If you look at baseball (you could look at any sport for that matter) -
where have the great players gone. They sure aren't managers or even
coaches. Neither Hank Arron nor Willie Mays made it in coaching. Frank
Robinson tired and failed as a manager twice. Reggie Jackson never made
it as a coach. Lets see I think its four of the six top home run
hitters. The fifth is still playing (Barry Bonds) and the other (Babe
Ruth) is dead.
Now look at Bobby Bonds (Barry's Father). Average baseball player but
he made his kid and he made did a lot to make the SF Ginats a contender
as a team coach. The managers today were not the stars of years ago -
in fact many never even played in the majors and many washed out of the
minors (Earl Weaver).
Yes to be a coach you have to know the game. A great player has to be
able to execute. A great coach has to know what has to be executued,
how it is executed down to great (and sometimes boring ) detail, be
able to recongoize when someone has the raw ability and develop that
ability in the another individual.
Will Randy "the big unit" Johnson (who pitched a perfect a game at the
ripe age of 40 years old!) be a good pitching coach. It comes so
natural to him. He's 6'6'' and throws the ball at about 100 mph. But
looking at him it looks like he's putting no effort into it. Is he
going to have the insight and ability to be able to turn a struggling
kid into a Cy Young award winner? Not many with as much natural
ability as he has make the transition.
Truman
Winter, Randy or Cheryl wrote:
That is an interesting comment Truman. I had a dressage instucter years ago
that said when she was learning she did not have the same natural ability
that some people innately have that makes them such naturals, and maybe they
do not even know why themselves. Just that special talent they are born
with. But this instructer made it to the upped levels and did well. She
felt that that helped her be able to teach people better herself, because
she understood how to relate to her students to position or do what one
needed to relay the correct signal most efficiently to the horse. I think
she also listened closer to what her students asked to better understand
what they needed from her. Sometimes when someone is so naturally gifted
or talented at something it is hard for them to relate to other people what
it is they feel or do that make them good because it just happens for them.
I have always felt that a great many people can achieve many things, run a
marathon, play baseball, basketball, etc. but not every one can be Frank
Shorter, Michael Jackson, Randy Johnson ( who just pitched a perfect game).
These people were born with an innate talent that they recognized, and then
developed.
Cheryl Winter
6695
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
We
imitate our masters
only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only
because
in doing so we
learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.
