Baseball Coaching Tip to Win Over Parents - 365 Days to Better Baseball

Guaranteed baseball coaching tipthat works- "You did a great job"¦"

One thing I have learned over the years is that winning over parents is just as helpful as winning over players, if not more so.

It only takes one negative player to bring the whole team down, especially when that negative player has influence with some of the other team members. Once negativity sets in, it is hard to reverse and a long season is the usual result.

At the youth baseball level though, most kids are happy to be playing and amongst friends. Even players, who are not very good, have fun as long as the coach is not over bearing.

So, how does the negativity begin in the first place?

It comes from home, when parents begin to mumble and grumble about the coach and about how the coach is using their son or daughter. Once that negative attitude begins, it filters down to the young ballplayers, spreads among teammates and the long season for the coaching staff results.

Winning over parents with this baseball coaching tip

How is a coach to do that? Just like winning over players with praise generally works to make kids feel good about themselves and the coach, praising parents works the same way and may just get them on the coach's side. When evaluating a player, I try to begin with picking out something that they are doing well and saying that to the player. Just as important, I will turn to the parent and say, "You have done a good job of getting him/her to do "such and such" so well." Bingo, with those words, parents feel good, trust the coach knows what he is talking about, and is ready to give the coach the benefit of the doubt for the time being, anyway.

The parents may have had nothing to do with a player's good habits, but telling them they did a good job is a great start with winning over parents. Of course, this type praise works beyond just baseball skills. Praising kids' behavior in this way, for any positive habit, makes parents feel good. For example, "Wow, you did a great job with him, he listens to every word I say," would make any parent feel good.

About Jack Perconte

After playing major league baseball, Jack Perconte has taught baseball and softball since 1988 and offered valuable coaching training too. He has helped numerous youth players reach their potential, as well as having helped parents and coaches navigate their way through the challenging world of youth sports. Jack is one of the leading authorities in the areas of youth baseball training and coaching training advice.

All Jack Perconte articles are used with copyright permission.