I find that the traditional wisdom for [tag]baseball coaching techniques[/tag] can get a bit stale. Here are a couple of ideas from Donny and Bob that can liven things up quite a bit in [tag]baseball[/tag] [tag]batting[/tag] [tag]practices[/tag].
From Donny”¦
When we have batting practice, one thing I started to put in our batting practice sessions, just last year was, pairing off two players at a time.
Player #1 would take 5 hits then immediately, player #2 would step up and take 5 hits and then it would repeat one more time. The next day, I would pair them off with somebody different. This is probably an old trick but hey, it really works when you have a bunch of guys that are playing as one.
The 2 things I’ve noticed when I switched to the pairing off was: 1) Players were getting to know a teammate more quickly. It really brings a smile to your face when you see you players encouraging each other more and more. For me, that makes for a happy [tag]coach[/tag]!
From Bob”¦
Something simple during [tag]hitting[/tag] practice so it is not boring and gives the kids some competition.
I group the kids into teams of three/four and depending on how many kids and give them 2/3 outs per team. We keep track of runs scored every time the “team” bats. The team with the most runs either gets out of some running at the end of practice or gets another incentive.
This is simple, but no matter what the age, it gets the players motivated to give their best to try to win. I have done this with little leaguers all the way up to varsity high school players.