Do you have Superman Syndrome?
January 27, 2017 by Coach McCreary
Filed under Coaching
Is this you?
It’s very easy for baseball coaches to get burned out. Unfortunately, many coaches are their own worst enemy when it comes to having enough of the game. A big reason for that is “Superman Syndrome.”
Superman Syndrome is a disease that afflicts mostly male coaches. Symptoms include the following:
- A need to control the entire pitching staff
- A need to control the hitting philosophy, drill selection, and instruction
- A need to control all things related to defense
- A need to calculate all the team stats
- A need to control every aspect of fundraising
- A need to control the team gear designs
- A need to control team equipment ordering
- A need to control camp and clinic organization and registration.
You get the picture. Basically, it’s the belief that you have to do everything by yourself. Sound familiar?
College and pro coaches tend to have an abundance of paid and/or volunteer coaches so even though Superman Syndrome can effect them, it generally is not as severe of a condition as compared to the high school level and below.
If you think you might have this disease, rest assured. The road to a cure is below. (Note: if you are not sure if you have this disease, just ask your significant other or your assistant(s). They will tell you.)
To cure yourself of this disease, start by sitting down in a quiet place with a piece of paper and a pen and come up with some honest answers to the following four questions:
- What areas of the game or coaching are so important that they can only be done by me? (ex. line-ups, contacting the media, meetings with administrators and/or parents, etc.)
- What areas am I very good at but probably should not be doing? (ex. I was a minor league pitcher and a minor league (IND) pitching coach but I quickly and gladly handed over all pitching responsibilities to my pitching coach)
- What areas do I like doing but probably shouldn’t? (ex. calculating stats, looking for and designing gear, etc.)
- What areas of the game do I know the least or not at all? (ex. have you completed the Coaching Wheel assessment on my Resource page?)
If at least half of your time is spent doing anything other than what you wrote for #1, you have Superman Syndrome.
For your own sanity, and that of others, make some adjustments and stop trying to be Superman!
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