers, and their development. This will also include trips to the mound to settle them down during a game. The second coach will work on the hitting and base running side of the game. This coach should also be one of the base coaches during the game. You can coach the other base, or have a player do it.

All coaches can work on the fielding aspects of the game. Having coaches assigned to specific tasks helps; they concentrate on learning small areas of the game instead of everything at once. This will be easier on them in their reading and viewing assignments.

If you form a nice team together, you may want to go up with the club from year to year. What that means is that as the players get older you move up to the next level with them. This can be extremely effective in helping everybody’s learning curve. As you move up, the new assistant coaches will gain more experience and eventually be able to move into other roles. Your role to the coaches as the manager of the team is to develop their baseball knowledge, place them in a position to succeed, and groom them to become head coaches. That is assuming they are still rookies. If they are experienced veterans, make sure to let them know that you are there to learn from them and their wisdom.

The question you are probably asking yourself now is where can I find assistant coaches. Well, some league directors will allow you to select your own coaches. If you have this opportunity, make sure at least one of the coaches you select has some baseball experience or some good knowledge of the game. Some coaches may decide to select their friends or former teammates.

We live in a world of busy schedules. Nowadays with two working parents and tight budgets, you might not have the luxury of finding someone who is able to commit to help you out. If this is the case, check with your park director. They will have many contacts to other coaches and parents.

As for parents, the park might even assign you a coach whose son or daughter plays for the team and he or she wanted to volunteer. You should have received this information in your league director meeting earlier. If the parent’s child plays on the team, you want to know this. Parents are very protective of their child and you want to be aware of the situation up front.

If you still have no such luck in finding a coach, you could try advertising in city or local community papers with a small ad with a phone number. If you are new to coaching, you probably want to advertise for someone with a little experience.

You may now find yourself asking what if the coaches I get do not have any experience. Lack of experience is fine and quite common at younger levels. Everyone has to start somewhere and most people start with coaching their children. Even if you did not play the game at higher levels, with today’s media outlets such as what you are watching now, coaches can still be extremely successful by reading and observing.

For reading, there are websites, baseball books and the following lessons will all be helpful in the new venture for you and your rookie assistant. The other extremely important way to learn is by observing. Ask yourself, Which baseball teams are extremely good in your area year after year? I am speaking about youth, high school, college and even the pros. Drive to the high school field or the local baseball park and catch one or two of their practices. Watch the drills they run.

If you have any ambition of moving to the next level, it is not a bad idea to introduce yourself and ask a few questions. If you are going to ask a question, ask pointed questions so you are not wasting their time. For example, I want to improve my second baseman’s double play pivot. Do you have any suggestions or drills I can use to accomplish this?

Emulation of top players and coaches will help you and your teams perform better. Once you begin your coaching career, you will be surprised at all the little nuances in the professional game you will notice by watching it on TV. Coaches need to make sure their egos do not get in the way of a child’s development.

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