There are not a lot of them, but the Double Goal Coach written by Jim Thompson of the Positive Coaches Alliance, is one of my “must reads” for youth baseball coaches. It is a paradigm shift for many and is one of the books that helped me develop my coaching philosophy. Helping players to develop character traits that transcend the game and last long into their life is the idea behind this book. But far from simply expounding the virtues of character and skipping over the “HOW TO” the Double Goal Coach uses current research as well as experiences to lay out arguments and solutions on how to accomplish Mastery of Effort and learning teach players how to Honor the Game. If you plan on coaching any age, this book should be at the top of your list.
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| Final Thought: Can't recommend this book enough and should be a prerequisite for coaches. | |
I have gotten an endless number of ideas from John T. Reed’s book:
YOUTH BASEBALL COACHING.
Thanks Marty! I will do a review on his book as well. He has some great ideas, although I don’t agree with everything he advocates. For instance, he does not practice two throw double plays! to quote “Forget that. Two-throw, double force plays are almost impossible in youth baseball, except on an elite teenage team.”
I disagree on two points-
#1 – In our little league Majors division I’ve seen 5-10 two throw double plays every season. What’s even more interesting is that they are only executed by two teams. These teams are not “Elite” teenage teams, but rather your run of the mill little league teams. So, why do you think they can execute them? Because they practice them and they are taught the correct way to execute it. Every practice and during pregame we run a double play sequence. Before the season we spent about 2 hours one practice teaching the proper fundamentals. Our team and the other team have reaped the rewards. I could go on about how the first part of the double play is critical as it is a force play at second and if you are practicing this (which you should!) then completing the double play does not take much more time at all!
#2 – We are trying to develop players that if they choose to play after little league, they can walk onto their Junior High and High School teams and plug in immediately. They will not have to look foolish if at the tryouts they are asked to perform a double play and have no clue.
Anyway, that being said, there is some good stuff in his book. He is very opinionated and has a style/coaching approach that works for him. I’m not going to say that it doesn’t work, but I think there are other factors and reasons to do certain things differently…
Just my two cents and I would still recommend getting the book. It is entertaining and offers some great insights/tips.