By Frank Thompson
The one thing I will always cherish as I get older is the years I spent coaching my sons in the sport that I dearly love... baseball. Now, I am not one of those dads that get involved just to live their shortchanged childhood through their childrens' eyes. I played baseball for years and studied the game. I also, while progressing through the different age levels with my boys, understood the need to adjust and adapt to the respective age level.
Through trial and error, I did experience both good and bad things while coaching my teams. I want to share with you what NOT to do in this series to help make you a better coach.
What is number one on my list?
The top mistake coaches in youth baseball make when the coach, mentor and teach their team is that they run their practices in a manner where they do not most utilize all of their time by keeping the players active during those down times.
What do I mean?
They have the entire team go "shag" balls in the field while they pitch to them one at a time for batting practice.
Practices normally range from one to three hours for youth sports, and utilizing this method for a twelve player team can take up to two hours.
Certainly not the most effective means of practice!
I learned through the years that even though you are the coach of the team, there are generally two or three other parents who would love the opportunity to get out there and be active with their player by being involved. Simply ask them if they would like to help out in practice!
Why do you need the help?
When I ran practice, I always ran "stations" where I had every player active the entire time of practice. Some of my most effective practices in youth baseball lasted only 90 minutes because I had them so well organized.
Here's how I would structure my stations:
Station 1 - Ground ball practice on the infield with three players, one receiving the ground ball, one playing the position of first base for drill purposes and receiving the throw from across the field, and one catching the return throw at home plate for you.
Station 2 - Hand/eye batting coordination with two players in the outfield. This drill is done with a sawed off wooden broomstick and golf wiffle balls. I put the kids on their knees to hit these little balls with the little stick. The object is not how far, but how many they could hit. One player would hit, the other would shag loose balls for you.
Station 3 - Soft toss into a fence with wiffle balls with two players. Use wiffle balls to prevent injury from a ball bouncing back on the player and also to prevent damage from the ball being constantly hit into the fence and rolling up the bottom of the fence. One player hits, while the other shags.
Station 4 - Hitting live baseballs in the batting cage. Self explanatory. Use two players, one actively hitting, the other "on deck" to speed up the process.
Station 5 - Base running techniques. The remaining three would be taught and worked on perfecting stealing, leading off and sliding techniques, as the age level allows.
Coaches would need to coordinate rotations to prevent backing up of one station.
If planned out well, you will have a very productive practice.
Truth be told, the players like being more active as well, and the time flies by. As I said, some of my more productive practices lasted only 90 minutes.
Now get planning!
We will continue to discuss what NOT to do as a youth baseball coach in Part 2 of this series.
Frank Thompson has been writing articles online for over two years now. Not only does this author specialize in coaching and youth sports, but you can also check out his latest website Erie Auto Insurance which reviews and compares Erie Auto Insurance to other auto insurers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Thompson
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Baseball Skill and Fun Development
By Lionel Cruz
As you go through your season, you need to set you mind on making sure that your kids are learning a variety of skills although having fun in doing so as well. You know when you are doing your job when the kids are meeting your expectations and at the same time when they are on the field they always have smiles on their face the entire time while on the baseball field.
Winning and losing plays a major part of youth baseball because young kids always want to win which is fine. Although you'll need to explain to them how there are times where you will win and lose in baseball and even in everything you do and not just sports like when you take a test , when you are trying to get a job and so on.
The whole thing is not giving up at any point if you do want to succeed. One of your main jobs as a coach is believe it or not, to help them get prepared for life off of the field. Focus on teaching them the skills before even getting into winning and losing. Even if they cannot score a run throughout the entire game don't lose your cool and always cheer them on and make sure they never give up or lose their cool.
If they make errors tell them not to worry about it or shake it off and to get ready for the next one. Praise them for everything they do good on the field. Try to not let the scoreboard play a big factor in the game whether you are winning or losing. If your kids see that you are not that in to the score then they won't be into it as well. This should make the game go a lot smoother if you are losing.
Lionel has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years, not only does this author specialize in cooking, religion, and sports, you can also check out his latest website on Tinkerbell Party Supplies which has some great tips and ideas for your next party.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lionel_Cruz
As you go through your season, you need to set you mind on making sure that your kids are learning a variety of skills although having fun in doing so as well. You know when you are doing your job when the kids are meeting your expectations and at the same time when they are on the field they always have smiles on their face the entire time while on the baseball field.
Winning and losing plays a major part of youth baseball because young kids always want to win which is fine. Although you'll need to explain to them how there are times where you will win and lose in baseball and even in everything you do and not just sports like when you take a test , when you are trying to get a job and so on.
The whole thing is not giving up at any point if you do want to succeed. One of your main jobs as a coach is believe it or not, to help them get prepared for life off of the field. Focus on teaching them the skills before even getting into winning and losing. Even if they cannot score a run throughout the entire game don't lose your cool and always cheer them on and make sure they never give up or lose their cool.
If they make errors tell them not to worry about it or shake it off and to get ready for the next one. Praise them for everything they do good on the field. Try to not let the scoreboard play a big factor in the game whether you are winning or losing. If your kids see that you are not that in to the score then they won't be into it as well. This should make the game go a lot smoother if you are losing.
Lionel has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years, not only does this author specialize in cooking, religion, and sports, you can also check out his latest website on Tinkerbell Party Supplies which has some great tips and ideas for your next party.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lionel_Cruz
Monday, September 14, 2009
Teaching Good Sportsmanship
By John J. Castro
Sportsmanship is one of the main things that needs to be taught to your players throughout your practices and your games. You should even be a bit more strict on teaching sportsmanship rather than teaching them how to catch a fly ball or even a ground ball. The reason is because no these days on the television sometimes if not most of the time in sports you will see more poor sportsmanship than good sportsmanship and kids tend to copy things they see from professional athletes or better yet role models. So things that they see them do they will want to do or think that it is the right thing to do because they are doing it.
Sportsmanship is one of the main things that needs to be taught to your players throughout your practices and your games. You should even be a bit more strict on teaching sportsmanship rather than teaching them how to catch a fly ball or even a ground ball. The reason is because no these days on the television sometimes if not most of the time in sports you will see more poor sportsmanship than good sportsmanship and kids tend to copy things they see from professional athletes or better yet role models. So things that they see them do they will want to do or think that it is the right thing to do because they are doing it.
You need to teach them what is right and what is wrong.You should be the first person to endure good sportsmanship. the kids will see how you act on the field and they will do what you do as well. If they see you screaming at other players or other coaches then you yourself are showing poor sportsmanship. Therefore how can you teach some one good sportsmanship if you are not doing it and you are the coach. You need to lead by example then your team will follow. Try and talk about sportsmanship all the time so that your kids never forget how important it is . Always teach your team that when the game is over whether your team won or lost that you always go out to shake the other team's hand.
John has been writing articles online for nearly 6 years, not only does this author specialize in cooking, religion, and sports, you can also check out his latest website on Blues Clues Supplies which has some great tips and ideas for your next party.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_J._Castro
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Things to Know Before You Start Coaching Baseball
By Lionel Cruz
There might be a chance that you have thought about volunteering to coach in this season because either you like baseball and would like to teach young kids to play baseball or you would like to spend more time with your own child. You want to be there while he learns the great game of baseball and who better to learn from than his own parent. Maybe the actual baseball league is in the slums right now looking for good coaches to help teach young kids how this game is really played. Normally you would become a coach because you yourself loves the game of baseball, if not because your child has asked you to coach. Maybe you just love working with kids to see them improve. Whatever it may be, this is a good productive way to spend your extra time.
The biggest thing on your mind might be how would you relate to your players, how to get them to like you and how to teach them the skills that you need to play this game. Before you do anything you will need to get to know the parents of the children because the parents do not want to leave their son with a total stranger plus at the same time this will build a better relationship between you and the player as well. You always need to be professional even though it is a baseball game to have fun or no one will ever take you seriously.
Lionel has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years, not only does this author specialize in cooking, religion, and sports, you can also check out his latest website on Batman Party Supplies which has some great tips and ideas for your next party.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lionel_Cruz
There might be a chance that you have thought about volunteering to coach in this season because either you like baseball and would like to teach young kids to play baseball or you would like to spend more time with your own child. You want to be there while he learns the great game of baseball and who better to learn from than his own parent. Maybe the actual baseball league is in the slums right now looking for good coaches to help teach young kids how this game is really played. Normally you would become a coach because you yourself loves the game of baseball, if not because your child has asked you to coach. Maybe you just love working with kids to see them improve. Whatever it may be, this is a good productive way to spend your extra time.
The biggest thing on your mind might be how would you relate to your players, how to get them to like you and how to teach them the skills that you need to play this game. Before you do anything you will need to get to know the parents of the children because the parents do not want to leave their son with a total stranger plus at the same time this will build a better relationship between you and the player as well. You always need to be professional even though it is a baseball game to have fun or no one will ever take you seriously.
Lionel has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years, not only does this author specialize in cooking, religion, and sports, you can also check out his latest website on Batman Party Supplies which has some great tips and ideas for your next party.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lionel_Cruz
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