Batting: Both hands should be held at the shoulder with the bat an inch above the shoulder, that way the bat is close to level/slightly raised/hits down on baseball and therefore hands and thus the bat gets to the ball quickly.

Cutoffs:  Always throw the ball to the glove side/chest high with the glove side of the player receiving the ball turned sideways to advance the ball the fastest to the next target.  This eliminates spinning, rotating the body and having to get the body in positon to throw after receiving the ball from another player.

Doing this correctly saves valuable seconds in relay throws.  Both the initial player throwing and the player receiving the first thrown must execute their responsibilities correctly in an effort to throw out runners.

Chin touching Shoulder: I’ve noticed a lot of kids from over the years pulling their heads off the ball and that takes their eyes off their target,which isn’t going to help them hit the ball. So simply have them keep the chin tucked into the shoulder; it really helps to keep the eyes on target and hits will start to pile up!

Technorati Tags: baseball training tips, baseball

I decided to track down an archery target with a colored bullseye.

My players would lob and “shot put” the baseball over and the ball would land in the dirt just in front of our first baseman making it even harder for him to catch. Guess they were afraid they were going to hurt the first baseman.

I found the archery target for about $150 including the stand on the internet.  So during baseball practice we wheeled out the target and set it up over first base.  During infield we made a contest out of it to see who could hit the target the most. The kids loved it.

As they became more concise with their throws we then made the game more challenging by rewarding points for only the throws that hit the small red bullseye in the middle.

Needless to say after just one practice with the archery target they no longer lobbed the ball into 1B.

Technorati Tags: baseball coaching tips, baseball, baseball practice

This gives us the chance to rotate through all 5 of our pitchers so they aren’t throwing so much at practice just enough to stay in shape while saving plenty of arm for games. It also helps our outfielders be ready to play wherever they need to & we have two sets of infielders when its all said & done.

Once a week we have a baseball practice dedicated to batting where we work with them on swing mechanics. At these practices we have 3 or 4 of the boy’s dads come out, myself & the dads & our pitcher’s pitch to the boy’s. It gives them a chance to get a look at all kinds of pitches. Since we started doing this we have boys who couldn’t touch the ball before and are now nailing it into the outfield on all kinds of pitches.

Another thing I did is to draw dime sized spots on tennis balls and have them swing for the spot. We do this at our indoor practices with a 360 degree tee. we use tennis balls for indoor fielding drills. They bounce a lot more than a baseball & they are more difficult to catch. Once we have done this, baseballs stick to our players gloves like they’ve been tarred because the boys are used to catching the baseball’s bouncy cousin, the tennis ball.

A side bonus to this–if you want to get your younger players more interested in practice have their dads get involved on the days we do this. The parents pretty much have to drag their kids away from practice & everybody knows that a kid who wants to be at practice will learn twice as much as a kid who doesn’t.

Technorati Tags: baseball practice ideas, baseball infield practices, baseball

• I put a kid on each base, including home, and doubled up as necessary.
• I stood on the middle and yelled “go” real loud and everyone advanced one base. (I could turn around and see if everyone was running correctly).
• I would then ask them which base they are going to next to make sure they knew (sometimes they got it wrong).
• I did this about 10 times and they finally started getting better.

A longer pause after some repetitions gave them more time to let their mind wander, so when I said “go” I could see if they instinctively knew which next base to go to.

The kids loved running, they liked getting the right answer to my question, and the parents loved watching too.

Technorati Tags: coaching youth baseball, baseball, baseball drills

The field is full of fielders and there’s a runner at any base. Once the pitch is thrown, the runner takes off, the catcher throws the ball to the base the runner is advancing. The runner is caught in a pickle, which should get the whole infield moving toward the appropriate base as backups.

I like this baseball drill because the players get some running in. They have to have accurate throws in order to get the runner out and they get to work on their sliding.

Here are some of my favorite baseball coaching tips when working with younger players.
1. When talking to the whole team, bend down to look at the players in the eyes so you are literally at their level. This helps build rapport and a positive relationship
2. At the beginning of the year with the first few practices, work on building a sense of “team” by showing what the players have in common…what is you favorite ice-cream flavor? The commonality is both the ice-cream and the flavor.
3. Also with building a sense of team, reinforce over the first few gatherings the names of the players…who is standing next to you, what is their name?

Technorati Tags: baseball drills and coaching tips, baseball drill, baseball, baseball drill, baseball coach

As we all know 90% of baseball is a mental game rather than a physical one. This has helped our team to remain mentally sharp. We try to achieve an outing for the team once a month but at the minimum we plan an outing at least every other month.

The outing includes the entire team and the baseball coaches going and doing something for fun for the day. We take turns picking what we do for fun but some of the things we have done include, bowling, going to the movies, going to a theme park, paint balling, a trip to the lake and sometimes it is just to get together to swim for the afternoon and grill hamburgers and hot dogs.

Getting the team together in an atmosphere outside the baseball field has really made a difference in the teams mental attitude not only towards the game of baseball but also towards each other.

They come to practice with a mentality of eagerness and wanting to be there to learn and are very receptive to new ideas. In addition, it has really made them come together and gel as a unit.

They are very supportive of one another and there is never a sign of negativity between players. It is very refreshing.

Technorati Tags: baseball coaching philosophy, baseball drills, baseball, baseball coach

Duck-Duck-Goose in a LINE!
I tried this with the kids in a circle but found that it works better if they are in a line.

Line up the kids about 2-3 feet apart along the back stop – standing or on a knee.
The “gooser” walks up and down the line … duck, duck, duck… When it is time to goose, he yells “goose” and drops the ball on the ground in front of a player and runs. The goosed player must pick up and glove the baseball then run down the gooser as he runs the bases.
The runner (if he is tagged or not) goes to the end of the line and the goosie becomes the gooser.
So that everyone participates, I have the new gooser pick one of the players who have not yet participated.

Another of my favorite baseball drills I made up was tossing them a pop up and then charging at them like a maniac and stopping right in front of them as the ball arrives (ideally in their glove).  My hope is that it forces them to concentrate a little extra on watching the ball and ignoring everything else.  At the very least it’s good for a giggle from them 100% of the time.

Technorati Tags: tips for baseball, baseball drills, baseball, baseball drills

Situational practice
We have found that using situational drills has had the most impact on the quick decision making by my fielders. We usually have one of the baseball coaches hit and have a runner in different base scenarios.  This baseball drill helps the kids respond to the ‘best’ out and not always going to first.

Fun – Base Race.
I usually end baseball practice with the ‘Base Race’. Half the team on first base and half on third. They relay through and try to beat the other team.  We coach ‘rounding’ bases as they run and not skipping a base.

Fun – Mother-Son game.
I have always had an annual Mothers vs Sons game.  To keep it fair, we have an assistant do the pitching to both teams. It is amazing how competitive the moms are. They usually win.  It has become kind of a thank you to all the hard work the moms do behind the scenes for the team.

Technorati Tags: baseball coaching tips, baseball, baseball drill, baseball practice

Bunting Drills
If you’re having a hard time getting a kid to square up and make contact during a bunt take the bat away from him and replace it with his glove.  Then put him in the batting cage or in the batter’s box and throw pitches at him forcing him to square like he has a bat, hold his hands like he has a bat but catch the ball with his glove hand.

This helps to eliminate the fear the kids have of squaring up against a pitch and helps to reinforce the visual perception he needs to catch the baseball with the bat.

Another simple, yet effective way to get kids to step towards the pitcher when batting goes like this.  Place a 2 x 4 board about 5 feet in length behind the batter’s feet.  As the boy swings into the pitch, he is to move his feet in parallel with the board so as not to step on the board.  If he steps on the board, then he’s not moving into the pitch and towards the pitcher’s mound effectively.  Doesn’t take long for them to step to the pitch and stay off the board.

Technorati Tags: baseball batting practice, baseball drills, baseball

Give this baseball drill called “crossfire” a try using the suggestion above.  Players form 2 lines at SS and 2B, with a player at 1B and 3B, and a catcher for the coach at home plate.  The baseball coach alternates hitting ground balls to the SS and 2B; the SS throws to the 1B, the 2B throws to the 3B, and both 1B/3B throws to the catcher at home.  After the player takes a grounder, he goes to the back of the other line he wasn’t in.

Do this for about 10 minutes, and it gets the kids in pretty good shape.

Technorati Tags: baseball practice tips, baseball drill, baseball, baseball coach