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100 SELF-DISCIPLINE
Baseball teaches self-discipline through hard work and sacrifices necessary to achieve a goal.
There are no shortcuts to success. Baseball is the same life, you have to work to accomplish anything and preparation is everything.
Leaders are not born, they are made. To be a leader, you have to know your stuff. You have to make people want to follow you. They do not want to follow somebody who does not know where he or she is going.
From my own experience as a father and a coach I believe that athletes can start to master the art of self-discipline as they enter the middle age level (11-13 year olds.) Below, are a couple of examples that I found to be effective motivators for young athletes.
(1) Parents
I would allow my boys an extra half-hour each night before lights out, providing they read a book from my baseball library for half an hour everyday. It did not matter when they read it, right after school or supper was fine with me. If, they did not read, it was early bed-time.
This also helped to improve their reading skills and gave them an understanding of what athletes need to know to master the skills required in baseball.
(2) The Coach
Before, the season started I would evaluate each player and what"we the coaches" would need to do, to help each player improve their skills over the entire season. I would discuss with each athlete individually our evaluation and help him set a goal for "self-improvement."
Setting individual goals helped if a discipline problem developed. Our evaluation meeting was a good focal point if the athlete wasn't towing the line or struggling from time to time. Knowing "we as coaches" cared about him as an individual was good for his "self-esteem."
As a coach, especially in the "Upper Levels" it is easier to develop the team concept if the athlete knows he has to demonstrate self-discipline all the time. When you play against a better team and win, it is most likely, because your athletes have mastered the art of "self-discipline."
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