TIPS FROM THE COACH
I am often asked what is the single most important thing a coach should do? Tell your players they are GOOD, a LOT!
Think about it, baseball is a game of failure. Fail ONLY 2 out of three times at the plate for your career and you will end up in the Hall Of Fame. But you failed 2 of 3 times. It is how you deal with the failures not the successes that determines how successfully you play. They must believe that they can hit anyone, make every play, win every game, and be champions. There can be no doubt, no fear. You as the coach must positively reinforce their value.
When practicing, practice having success. In BP, don't blow it by them Don't slip in a change up. Give them pitches they can hit. When hitting infield, don't scald rocket shots at them. Hit them a 'can of corn'. Make sure they have the opportunity to make the play 90% of the time.
When you correct their mistakes, let them know in no uncertain terms what they did wrong and how you expect the play to be executed and then spend an equal amount of time pointing out that when they execute the play properly how valuable to the team they will be and how much success they can expect.
Happy, confident players win games. Browbeaten, players that don't give a hoot, LOSE, no matter how talented.
My summer teams were often not the most talented but when it got down to the playoffs, we would point out that they had two choices; win and get to still keep having fun playing baseball or lose and spend the rest of the summer doing ALL those nasty little chores that Dad has saved up. You would be amazed how often more talented teams than we would roll over just so they could 'get to the beach', just so they could escape the coaches incessant hammering of them. We even had times when the catcher would tell us what pitches were coming! We might get beat but we never lost!
Yours In Baseball
Bruce Lambin
THE COACH
Tips From The Coach
How to Coach Youth Baseball
I've published articles on my baseball coaching and league website admin experiences as well as a paper I wrote for one of the Master's Degree classes I took last fall.
Apparently an author named Beverly Carroll noticed my passion for coaching Little League and asked if I'd give her book a read. I received the book, How to Coach Youth Baseball, in the mail on Monday March 19 while in the midst of preparing schedules for our league, setting practice plans for my team, preparing for our annual Little League Auction and praying all this snow will go away before our tryouts!
It is written in a very simple, easy to understand style. The author makes no assumptions that the reader knows anything about baseball (who really does) which may frustrate more experienced coaches, but overall the style does not distract from the content.
The book is divided into sections that address fundamental drills for each baseball discipline. It's chock full of drills and practice ideas. The drills are explained in detail and many have accompanying photographs to illustrate the proper execution. Incorporating lots of repetition with fundamental drills while varying the activities and keeping the kids engaged is tantamount to the success of any youth baseball squad and the drills outlined in this book will help a coach accomplish this. I was surprised and delighted to find many drills I use in my own practices described. I also got some good, new practice ideas which to me is the measuring stick for a good coaching book or lecture: "did I learn something new?" If I did, I consider the book or lecture a worthwhile endeavor! All the skills need to be covered and taught in practices, so having several different exercises for each fundamental is important. You'll probably find you don't have the time to do all the drills in the book in your practices, but it sure is nice to have something new up your sleeve if you do have some extra practice time.
The practice outlines in the book are invaluable, particularly to a new or less experienced baseball coach. Having a plan for practice is important- I like to set up 6 or 7 stations at my practices and rotate the kids through each station in pairs every 5-10 minutes. This keeps each kid engaged and actively working on skills and fundamentals for over an hour of each practice. The drills in How to Coach Youth Baseball are very well suited to this sort of practice organization.
There are things I do at my practices that are not in this book (maybe I'll write my own...), but there are more than enough fundamental drills to fill any team's practice season. I had one problem with the book-they actually cover throwing a curve ball! Kids should NOT throw curve balls until their teens and coaches who need to read this book shouldn't be teaching them to throw it!
I've read many books, attended many lectures and coach's clinics and searched for hours online to help me be a better coach and to help me make my practices productive and educational for my players. When I think back to that first tee ball team I "coached" years ago, I wish I had How to Coach Youth Baseball then.
If there is one book a coach, particularly a new baseball coach, should read, this is it. The season starts soon, get your copy today!
