I’ve gotten a whole bunch of requests for help with [tag]T-Ball[/tag] [tag]coaching[/tag] tips and [tag]baseball practice routine[/tag] over the past few days. Here are a couple of ideas that Craig sent to me. Great suggestions!
From Craig”¦
T-Ball
Two [tag]baseball[/tag] ideas in one email. This is my third season of coaching T-ball, 4-5-6 year olds with a wide variety of skill and desire to play again next year on a higher level team.
First, the game and the players/families are about [tag]management[/tag] of the team, the long term goal and the end of the season. To that end, I have developed and have been using a spreadsheet to help guide me thru the season. It covers pretty much every aspect of the game I have to manage.
I send it to the parents once or twice a week to keep them informed and on track also. To date, we have had no players miss a game or practice or a parent miss their dug out duty.
This spreadsheet makes coaching easier because I complete it the day before and make several copies of the game matrix. I give the game matrix to the assistant coaches and Team Mom and game day is a breeze.
Second, this is more a technique then a drill; we don’t bat with the kids or do much in the way of [tag]batting[/tag] until the second to last practice and during the season. All [tag]practices[/tag] prior to the season focus on building the team. That is, knowing each others name, who do I throw to, (i.e. [tag]outfield[/tag] to [tag]infield[/tag] and around the horn to develop double plays), and signs/signals.
Your relay throws are the back bone to “who do I throw to”. Line the kids up as if they are in the field and tell Chris to throw to Mike who throws to Jordan. That is the way we teach them to get the ball back in play. It also eliminates three or four kids pouncing on the ball and losing valuable play time.
Signalsare simple; the standard stop and go. We added; create a circle with your hand as you get the player’s attention means “throw it to the circle”. Two fingers pointing your eyes and then followed by pointing means look at that. Could be a kid off base or their location in the field.
Simply holding up 1, 2, or 3 fingers means that’s where the play is to for the player you are looking at.
Simple, but effective and gets the kids used to seeing [tag]signals[/tag] as we feed our team up the ladder to higher levels of baseball.