It was an exciting game and a sorrowful one. Though disappointed along with them, I was greatly encouraged by their emotions and the closeness they shared in their team loss. I have been concerned before at the lack of emotion after a loss, even our first loss that had moved us into the losers bracket of double elimination. Their fighting back tears and their whimpers and silence showed that our team had gained hope and expectation to replay the team to whom we first lost.
Unbeknownst to our boys, we were foreseen not to contend in our small pool of four All-Star teams, and by our first night's showing, we were tentative, including our coaches. Losing is an opportunity to recognize what we all know: baseball is usually about who makes the fewest errors. Errors reflect discipline and training. They distinguish between the levels of athletes and coaches. Errors reveal.
After the first evening, I knew I needed to do something with our hitting. And while I was the hitting coach, the dad's who pay for their son's hitting lessons and those who hold their opinions dear wanted little input from a woman coach. They were the squeaky wheels.
After a few days of squeaks during our first practices and with a lot of ground that needed to be covered, I decided to work from a different standpoint - I would ask to influence the warm-up and began to have them do drills to change their coordination and ability to weight transfer and rotate. As one might expect, I got flack from the same parents for this too. We did continue my modified warm-ups most of the practices until the games, making great gains in their all-around performance and body-control. For the sake of peace, I decided to primarily work the squeaky-wheel-sons' abilities to hit in their weak ranges adjusting form very little and would teach the others to transfer their weight and develop their weak ranges. The kids who were learning to transfer their weight could feel the increase in power and a better ability to adjust their swing. I also kept training all of them using my signature concept of seeing, hearing, and feeling ideal ball contact. I was to use the tee for most of my bat-work.
However, after the first game, I asked our head coach if I may utilize the hitting stick instead of the tee. I like the stick because I can make adjustments more quickly in their form, have better control of their weight transfer, they get better sensory and auditory feedback, and they end up with 3 times as many swings in the same amount of limited, pre-game time. It has worked with the seven teams I've used it. Our manager being supportive of me gave me the green light.
The change was immediate. It also helped me feel more comfortable in making adjustments while they were at bat. As the players and I worked through their position in the box and they began to trust my judgment, we scored 13 runs in the 5th to 10-run them.
In last night's game, we hit better than the other team, made more errors fielding, and struggled more with our pitching to lose 7 to 9. In both games, from top to bottom of the line-up, we were hitting.
As for how my youngest son performed, in the first game, my son and one other player, the best listener, were the only two to hit solidly, and, in the second game, my son bunted one and had three hard hits. In the third game, he hit a line drive caught feet from the fence. My youngest is my first protege who has recently grasped the body control of my hitting technique that adds to the blended styles of two professional hitting coaches. My other sons and my other athletes have hit well, but they have yet to master that type of control in consistent, combined force production throughout their swing.
As for how my youngest son performed, in the first game, my son and one other player, the best listener, were the only two to hit solidly, and, in the second game, my son bunted one and had three hard hits. In the third game, he hit a line drive caught feet from the fence. My youngest is my first protege who has recently grasped the body control of my hitting technique that adds to the blended styles of two professional hitting coaches. My other sons and my other athletes have hit well, but they have yet to master that type of control in consistent, combined force production throughout their swing.
Being a woman coach in a male sport, I am earning my place even among the naysayers. It will take more time, but my hope is to build the winningest program for young and professional baseball players. I believe I have the keys that traditional baseball has been missing. I have several deep-seated traditions to overcome, but, like for anything new and good, the outcome will be worth all the effort.
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