Don Kyle - WAIS Baseball. 14 years as coach
WABN: What is the best piece of advice you can give someone who wants to motivate a team?
DK: ‘‘They will not need to motivate a team if they have coached them in the art of execution, no matter what the conditions. If you teach them how to play, it’s up to them to find their motivation no matter what the conditions are.’’
WABN: What has been your biggest mistake as a coach and what did you learn from it?
DK: ‘‘Never assume; make sure the player or players know and understand what you are teaching, otherwise they cannot execute.’’
WABN: What other profession do you most often seek advice from with respect to your team’s performance and why?
DK: ‘‘I am always talking to people like physios, nutritionists, and psychologists, as the more you can understand as a coach, the better off your athletes will be.’’
WABN: How do you manage player egos?
DK: ‘‘So that you get the best out of them and utilise their skills to maximise their individual ability, which will help the team’s performance.’’
WABN: How do you manage off-field player conflicts?
DK: ‘‘Hopefully in an unbiased way.
WABN: What currently frustrates you about your sport and what would you do to change it?
DK: ‘‘The politics. Stay positive and eventually the right people will make the right decisions.’’
WABN: How important is it for players to develop skills outside of their sport? What do you do to encourage it?
DK: ‘‘Cross training is essential as it gives the athletes a breather and stimulates their growth in their own sport. I encourage active rest.’’
WABN: What sporting identity do you most admire and why?
DK: ‘‘Lionel Rose; mentally tough with a never-say-die attitude.’’
WABN: Describe your preferred outdoor-based training session.
DK: ‘‘We do one-on-one sessions at Baseball Park working on players’ offensive or defensive techniques; it can be hitting in cages or live on field. We also do agility work with ladders, hurdles, and ‘talk’ the game.
‘‘We also do the odd session down the beach. It can be any beach – we recently went to Swanbourne and Cottesloe – it involves a 20-minute beach run, followed by beach games, gridiron, football, soccer, anything we make up on the day.’’
