Quote:
Originally Posted by CaramonLS
Hmm, we might be getting off track a little bit. Maybe this would be a better analogy.
In baseball, all teams have hitting coaches, but typically players are responsible for correcting their own swing w/ 3rd party help, especially in the off season. However, the hitting coach's main job is to do some work with the player on their swing, but also to identify when their swing is off so that they can correct it.
I think it is a lot to ask of a 24 year old to be identifying his own problems mid-season. Players, when they are living in the moment, tend not to see the entire picture.
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All players are going to talk to family and friends about their game. Since these guys are athletes and spend a ton of time training, some of their friends are going to be coaches/trainers. These guys will offer tips or see things that a head coach doesn't see because they have less experience with the player than these friends/family have.
Its not like the Flames just threw their hands up in their air and said 'we give up... figure it out yourself'. I'm sure a lot of the messages from the coach and this guy were similar but sometimes a different voice can have more impact. Hartley flat out said that Backlund was playing too defensive and not aggressive or confident enough on the offensive end.... that is what has changed. Its not this guy came in there with some crazy idea that no one had thought about.