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the rookie

First Year Coach Lookin 4 Sum Tips

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Hey every1 I'm Terry, this my firast time coachin my sons little league team they are 8 and 6 yos.....and most of the kids I have on the team beside my 2 boys and another 8 yo have never played ball b4....I myself have played baseball frm when I 7 up until my freshman year of college...so I kno the fundementals it jus how do I teach them in a fun way that they will be interested...that's sumthin I noticed last year when I signed my boys up an daughter 4 that matter they had 2 much dwn time I saw kids picking grass twirling etc...while their old coach jus pitched 2 one kid 4 about 10 to 15 times....so ne helpful hint tip etc would be greatly appreciated

Thanx,

The Rookie

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Hey every1 I'm Terry, this my firast time coachin my sons little league team they are 8 and 6 yos.....and most of the kids I have on the team beside my 2 boys and another 8 yo have never played ball b4....I myself have played baseball frm when I 7 up until my freshman year of college...so I kno the fundementals it jus how do I teach them in a fun way that they will be interested...that's sumthin I noticed last year when I signed my boys up an daughter 4 that matter they had 2 much dwn time I saw kids picking grass twirling etc...while their old coach jus pitched 2 one kid 4 about 10 to 15 times....so ne helpful hint tip etc would be greatly appreciated

Thanx,

The Rookie

First I would say you are going to need help from parents or other coaches. The best way to run a practice for young players is to keep it moving. You keep it moving by breaking them up into groups and work on each thing for no more than 15 minutes then rotate groups. Parents or other coaches can help at each station and as head coach you move around and make sure they are getting good instruction. Explain to each coach and player what they should be working on at each station. If you have other coaches and/or parents to help then set up stations around the field and break your team up into smaller groups. Always have something planned that is fun to end the practices. Some teams split team in half and do a relay race around the bases. We did a pitching contest at the end of each practice. We took the large trash can out of the dugout and set it on home plate. Split team in half. Pitched from the mound with each player getting 3 throws. 1 point for bounce and hit can, 2 points for in the air hit the can and 3 points if it went in the can. Team with most points wins.

Other thing I do when I coach that age is that everyone rotates position no matter what. Everyone gets a chance to play infield and outfield equally. I try to keep a set rotation for positions so the kids get some consistency. (Ex. 3rd base, SS and left field will rotate. Pitcher, 1st base and right field rotate.) Every player will play at least 3 different positions and some as many as all nine positions over the course of the season. I have found kids don't really care if they win or lose if they get a chance to play. I post the rotation in the dugout before each game and the players know where they go each inning. I plan ahead and work kids in practice who are going to pitch or catch in the next game.

Keep it positive and keep the parents informed.

Check out qcbaseball.com for more ideas and instruction.

Good luck and have fun.

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For sure break them into groups. Yes you need help to keep them moving and engaged. Fortunately you have 6 and 8 year olds where several parents can help without doing much harm.

Example..A team I am coaching this year (7 & 8 year olds).. 12 kids in 3 groups stressing basic skills.

We start this way

One group works on catching and throwing to each turning glove side in a line

One group is doing a two ball drill ..short easy pop up and charging a slow grounder

3rd group fielding short going 1 1 , going 4 and rotating.

Then rotate the groups.

Rotate again

Hitting is the same way..

One group hitting off that funky stick or a tee

One group hitting soft toss

One group hitting live pitches

You get a lot of basic skill practice in a short period of time this way.

http://coaching-youth-baseball.com/

http://youth-baseball-bats.youth-baseball-equipment.com/

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Hey every1 I'm Terry, this my firast time coachin my sons little league team they are 8 and 6 yos.....and most of the kids I have on the team beside my 2 boys and another 8 yo have never played ball b4....I myself have played baseball frm when I 7 up until my freshman year of college...so I kno the fundementals it jus how do I teach them in a fun way that they will be interested...that's sumthin I noticed last year when I signed my boys up an daughter 4 that matter they had 2 much dwn time I saw kids picking grass twirling etc...while their old coach jus pitched 2 one kid 4 about 10 to 15 times....so ne helpful hint tip etc would be greatly appreciated

Thanx,

The Rookie

Follow a practice plan and keep them busy/moving. If you have set flow for practice (stretching, throwing drills, defense, offense, etc.) it will help the players to know what's expected.

How many helpers do you have? It's great to divide them into small groups for drills.

For practice suggestions check out the following:

http://www.expert-baseball-tips.com/baseba...cticeplans.html

http://www.expert-baseball-tips.com/baseba...ganization.html

Also, keep your BP moving and use small groups (no need to stand around with only one player hitting). See this page for tips:

http://www.expert-baseball-tips.com/battingpracticetips.html

If you have specific questions use our contact form page. Have a great season and have fun.

"CP"

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Rook,

Great advice by all. It's been a long time since I've posted here but this type of post always hits close to home. I can't add too much to the great advice you've already recieved but I will say this. Keep in mind that although they are only 6 even some of the advanced baseball "stuff" can be taught to them. It's all in your delivery and how you "bring it down to thier level". Obviously your not teaching run downs, lead offs, etc...even having said that though I dont beleive in "their too young to learn that".

Also, as I like to say, be a student of the game. Never stop learning. Start now with training your eye to know a flaw when you see it. Dont be results oriented. In other words dont always watch how far little Johnnys hit goes, keep your eye trained on the batter and his technique. It takes years and years of practice to learn how to see a flaw and know what it is your seeing. To "stay in the game" and not be a spectator. Any serious coach in my opinion should start right away in learning this very very helpful way of coaching if you will.

Not sure if this is against the rules or not but try what I tried. Go to www.baseball-excellence.com. This is still, to this day, the SINGLE MOST HELPFUL thing I did for myself in becoming a decent coach. Every where I've looked, all the videos and websites and books. I still to this day go back to that website and back to the videos I first bought on thier site.

Hope this helps.

Syn

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