The Separators: Intangibles
As coaches and parents, we love our players and our children. That is why we do what we do. We care about them and want what is best for them. Because we want what is best for them, we have to be honest with them even if the truth is not what they want to hear-- it's probably what they need to hear. We have to have honest conversations with our players about their ability level, where they stand, where they need to improve, etc. The best way I have found to approach these situations is to give them honest feedback, but to drive home the point that each player can make a difference... no matter what his/her ability level is or what his/her role is. Intangibles (things that take no exceptional talent) can be a separator, a difference maker. I have coached many teams in which we had a lot of players with the same ability level. They threw the same, they fielded the same, they hit the same, they had similar speed. That is not a bad thing, but there are only so many spots in a li...