LET’S PLAY BALL!

1. LET’S PLAY BALL! Presented By Scott Humphrey The Hitting Zone

2. Where/How Do We Start? • Probably the question you should ask is…. What should I expect my players to be able to do? -Players age 8 and up who have played 1 or more Little League seasons will come with higher expectations of you as a coach (so will their parents) -While Won-Lost records are kept, the true success of a coach should be measured by the overall improvement of the skills of his/her players. When planning your practices, 75% of practice time should be spent on specific skill acquisition. Your drills should move away from basic eye-hand-feet motor skill development and move more toward baseball specific motor skills AND baseball cognitive skill development. -The use of repetition to reinforce development is still the best way to go but, quality should be stressed before quantity.

3. From the very 1st practice, establish an environment of trust and respect. The players must trust their coach to treat them fairly, be friendly and to never embarrass them. They must also believe that they can make mistakes without being chastised for them. • You must establish control of the situation. Be firm, organized, enthusiastic and “teacher-like” in order to get player’s attention and get on the parent’s good side. • Spend time every practice getting to know each other and having the kids talk about baseball.

4. TOP TEN “MUST’S” • In order to have a successful season you must: • Get Your Parents Involved! (This helps in more ways than 1!) • Know The Kids’ Names! • Practice! Practice! Practice! • Have Quality Organized Practices! • Use Teachable Moments! • Keep Fundamentals at Least 75% of Practice Time! • Make Team “What To Do When” Time Competitive and Controlled! • Players should never stop “moving” more than 3 minutes at a time! • Use Time Before Game to Focus, Re-teach and Reinforce Confidence! • Use Time Immediately After Game To Summarize, Praise and Inform-Not to Correct Problems!

5. Making The Most Out Of Your Practices *Begin Your Practice With Stretches/Cals/Form Running (15 minutes-same thing every time, supervise and make sure they are done right) *Develop and Teach a Throwing Warm-up Routine (12 minutes or less) (knee-spread feet-front foot still-step and throw) *Always End With Ground Balls and Short Hops! -Especially early in the season, I would suggest choosing either an offensive or a defensive practice. With this age, transition is a very difficult process. Players focus and retain more when they do not have to change their train of thought. This will also limit wasting time with changing/misplacing equipment.

6. Defensive Station Work When designing stations try to keep each station to a minimum of 3 players. This may mean you have to troubleshoot with numbers sometimes. Outfield Stations: Drop Step Back Turn Backhands Crow Hop Overhead Drill Charging the Ball Cone Drill Football Drill Angle Drill Reverse Pivot Infield Stations: Bucket/Cone Drill Box Drill Backhand/Forehand Roller Drills Relay Drill Pop Ups Approach Step Circle Drill 2 MAN INFIELD/OUTFIELD- Best use of time to cover ALL aspects of defensive play.

7. Offensive Stations • In order to properly run offensive stations, you must acquire a few necessary pieces of equipment. -Whiffle Balls, Tennis Balls, Whiffle Golf Balls and more baseballs than you are given by the league. -Pop-up net -Buckets -Hit-n-stick -Some type of short bat -Tee's) *Things to remember: Use your parents! Keep wait time down to less than 3 minutes! Safety first! Try not to let kids run stations themselves! No more than 3 players per station! Bunting should ALWAYS be a station!

8. Offensive Stations • Tee Drills (A to C)-Remember to place Tee in proper position -1 hand swings -Inside, Middle, Out -2 hand swings -Pop Swings -Axe Drill -Stationary Front Leg Drills -Double Tee Drills -Stiff Front Leg Drills • Soft Toss Drills -Short bat drills -Up/Down -Rapid Fire -Top/Bottom -Pop Swings -W/ tee -Numbers Game -Front Leg Drills -Inside, Middle, Out • Front Toss Drills (short) -Adapt regular soft toss drills to short front toss -Focus on hitting to opposite field

9. Regular Batting Practice • BP in the Cage- When using the batting cages, make the kids hit with a purpose. Go through bunting, etc. and then have kids hit to various directions. Give them a goal (nothing of the top of the cage, etc.). Keep swings down to @ 15. • Hitting On The Field- When you are hitting on the field, don’t just spread out your players and then hit. There is way too much standing around and boredom. You only need a few to shag balls. Remember that this time is NOT teaching time, it is reward time. -Hit with a purpose -Build confidence -Make players execute -Keep it short and simple -Use game situation hitting

10. Pitching (Yuck!) • In the upper levels of baseball, you win with good pitching and lose with bad pitching. It’s pretty much the same at any level. The best pitch in baseball is the STRIKE! If your pitchers can throw strikes, you have a pretty good chance of winning. The dilemma comes when we factor in keeping our players arm’s safe. Many, many arms are ruined before a player turns 12 years old. Early development and proper monitoring can help solve that problem. • The ONLY pitches to be taught are the 2 seam and 4 seam fastball and the change-up!

11. Developing the Pitcher • In order to pitch, you must be able to throw! Do not put a player on the mound who has not learned to throw properly. This skill should be drilled continuously. • Start with the stretch only! Pitching from the wind-up creates unnecessary movements and muscle memory. • Break down the pitching motion into 1-2-3-throw. Do not use a ball until this has been mastered. (too much time chasing the ball down) • Once 1-2-3-throw is mastered, then put in a ball (much easier if you shorten the distance. In fact, all pitching “drills” are more useful with a shortened distance) • The next step involves creating a “tempo”. Count off each step until the pitcher finds a tempo that works for them. • When a pitcher has mastered 1-2-3-throw and has discovered a tempo right for them, only then can you break down the flaws in the delivery and get into the more complicated aspects of pitching. • SET A GOAL! Tell your pitchers that they must be able to throw 7 out of 10 pitches for strikes before they can play pitcher in a game. NEVER PUT A PLAYER IN TO PITCH THAT HAS NOT BEEN THROUGH THE DRILLS OF A PITCHER!

12. Wrapping It Up! • Keep your sanity! (players, parents and even league officials expect you to be sane. When you go home, you can act a little crazy) • Have a plan! (Never hold a practice, a meeting and especially, a game without a plan) • Get your parents involved! (They may be coaching your kid next year!) • Make the players want to play and practice! (Create enthusiasm! Give out prizes! Assign parents to bring snacks! Make the kids wonder (in a good way) what the heck is this guy going to do next?)

13. MOST IMPORTANTLY! • The biggest disservice you can do to your kids, the league and the game of baseball is to not PRACTICE! You owe them to continue offering practice all season long. In youth football, they practice 3 times a week, rain or shine. In youth basketball, they practice at least 1 time per week even if no one shows! In youth soccer, either you practice or the coach gets fired! Beg, plead, make under the table deals, use The Hitting Zone, do whatever it takes not to miss practice time!