Archive for Practice Plans
Youth Baseball Practice Plan
Posted by: | CommentsYouth Baseball Insider’s Standard Practice Plan
Every great practice starts with a solid plan of action so make sure you develop one before showing up to the field. Take your time and make sure you think out what you want or need your team to accomplish at every practice. Don’t be the coach that wings it. You won’t be as good as you can be by doing that. Planning is a key component of being an exceptional coach so take the time to plan and then work your plan.
Below you will see our basic baseball practice plan for a 90 minute practice. This plan is designed for you to modify to suit the needs of your team regardless of the age group you are working with. The plan doesn’t include drills at this point as that could take up an entire book in itself. Just follow the plan with your favorite drills and you will see things improve for you and your team.
“Insert Team Name” Baseball Practice Plan
“Insert Date”
Pre-practice Throwing: “Have the players that arrive early warm their arms up by playing catch for 5 minutes or so before practice. Keep them close to each other and make sure they are making good throws.
Introduction – 5 minutes: “Tell the players what you are doing today and explain your objectives. Encourage good work ethic and participation”.
Warm up – 10 minutes: “This should consist of stretching or light running. Design it based on the age group you are coaching and remember very young players don’t need to stretch much”.
Base running – 10 minutes: “Run a couple of drills to teach a specific base running skill. Additionally, you could include a base running competition between players”.
3 Practice Stations – 30 minutes: “Setup three drills with equal number of players. Consider one fielding drill, one hitting drill, and one throwing drill. Each drill will run 10 minutes and the players will rotate”.
Batting Practice – 20 minutes: “Setup the players at various fielding positions and have three players get helmets on. Conduct batting practice with a coach throwing BP or if you play machine pitch have the machine throw to the players”.
Base running or Speed and Agility – 10 minutes: “Conduct another round of base running drills that were not used in the earlier session. As an alternative you could do some type of speed and agility training with an agility ladder or cone work”.
Coaches Talk – 5 minutes: “The coach should summarize what was covered during practice today and talk about the successes and opportunities for improvement. Thank the players for their effort during practice and ask if they have any questions. Ask the Assistant Coaches if they have anything to add”.
Post Practice Discussions – Open: “Don’t forget to stay around and be available to your parent’s right after practice. Let them know up front they can talk to you at this time. This way you will present an open door policy which will lead to much better parent coach relationships”.
YOU WILL PLAY LIKE YOU PRACTICE, SO PRACTICE HARD!
Baseball Practice Organization
Posted by: | CommentsPractice Organization
It goes with out saying but things are much easier for you as a coach if you stay organized. I know you are a baseball coach now and all you want to do is show off your ability to teach fundamentals to your players.
Slow down, there will be plenty of time for that…
I applaud your enthusiasm; however I hope you realize there is more to being a head coach than just coaching especially at the youth level. You will most likely find yourself handling a variety of tasks before, during and after practice and if you are not careful the entire process will become such a job that you will not want to ever set foot on a baseball field again as a coach.
It doesn’t have to be that way and becoming organized is a way to deal with the reality of coaching youth sports. I challenge you to become very good at organization and delegation from the start of your coaching experience.
Over the years I have not found too many coaches that are successful at any level unless they are very organized and learn how to delegate tasks to others.
Key Organizing Points
- Learn as much as you can ahead of the start of the season. Tap your league as a resource for learning the fundamentals of the game.
- Know the rules.
- Once you get a list of your players from the league create a roster listing the names, ages, addresses, email addresses and contact numbers for each.
- Hold a preseason parents meeting and outline your expectations.
- Create a binder/folder and keep this information with you. I suggest you put it in your car and have it with you throughout the day. There will come a time when you need to refer to it.
- Create an email list for use throughout the season.
- Create a practice schedule and pass out to everyone. I also us an online application called http://www.mypocketschedules.com. This application is available for the iPhone, iPad and online via their website. My parents have always enjoyed having access to it. You can tell them to access it for all practice and game schedules which will keep you from having to send out a ton of reminders. Just update the schedule and tell them to check it each week. It works very well.
- Create your game line-ups ahead of time and provide to all your coaches.
- Recruit a mom or dad to help with organizing and managing the dug out during games. This is an absolute must have at the younger age groups or you will have complete chaos going on in the dugout.
- Develop a practice plan for every practice you conduct. Your plan should outline the fundamentals that will be covered and the time allocated to it. Spell out who is going to be helping you with the drills etc.
- At the younger age groups get your parents out on the field and delegate tasks to them during practice. They will be your life line with the younger age groups and you must learn to delegate to them. You will usually be surprised at how willing parents are to help but just need you to ask them. Their kids will love having them participate so it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Mavericks Outdoor Practice Plan
Posted by: | CommentsMavericks 1st Outdoor Practice
Well, it’s getting warmer so we took the team outdoors on Sunday for a full practice. Upon arrival I learned that dirt had been added to the field and it was very soft from some snow early last week so I got the workout of my life raking and dragging the field. Besides that everything went great and the players really enjoyed being outside.
For those of you following us on this blog, I’ll outline the practice plan below but before I do I’ll lets talk about my observations of the team so far.
- We are struggling to hit right now and yesterday was no exception.
- Our throwing needs to improve but is mainly due to arm strength. Looks like a lot of long-toss coming up.
- Fielding the baseball in the infield was actually very good and quite surprising for this age group.
- Disipline and hustle was outstanding and the boys are learning at each practice. Everyone is having fun as well.
Practice Plan:
1:00 – 1:10:
Partner Throwing with game. We added a game of 21 to their throwing which is having them count out 21 successful throws without a drop. We had a winner each round and then moved the boys back from each other and did it again.
1:10 – 2:00:
We broke into 4 groups. Group 1 worked on fielding ground balls at shortstop with throws to first base. Group 2 was stationed at first base working on receiving the ball from shortstop and moving off the base when needed to stop the ball from going behind them to the fence. Group 3 worked on a crossover drill in the outfield to learn how to move to the baseball on hits to their right and/or left. Group 4 took fly ball practice which included coach thrown balls.
2:00 – 2:30:
We broker into 3 hitting groups. Group 1 took live batting practice. Group 2 worked soft toss in the cage and group 3 shagged balls in the infield.
2:30 – 3:00:
Baserunning as a team. We worked on balls hit in the infield with running throw 1B. We taught the boys to break out of the box with 2 quick steps, peak to see if the ball got throw the infield and then run to the front of 1B and through it. Once through the bag we taught them to chop step quickly looking over the right shoulder toward fence and turn in that direction. We then worked on making your turn at first on balls hit to the outfield. We taught them to break the box with two hard steps, peak again and move slightly out to their right and touch the grass just to the right of the base path. This gives them a good angle to make a turn off the inside corner of the base.
3:00 – 3:05:
We concluded with a quick team meeting and prayer.
Summary: Our first outdoor practice of the season when very well considering. We didn’t hit well but everything else is on track with our preseason conditioning program. Great start to a very good season.
Hope you get some use out of these quick practice plans. Remember to break your team up into groups or stations as they really stay more engaged and get more repetitions. I’ve always broke into groups regardless of the age of the players. Trust me, it works.
Maverick Baseball Practice 6
Posted by: | CommentsMaverick Practice
We held our 6th pre-season practice this weekend out our indoor facility in Franklin, TN. All players were in attendance. We are 8 weeks away from the start of our season and the boys are progressing very well with our pre-season conditioning plan.
Our practice plan for Saturday:
Footwork/Defense Drill – Players lined up in two groups with an agility ladder set up in the middle of them. A Coach we out in front of the boys ready to throw pop ups to them. The idea of the drill was to have the boys run sideways through the ladder and once through it they would immediately run forward toward the coach who would throw a pop up for them to run under and catch.
Here is a diagram for you to use in setting up the drill.
Agility Pop-ups
Hitting – 3 groups
- One group working front toss. Coaches utilized L screen with underhand throws to players. 1 player in cage hitting with other players on deck working on dry swings calling out the 5 points of the swing we teach. Stance, load, point of contact, extension and finish.
- One group working soft toss with small hitting stick. Used to develop hand eye coordination and bat speed. This drill is done with small plastic golf balls.
- Once group doing tee work. Players continue to work in a static situation to grove swing using our 5 points of the swing as a guide.
Rocket Relay Drill – This drill was set up to teach accurate throwing and catching. Two teams were set up with the players 10 yards apart. On the go command the starting player would throw the ball to the first player, who would turn and throw it to the next. The ball would go down the line until it reached the end at which time the player at the end would run all the way back to the front and take the place of the starter. All other players would move down 10 yards and the throwing would continue until all boys rotated from start to start at which time the relay was over. They team that finished first was the winner.
Here is a diagram of the drill.
Rocket Relay Baseball Drill
Mavericks Practice Plan January 22, 2011
Posted by: | CommentsFor those of you that are following our practices here is our latest practice plan from this Saturday.
10:40 Player’s arrive, partner throwing
10:45 – 10:55 Stretch
11:00 – 11:15 Footwork / Speed and Agility Drills. Agility ladder with runs to base with breakdown after running through the base.
11:15 – 11:45 Hitting Groups: 1 group front toss, 1 group dry swings breaking down the swing mechanics, 1 group tee-work.
11:45 – 12:00 Defense – 2 groups, flyball drill and ground ball drill. Worked on getting the player’s nose behind the ball on fly balls and worked on getting them to catch on the run. Ground ball drill was fielding balls with flat paddles teaching correct fielding and throwing technique.
12:00 Post practice talk and prayer
Mad Mavericks Practice 2
Posted by: | CommentsMaverick Practice this past Saturday
This week we continued to focus on team hitting.
In addition to our practice we had a fitting for our practice jersey and hats. Next week we will hold a fitting for our season uniforms. I encourage all coaches to have your players try the uniforms and hats on prior to embroidery or screen printing. Your players will look much better if you ensure the uniform’s are not hanging off of them.
Practice Plan:
11:00 – 11:05 – Quick team meeting with the boys to explain what we plan to do today and get them motivated to perform at their best.
I would encourage you to have this before each practice and let the players know your practice plan. It’s also a good time to get them focused to give their best during practice.
11:05 – 11:45 – Drill Groups
We broke the players up into 4 groups, 3 with 3 players and 1 with 4.
Group 1: Hitting – underhand front toss in cage ( you could use your practice field and if you don’t have L Screen just find some type of net to protect you)
We set up an L screen directly in front of the player about 15-20 feet. The coach will throw to the middle, outside and inside of the plate allowing the players to hit pitches from different locations. The coach should work to not loop the ball as it should be thrown as flat as possible. Have them show the ball to the player before throwing it.
Group 1: Hitting – Overhand front toss in cage ( you could use your practice field and if you don’t have L Screen just find some type of net to protect you)
Group 3: Hitting – tee work
We set up 4 tee’s in a cage and the players work on correct set up and hitting off the tee. Before doing the tee work we have them dry swing, step by step to grove the correct muscle memory. We teach hitting step by step; stance, load or position of power, hip turn to point of contact, extension and finish. We have the players set up in their stance and on the coaches command go to load, point of contact, extension and finish. I encourage you to walk your players throw this regardless of their age. This will develop the muscle memory needed to execute the swing correctly without any thought.
Group 4: Hitting - Wiffle Ball
Basically this gives the players additional swings without the need for a cage. We worked the same fundamentals during our wiffle ball stage.
11:45 – 12:00 – Defense – fielding grounders without gloves. We used the flat paddles for this drill.
The players stayed together for this drill. We had each field ground balls rolled to them with the SKILZ paddles. We worked on fielding the ball with both hands, with the throwing hand coming over top of the paddle to secure the ball. We had them throw to a coach about 50 feet away to complete the drill. Any poor throws resulted in the boy’s having to do 5 situps.
For your own practice:
You could modify this by doing it on a regular field with both teams hitting. You could still judge line drives, grounders and pop ups. Develop your own scoring system, but remember the goal is to hit the ball solidly on a line drive especially up the middle.
We hope you get something out of seeing what we do in our practices. Even if you only learn 1 or 2 things it’s better than nothing. Good luck and may all your baseball dreams come true.
Maverick Practice 1
Posted by: | CommentsMaverick Practice this past Saturday
As promised I will be giving you an update on our team practices each week and this will be the first in the series. I plan to walk you through out practices so that you can see how we run things. While there are many good ways to run a practice this should will at least give you a way that works. I’ve already heard from some of out readers they plan to mirror what we do. I appreciate that, but this is really done to provide you a guide. Make the practices your own and you will have a successful season.
Practice Plan:
11:00 – 11:05 – Quick team meeting with the boys to explain what we plan to do today and get them motivated to perform at their best.
I would encourage you to have this before each practice and let the players know your practice plan. It’s also a good time to get them focused to give their best during practice.
11:05 – 11:45 – Drill Groups
We break the players up into 3 groups of 4 players each.
Group 1: Hitting – front toss in cage ( you could use your practice field and if you don’t have L Screen just find some type of net to protect you)
We set up an L screen directly in front of the player about 15-20 feet. The coach will throw to the middle, outside and inside of the plate allowing the players to hit pitches from different locations. The coach should work to not loop the ball as it should be thrown as flat as possible. Have them show the ball to the player before throwing it.
Group 2: Hitting – tee work, waffle ball
We set up 4 tee’s in a cage and the players work on correct set up and hitting off the tee. Before doing the tee work we have them dry swing, step by step to grove the correct muscle memory. We teach hitting step by step; stance, load or position of power, hip turn to point of contact, extension and finish. We have the players set up in their stance and on the coaches command go to load, point of contact, extension and finish. I encourage you to walk your players throw this regardless of their age. This will develop the muscle memory needed to execute the swing correctly without any thought.
Group 3: Fielding and Throwing
We worked on two things here:
1. Fielding the ball out in front of you – we set the boys up with an orange cone in front of them and a coach would roll balls to them. They had to reach out in front of the cone and field the ball. The goal was to not let the ball hit the cone. This teaches players to field the ball out in front of their body and not back between their legs.
2. Throwing – we worked a one knee drill for our first practice to make sure all the boys had good fundamentals in their upper body. We made sure they took the ball out of their glove, circled down and up as they turned their shoulders. The glove or lead elbow should be pointing toward their target. Additionally the throwing arm should be up behind the player with the players hand on top of the ball. We also made sure they were using a four-seam grip when throwing.
11:45 – 12:00 – Hitting Game
We broke players up into two teams. We played a hitting game in a cage and kept score. The teams earned 2 points for each line drive hitting the side of the cage. They got 5 points for hitting the L Screen directly in front of them and 10 points if they hit the back of the cage on a line drive. Any ground ball or balls hitting the top of the cage were considered outs. Each player hit until they got an out. We had them complete 4 turns to see how many points they could generate.
You could modify this by doing it on a regular field with both teams hitting. You could still judge line drives, grounders and pop ups. Develop your own scoring system, but remember the goal is to hit the ball solidly on a line drive especially up the middle.
We hope you get something out of seeing what we do in our practices. Even if you only learn 1 or 2 things it’s better than nothing. Good luck and may all your baseball dreams come true.
