Coaches: Make Time for Your Players

I've had experiences with many types of coaches and players during my career. One thing that I've noticed is that a lot of people will bring you down. Coaches many times try to place players on level ground. They constantly treat players the same, and that is not possible because players are different.

Players learn differently from other players. Some learn better by explanation, while some learn better through visuals. One thing that a coach has to do to be successful in motivating players is to be available for players and take time to get to know them.

I had the opportunity to play for some great coaches in my career. Mike Candrea, Margie Wright and my different travel ball coaches all played a significant role in my life because they took time for me. They were always available to help me or my teammates, and when we were struggling they would take extra time to help us with our problems. These coaches had a love for the game, and I shared that love as well, making me want to be the best player I could to realize my dreams of playing softball in college and eventually playing on the United States National Team.

Since I have retired from playing, I have dedicated myself to being the best person I can while also helping players I come into contact with realize their full potential as well. One way I do this is to pull out books that deal with the mental part of the game. The mental part of the game is just as important, if not more important, than the physical aspects of the sport. I believe that the sport of softball is 90 percent mental. If the mental aspect is not there, then a player can't give what she is capable of giving.

Players get down on themselves by saying they can't do something or they don't know how to do it. You have to try different things, but don't be willing to change everything. I believe that players have to take baby steps instead of taking giant leaps.

One thing I did to help me work through my problems was to write in a journal following each softball game. I would write everything down that was going on. When I got in a funk, I would pull it out and read what I did previously to deal with my struggles.

Being a great coach involves not only dealing with the physical aspects of the game, but it also involves a coach being able to teach the emotional and mental aspects. It is important because it not only pertains to softball, but to encounters players will have in life.

I attribute a great deal of what my coaches taught me when I was playing softball to what I now use in dealing with players as a coach. I feel that many players don't know how to deal with life. Many players believe that softball is all they need to know, but they are not prepared to deal with life after softball. I was raised by my father to have bigger dreams. I am realizing those dreams as I'm going into the police academy since I've always dreamed of being a police officer since I was little. I think athletes today aren't like this. They aren't prepared to deal with life after softball, and that is an important part that coaches can play in the development of their athletes.

Coaches have to not only care about what goes on out on the field, but they also have to care about developing the person and also academics. Coach Candrea and coach Wright were both very good at this when I played for them. They took time to put a smile on a player's face.

This is why coaches have to be careful about the way they interact with their players. Players often times take on the attitude of their coach. When players arrive for practice and the coach is in a bad mood, the players will take on that mindset. I have learned that the coach needs to set the mood for practice. I had a player that came to practice in a bad mood, and the way I dealt with it was to be extra happy to the person and make practice fun. The result was a change in the player's attitude toward th