4 Ways to Determine If You Need Additional Coaching Resources

Coaching a team is hard. From developing player skills and game planning to implementing strength & conditioning programs and fostering teamwork, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed as a baseball coach. No matter what level you coach, finding the right resources can elevate your coaching game to a whole new level. But before you jump into making an investment, it’s important to evaluate whether your team can truly benefit from those resources.

In this blog, we share four ways to determine if you need additional coaching resources, so you can get the most out of not only your time but also your players.

1. Is strength & conditioning a part of your program?

Strength and conditioning are vital for player development and injury prevention. Forming a cornerstone for high-level athletics and differentiating not only individual players from other players but also teams from the competition.

If you haven't already implemented a strength and conditioning program, it's time you consider it. Such a program doesn't just improve physical prowess; it also boosts mental toughness, discipline, and teamwork. Tailor your program to your team's needs, focusing on areas like endurance, strength, agility, and flexibility. As with baseball, consistency is key in reaping the benefits of such a program.

The Futures App offers coaches the ability to create, store, and share S&C programs with their players. Players then have the ability to follow workouts on their phones, log weights, track progress, and watch movement videos so they do the exercises correctly.

If you don’t have a full-time strength and conditioning coach for your team, we can provide workouts for you. All of our programming is baseball-specific and handcrafted by some of the brightest minds in the sport. We feature six programs per month that are geared to have your athletes peak in the springtime:

• Position Players
• Pitchers
• Two-Way Players

Each of these categories also provide options depending on access to weights.

2. Do you have high player-to-coach ratios?

Nearly every sports team has more players than it has coaches, making it nearly impossible to spend an equal amount of time with each and every player. However, providing personalized attention and checking in with your players goes a long way in increasing their confidence as athletes and helping them reach their full potential.

Using TFA, Montclair State University’s Head Coach Dave Lorber was able to efficiently provide every player on his roster with a 1-on-1 experience:

“The remote coaching feature is awesome. My players can send me videos of their at-bats and bullpens and I can coach them through the app like I was right there next to them. It’s also a great second set of eyes. I can go back to watch videos of practice in greater detail to catch things that I didn’t see in the moment.”

The Futures App provides an easy vehicle for you and your staff to interact with your team. Use our video analysis, strength and conditioning, database, and communication tools to easily check in with all of your players and provide the individualized coaching they need.

3. Do you struggle to keep players engaged?

A key component to successful coaching lies in the ability to keep players actively engaged, both during practice and games. A disengaged player isn't just underperforming; they may also impact the morale and unity of the team.

To combat this, try incorporating video into your coaching methods. In a study conducted in US classrooms, teachers found the following improvements when they incorporated video in their teaching curriculum:

• Increases student engagement in learning (75%)
• Extends learning beyond the school day offering students opportunities for self-directed learning and remediation (72%)
• Increases the relevancy and quality of the instructional materials (63%)
• Provides an innovative way for instruction to be personalized for each student (56%)

Learning in a classroom setting and learning in an athletic setting are largely similar. Players are tasked with listening to coaching, incorporating changes, and physically performing in real-time. In fact, learning and developing athletic skills may even be more difficult than learning in the classroom.

4. Do you use multiple softwares to manage your team?

Multiple platforms are not uncommon, but it often causes confusion and limits your ability to get the most out of each platform.

What TFA has done is create a robust yet easy-to-use platform that coaches can use daily to get the most from their players. Use our video analysis tool to easily and effortlessly provide feedback to your players with just a few taps on your device.

A more efficient future

The Futures App provides efficiency for coaches, players, and teams alike. We are a one-stop shop for everything you need to manage a team and develop your players. Our platform enhances your ability to coach your team through video analysis, drill assignment, strength & conditioning programs, and access to MLB drills and comparison videos.

Reduce your tech clutter and enhance your ability to coach your players today.