WYC 103 – Youth Baseball & Softball – Marshall Lehr talks playing to win vs. playing not to lose

Marshall Lehr is a baseball and softball coach in Texas. He is the father of 4 and has coached many of their teams growing up. He is a passionate believer in the power of sports, and specifically baseball and softball. He is also a great student of the game, having recently gone through John O'Sullivan's Coaching Mastery course.

Website & Blog: marshalllehr.com

Twitter: @MarshallLehr

Facebook: /marshall.lehr

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Quote

'The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place' - George Bernard Shaw

Coaching your own kids

Make decisions based on results more than potential (it is easy to see the potential in your own kids, but the results need to be the criteria used)

Cringe Moment

Marshall had two moms complaining to the ref and instead of diffusing the situation he got in an argument with them.

Diffuse situations with the phrase 'I can see why you think that'

Teaching Skills

'The ability to learn faster than your opponent may be your only true competitive advantage'

Make everything competitive to raise the energy level - You can buy one of those little scoreboard flip charts

Game - Pull out a stop watch and see how quick the girls can get fly ball into cutoff

Championship Culture 

A healthy learning environment is one where kids are playing free and aren't afraid to make mistakes

Keep one error one error.

Book: Top Dog - Penalty kicks:

Kicking not to lose: 63%

Kicking to win: 93%

Rewards

They had toy WWE belt they gave to best defensive player - and would use Discount Double-check motion during games to lighten the mood and excite each other

First out after an error is huge - so after games they would recognize who made the play to get the first out after an error

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

Marshall sends notes in the mail to his kids - there is a service where you can print pictures off Facebook in a card format.

Reinforce with kids their importance is not dependent on their sports performance

The One that got away

Marshall got a 2nd & 3rd chance - He had a kid struggling with pitching and took himself out of the game. The first time he let the kid leave the game. 6 months later the kid wanted to take himself out, Marshall asked the kid to get him 1 out. The kid still struggled. Then 6 months later he asked the kid to get him 1 out and he worked out of a bases-loaded no outs situation without giving up any runs.

Best borrowed/stolen idea

The decision is part of the skill - learned from Mark Upton

Compete and measure it!

Favorite coaching book/quote

Quote/Book: 'We went out looking for exceptional kids and what we found is exceptional conditions' - Benjamin Bloom in Developing Talent in Young People. Be the coach to develop exceptional athletes and people.

Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck

Parting Advice

You can't teach everyone the same way

Have a preseason meeting with your parents to set expectations. 'The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place' - George Bernard Shaw

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