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Life Lessons Life Lesson #64: Balancing Act - Winning + Development The Delicate Balance between playing to win and developing young players Quite possibly the most difficult balance in offering a competitive travelball program is the delicate combination of developing talent while winning baseball games. Parents and athletes are human; they want to win. But what should a coach do when winning requires playing the game against traditional baseball fundamentals? After watching a team score 9 runs on 2 hits and 22 stolen bases, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture as to why everyone is at the field. Below, I’ve highlighted several situations common to young competitive baseball games along the topic of winning vs. developing. Stealing Bases Especially for ages younger than 12 or 13, the game can easily become a track meet. Throwing a stealing runner out is possible, but not common. Most runners can steal successfully 9 out of 10 chances, which can make the youth baseball game drastically different from the HS, College or Pro version. That being said, our coaching staff has had long discussions about when to teach a sacrifice bunt and teach the kids to play the game correctly. If our true goal is to prepare athletes for high school and beyond, there is great value in holding the runner at first and giving the ‘sacrifice bunt’ sign. Challenge the athletes to execute fundamental baseball and provide a learning opportunity. However, the true reality is that this costs the team an out – when a stolen base (a virtual guarantee) does not. Pitching Rotations and Pitch Calling Recently our 12-year old team was beaten by a strong opposing pitcher. This young man was a stud! He threw hard and had a devastating breaking ball. With a pitch count of at least 100, it was estimated that this athlete threw 60-70 curveballs. He shut our boys down and earned a victory for his team. Is this the correct move? By now, we’ve covered this topic time and again. Especially in an off-season program (October), the off-season is the time to limit pitch counts and stress on the arm. We’ve committed to keeping pitch counts down, which forces us to use more pitchers that might be absolutely necessary. At this age (12), our pitchers will also be restricted on their use of curveballs as well. In some cases, this will actually hurt the team’s chances of winning. However, our coaching staff has agreed that it is the best move for our athletes. Holding Runners Here’s a unique example, somewhat related to stealing bases. An opposing team’s baserunner reaches third base after stealing both second and third. Now dancing, juking and distracting our pitcher, the third baseman moves over to the bag with the idea of holding the runner closer. Team Lifeletics coaches are put in a tough spot, as holding a runner at third is something that will NEVER be done in higher levels of baseball. In the end, they hold true to the game of baseball, move the third baseman slightly closer to the bag, and instruct him not to hold the runner. In the end, the antics at third base pay off and the baserunner scores easily on a wild pitch. This result likely was inevitable, but the teaching opportunity for both pitcher and third-baseman trump take priority in this case. Struggling Pitcher We’ve all sat through this one: young athlete on the mound, struggling to keep things together and throw strikes. At a coach’s discretion, there are times when the pitcher’s development is hugely rewarded by staying in the game and battling out of a long inning. Often times, coaches come with a quick hook and rightfully so. However, there are other times where the correct move is to let the athlete work through his struggles and learn a lesson on perseverance and handling adversity. It’s very difficult to quantify exactly when to remove a pitcher and when to leave him in. At Lifeletics, we rely on hiring solid coaches and trust them to make the right decision at the right time. At some point, we’ve simply got to let the coaches coach and stand by their decisions. But it’s important to realize that while a pitcher may be struggling to find the plate and your frustration screams to yank him, this young athlete may be better off having worked through the situation and learned from the experience. Positions Played Probably the most challenging balance is choosing defensive positions. There are those parents that desire to win at all costs, and those parents that could care less. “Teach my kid to play the infield,” they request, regardless of that athlete’s current ability to play the position. However, THAT is often the reason for competitive baseball and receiving advanced coaching. Developing athletes at new positions takes time and growing pains, which can be difficult to understand for more aggressive parents. As a staff, we’ve decided on the following guidelines:
Play hard and have fun! |
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