How To Deal With “Daddy Ball”

Below we will be discussing HOW YOU CAN DEAL WITH DADDY BALL. I hope this is able to help!

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So “daddy ball” is something I get asked about a lot. And really there are 3 things I want you to focus on when dealing with this.

1)- Be honest with yourself. Listen I’ve met a lot of coaches kids & a lot of kids/parents who complain about daddy ball. It’s hard to tell sometimes if it’s actually going on. So you need to be honest with yourself. In my experience coaches kids are generally super focused, work really hard and apply a good amount of the coaching we give them. Kids who complain, more often than not are not the most focused, want to be really good but their work ethic doesn’t match & don’t apply a lot of what we teach them or any coach teaches them… so sometimes it’s hard to believe them when they complain. But listen if be lying if I was saying this didn’t happen. I’ve dealt with it, and I can tell you I was never a kid who didn’t work hard, who didn’t listen & who didn’t apply what I was taught. So I understand where you are at. But have that honest conversation with yourself. Are you doing enough? And if you’re doing a lot- is it actively giving you results? If so- then I want you to read point 2 & 3 of this article. If not, you need to get to work and put in more effort.

2)- Take it personally. I remember in high school I dealt with this as a QB. Hard part about QB is there can only be one. I was competing with the athletic directors son- who just hired & was good friends with our new head coach. Tough spot. Wasn’t given a chance & the kid was horrible. I took it personally. I made it my mission to show I was better. At parent meetings- parents were literally yelling at our coach, literally screaming at him, to play me. That’s the attitude you need to have. Execute with the opportunities given to you- and trust me you will eventually get a chance.

3)- Potentially leave the team. You never want to seen like a coward who runs from competition. But, when it’s time to go- it’s time to go. If it seems like it will never change, I recommend going somewhere that’s based on merit or where you will play. Even if the competition is lower- that is the best decision for your development if you’ve given everything you have and you still aren’t getting a chance.