My Reflection on the Coaching Project

My Final Reflection on the Coaching Project

Looking back on this project I am glad that I chose my passion as coaching. This was a rather enjoyable project for me to do because it was something that I truly love to do. Before I took this class I loved baseball and I knew that I enjoyed coaching kids the game. Therefore, when I had to do a video of me coaching kids how to pitch, a powerpoint on coaching the game, and a paper on why I love the game, it was something that did not feel like a burden.

At the end of the project I did not do everything that I would have wanted to do for presenting my coaching abilities but with the time restrictions that I had on me I feel that I did well. Ideally, I would have liked to run a practice as a coach so that I would have gotten a chance to work with players on all the elements of the game instead of just pitching and implement my practice drills. If had been able to work on all parts of the game I would have gotten to know the players better. I would have been able to identify their strengths and weaknesses and been bring about some improvements in their game. Furthermore and probably more importantly, if I had been able to run a practice I would have developed a relationship with them, instead of being a stranger that was helping the pitchers out for a day.

For my project I was able to meet up with Coach Glenn Fisher. Coach Fisher was great in granting me an interview despite his busy schedule and then on the same day providing me access to his team when he had to coach his other team. He was able to set up an hour long session with his pitchers so I could do my project and show them the finer points of pitching. I was able to have a friend film me as I went through the five steps of pitching with the pitchers. By doing the five steps I was able to identify exactly what was wrong in some of the mechanics of their pitching motion.

After working on their pitching motion I was able to watch the pitchers throw some pitches and see any issues that might develop in their throwing release. Usually when the pitcher was throwing a ball I was able to point out exactly what they did wrong and how they should fix it. Lastly, I also worked with the pitchers on throwing more advanced pitches. I taught four out of the six pitchers my changeup. My changeup is one that is rather hard for young kids to throw so I also showed a different variation of the pitch that was more suitable for pitchers their age.

At the end of the day I had about 26 minutes of raw footage which I had to convert into a video. I spent about 3 hours editing the film to make a nine minute movie which I presented to the rest of the class. The movie showed me showing the five steps of pitching and it showed the progress that I made with the individual pitchers. From there I created a powerpoint in which I talked about the importance of coaching and how I would coach. After creating that powerpoint I wrote a 10 page paper on why I love baseball, why I was passionate about baseball, how I would coach, and quotes from the coaches that I interviewed.

Looking back on this project it reinforced my desire to be in sports during my life. Although I became fatigued playing the game of baseball a few years ago I have realized that I still love the game. I want one day for my career to be in sports and I one day want to be the coach of my kid’s team. I want to be able to disperse the knowledge that I have gained from my various coaches and my father to the kids that I will teach.

Through this project I have learned that coaches have been a huge part of my development as a person. I did not really realize this until I did this project. I knew that my coaches were big in my development as a player but I did not really realize that they have helped me grow as a person. The more I coach kids the more I realize that coaches are truly the role models of their players and coaches need to act accordingly. Coaches should instill discipline, respect, and hard work. If you have a coach that does not preach these things than the kids will not develop those attributes. As a coaching you should be coaching kids how to be a good, productive person first, and then teach them the finer points of the game.

For future students that have to do this project I would recommend that you do something that you truly enjoy. I feel that a lot of the projects that were done in our class were things that people were curious about, not necessarily something that they were truly passionate about. People should do projects like mine and Matt Carr’s which are projects that we would do whether it was assigned to us or not. The one day that we had class outside I saw Matt build stick houses without having to do it. I would coach a kids team without being assigned to it. Future students should do a project that will not be a burden for them, but something that they want to do.

In the end this was certainly not the hardest final project I have ever had to do. But I might have done the most work for this project compared to other final projects. For this project I created a video, made a powerpoint, and wrote an 11 page paper but since it was something that I enjoyed it was not difficult to do. I enjoyed this project and it increased my desire to one day coach my kid’s baseball team.