How Do You Talk To A College Coach?

[mudvnine]

For the last couple of months, my son has been with his college team three nights a week for practice and then plays on a travel ball team to keep getting game AB's. Since I've been coaching my youngest boy's TB team, I haven't been able to see my older boy's games and when talking with him, he told me he was struggling a bit at the plate.

So yesterday we went out back to the cage and I was shocked at what I saw; my very consistent hitter was not like his previous self. His stance and stride had shortened, his pre-load stretch was non-existent and his swing was very "arm-y".

After a dozen swings or so we stopped and talked about what was different; he usually knows if and where he is breaking down but now seemed clueless. Finally I pulled out some old video of him and pointed out where he had changed and was horrified at what he told me.

He said that his college coaches didn't like that he was pulling everything (he is a left-handed hitting catcher with good power) and they had taken away his beautiful "stretch/separation", where he led with his hips and now have him moving everything concurrently . . . and to stay balanced, he has shortened his stride and his swing looks weak.

They interpreted his "early" stride (Jaramillo/Hudgens philosophy that worked well for him) and stretch as "leaking" and now have given him a momentum-less swing that has killed his power, but at least now he's "spraying" the ball to all fields, or maybe in other words topping everything.

So my question is this, I do know the assistant/hitting coach of his school somewhat and I'm wondering if I should say something to him, or if I should just get my son back to his previous successful hitting form that they recruited him for, or should I just stay out of it, let the coaches handle it and just pray for the best and that he makes the team again this year over some incoming guy they haven't screwed up yet??

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Sorry guys this is new territory for me, ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Mark H]

Been there done that. Talking to the coach might resolve the problem or it might create an unpleasant situation for your son. Other options are nod his head, say ok and continue to hit his way or just do it the coach's way. Tough situation. Why coaches want to mess with successful older hitters is beyond me. My rule in college is don't mess with your six or seven best hitters till you get someone to pass them.

[korp]

You could go back to the way he was successful and just have him say hes "trying to change it". Usually college coaches don't consider the younger hitters as power hitters unless they hit just bombs because lots of times they aren't even close to a 21/22 year old's level so that could be a reason for them having him hit everywhere. They also might not see him turning into a power hitter and could be more successful by moving the ball around. Colleges don't always recruit players for what they have done or where they are at but where they can possibly go or be at in 4 years ... sometimes true with pro teams as well. Another possible thing that could be happening is your son is so frustrated with the changes its messing with his head which can happen. Usually coaches don't notice a whole lot if you are successful what the problems are but the minute you start to fail they have the reasons why because its not their way (not always but sometimes). I've found that as you get older and are in the program for longer they aren't as strict .... its the younger ones or people new to the program they preach to. I don't know if I would talk to the coach because usually at that level they don't listen to parents anyways and don't really want the advice. Not all are like that but its a different game compared to high school and travel ball.

[cosmo34]

Been there done that. Talking to the coach might resolve the problem or it might create an unpleasant situation for your son. Other options are nod his head, say ok and continue to hit his way or just do it the coach's way. Tough situation. Why coaches want to mess with successful older hitters is beyond me. My rule in college is don't mess with your six or seven best hitters till you get someone to pass them.

Been there done that as well.

Eventually I just learned how to block everything that was said and trusted myself (and the pitching coach, of all people) and everything went back to normal (well close anyways). My thought was "You recruited me to hit, I got here by doing it my way, I'm going to do it my way".

Like Mark said, coaches might not take a player/dad talking to them about this topic. Many have ego's and a "I'm the coach, you're the player, I'm always right" mentality and there could be more harm than good caused by talking to him.

I would suggest nodding, smiling, saying thanks, and then going out and doing what got you there. If the performance is there, only a moron would get upset at a kid for producing without his hitting philosophy.

[TG Coach]

YOU don't talk to college coaches. Your son is now a young man. HE talks with his coach. However, I will tell you from experience college ball is several levels above high school/Legion/travel ball. The coach understands what will work and not work against collegiate pitching. I pulled everything though high school. I was a power hitter. When I got to college ball (D1) I was told to stop coming around the pitch. I started my college career 0-16. Once I got comfortable with the coach's corrections I started to hit (gap to gap).

[Mark H]

Once I got comfortable with the coach's corrections I started to hit (gap to gap).

I wouldn't suggest extrapolating from your positive experience to say this is the rule.

[TG Coach]

I wouldn't suggest extrapolating from your positive experience to say this is the rule.

It's not uncommon for a successful high school athlete (or parent of one) to think he has great mechanics due to his success. A college coach will typically know more about what it takes to succeed at the next level than the player or parent.

[Ursa Major]

Mud - since I haven't coached college ball and haven't seen your son's swing, I'm not in a position to say that you or the coach are right. But, I will -- just to try to help open your eyes to another possible read of the situation -- lay out some thoughts.

You say, "...and now have given him a momentum-less swing that has killed his power, but at least now he's "spraying" the ball to all fields, or maybe in other words topping everything." Is it possible that the swing is having some results with the exception that he's topping the ball, so the problem to address with the new swing is just that he's pulling off the ball, or doing something that else that keeps him from hitting it square? Or maybe, because his front leg isn't moving forward so much, that his hands are still moving the same distance and he's now hitting the ball on his downswing.

Another possibility to bear in mind is that he's just not yet got the pop to reach the college fences, so the coaches are trying to steer him away from a swing that produces majestic warning track outs in favor of one that will at least give him a chance at more singles. Don't assume that "high, long and deep" is the proper goal of every hitter.

I agree with TG Coach that the communication has to be between your son and the coaches. It sounds like he understands in general terms the approaches that you've instilled in him and why they ought to work, so he should be able to communicate with his own coaches well enough to ask why they want him to make changes that -- at least in the short term -- appear to decrease his power.

[Jake Patterson]

I always told my HS kids...

+2 points when YOU speak to the college coaches.
-1 point when your dad speaks to your college coach
-3 points when mom does

[cosmo34]

What if your mom is the one who helps you with the recruiting process?

[Chris O'Leary]

Been there done that. Talking to the coach might resolve the problem or it might create an unpleasant situation for your son. Other options are nod his head, say ok and continue to hit his way or just do it the coach's way. Tough situation. Why coaches want to mess with successful older hitters is beyond me. My rule in college is don't mess with your six or seven best hitters till you get someone to pass them.

I always work from the bottom of the BA list up.

Why mess with success?

It's stupid.

My advice is to act like your listening and then do it the way that works. Often coaches can't tell the difference.

[TG Coach]

My advice is to act like your listening and then do it the way that works. Often coaches can't tell the difference.

Coming from rec ball you are right. Didn't you play all the way to 12U? At the college level if you don't think coaches are a little smarter, you're wrong.

[korp]

Coming from rec ball you are right. Didn't you play all the way to 12U? At the college level if you don't think coaches are a little smarter, you're wrong.
You would be suprised sometimes at the numbers of one's that don't. The good ones though will have a good idea though but usually those are the one's who do not mess with success for the most part. Also depends on what part exactly they are focused on too because some parts are so quick they might not notice.

[cosmo34]

You would be suprised sometimes at the numbers of one's that don't. The good ones though will have a good idea though but usually those are the one's who do not mess with success for the most part. Also depends on what part exactly they are focused on too because some parts are so quick they might not notice.

Agree. The good ones will notice, but the bad ones usually have no clue.

The hitting coach my freshman year tried taking credit for when I got back on track. Nevermind I was doing absolutely zero of what he taught, and it was all me and the pitching coach that righted the ship.

[LAball]

Tell ur coach that you have a private instructor, have a name ready of a local one. and ur working with him. Whether its true or not. :homeplate:

[callyjr]

Tell ur coach that you have a private instructor, have a name ready of a local one. and ur working with him. Whether its true or not. :homeplate:

lol, Ya that will go well with the college coach, thats like asking for your own special spot at the end of the bench.

[rkbenn]

lol, Ya that will go well with the college coach, thats like asking for your own special spot at the end of the bench.

Comeon Cally, it worked for my son, in little league...lol

[TG Coach]

Tell ur coach that you have a private instructor, have a name ready of a local one. and ur working with him. Whether its true or not. :homeplate:

:eek::eek::eek::eek: :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl: Played much college ball?

[LAball]

Well you wouldnt just blurt it out. You will have to work with you charisma.

Its better then...
just pray for the best .

[callyjr]

Well you wouldnt just blurt it out. You will have to work with you charisma.

Its better then...

I can tell you from a hitting instructors standpoint that the college coaches don't want you anywheres near their kids. One of my kids this year wasn't hitting to well so I went to a couple practices and video'd him to see whats up, the long of the story was he was doing their drills and needed to not be doing them, the coach didn't like me around and asked on multiple times who I was. Kid started hitting the ball and ended up over .350 on the year so the coach did leave him alone, but would never ever even thought to talk to his coach. Now way would I do that to myself or the kid.

If you go and talk to the coach you had better start praying for the best.

Cally

[Jake Patterson]

What if your mom is the one who helps you with the recruiting process?
Your mom talking to coaches usually is a detriment to you finding a spot.
Jake

[cosmo34]

Your mom talking to coaches usually is a detriment to you finding a spot.
Jake


How did I know this would be the response. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

What, not macho enough for ya? Some people don't have a father figure to take with on college visits, FYI.

I had plenty of chances at "spots" and she in no way hindered me. That's ridiculous.

[Jake Patterson]

How did I know this would be the response. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

What, not macho enough for ya? Some people don't have a father figure to take with on college visits, FYI.

I had plenty of chances at "spots" and she in no way hindered me. That's ridiculous.Then it seems you have found a way to find a spot on a college team and I really do wish you luck.
Jake

[cosmo34]

Or maybe it is in no way a deterrent for a kid?

What kind of coach would look down on a kid for having to talk to his mother. I know I wouldn't want to play for him.

[coach scotty]

Or maybe it is in no way a deterrent for a kid?

What kind of coach would look down on a kid for having to talk to his mother. I know I wouldn't want to play for him.

I maybe wrong but I don't think they are referring to a mother talking to a coach on a recruiting trip but rather a mom complaining to a coach about something the coach is doing with the kid.

[Jake Patterson]

Or maybe it is in no way a deterrent for a kid?

What kind of coach would look down on a kid for having to talk to his mother. I know I wouldn't want to play for him.College coaches are looking for players who are capable of standing on their own and are able to sell themselves. You go into college ball at the same age as those young men and women who join the military. While the service is willing to help the parents understand what it is you need to do to be successful they are not especially interested in listening to mom or dad brag about their son, neither are most college coaches. This is not meant to be a critique of you or your mother or whatever relationship she shares with your baseball. I think it's great that parents are guiding their children toward positive directions. You asked the question "how do you talk to a college coach." My answer is - without your parents. There is a great deal of information out there. I would suggest you Google the exact same question.

[Jake Patterson]

I maybe wrong but I don't think they are referring to a mother talking to a coach on a recruiting trip but rather a mom complaining to a coach about something the coach is doing with the kid.A good rule of thumb for parents when talking to coaches during a recruiting trip is take a back seat.

[cosmo34]

All he said was "speak" so it could be in any capacity.

[Jake Patterson]

College coaches are looking for players who are capable of standing on their own and are able to sell themselves. You go into college ball at the same age as those young men and women who join the military. While the service is willing to help the parents understand what it is you need to do to be successful they are not especially interested in listening to mom or dad brag about their son, neither are most college coaches. This is not meant to be a critique of you or your mother or whatever relationship she shares with your baseball. I think it's great that parents are guiding their children toward positive directions. You asked the question "how do you talk to a college coach." My answer is - without your parents. There is a great deal of information out there. I would suggest you Google the exact same question.

Edit:
I went back a re-read the original post and apologize to Cosmo... you did not present the question and it seems I've taken it out of context. My answers are directed to the initial recruiting process.

[cosmo34]

College coaches are looking for players who are capable of standing on their own and are able to sell themselves. You go into college ball at the same age as those young men and women who join the military. While the service is willing to help the parents understand what it is you need to do to be successful they are not especially interested in listening to mom or dad brag about their son, neither are most college coaches. This is not meant to be a critique of you or your mother or whatever relationship she shares with your baseball. I think it's great that parents are guiding their children toward positive directions. You asked the question "how do you talk to a college coach." My answer is - without your parents. There is a great deal of information out there. I would suggest you Google the exact same question.


I didn't ask the question, Mud did.

Perhaps you should clarify your original statement. I sold myself, via speaking and my play. But that isn't to say that my mom wasn't in contact for questions she had, and she never was the "well my boy did this....yada yada yada.....". She let me handle that.

You need to be a little more clear on your statement. Obviously the player has to know how to be their own salesman, but that doesn't mean that your mom actually conversing with the coach is worse than anything possible like your scale says.

[Jake Patterson]

I didn't ask the question, Mud did.

Perhaps you should clarify your original statement. I sold myself, via speaking and my play. But that isn't to say that my mom wasn't in contact for questions she had, and she never was the "well my boy did this....yada yada yada.....". She let me handle that.

You need to be a little more clear on your statement. Obviously the player has to know how to be their own salesman, but that doesn't mean that your mom actually conversing with the coach is worse than anything possible like your scale says.

See post 29.. and again, I wish you luck and success.

[cosmo34]

Yea I was typing while you posted that. Little slow tonight.

And thank you.

[mudvnine]

Soon after I made the first post of this thread, my son and I spoke some more and we both decided that talking to either coach (head and hitting) at this time would not be beneficial on any level. We spent time with him explaining in much greater detail what the coaches were asking him to do and for me trying to decipher if it was a coaching problem or a communication problem between he and them.

As it turns out, their “leaking” comment was at how he moves when he takes a pitch. Instead of just staying upright or just leaning over to follow the ball into the zone, because of his movement into the ball and his early recognition of the pitch, my son has a tendency to continue forward towards the ball and then leans over and allows the pitch to continue to the catcher.

This no swing forward movement has the coaches thinking that his hips are leaking and that that causes him to pull everything, which they don’t like. Now this “pulling everything problem” somewhat baffles me, because he is a left-handed hitter and I’m trying to figure out what game situation would mandatorily require hitting to left field, but that’s a whole other thread.

He has never had a problem with covering the outside of the plate since he likes being up on it and takes outside pitches back up the middle and has a very quick bat that allows him to drive the inside pitch to right.

As it turns out the coaches didn’t directly tell him to change anything, they just wanted him to hit outside pitches to left and said that his “leaking” was preventing him from doing so. Unfortunately, he attempted to make changes to please them without consulting with me first and in doing so messed himself up.

We are working on returning him to his original swing and I'm happy to say that it is coming back very quickly and the smile is returning to his face. Since it is the way he takes a pitch that confuses the coaches (they never videoed him to see that he doesn’t actually leak his hips when he swings), we will work on that and see if we can adjust that without affecting his swing.

Thank you all for your input, I think it pretty much confirms the direction we will take and I believe he will satisfy the coaches’ wishes while still being able to be comfortable and confident in his mechanics at the plate. I just hope that hitting to left is not too big of a deal with them, because of everything for him, I think that will be the most difficult to accomplish.


Thanks again,
Mud

[Chris O'Leary]

As it turns out the coaches didn’t directly tell him to change anything, they just wanted him to hit outside pitches to left

Going to the opposite field with outside pitches is solid advice. It's what the pros do. It's basically impossible to pull an outside pitch with any power.


and said that his “leaking” was preventing him from doing so.

This doesn't make sense.

[mudvnine]

Going to the opposite field with outside pitches is solid advice. It's what the pros do. It's basically impossible to pull an outside pitch with any power.

But the thing is, he's not "pulling" the outside pitch; he's squaring it up and driving it up the middle and sometimes into the LC gap.

It's not that he's long to the ball and just trying to "hook" it, it's just that where he sets up and feels comfortable is close to the plate, so the outside pitch is not really outside for him. This helps him immensely with two strikes, in that he already has great plate coverage and has no problem fouling off the "questionable" pitch that is even off the plate a couple inches.

I agree with you 100% with the so-called "leaking" problem; it makes no sense to me either.

[wogdoggy]

first of all YOU should only talk to the coach...not mom or dad,,you are in college for criopes sake,,,and instead of worrying so much about this stuff maybe put more emphasis on getting his grades up instead of his batting average..its almost all over now anyway ,,the real world is comming fast.:confused:

[callyjr]

first of all YOU should only talk to the coach...not mom or dad,,you are in college for criopes sake,,,and instead of worrying so much about this stuff maybe put more emphasis on getting his grades up instead of his batting average..its almost all over now anyway ,,the real world is comming fast.:confused:


thats a bunch of BS,

What I remember from college was playing sports, not what grade I got in what class. The grades were fine, but the memories are not in the classroom. Enjoy baseball while you can because it doesn't last that long as we all know. What a bunch of crap Wgdoggy, jeez

[wogdoggy]

thats a bunch of BS,

What I remember from college was playing sports, not what grade I got in what class. The grades were fine, but the memories are not in the classroom. Enjoy baseball while you an because it doesn't last that long as we all know. What a bunch of crap Wgdoggy, jeez

crap? yes you prove my point,,,take the grades,,, exactly ,baseball doesnt last long..and the memories definately lap into each other..you'll remember a family vacation more than you will 30 games meshed into each other..please save it.


worrying about your ba when your about to hit the real world makes no sense to me..

[mudvnine]

first of all YOU should only talk to the coach...not mom or dad,,you are in college for criopes sake,,,and instead of worrying so much about this stuff maybe put more emphasis on getting his grades up instead of his batting average..its almost all over now anyway ,,the real world is comming fast.:confused:

If his batting average was as high as his grades he's be playing in the MLB; but thanks anyway for the half-cocked, uneducated response, it helps me better understand where you're coming from in future posts.

[wogdoggy]

no problem mud see you and yours in the pro's..lol..
:bowdown:

[wogdoggy]

What if your mom is the one who helps you with the recruiting process?

lol


:)

[Drill]

never mind

[TG Coach]

A good rule of thumb for parents when talking to coaches during a recruiting trip is take a back seat.

I said very little on my daughter's recruiting trips. I had her write down my questions and ask them herself. When meeting the coaches I said hello on the way in and thank you on the way out. In between I only spoke when spoken too. It wasn't my meeting. In the past two years I've said "Hello," "Nice weather to play ball" and "Good win."

[TG Coach]

Going to the opposite field with outside pitches is solid advice. It's what the pros do. It's basically impossible to pull an outside pitch with any power.

Not true. But I don't want to turn this into a hitting thread. For many hitters it's good advice to go the other way. Better advice is "swing through the pitch and it goes where it goes."

[coach scotty]

A good rule of thumb for parents when talking to coaches during a recruiting trip is take a back seat.

When I was going threw the recruiting process way back in the early 90's my mother had a whole list of questions that a coach had to answer to her satisfaction before she would allow a coach to talk to me. I wish she had read your advice lol. Would have saved me a lot of embarrassment.

[mudvnine]

crap? yes you prove my point,,,take the grades,,, exactly ,baseball doesnt last long..and the memories definately lap into each other..you'll remember a family vacation more than you will 30 games meshed into each other..please save it.


worrying about your ba when your about to hit the real world makes no sense to me..

Woggy, the real world will always be out there waiting for you, youth and many of it's great possibilities will not.

I quit playing baseball after my freshman year of college to pursue my career full bore and have regretted it ever since. I was hired by the fire department, bought a house, and got married all when I was 22; I'll retire next year, I'm on my fourth house, and still happily married to the same wonderful lady, but to this day I still wonder "what if".

We have hired many guys at the department that played four years of college ball, a couple that played in the minors, and a few that played over in Europe; they have great memories and stories of their experiences that baseball provided them, that are not readily available to just anyone. These guys were all hired in their mid to late 20's and have plenty of years ahead of them to make a great career for themselves and not one of them regret taking the path that they did before starting their careers . . . can we all say that?

My son loves the game and is still only 18, so he has plenty of time to prepare for and enter the "real world". I've told him that as long as they give you a uniform and you continue to love the game, then go out there and give it your all because it won't last forever and he understands that.

He has a great work ethic that I credit much to baseball and has excellent grades in college, so I don't believe that it has to be an "either or" proposition to prepare for his future.

I've come to believe that:

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting . . .
'...holy sh*t ...what a ride!'


Life's too short wog, enjoy it while you can,
Mud

[wogdoggy]

Woggy, the real world will always be out there waiting for you, youth and many of it's great possibilities will not.

I quit playing baseball after my freshman year of college to pursue my career full bore and have regretted it ever since. I was hired by the fire department, bought a house, and got married all when I was 22; I'll retire next year, I'm on my fourth house, and still happily married to the same wonderful lady, but to this day I still wonder "what if".

We have hired many guys at the department that played four years of college ball, a couple that played in the minors, and a few that played over in Europe; they have great memories and stories of their experiences that baseball provided them, that are not readily available to just anyone. These guys were all hired in their mid to late 20's and have plenty of years ahead of them to make a great career for themselves and not one of them regret taking the path that they did before starting their careers . . . can we all say that?

My son loves the game and is still only 18, so he has plenty of time to prepare for and enter the "real world". I've told him that as long as they give you a uniform and you continue to love the game, then go out there and give it your all because it won't last forever and he understands that.

He has a great work ethic that I credit much to baseball and has excellent grades in college, so I don't believe that it has to be an "either or" proposition to prepare for his future.

I've come to believe that:

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting . . .
'...holy sh*t ...what a ride!'


Life's too short wog, enjoy it while you can,
Mud



mud never wanted to hit the wrong nerve in my post BUT in my experiences and my kids the seasons seem to mesh into each other as well as the games ,,BUT the kids remember every aspect of our yearly vacations..especially the girls they meet on the beach..lol..

yes i remeber playing high school basketball...i remeber the screwing around with teammates NOT the actual games..people make your experiences memorable usually not the actual events.