Archive for Youth Baseball Resource
Drills for Baseball
Posted by: | CommentsCoaches,
It’s time for spring baseball again and those coaches with teams that are prepared correctly will be able to compete at a higher level. Whether you are a recreational league coach or a competitive coach the Youth Baseball Insider has something for you.
Below is direct links to great drills for baseball and your team. Spend some time going through the information; then apply them to your upcoming practices. You will see your players improve from the very beginning.
1. Fielding Drills: http://www.youthbaseballinsider.com/category/fielding-fundamentals/
2. Throwing Drills: http://www.youthbaseballinsider.com/category/throwing-fundamentals/
3. Base Running: http://www.youthbaseballinsider.com/category/base-running/
4. Pitching: http://www.youthbaseballinsider.com/category/pitching/
5. Hitting: http://www.youthbaseballinsider.com/category/hitting-fundamentals/
It’s time to get motivated and excited about the season. Prepare now with a good plan and you will be much more successful than you could imagine. Coaching baseball is hard work but if done correctly you will develop relationships that can last a life time.
You should develop or modify our drills for baseball and offer them to your players during regular practice.
Good luck and enjoy our baseball drills.
Youth Baseball Quiz 2
Posted by: | Comments1) How many hands do we use to catch a fly ball?
a) 1
b) 2
2) What player has hit the most homeruns in Major League Baseball history?
a) Babe Ruth
b) Mark McGuire
c) Barry Bonds
d) Coach Wilson
3) During our swing, what type of “punch” do we want to throw with our top hand?
a) Jab
b) Hook
c) Uppercut
4) How do we win a baseball game?
a) Score 5 runs
b) Score more runs than the other team
c) Score less runs than the other team
5) In everything we do on the baseball field (hitting, fielding and catching), where do our eyes need to be every time?
________________________________________
6) If a ball has stopped moving and is lying on the ground, what do we use to pick it up?
a) Our Glove
b) Bare Hand
b) Kick it to someone else to pick up
7) Runner on 2nd base, no outs, ground ball to the second baseman, what does he do?
a) Chase the runner down and tag him out going to third base
b) Throw the ball to third
c) Throw the ball to first and the first baseman checks the lead runner after making the out
To make sure we have a “short swing”, what path do our hands need to take to the ball?
a) Inside the ball
b) Out and around the ball
c) Drop our hands and swing straight up
d) Raise our hands and swing straight down
9) On a ball hit between the first baseman and second baseman in which the second baseman knows he can catch it, what should he do?
a) Run away from the ball and let it go to the outfield
b) Yell to the first baseman and let him know you have it. That way the first baseman can go back to first and be ready for the throw there
c) Do nothing and let the first baseman field the ball
Maverick Practice Update
Posted by: | CommentsI hope you have enjoyed our posts about our travel baseball team practices.
One additional thing we do is give the players a quiz each week. This baseball quiz consists of 10 questions based on their age level. We require them to answer 90% correct each week to continue on to the next quiz. Over the next several days I’ll give you the questions to our quiz. Feel free to use them with your players.
I guarantee you the players will enjoy it and you might learn something along the way.
If you need answers to the questions just email me and I’ll be happy to provide them.
So here we go….
Quiz #1 Questions:
1) MLB is made up of 30 teams divided into 2 leagues. What are the names of the 2 leagues?
a) __________________________________
b) __________________________________
2) During our swing, from load to point of contact, our hands should be……
a) Far away from the body
b) Close to the body
c) Doesn’t matter
3) The proper grip on the baseball when throwing is a 4-seam grip or a 2-seam grip?
a) 4-seam grip
b) 2-seam grip
4) Runner on 1st base, groundball to the second baseman, who covers the second base bag?
a) Shortstop
b) Third baseman
c) Centerfielder
5) Do we walk on the baseball field?
a) Yes
b) No
6) On a slowly hit groundball, do we…
a) Wait for it to roll to us
b) Charge it and make a play
c) Throw our glove at it
7) What is the easiest, most effective way to catch a fly ball?
a) With 2 hands and the ball stays in front of our nose
b) Let it hit the ground and then pick it up
c) One hand, behind the back
8) Once you catch a fly-ball in the outfield, we…
a) Celebrate because we caught it
b) Look to see where the runners are
c) Throw the ball to the cut-off man as quickly as possible
9) When you are throwing the baseball what should you be looking at?
a) Your coach
b) The base runner
c) The player you are throwing to
d) Mom
10) List all the players on our team.
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
5. ____________________________
6. ____________________________
7. ____________________________
8. ____________________________
9. ____________________________
10. __________________________
11. __________________________
12. __________________________
13. __________________________
Bonus The Hall of Fame just voted to add 2 new players. Who are these players and what position did each play?
a) ___________________________ Position _____________
b) ___________________________ Position _____________
2011 Travel Baseball Team Adventure – Come with US!
Posted by: | CommentsI’m starting a series of articles that will keep you informed about the 7U travel baseball team I’m coaching this season through the MAD Sports Baseball Academy in Franklin, TN. I encourage you to check back every Monday this year as I’ll have a new article outlining what took place with our team. It will be like you are with us the entire way.
You as a coach or parent can get a feel for what it’s like to be involved in “Travel/Select” baseball. I believe you will get benefit from what is talked about in these articles.
Here is what’s planned:
- I plan to walk you through our practices. What we taught and how we taught it.
- I plan to provide you with our practice plans.
- I plan to encourage you to start a travel baseball team and will provide you some advice if needed.
- I plan to provide you with ideas for your own travel team. They can be used in recreational leagues as well.
- I plan to show you how we teach more than just baseball. Learn how Speed and Agility plays a role in all sports including baseball.
Now, to get you up to date on what we have done so far.
Preliminary Details:
We did not hold a formal tryout as I don’t believe in having tryouts for children this young. Our team was hand selected by one other coach and myself. We selected children that we felt would be great team players and could perform at the competitive level. Our goal is to keep this team together for years and develop them into great baseball players.
I encourage all of you coaches out there to consider hand selection for players under 9. Can you imagine how you would have felt if you got cut from a team at the age of 7. What has it come to? Hand select, you will be glad you did.
Parents Meeting held December 4, 2010:
We held a parents meeting to provide details on the team and what would be expected. We provide an opening letter that outlined the coaching philosophy, season’s goals, parent’s expectations, team rules and coaches background. In addition we provide the parents with a budget that outlined the entire cost for the season. Our budget is just over $650 per child and will include about 35 baseball games. The budget provides money for 3 uniforms, batting helmets, league dues, insurance and tournament fees. We gave the parents until December 11, 2010 to commit.
Team Formed on December 11, 2010:
We formed the 7U team with 13 young boys for the up coming 2011 season.
Video Evaluation of Team held on December 18, 2010:
As with all the teams I’ve been involved with it’s important to get a baseline for performance improvement. We video taped the boys hitting, fielding and throwing. We timed them in a running drill along with measuring them in the broad jump. The video analysis will be used to individualize the training to each child based on what’s needed most. We plan to do another video analysis a couple of times during the season to show improvement.
Hitting Camps held on December 21st and 27th, 2010:
We held two hitting camps for our boys at the MAD Sports Training Complex at the direction of a previous Major League Player. While our coaches were involved and understand the terminology taught by the professional hitting instructor it was a chance for the boys to get hands on instruction from a high level instructor. The coaches were able to hone their skills as well during these sessions. We are part of the MAD Sports Baseball Academy and sessions like this help us all get on the same page and ensure we are teaching the boys the same thing. They should hear the same lingo year after year.
As I said this is the first article in a series that I truly hope you enjoy.
Our first regular practice starts this Saturday so look for a quality update next Monday.
Until then, may all your baseball dreams come true.
Baseball Hitting Quick Tips Continued
Posted by: | CommentsQuick Tip #1: Correct Size Bat
You must ensure you are swinging the correct size bat and this can be difficult to judge for most players. You will hear coaches saying to swing the heaviest bat possible and for the most part they are correct; however figuring out when the bat is too heavy is difficult. Here is what you should do. Hold the bat in your dominant hand down by the knob on the handle. Hold the bat up and out to your side parallel to the ground. You should be able to hold the bat there for 20 seconds without letting it drop down from parallel. Use the heaviest bat that you can hold up for 20 seconds.
Quick Tip #2: How much to Practice?
You will want to focus on hitting about 2/3 of the time and defensive play 1/3. Hitting a baseball is extremely difficult to do well and takes years of practice to successfully call yourself a hitter. Encourage your parents to have the kids hitting at home when not practicing. Most teams only practice a night or so per week so additional at home practice can make all the difference in the world.
Quick Tip #3: Correct Grip
Getting the correct grip on the bat is important to ensure you have a good fundamental start to hitting. Remember, loose grip means fast hands. Small knuckles on the top hand should line up between the knuckles of the lower hand. Back of the bottom hand should face the pitcher and not away from the hitter as this will provide the correct wrist cock when swinging through the hitting zone.
Quick Tip #4: Stride
Your stride when swinging is used as a timing mechanism and doesn’t generate any power. It should be no more than 4-8 inches and the front foot should not come way off the ground as that can create an unbalanced position. The stride should go straight forward toward the pitcher.
Quick Tip #5: Can’t See
Get your eyes checked if you seem to have difficulty seeing the movement of a pitch. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve either seen or heard a coach tell me about a child that had a sight issue and once he got glasses he became a great player. If you notice behavior that doesn’t make sense based on the player’s athletic ability then eyesight could be the problem.
Helpful tips in coaching tee ball
Posted by: | CommentsWith the advent of tee ball baseball leagues in recent years, many coaches are now tasked with teaching the most basic of baseball fundamentals to a much younger population.
Typically tee ball leagues can start for kids as young as four years old, and many of them have never swung a bat or have even learned to properly throw and catch. As a tee ball coach, it’s extremely important to adhere to a few basic principles to use during tee ball practice.
Tee ball practices should be carefully planned and organized, much like a grade school curriculum. Generally, each team will consist of at least ten children, all with very short attention spans at varying levels. Planning out a tee ball practice will help in not only keeping children focused during practice, but also in keeping them busy.
Tee ball is not only meant to be an introduction into the sport of baseball, but it’s also meant to be a fun experience for the kids. Practices should not be scheduled for longer than an hour, so that you won’t lose their attention. Specific skills should be taught within each practice as well, rather than trying to execute several different drills within the hour. If kids are focusing on one particular skill, they are much likely to get a good feeling of accomplishment at the end of the practice.
Coaching a tee ball team is nothing like coaching any other sport at higher levels. Hoping that you’re going to have a team that executes in all facets of the game perfectly by the end of the season is probably a bit too unrealistic. If half of your kids understand the basics of the game by the end of the season, you can count yourself proud.
Be prepared to have to explain every minute detail to your tee ball team. At that age, they may not understand where right field is, or which direction they should go in running the bases. Going back to teaching specific skills within each hour of practice will help in children’s overall retention, and understanding that patience will be your biggest ally will go a long way toward having a fun season for both coaches and kids.
Finally, if deciding to coach a tee ball team, take stock into why you are doing it in the first place. If wanting to just be around your own son as he embarks upon learning the sport of baseball, that’s fine, but understand that you’ll have the responsibility of teaching and coaching every single tee ball player on that team.
Patience and planning will be the two biggest keys in the success of any tee ball coach, and keeping kids focused on the task at hand while also making it a fun experience will go a long way in retaining the interest of children who want to continue playing.
Fall Baseball Coming to an End
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been a great year for baseball in our family and we are all a little sad it’s coming to an end; however we are looking forward to a little time away from the game and travel.
This Saturday was our last fall ball baseball game and I can tell you it was a little sad packing up all the gear and heading away from the park knowing it will be a number of months before games begin again.
We did lose our game this Saturday but I kind of expected that as I played many kids out of their regular positions to allow for some development. This caused us some fielding issues which ultimately cost us the game. Even so, I would not have changed anything I did as kids got to play positions they never do and that can be priceless for development. This is fall baseball and should be about developing player’s more than winning games and for the most part the coaching staff met that challenge.
Some key highlights of our family’s baseball experience this year. I’m sure some of you can relate.
- Played 64 baseball games from March to October
- Participated in 8 USSSA tournaments
- Played in two recreational leagues in the spring and fall
- Traveled over 1000 miles attending tournaments and games
- Developed many new friends along the way
- Washed a lot of red clay out of uniforms
- Saw my son hit .825 with 8 doubles and 3 triples in 8 USSSA tournaments
- Saw my son score 36 runs with 50 RBI’s in 8 USSSA tournaments
- Watch my son (6yr old) cry when he struck out. He doesn’t usually strike out so it was a little shocking for him
- Hugged a lot of kids
- Smiled a lot
- Shook a lot of hands
- Talked to a lot of umpires
- Yelled some, not really but did provide some direction…. Ok, I yelled some
- Saw the joy of winning
- Saw the sadness in loosing but watched the good sportsmanship displayed
- And many more things….
Now the off season begins for us and we plan to take some time off away from baseball. My son is playing football and basketball so we will enjoy those. I know I will as I’m not involved as a head coach on any of it. I help but try to only head coach one sport. It’s time for my son to have some coaching other than his dad.
The winter months are in front of us but it want be long until the cold weather goes away, spring flowers begin to bloom and baseball fields come back to life.
Until then enjoy the off season and don’t forget to do some off season activities to keep everyone baseball ready.
