Being a demanding baseball coach as a Christian

Being demanding is not a negative standard, however, lack of focus is. When coaches concentrate on the result of the game, they will use any tactic to win. The game is simply an outpouring of what was disciplined and practiced ahead of time.

I have coached in both a Christian and secular environment and in the end the standards are the same. One of the best things you can do is read some of the biographies of the great coaches. John Wooden"They call me Coach" and Coach K comes to mind. Their desire to be successful in the athletic arena is great and you can see that in what they demand of their players, yet that desire is dwarved by their desire to see the young men they are coaching live successfully outside the arena.

The greatest gift I got as a high school basketball player was to be pushed beyond what I thought I was capable of by my coach. The goal is excellence and not winning, however, if your philosophy of coaching and teaching are correct, the game will take care of itself. The greatest things I learned as a college player were not physical, but spiritual. My coach was very Godly and he challanged us to be character driving, not just driven to win.
To this day, I consider Coach Scott to be my mentor.

You have an opportunity to lead these players, to influence their lives, and if means(the game) doesn't allow you to reach the end(influence the lives of the players positively) then you need to evaluate why your are coaching.

Also, sometimes the issue is just one of maturity and self control/discipline. You may need to concentrate more on being demanding of yourself. There are some great books on coaching and what is demanded of that position Tt would be well worth your time to read a few. Some of the best players I know made the worst coaches and some of the best have never played beyond high school.

Good luck with the team and I hope that at the end of the season you have more to show for your effort than your win/loss record.