Positive Coaching Alliance - Great Resource for ALL coaches!

Is there a magic ratio of positive to negative feedback and reinforcement? I cannot imaging tracking exactly the number of positive to negative comments. But maintaining an awareness of the need to build up before you tear down and understanding that you need to earn the right to be critical of a player is of utmost importance.

The Positive Coaching Alliance is a tremendous resource for guidance on how to develop that awareness of your impact on the kids. I am very happy to report that we will have a formal relationship with PCA in the coming year and will be conducting a workshop with their staff for our coaches and parents.

Check it out....this is just one of hundreds available...almost all good.

How to keep track of your lineup

Planning out your lineup prior to game day is an absolute MUST!

Don't arrive at the field and take a look at who is there that day and scribble down a lineup and wing it from there....it won't go well. It starts with communications. You have to require parents to let you know when they will be absent. The same should go for practice and games.

First of all there are minimum playing requirements which you must adhere to. If the opposing coach does not notice when you don't adhere to those rules, the kids will and the PARENTS will. 

As the league has grown, we have made a concerted effort to have smaller teams which makes this job easier. Our first season of AA, we had only 2 teams and each team had 16 or 17 kids. I quickly learned the need to get organized..

This Excel sheet, given to me by Coach Eric Smallwood, CLICK HERE allows you to see easily if you have a players assigned to each defensive position in each inning and to easily see how many innings each player is assigned to be in the field.

Note: At all levels, we use a continuous batting order and below Majors we have free defensive substitution. All players must play in one of the first 3 innings and all players must play at least 2 innings in the field. Majors substitution rules are a bit more restrictive. Suffice to say....you need to have a plan. My advice, don't over think and rethink your plan...stick to it.
If you have any questions on how to download or use the spreadsheet...just email me at plegere@gmail.com. If you have a better method - SHARE IT!

Thanks for Coaching!

Why are warm-ups important?

Why are warm-ups important?

·         To get everyone loose and ready to play

·         To reduce the injury risk from pulls and strains in cold muscles

·         To bring the team together as a unit

Why should we as a League be concerned with how our teams warm-ups?

One reason is that baseball pre-game and pre-practice periods are the most dangerous times because of the increased number of balls flying through the air amongst an increased number of people, including players, coaches, umpires, groundskeepers, siblings, parents, and grandparents who may all be in the line of fire.

Secondly, we want to prepare our kids to proceed up the baseball ladder, hopefully beyond Little League. Standard stretching, jogging and infield/outfield warm-ups are a consistent part of baseball all the way into the Majors. If we can ingrain those habits in our kids along with the basics of throwing, catching, fielding and hitting, they will be much better positioned to succeed in the future.

Here is a great and pretty complete set of stretches. Like anything else, consistency is key. Make it a part of each and every practice. Make late arriving kids do it on their own. Don't skip it...ever.

We will talk more about infield/outfield in a later post. That portion of our routines may well vary greatly from division to division...but stretching can and should be applied at all levels.

 

Improving Grip Strength

While their is no replacement for repetitions on the tee, soft-toss or live pitching, there are times when this is just not possible but it does not mean we can't do something to improve our young sluggers. 

Improving strength in hands and forearms will give any player better control and power. Simple exercises will fill up some otherwise idle time with a routine that makes hands and forearms stronger. 

Put a couple tennis balls in the car and have your player hold and repeatedly squeeze the tennis ball over and over and if they can make a habit of it - they will get stronger. The same can be done while watching television. 

If either mom or dad uses resistance bands or small dumbbells at home they can do some version of wrist rolls as well. You could even make a project out of making a homemade roller - broomstick handle, rope and a weight.

Valentine's Day Rules Quiz....Umpire Interference.

Runner on 1st, the pitch gets by the catcher, hits the umpire's mask and bounces down the 1st base line. Before the defense can react, the runner goes all the way to 3rd base. The umpire rules that "umpire's interference" has occurred because he deflected the ball away from the catcher, and he directs the the runner to return to first base.

Is this correct?

One Practice and One Game per week is not enough...just ain't

From Mike Matheny's(Current Cardinals Manager) 2006 Letter to the Parents of the Youth Baseball team which he coached...

"A large part of how your child improves is your responsibility. ....The difference for kids at this level is the amount of repetition that they get. This goes with pitching, hitting and fielding. As a parent, you can help out tremendously by playing catch, throwing batting practice, hitting ground balls, or finding an instructor who will do this in your place. The more of this your kids can get, the better. This is the one constant that I have found with players that reached the major leagues....someone spent time with them away from the field."

Full letter: http://www.mac-n-seitz.com/teams/mike-matheny-letter.html 

The whole letter is worth reading but I am obviously a firm believer in the fact that we get better at the things we do most. Variety may be the spice of life but when it comes to improving skill at any endeavor, repetition is the secret sauce.

How to grip a bat?

Just when you think you know something is true, someone or something comes along and tells you that it is not. I have been operating under the notion that kids should grip the bat with their "knocking knuckles lined up" which allows the wrists to roll at contact promoting a good whip in your swing. Don Mattingly has an entire line of bats designed to promote that grip by using a v-grip.

Turns out that much like "back elbow up" or "squish the bug" this might be a widely help opinion but far from the gospel truth.

An oft repeated piece of advice I have found in my searches is that if your arms form a comfortable V-shape and the bat rests comfortably in your fingers - not in your palms - that is more important than the alignment of your knuckles. Whether or not the knuckles line up is not critical but you do want to be palm-up/palm-down at contact. 

I have never been a fan of anything that is a one-size-fits-all and believe that every player is different. Being comfortable and focused at the plate seems more critical than the precise  alignment of a players knuckles.

3 Good Hitting Drills in 1 video

The attached video has 3 great drills that anybody can benefit from. It also gives some good guidance on how to properly throw soft-toss...something I worry that I am doing wrong all the time. Like the doctor's creed goes, "first do no harm", we should learn to do these basic drills correctly so that we are not reinforcing bad habits.

Try these out!

Tee Hitting is a must at all levels!

As kids age up through Little League they tend to view hitting off of a tee as something that is beneath them. The reality is that hitting off of a Tee is an absolute essential - you should use tee drills at almost every practice. MLB players hit off of a batting tee every single day, and our players can reap the same benefits. All you need to run a tee drill is a batting tee and either a net or a length of chain link fence. Make sure hitters do not contact the tee. If the ball pops up, the batter is likely hitching or dipping his swing. Adjust the tee every once in awhile to work the entire range of pitches the batter might see - inside and outside, high and low. The tee gives you a great opportunity to focus on holes in your players' swings. When it comes to purchasing a Tee - particularly for young players likely to give it a good beating - don't skimp and buy the cheapest one as it just will not last. I am a fan of the hard red tee from Rawlings, as anyone that frequents Payne Field knows, it is the only one that has survived over multiple seasons. It it is also hard to find available for sale at times, so the yellow one from Atec would do as well.

Catch - It's more than a warm-up

Remember - when the kids are playing catch, they are either developing good habits or more deeply ingraining bad habits...one or the other. The first 10-15 minutes of practice are probably the most important but unfortunately they are usually the least organized, least productive. Make a plan - does not have to be this routine but you should have some structured, repeatable plan to be used at each and every practice and before long the kids can do it on their own....well with limited prompting...maybe limited yelling anyway. This is also a good "catch" routine to get ready for Spring.

Is it Spring yet?

Starts with the grip

It is a good time to think about things you can do in the confines of our small Capitol Hill homes to improve before Spring. Many of these indoor drills are boring and repetitive but can be done in front of the TV or even in the back seat of a car on a long road trip or commute to school.

Today we'll focus on the ball transfer from glove to hand and into the standard four seam grip. We should be reinforcing in the kids a need to at all times throw with a standard four seam grip. The ability to quickly and consistently get the ball from the glove to the throwing hand and into a four seam grip is critical to their development. Unfortunately this is a skill that is not being reinforced for many kids and leads to less accurate throwing.

This can be down while seated or for a variation lying on your back. 

1. Throw the ball up if lying or just from hand to glove if seated and catch it with your glove.
2. Transfer the ball quickly to the throwing hand.
3. As quickly as possible, get a four seam grip on the ball without looking at it.(Check yourself each time)
4. Repeat over and over again to develop muscle memory in your hands for getting a four seam grip.

If you have any cold weather indoor drills that you do at home add a comment below and we can cover it in a later post.

Baseball Catching to 5 to 7 Year Olds

There are two things I like about this video;

The clear demonstration that, at least at the beginning, the glove can do more harm than good. Kids will use it like a basket and not learn to catch properly as a result. The huge disparity in technique between a kid with a glove on and a glove off is amazing. Even more developed players will show better form with their glove off. Early in the season, even up to and including AAA, I would recommend doing some portion of all infield drills with gloves off. This is especially true if we throw them lollipop tosses trying to make it easier on them. Don't do it!...use a softer ball if you think it is necessary but throw a straight ball.

The second thing it serves to demonstrate is that kids learn by doing - not by watching. As many coaches as possible, throwing to as many kids as possible is most ideal situation for the younger age groups that cannot throw to each other reliably. Reducing the time spent standing in line is critical to insuring sufficient reps on any skill. This is basically just structured catch - Parents can do this with kids between games and practices.

These guys have a lot of great videos (sometimes you have to listen closely but the content is good.)

Infield Basics

 
The best infielders have these things in common:

• Quick hands
• Soft hands
• Quick feet
• Strong legs
• Body Control

Rest Position
This is the time between pitches when nothing is going on
Must be thinking about the situation (outs, runners, score, etc.)
Must know what you are going to do if the ball is hit to you or goes to another player 

Ready Position
This is the time when the pitcher takes to the rubber and begins his wind-up:

• Feet at least shoulder width for a strong base
• Knees flexed and in a strong athletic position
• Weight on the balls of the feet
• Hands extended away from body with glove open and facing the sky
• Slight rocking back and forth or baby steps to stay moving

Getting into Fielding Position
Getting into good fielding position in time and under control gives you the best opportunity to react to the tough hops

Your feet have more to do with being a good infielder than hands
 

Charging the ball allows you to do 2 important things:

1. Cut down the angle and distance that you must throw the ball
2. Choose the hop you want rather than letting the ball play you

The last two steps are the most important when getting into fielding position. They get you in balance, create momentum and get you in the proper throwing position.

Never raise up from the Ready Position

1. Attack ball with glove shoulder
2. Keep glove extended while going to the bal
3. Last two steps are 1, 2 Field – Must be smooth and under control 
4. Throwing foot straight to ball
5. As you go to ball, begin to lower into fielding position (Butt down)
6. Be an airplane not a helicopter

These techniques will put you into perfect fielding position and allow you to handle any type of hop!!!!