The Introduction to Playing Baseball: A Need-To-Know Guide for Young Players, Coaches & Parents
Contents:
Here are a set of ready-to-go resources that break the whole process down, step by step. Nothing is better than that first day out in the sun, finally practicing the sport itself. A great baseball practice really just comes down to understanding where your team is at and what they need to work on. Finding the right mix between disciplined skills development and simple fun is the goal for any youth practice. These resources will help you get there as quickly as possible.
Like any modern sport, you need some equipment to play baseball. And you need some extra equipment for certain practice drills as well. And for the love of all that is good and lovely, we hope your uniform style comes pre-selected for your team. You do NOT want control over that, trust us. But if it is forced upon you by the hand of fate, see the "How To Handle Parents" guide in Chapter 1.
Communicating with Parents
Always remember that safety is your number one concern, especially when working with young athletes. Injuries are the worst part of sports. At higher levels, they are somewhat unavoidable, even with proper care, but at the youth sports level, most injuries can be avoided with a solid pre-game warmup routine. Warmups and cool downs help athletes keep their muscles in optimal condition. Take some of the following sample comments:.
If you want to win that game, you should be starting my kid. He should be hitting third, if you ask me. But sometimes you get it, free of charge. Tell parents politely and firmly that while you appreciate their concerns, those are coaching decisions reserved for you and any assistant coaches you might have.
Remind them that the decisions you make are in the best interest of all the players, including their own son or daughter. And leave it at that. Are parents justified in making derogatory or disparaging comments to or about umpires? Absolutely not, even if the ump misses the call. Youth league umpires are most often volunteers, unpaid and untrained.
Coaching youth baseball can be a LOT harder than it looks. Follow this comprehensive guide to help your kids excel this season. Introduction You don't see the administration, the dealing with parents, the practice planning, the . Batting is one of the primary skills every young player needs, and the best way to help. Dear Coaches, Parents, Players & Fans: all coaches in the area a guideline as to goals for baseball players at each level. We need to know as coaches what we should be teaching our players so they can Introduce drill work (tee, soft toss, short toss) Learn the positions and the areas each player should cover.
Yelling at the umpire is poor sporting behavior, and it sends the wrong message to kids:. As noted earlier, let parents know up front what you expect of them, including their behavior at games. If they yell at the umpires during games, talk with them after the game. Tell them you appreciate their support but that you need them to stop berating the umpires, even if they miss calls. Tell them why you feel this way for the reasons stated in the previous paragraph , and ask that they refrain from doing so at future games. Parents who yell at their own kids—for striking out, for committing an error, for whatever reason—do a tremendous disservice to their children.
The words of parents are extremely powerful, and they have the power to damage and destroy. If a parent yells at his child during a game, counter the harmful words with your own words of encouragement and sincere praise. Just make sure the praise is truly sincere because kids can see through false praise and such praise can undermine your own credibility and their ability to believe you in this or other situations. If you believe the situation warrants it, talk to that parent during the game or send a nonverbal message to him to cut the negative talk.
Before doing this, though, consider whether you can send your message without fanning the flames on the spot. Tell the parent that his son needs his support and encouragement. Take the following examples:. Intervene in the same way you would with a parent yelling at her own son or daughter. Children can be abused physically, emotionally, and sexually. The signs of abuse are not always readily apparent, nor are they always easily separated from the scratches and bruises that come from normal childhood activity.
The point here is not to make you paranoid and suspect abuse when you see a player with a black eye, but to keep your own eyes open and watch for additional signs. Kids who are abused tend to. Players who exhibit some or all of these signs might have been abused, or they might have experienced another child being abused. The central thought for these kids is the runner being safe at a base or being tagged out.
Throwing skills, fielding skills, catching a throw at a base for a force out and even batting skills are secondary to the concept of 'safe' versus 'tagged out'. As we get into teaching skills and the basics to our kids, we must keep in mind that elements of 'tag' and being 'safe' will drive much of how the kids respond to activities on the field. On offense, when the ball is in play, the kids' experience is a mad dash of anxiety in hopes of getting to the next base safely.
They are not particularly conscious of the times when they are going to get to the next base without a play being made on them. Some kids, because of the fact that when they are running between bases they are not 'safe', will be reluctant to leave a base even when play forces them to the next base, especially when it is clear they are vulnerable to being tagged out or put out at the next base. The defensive side of the ball is where the majority of our teaching challenges lie. For our kids this game of tag is a little more complicated because throwing and catching that darn ball doesn't always work out real well.
Then, to make matters worse, we add the concept of tagging a base as an option for getting a runner out. And we are trying to teach these concepts in an environment where simply being the one who comes up from the bottom of the pile with the ball is plenty to call it a successful day. Please do not view these statements as negatives.
How to Start Coaching a Youth Baseball Team
Accepting these points as the realities that they are, and being prepared to deal with them, will enable us to better enjoy the time we spend on the field with our kids. If, as a Tee-Ball coach, we go into the season thinking we are going to experience baseball we are setting ourselves up for a lot of frustration and disappointment. If we approach the season for what it is, spending time with our child and their friends, watching them run around, laugh while they work to develop skills to catch, throw and hit that little ball, then we can have a great time as coaches.
However, given the information in this section, over time, we can be help our kids begin to learn the basics of baseball and develop some baseball skills. Until both eyes learn to work together we humans lack a keen sense of depth perception, which plays a big role in catching a flying baseball. It is important recognize that, short of a few exceptions, the brains in kids this age have not developed to the point where they can catch a flying ball with much proficiency. Missing a thrown ball at this age has little to do with a lack of athletic talent. In addition to the lack of brain development needed to track and catch a flying ball; the fact is that most have very little experience or practice in this skill.
As the spring progresses the kids hey will improve and they will begin to catch the ball more often. The most important that we go into our tenure as Tee-Ball coaches with an understanding of the developmental limitations of kids in this age group. We can give our kids a glove, a ball and a bat, take them to a ball field and talk about baseball until we are blue in the face, but this is no guarantee that our kids will be thinking baseball the whole time they are at the park. Other things they will find of interest include: These all can and will trump baseball in importance at times during a practice or game.
Adults who recognize these realities, accept them and work baseball in along the way will enjoy their time with the kids much more. Coaches who resist accepting the reality of the Tee-Ball world will experience high levels of frustration, bewilderment and blood pressure. In the end, our primary purpose as Tee-Ball coaches is to help the kids develop a love of the game and create an environment that leads to them wanting to continue playing the game.
We need to get the kids to stick around until age Kids who make it to this age are likely to continue on with the game to age This statement is made, initially, to get their attention and wake them up to the concept of utilizing their leg strength to power their swing. We come back later and acknowledge that the arms ARE part of the swing, but the use of the legs is a bigger part of the action being successful.
The fact is, the majority of the effort in moving the bat comes from the legs. Watch the baseball highlights on TV tonight. We teach them to think of their legs as a spring. When watching the batters on the TV baseball highlights tonight notice that when they are in their stance their head is centered between their feet and at the completion of the swing their head is still centered between their feet. Watch their swings and note how much their heads move.
Stance - A very important point, which will positively impact the distance a player can hit the ball, is where a batter stands child stands in relation to the Tee stem and the ball. A batter in baseball contacts a live pitch pretty much when the ball is even with their front foot. Also they need their feet to be wider than shoulder width apart. Finally, we should be able to draw a straight line from their back toe to their front toe to the pitching rubber. See the article 'Herding Cats ' at the bottom of this page. Watch the baseball highlights on TV tonight and take note of the players fielding and throwing the ball …watch their feet.
Occasionally the pro players, in situations where they need to make short, quick throws, will not move their feet to throw, but they are generating most of the power for their throws in their legs using a subtle weight shift. It is difficult to consistently hit a baseball accurately and at the correct speed when using a bat. When throwing or rolling we can consistently place the ball where we want it and deliver it at an appropriate speed. This technique is used in college practices around the country and in pro training drills for the reasons mentioned above. We can make it through the entire Tee-Ball season and never hit a ball with a bat …and we will be hugely successful in getting kids the repetitions they need to develop their skills.
As noted above, kids this age are going to struggle with catching a thrown ball …so how do we deal with this issue? First, when teaching and providing feedback we keep our remarks focused on the actions leading up to a catch. If we focus on the result we very rarely will have the opportunity to give the kids praise. When we focus on actions we can praise their efforts most every time. Their parents likely had the best of intentions when buying the glove and were not aware of the fact that some baseball gloves are not designed to really be used to play organized baseball on a team.
It is tough to suggest a parent to go out and spend more money on a new glove. However, for the sake of the child it is something to consider discussing. It is not suggested that gloves be purchased from this site; the link is shared to show pictures and brands of some gloves and to use as a reference prior to making a purchase. Most sporting goods store that cater primarily to teams sports football, baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.
Purchasing a glove at Target, Toys R Us, etc. Receiving catching a throw has three key action points: Any child on your team can perform these three fundamental skills every time, though they will not likely catch the ball very often. When they perform these actions in their attempt to catch, we can praise those actions and they will remain eager to keep trying Instruct players to stand with their feet wider than shoulder width and with their hands and elbows held out in front of their body.
Guide to Coaching Youth Baseball
This stance is difficult for a young child however, because of their lack of leg and shoulder strength. Keep working with them to get in a proper position even though some many will not master it at this age. When we see them standing in the positions described, at least we know they are trying. A fun and effective way to train this concept is to tell the kids to pretend they are frogs. Tell them that when you call out "Ready Position" they jump up and land with their feet wide and hands and arms extended in front of them in a Ready Position and holler out loudly, 'Ribbit!
Doing this along with them makes it more fun and engaging. We want to remind our kids that the ball does not always come straight to them. The result is they have both the ball and their glove in their line of sight. Most young children, because of the lack of shoulder strength to support the weight of their arms and the glove , hold their glove and elbows close to their body when preparing for, and attempting to make, a catch. We will often see the kids position their glove outside their shoulders when attempting to catch. They recognize they will often miss the ball and are smart enough to not stand directly in the flight of the ball.
Given the fact that this age group has great difficulty catching the ball, a most efficient playing catch scenario involves each player with an adult mom or dad as their throwing partner. Yes, you read correctly; we should strive to have a 1: Parents, how long will our kids be this small and cute?
We can make 60 minutes a day, a couple days a week, to spend time with our own child. It is important to understand that Little League International specifically states that any time player is throwing a ball that another player is to be catching the ball. The above suggestion is contrary to LL rules. The rule is well intended, but given that scientific research supports the idea that asking a year old human to catch a flying baseball contrary to our knowledge of human brain development.
An adult throwing partner can make more accurate throws increasing the chance to the player catching the ball. The adult will catch throws more often. In this scenario the kids get many more repetitions resulting in quicker skill development. The solution is to have an adult or two behind each row of kids playing catch. These adults have a few balls in hand and when the kids miss the throw, those adults roll another ball to them. If we do not have extra adults available to back up the throws, place balls a couple feet behind each player.
When they miss a throw they can immediately pick up another ball and keep the skill building process going.
Most Tee-Ball teams will have a player or two who, when attempting to catch a thrown ball, regardless of how high the throw is, will hold their glove with the palm facing up, as if they are balancing a tray of food or drinks. When a ball is being caught above chest level we want the kids to 'point their fingers up' so the palm of the glove is facing the ball. First, explain and demonstrate to the player that the glove hand fingers point UP on balls that are coming to them above chest level.
The drill is simple Move your hands from the Ready Position to 12 o'clock, so your thumbs are touching and your fingers are pointing up. Have the player mirror that action, move your hands back to 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock, then repeat these actions,, with the player mimicking your movements, over and over times. Tell the player which side of the face the two of you will complete the 'fingers up' action, prior to doing the drill. Repeat the actions a few time with the hands completing the movement on each side of the face.
We don't wan to imply to the kids that they want their hands directly in front of their face when they catch Throwing at this age is not going to look pretty early on for most kids. Not much at this age will look pretty: Before teaching throwing we need to clarify a misconception that most every kid and many adults too has; they think the ball is thrown with their arm.
First , explain to the kids that when they are preparing to throw they want the glove side of their body pointing at their target - NOT their chest. They are now in a "Power Position". Moving their feet to throw is a new concept and action; it will take them some time and repetition to coordinate the transition from the shuffle action to the upper body arms action.
It will take a couple days for the kids to do two things at once: We will need to stretch out the distance between the kids playing catch with each other once they learn to move their feet, because the distance they are able to throw may double in a few days. Most players will struggle with using their glove elbow to pull back when throwing. Second, it takes practice and coordination to execute this pulling action.
Third it takes a fair amount of strength to use and control the action of the glove arm. Even with instruction many players will not learn to utilize their glove arm in the throwing action over the course of the season. Some kids have a tendency to throw the ball in a high arc. This is a habit we want to nip in the bud right away and eliminate.
A simple and fun approach to the kids playing catch, in order to break this habit, is to instruct them to throw the ball to their partner on a bounce which may turn into several bounces. This discourages the high arcing Moon Toss. On the receiving end there are many benefits. The players have a better chance of catching or stopping the ball and they get experience with the ball taking a bounce in front of them…they will see this a lot over the season and their baseball careers. First, we need to explain a couple things to the kids and continue teaching these points throughout the season: The Base Belongs to the Runner.
Kids on defense think if they are the first, second, or third baseman that that base is theirs. A quick way to educate the kids is to take them over to a base third works well. When I stand on the base, am I safe? We then tell them they are not allowed to touch the base unless they have the ball….
Ball First, Base Second. The ball rarely comes straight to us when we are at a base. In order to touch the base they must first have the key.
An important thing to note is that in youth baseball the base works like a magnet. Once the defensive player touches the base with their foot they have a hard time removing their foot from the base, even if a throw is off line. Keep in mind kids see older players HS, college, and pros on TV catching accurately thrown balls while having their foot on the base. Knowing the base is a magnet and that most throws will not be accurate, having the rule that the defensive player is not allowed to touch the base before they get the ball frees them from the powerful magnetic force of the base.
I point out that Russell Wilson is Required to wear his football helmet on every play; it is not optional. Kids recognize that the ball needs to get to the base before the runner in order to get the runner out. Understandably they are curious of where the runner is in relation to the base prior to them getting the ball. Unfortunately this curiosity often dominates their attention and they take their eyes off the ball.
We want to constantly tell our kids to not look at the runner and keep their eyes on the ball. They need to catch the ball first if there is any chance of getting the runner out. We can now emphasize the fact that the runner is safe a lot, so getting an out on each play is not a big concern. We want to teach our kids to put all their attention on the ball and catch it first.
With that accomplished they have a chance of getting an out. Finally, we must be patient with the reality of the distraction the runner poses.
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The issue will not go away during the course of the season; it will remain an issue until the players reach, at least, the age of 9 or