Ten Tips on How to Identify Who Can Pitch

By John R Di Nicola

Coaching Little League Pitchers

Coaching little league pitchers is every coaches night mare. I will be discussing the level which it is right after T-Ball or coach pitch depending on when the player comes into the league. There are variation of the coaching experience in little league. Regardless of the coaches experience he will be faced with finding pitchers.

Three Types of Coaches:

Has coaching experience and has at least two assistant either moved up from coach pitch or T-Ball
First year coaching but has some experience but never a Head Coach in Little League
Never coached before
Drafted Coach, this is the coach who's team was picked for him and given to him Each division will have approximately 8 to 12 teams depending on the size of the organization. The majority of the league will be combination of 2 and 3. The larger the division the greater chance there will be one drafted coach

Most leagues have a try out and a draft. You get your players list and first thing you ask yourself is how many pitchers do I have? You go home and call the parents one by one. You have your list of questions:

Has your son or daughter every played before?
How long have they played organized baseball?
What positions have they played?

You might get lucky and have one that has played in another league and has had some experience pitching.

How to identify players who can Pitch
How do they Grip the Ball?
While players are warming up watch how they throw the ball
How they bring their arm back. Is it short armed or fully extended?
Do they fall off to side when releasing ball
How is their follow through?
Do they snap their wrist downward when releasing the ball?
Does the ball go in an Arc or does it go more on a straight line?
How accurate is the throw? Does the receiving player have to move to catch each ball?
Watch their feet see if they stay flat footed and don't move as the ball approaches
Is the player aggressive while playing catch?

There are so many area's to cover when you trying to get your team ready for the first game. While pitching is one of the most important areas of the game you still have to be working on Defense, Hitting, and Running the Bases.

I found that if you work with the pitchers after practice or have a practice just for pitchers and catchers it works best. Pitching is too important to just rush through and give it only 20 minutes twice a week.

http://www.easypitching.com, http://twitter.com/easypitching
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Bring Out the Best in Your Youth Sports Team by Setting the Example

By Greg A. Marshall

Bring out the best ... in your youth sports team, in yourself, and in your team's parents. So, how do you do this? By setting the example - in the way you coach, the way you think, and the way you behave. We all hear the horror stories of coaches whose bad examples of preferential coaching treatment, poor sportsmanship, and negative attitudes seem to hold sway on youth sports.

But it doesn't have to be that way. You CAN be the coach who sets a positive example in these and other areas. What's more you can lead by example, showing the way for other coaches and parents to see your positive demeanor and honorable character as a yardstick for themselves, perhaps. Even if your behavior doesn't change another coach's style of coaching, at least you will always be able to know that you conducted yourself in an honorable and sportsmanlike manner.
Certainly, if nothing else, you can be the best possible example for your team's players, parents and "extended family." If your players see you as a coach whom they can trust - who conducts himself honorably, and treats the team fairly, they will respond to you better in the long haul. What's more, they will move on from your team and carry some of those attributes to their next team and allow them to develop their own sense of fair play and "best behavior."

This works for parents as well. Those parents who tend to behave poorly during a game will be more likely to temper their behavior if they observe that you keep yourself under control. Even if they don't change their behavior long term, they will generally be motivated to "tone it down" by the rest of the parents on your team "buying in" to your style of coaching. This encourages the parents to be more mindful of their attitude and actions than they might normally.

But the best possible result? It may cause a youngster to stop and think, "I'm going to play fair because my coach does."
And THAT is well worth the effort.

Greg A. Marshall is the creator of Teeball-To-A-Tee.com, a unique website offering excellent teaching and coaching tools for coaches and parents of very young baseball enthusiasts. The resources on the website are designed for the parent or prospective youth coach who is overwhelmed at the prospect of starting from scratch. The website and materials offered are full of practical advice to help youth coaches from the very first day of practice. http://www.teeball-to-a-tee.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_A._Marshall

How To Become A Complete Baseball Player

This is the ultimate goal for a ball player right? Developing the "five tools". It takes commitment and dedication of course, but it also takes a positive attitude towards improvement.

I read a quote yesterday from a college coach that really stuck with me...

"you will never improve a skill or ability if you start out thinking
you know everything about it."

Sounds simple enough. Some would say "keep an opened mind" says the same thing but I think there's more to it. My interpretation of this statement is... in order for a person to reach their goals they must be open to learning from others who have been down the road before them. In relationship to baseball it means listening to all advice and finding the good in it.

A baseball player will work with many coaches throughout their career. Youth players generally have different coaches every season. Some more experienced and knowledgeable than others. If you are lucky enough to play for a coach who really knows his or her stuff you will do yourself a great service by opening up, paying attention and taking in everything they want to teach you. You may not agree with everything, but take it in. Then you can balance that knowledge with what you have learned from others. This is how players improve... take the best lessons from the best coaches and put it all together. That's how you become a "complete" player.

For example, my friend's son has played for a coach the past 3 seasons who is VERY knowledgeable about hitting.. he played Div1 ball, was a powerhitter, taught him a lot. This coach also thought he knew a lot about baserunning. He knew some, but another coach this player worked with privately was a base stealing phemon who taught him things that the hitting coach had never learned. However, when the hitting coach gave him baserunning instruction he listened and took it in. Yet he practiced and used most of what the baserunning coach taught him. One day he had a game where he stole 3 bases. After the game the hitting coach said "say, great game today, you seem to have come up with a baserunning technique that really works for you, stay with it". Get the picture?

There are very few absolutes in baseball. While there are general guidelines on how to do things, every player is different. Players learn baseball skills in a way that fits them. That's why when you look at college and pro players, they all have similar elements in their swings, yet every swing is different.

Good coaches know that not all players have the same batting stance or the same load/stride technique, or the same stance when leading off 1st base. A good coach wants a player to get the most of their mental and physical ability.

The best advice to you, the player, is listen to all your coaches and take in the best parts from each. If you do this you will be well on your way to meeting your baseball goals and become a "complete player".

Coach Bob