THE LEGEND

TIPS FROM THE COACH

He's the STUD! The LEGEND! 5"7' 160 lbs. He throws 70+ with 4 pitches he can spot. He batted over .600 last year, drops bombs effortlessly and he is yours! He is on your team. All you have to do is get the other doofusses to play half way decently in support and you will win the league!

Focus your energies on the lesser skilled players and you will be neglecting the Stud. Here is reality. He is also probably an August baby so he's a year older and more developed than his peers. He's going through puberty and may be shaving twice a day. He is literally a man among boys. But all that will change. They will all become men. They will all grow and get stronger. Because he is an August baby, in many states that have a September 1 cutoff for school age, he will revert to being the youngest in his class in HS. I have known many 12 year old Legends. The vast, vast majority fall by the wayside. I coached arguably the finest 12 yr old team ever placed on a field, the first select team from Houston. Can you imagine how good a team you can assemble when you are the only team from Houston and have your pick of the local Legends? From that team 4 of the starters played HS baseball! 3 college, 2 pro and 1 (my no. 5 pitcher) made the Majors.

So what happens? Other than the rest of the world catching up maturitywise, it has all come sooo easy for the Legend. His Dad and friends fill him with expectations of scholarships and signing bonuses. He has always dominated. He has never failed. He has never had to develop a work ethic. He thinks he was born on third and hit a triple. While he coasted and basked in his glory those less gifted, less mature, WORKED. They developed mental toughness. By 16 they had passed the Legend and he can't deal with his diminished stature. Legends don't work. Legends don't sweat. He finds an excuse to quit and enter another activity.

So what do you do? The first thing you are probably going to have to do is burst 'Delusional Dad's balloon.' At worst get him to butt out. Then you are going to have to get control of the Legend. Use the 'One Minute Manager" method. He must understand you respect him and have his best interest at heart. Then you must get him to understand ' how good he ain't' and challenge him to work to improve his deficiencies. Then point out to him how much he is going to improve, how valuable he will be and how much better off he will be for the effort. The bar must be set higher. He must be taught and challenged on a higher level. He must learn to work and fail and work some more.

This doesn't mean you neglect the lesser skilled players but that your job just got a whole lot tougher. You may have to learn more advanced skills and training techniques such as those available in the Turtle Thomas videos http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/index.php?description&id=Turtlehit or http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/index.php?description&id=turtlestre , Hitting Like A Pro http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/index.php?description&id=hitpro or The Blast System http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/index.php?description&id=Blast . You need to know how to execute every play at every position correctly with Defensive Skills By Position http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/index.php?description&id=Dskills and if he is a catcher http://www.tipsfromthecoach.com/index.php?description&id=tutlecatch .

You are going to win a lot of games this season. You have the Legend and you will develop the lesser skilled players but can you rise to the challenge of guiding the fortunate early developing stud to get over himself and place his feet solidly on the path to future success?

Yours In Baseball

THE COACH