Who Coaches Better? Men or Women

[Stacie Mahoe]

Who does the softball coaching job better? Men or women?

Women, I think, have an advantage as far as being able to relate to the players and understand them. However, men can sometimes get a response out of players that most women can't get.

Then again, people will say that gender doesn't matter, the individual does. BUT, "in genera;" - what's your opinion. Are men better at coaching women's softball or do women do a better job coaching female softball players?

[Mini Me]

I think women are better coaches, because if the women that is coaching is a person that played softball, the coach can teach the players how to do things correctly.
Unlike men coaches who really doesn't really know the game of softball, trying to teach the players something and the parents are on the side watching their child something that they know is wrong. Then your parent tells you not to listen to the coaches and the coaches get made at your child because your child is not listening to them.

Women are better coaches.

[OUTLAW FASTPITCH COACH]

I am not sure if women are better coaches than men. I am sure that most of the women coaches I go up against have a more fierce competitive drive to them. I think the biggest reason most women are better coaches than most men is that too many men try to coach fastpitch like baseball. so i guess I am saying some women coaches are better than some men coaches. They just are not better than me lol.

The Outlaw Coach http://fastpitchsecrets.synthasite.com/

[OUTLAW FASTPITCH COACH]

Mini Me said:

I think women are better coaches, because if the women that is coaching is a person that played softball, the coach can teach the players how to do things correctly.
Unlike men coaches who really doesn't really know the game of softball, trying to teach the players something and the parents are on the side watching their child something that they know is wrong. Then your parent tells you not to listen to the coaches and the coaches get made at your child because your child is not listening to them. Women are better coaches.

You have to remember some of us men have played coed
some of us realize it is a totally different game than baseball
some of us are true students of the game and try to learn daily
and as far as being able to show a player the correct way to do something, I still have a 60+ mile an hour fastball with 5 more pitches to go with it
women are only better when a man refuses to realize he can learn a lot from a women coach
The Outlaw Coach http://fastpitchsecrets.synthasite.com/

[Stacie Mahoe]

OUTLAW COACH said:

I so i guess I am saying some women coaches are better than some men coaches. They just are not better than me lol.

The Outlaw Coach http://fastpitchsecrets.synthasite.com/

hehe - I like that!

Obviously, there are men who are great coaches, no doubt about that. There are just certain "weaknesses/mistakes" I see men make & I can't help but think, "most women would never do that." LOL

Most coaches I come into contact with via www.allaboutfastpitch.com are like you - willing to learn & know they aren't the "know all/be all" simply because they've coached baseball for eons. Unfortunately, the more coaches I see in "real life" (at tournaments and such), the more and more I realize it's NOT easy to find coaches with integrity, knowledge, and true drive to coach "for the GIRLS." It's infuriating and disheartening at the same time.

[brittney]

I have both a man and a women. My teams respond to the coaches almost in the same way. I listen to my female coach more because she played and she understands what is going on in my life better than a male coach could. But then my male coach can sometimes get us to do more because he is a man(if you get what I'm saying) and it almost seem that because he is a man we listen to him. But i do think it is the individuals way of coaching that we respond to also.

[Richard Thomas]

I think that both men and women can/are be successful coaching softball. My perspective is from coaching and being around 12-16 year old girls' teams.

Before you all think i'm copping out and being "politically correct", let me explain. From what i've seen, most women coaches are better at understanding the emotional side of players and being able to relate to players. A lot of men coaches struggle with this; the tendency for a lot of men to yell at their players. Most of the time, this just causes girls to shut down and stop listening. Men that can understand that girls do not react the same as boys, can be successful.

A lot of this will depend on the makeup of the team.

[OUTLAW FASTPITCH COACH]

I have never yelled at my team as a whole or at a player in 12+ years. Although at the first of this season my team faced a team that was shall we say coaching challenged and they played down to their level. We always circle up at the end of the game and discuss what we did well and what we need to improve on in the next game. As I squatted down in the circle this time I said "oh I am sorry I have some how gotten in the wrong huddle. This can't be my team because my team would never let each other down like that". I then got up and walked out of the circle. They actually apologized to their pitcher, to each other and then me. We have no where near won every game since then but now if you beat my girls you have to beat them. They no longer give games away.

Richard Thomas said:

I think that both men and women can/are be successful coaching softball. My perspective is from coaching and being around 12-16 year old girls' teams.

Before you all think i'm copping out and being "politically correct", let me explain. From what i've seen, most women coaches are better at understanding the emotional side of players and being able to relate to players. A lot of men coaches struggle with this; the tendency for a lot of men to yell at their players. Most of the time, this just causes girls to shut down and stop listening. Men that can understand that girls do not react the same as boys, can be successful.

A lot of this will depend on the makeup of the team.

[shai]

women are better because they can relate 2 young girls.
and yong girls rather have women coach them.
its more fun with a women coch.

[David Jett]

Coaching ability, as with good mechanics, is not gender specific. That said, had it not been for a woman coach I may have quit the youth game 1983, or at least stayed in the 10U age group. Since that time I have wanted a female coach on the field at practice and games.

[James]

That is quite a mis-statement, saying that men coaches do not know the game of softball. There are really good coaches on both sides of the gender issue. However, good coaches are not determined by their sex. Instead, knowledge, the willingness to make learning the game of softball a lifetime occurrence, knowing your players, and the ability to develop your players are the things that make a good coach. All of these things are not exclusive to men or women.



Mini Me said:

I think women are better coaches, because if the women that is coaching is a person that played softball, the coach can teach the players how to do things correctly.
Unlike men coaches who really doesn't really know the game of softball, trying to teach the players something and the parents are on the side watching their child something that they know is wrong. Then your parent tells you not to listen to the coaches and the coaches get made at your child because your child is not listening to them.

Women are better coaches.

[Tony Garcia]

I actually think that if you have both thats the way to go. My wife and I both coach and we both compliment each other in terms of coaching ability. She always says that she doesn't have the ability to teach what she knows but she tells me and I communicate it to the girls. In the 6 or 7 years we have been coaching she has taught me so much about how to teach and how to coach. We are always there to help each other to get the point across. She was a former player so she knows all the insides and outs. I have coached for many years and know the coaching aspect so we share all the information back and forth. I actually think that because we both Co-Head Coach we have gotten a good reputation by our league that alot of girls want to have "The Garcia Coaching Experience" ... LOL. I'm still trying to see what the heck that means but I guess its pretty good because our player return rate is very high!

[Mike Neeley]

I agree with James, coaching is not gender specific. Some men just relate to girls better than others. I've seen some men and woman coaches I would not let my daughter play on there team. Some have been really good. Some men and woman are made to coach and others do it just because there is a need. Some people just don't know how to teach the game of Fastpitch, male or female. In our league mostly the men are coaches and woman are managers. Unless of course one of the woman want to coach. We have a requirement to have a woman in the dugout and around the field at all times.
If you must have a general opinion, men who have played fastpitch softball and can relate to females will do a better job coaching than a woman. It all comes down to how the coach communicates with the players.