Posted by: THG () on Sun Mar 16 01:08:21 2008

> 11-12 yr travel team. Coach disciplines bad throws or missed catches with laps or push ups. I believe in conditoning and also laps or pushups due to goofing off or lack of effort but never cause a kid misses a ball or makes a bad throw. Sometimes they spend more time with discipline then they do with practice. Am I new era wrong or somewhat correct.

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Georgia. Coaches have different styles which they believe to be effective. It appears the coach is trying to make the kids concentrate better. Thus the laps and pushups as a form of punishment so to speak. But the laps and pushups will also improve the kid's conditioning. So in effect there are redeeming qualities to that approach.

Granted that coach is using his version of tough love. But some kids respond better when they know there are consequences to there actions. And though people are human and make mistakes, a team must raise its level of play in order to improve and or win at higher levels of play. Thus you have to look at sports as a game but also a way to teach that those who make the fewest mistakes while playin as a unit generally come out ahead and or prosper. It is not necessarily fair but how life works.

As such, much of life is playing by the rules of the game you decide to play. And if you play, you should play to win. But everyone has to develop his own level of contentment. Some are more serious than others. Some parents live through their kids eyes and sometimes take the game to serious at the detriment of others. But that is not to say they are not trying to give their kid the best chance to be a winner. The key is to have fun and let sports be a stepping stone to being a better person. And if you happen to get a scholarship or play professionally that's all the better.

Good Luck
THG