One Pursuit: Maximum Success

If a youth coach, player, or parent were asked, "What are your primary goals for the season?" most answers would invariably be some form of "Stay Safe" "Have Fun", or "Win Games". Those wouldn't be my answers, because I don't coach in those terms, explicitly. Of course, I share those desires (in that order) but I don't consider any of them to be specifically actionable, so I don't spend too much time talking or worrying about them. I consider them outcomes of my single pursuit: maximum success, so I stay mostly concerned with success and correctness.

I stress maximum success - the ability to do something correctly - on everything I teach a young baseball player. Everything.

There is a correct way to dress for practice, a correct way to help carry team gear from my car to the dugout, a correct way to unpack the gear for practice. A correct way to warm up, to treat teammates, to respect umpires, to run on and off the field. And so on.

There is a correct way to throw, catch, run, hit. And there are several different correct ways to do those four basic skills, depending on the situation. I teach the correct method and expect players to pursue maximum success in everything they do.

It's easier said than done, it's a lot to ask of a young player, and it would require many years for a volunteer coach to (first learn and then) teach everything correctly. But it's a commitment to that philosophical ideal and a devotion to that approach that form my guiding coaching ethic.

And guess what results from this singular pursuit? Players learn to stay safe, players have more fun doing things correctly, and many games are won. Consistent action builds extraordinary outcomes. Goals are derived naturally. Better yet, players keep playing, which gives coaches more time to continue this pursuit with them.

So when I'm asked what my season goal is, my answer is simple and the same every year: maximum success in everything. How do I measure that? Lack of injuries, happy players, wins . . . sure. But I also watch to see how many of my former players return the following year to the sport. How many of them are recognized by future coaches as being well-coached? How many become future team leaders?

I never tell players to have fun. That's not an actionable instruction. When a player hears that, it doesn't mean anything. It's probably being ignored. At best, the player is thinking, "OK, sounds great. But how do I do that? Show me something fun!"

There is nothing wrong with stating a desire to have fun, except when it stops there -- or worse, when it's followed by instructions to do something that isn't fun (like standing in line). Kids then stand in line and start goofing around, since the coach told them to have fun. The coach then reprimands them for goofing around, alas, for having fun. So be careful what you ask for. Don't preach fun. Preach success. Success is fun, so coach success.

A youth coach is a teacher. Practices are lessons. Use them to teach. Head to every practice able to state to yourself exactly what you plan to teach that day. If you are worried about anything other than teaching to maximum success, you should probably instead be coaching much older players (if you're good enough); you should not be coaching youth baseball with any mindset other than that of a teacher. Youth baseball is not meant to fulfill the dreams of adults.