Twitter #CoachesChat | On Deck Sports

At On Deck Sports, we like helping coaches coach in any way we can. We recently partnered with Legion Coach Zach Horn (@coachzhorn) and High School Coach Dustin Darby (@Coach_Darby_) for a #CoachesChat on Twitter. Coach Darby came up with 8 questions based around ‘coaching philosophy’ and posted them on Twitter. More than 40 coaches responded to him and each other, sharing their ideas and strategies. One lucky participant was also chosen at random to win a free Designated Hitter pitching aid from On Deck Sports.

Below are some of our favorite responses to the questions. Click here to view the full chat from October 8, 2019, and make sure to follow us for more in the future! @OnDeckSports

Question 1:

What is your philosophy on promoting a positive attitude and rewarding effort in your program? What are some things you do?

*“Really caring for who they are as a person”*

Question 2:

What are some ways you show your players you care about them? Not only as athletes, but as people and individuals?

*“Show genuine interest in what they’re interested in outside of baseball”*

Question 3:

How do you allow your players to have fun while still teaching the fundamentals of the game, accomplishing your practice objectives, and chasing success?

*“Familiarize them with the thrill of winning”*

Question 4:

What are ways you emphasize improvement? How do you communicate with your players about their progress and what they need to improve on?

*“Once they saw this, their concentration improved”*

Question 5:

How important is organization to you? How do you keep organized? In practice? In games?

*“We try to post as much as we can in our practice schedule”*

*“little details make a big difference”*
Thank you for your service, Brendan!

Question 6:

What are some ways you incorporate game-like situations into practice?

Question 7:

What is your one-liner coaching philosophy for your program? Or, what are some phrases you “preach” to your squad?

*“You can’t control what’s already happened”*

*“go into every game prepared to play to the level of the best”*

Question 8:

Give a shout-out, list some follows, recommend books. List anything to do with how your philosophy was shaped and how it could help other coaches!