Coach Them With Confidence… Not Fear!
Coach Bruce Lambin
Coach Lambin raised & coached two talented T-Ball players who have become the best baseball players they could be. His oldest played at Texas while his youngest currently is the shortstop for the powerful University of Louisiana-Lafayette Rajun Cajuns. Both played with Team USA and in the Olympic Festival.
Bruce has coached over 150 pro & college prospects (including six Major Leaguers) and continually shows a keen eye for many overlooked aspects of the game. Read and you will learn!
His videos are the only series approved by Little League Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, Pony Baseball, and the National Association of High School Athletic Coaches for the training of their coaches and players.
A coach told me after a game that "his team just didn't come ready to play".
I'm thinking gee! did they forget their pants? Of course they had lost and
the coach was already thinking of the pep talk he was going to give before
the next game.
You've all heard these talks. " Don't let these guys 3 and 13 record fool
you…This guy has a really good curve (it doesn't matter if he can't throw
it for strikes) …he can beat you…. yada yada! Firing your team up to play the
big game is the most counter productive thing a coach can do!!! They are not
playing the other team…they are just playing the ball!!!!!
It doesn't matter if Jr. Griffey or little Bobby Griffey hits the ground
ball, the fielder is going to execute a play that he has done in practice a
thousand times. It doesn't matter who throws the pitch, he must throw it
through the strike zone and the batter is going to execute a swing to
contact it in a particular location just as he has done a thousand times in
practice. It is down right insulting to encourage your team to play the best
game of their life to have a chance to win. They can't play better than they
can play and they should realize that their best is good enough to prevail.
Most hitters when facing a hard thrower will try to swing harder to catch
up. Look at the muscles in their forearms. Veins will be bulging. This will
actually inhibit bat speed! Encourage them to grip the bat lightly and think
"quick' bat and they'll rip him.
I give each team my "Big A" speech:
When faced with a pressure situation, adrenaline pumps through our bodies.
That's the "butterflies" you feel in your stomach. Adrenaline is the most
powerful stimulant known to man. With it, moms can lift a car off a child.
There are three ways people react to a rush of adrenaline in a pressure
situation.
1. Fear it and they will choke.
2. Deny it and they will be flat.
3. Embrace it and know that the Big A is just naturally going to make you stronger, faster, and better able to perform!
Encourage your players to embrace the rush of competition, play the ball and they will perform the best they possibly can. What more can we ask?