One of the biggest time wasters in baseball practices is kids chasing after balls. When the team is playing catch there needs to be an adult or two (coaches and/or parent helpers) standing behind each group of kids with extra balls in hand ready to resupply kids when balls get past them. This is the time when we as coaches have to be at our best, making sure each player is using proper catching and throwing technique. The ten minutes our kids spend playing catch should be the most focused, most intense and most disciplined part of the practice. Unfortunately this has evolved into a lazy and sloppy activity. The most important part of a practice is the Playing Catch Practice segment, traditionally referred to as ’Warming Up’. Ultimately this leads to practices starting on time with all or most kids ready to go. However, since this is such a fun activity and is only available prior to the start of practice, it becomes an incentive for kids to arrive early. The origination of Whiffle Ball Batting was to give the players something to do between their arrival at the ballpark and the official start of practice, so to not play catch unsupervised. Make it clear this will not be tolerated under any circumstance.
Be ready to squash this activity the moment it starts. Kids will want to pick up balls and try to hit them back to the coaches when picking up balls during or at the end of the drill.
Make it a rule that there is to be no swinging of a bat except when at the ‘plate’ and when a coach is pitching. It will take some time, and discipline (on our part as coaches), to train them that there are no exceptions to this rule. Making this rule stick is not as simple as telling them one time even though we point out the safety hazzard. When a player runs through this space, they potentially will run next to another player in the middle of swinging a bat we do not want this to happen …and there is no way we will allow them to run through this space it is absolutely prohibited. There is no way they would run across a major highway filled with cars and trucks. I call this space ‘Interstate/Hwy (fill in the blank). Make it crystal clear to the kids that running through the space between the pitchers (coaches) and batters. Suggestion: tell the batter when they have two or three swings left, so they understand they soon will be done batting. If a player swings and misses on their eighth swing we tell them, “Good Swing!! …now switch to chasing balls”. This can turn into 4 or 5 more, and eat up a lot of valuable time. Have half the kids batting and half chasing balls (they love this!). (additional info, and a diagram, for Whiffle Ball Batting can be found on the COACHING GUIDE page under ‘Teaching Points’) A coach who has gained proficiency at pitching in this environment can pitch to three kids at once.
One coach can throw to two kids at once two coaches can throw to four kids, and so on. Instead of allowing our kids to play catch when they arrive, set up a whiffle ball batting practice (the best type of ball to use is a ‘pickle ball’) The kids should always be supervised when executing these critical skills. The skills of throwing and receiving throw are the foundation of the game. Don’t put balls out prior to the start of practice. It is strongly recommended that kids who are early arrivals not play catch on their own. Proper movement, positioning and communication need to be understood and mastered to some extent before be add the throwing aspect to cement the execution of the activity. Keep in mind that for most activities the throwing and catching aspect is the last skill that needs to be mastered (and we take care of that during 'Playing Catch Practice'). Anytime we compact the teaching/learning environment we reduce distractions, improve communication and the players get many more repetitions during a drill.Įxamples of drills that can be run using a Mini Diamond include relays, backing-up and base coverage responsibilities, and first and third defense. It is constructed using cones, throw down bases, ball caps, extra shirts that are laying around, a leaf, anything. Use of the Mini Diamond is referenced throughout the Coaching Guide.Ī Mini Diamond is 20’-25' square, but can be modified larger or smaller depending on the activity.
2 word phrases daily routine baseball full#
Any drill in which the focus of the teaching is something other than working on full on overhand throwing technique can be run on a Mini Diamond. One of the most valuable tools a coach can use is the Mini Diamond.
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