Baseball Coaching Info

End of Season Team Evaluation

As the season comes to a climax, it’s important to step back and evaluate what the team has accomplished. Taking a fresh, unbiased look is difficult because you are so wrapped up in the team. Get feedback from assistant coaches, players, parents, and others close to the team. Digest what they feel about the team and the season, then channel it into thoughtful insights and constructive lessons.

One place to begin is to look back at the pre-season. What were the team’s goals, keys to success, and group themes? What were your coaching principles and hopes? What were some of the tendencies that you and the team may have wanted to avoid? Then, answer all of these (and other) questions to see how well or how poorly the team lived up to its pre-season aspirations.

The next place in the analysis is to break each player down individually. Meet with each player if possible. Listen to them, then share your thoughts. Advise each player on where they performed well, then discuss in what areas they can improve and, most importantly, how they can get better. If possible, write up a evaluation for each player. This will give them something to refer to as they train in the off season and provide feedback for their parents to consider.

Then look at the team as a group. Think about wins and losses obviously. Why did we win this great game, why did we lose this lousy game? But you must read between the lines to discover more about your team’s rate and degree of development. There may have been trends, both positive and negative, that carried through the season. Some areas to consider:

1. Technical Proficiency - How much did each player improve? Players should be at the same (or lower!) level of technique as they were in pre-season.

2. Tactical Maturity - Did the team elevate their under- standing of the game? Could they make decisions quickly and effectively during the flow of play?

Those are all critical elements to study and observe. But there are also many intangibles that should be rated.

1. Team Chemistry - Did the players successfully work together?

2. Leadership - Who stepped into leadership roles and how/why did they garner the respect from their peers? Should others have done more as leaders?

3. Learning from Mistakes - Every team makes errors, but the team needs to learn and push on, rather than allow mistakes evolve into bad tendencies.

4. Belief - Did the team have pride and conviction? If yes, they will continue to work hard and be excited by the challenges.

5. Fun - The team needs to enjoy the team’s camaraderie, the style of play, the training environment, and the coaching philosophy.

Lastly evaluate yourselves as coaches. Did you make a genuine effort to connect with each player? Were the training sessions organized and effective, yet flexible? Did you provide positive, effective contributions on match day? Did you instill confidence, desire, and composure in your players? Did you enjoy the process?

Learn and move one - next season will be here before you know it!