Plan to Succeed - As a Baseball or Softbal Coach!

Written by Coach John Peter


If it's so easy to coach youth baseball and do it well, why do you see so many poor coaches? In my years as a player and as a coach, I can tell you that my opinion of poor coaching can be simply boiled down to: A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND A LACK OF PREPARATION! Simply stated... NO Game Plan! The great news is...both can be taught and both can be learned! And please don't say that you don't haverepparttar time. You do!

Here’srepparttar 150879 math over a typical 15 week season: 10 practices of 90 minutes = 15 hours 20 games (includes exhibitions, etc.) = 40 hours Misc. phone calls of 2 hours a week = 30 hours Plus meetings, evaluation & draft, rainouts, team pictures, personal instruction, travel time, etc. Lets say that = 65 hours

Plus, who knows what I haven't added in, andrepparttar 150880 money you spend just doing these activities! You've just spent 150 hours... 10 hours per week (plus cash) on a hobby, community service, enjoying baseball, mentoring kids, or whatever your motive is for being a coach.

Get a plan...save your sanity... NOW! It will flat out save you time, not cost you time. It will reflect positively on your kids and your team's play, and as a byproduct, coaches, parents and players will see a better coach who is having a better time!

So... What does it take? 1. Interest in becoming a better coach. 2. A PLAYBOOK. A simple 3-ring binder where you can write out your practice plans on lined paper. If you write in itrepparttar 150881 night before each practice or game, you will be dedicating about 25 minutes each week (based on 2 practices/games). You will begin remembering to do it as soon as practice sessions start because you will be bringing it with you and referring to it at each practice.

Hints for your Playbook

Include allrepparttar 150882 correspondence, notes, and forms from your league or school that you find yourself collecting and passing out to your players. Keep that stuff in your new "playbook." It will easily become a habit and a central spot to refer to regularly.

Use a pencil and simply make it legible. Don't make a big deal out of this, just get it done!

Beginning in practice #2, you should always spend 10-15 minutes reviewing any new concept you might have introduced in practice #1 orrepparttar 150883 previous practice. It is a common fault (not to mention a complete waste of time) to teach your team a concept and assume that players will perform whenrepparttar 150884 time comes in a game situation just because you taught it once. And it just kills player confidence afterrepparttar 150885 play because he knew he'd been taught. But obviously, not well enough. Your error, coach! So ... What's inrepparttar 150886 binder?

So You’re The New Baseball Coach

Written by Coach John Peter


So you’rerepparttar new coach. Ok, now what?

Coaching a team sure seemed like a good idea, maybe even easy…until you started thinking and getting into it deeper. All those players, parents,repparttar 150878 draft, practices…and those game decisions…ugh. Maybe coaching 3rd base might not be so easy... What were you thinking?

SOLUTIONS:

Rule #1 – Relax, It will work out! You’ll probably even turn out to be good at it. How do I know? Why would I think this?

Well, first you are searching for information. Websites like ours with articles like this are sure signs you are atrepparttar 150879 very least trying, instead of sitting on your hands, ducking your head and relying on your Little League experiences from long ago. And because of…

Rule #2 – You will be organized… And yes, you will haverepparttar 150880 time to do it. As a matter of fact, there is an article that I strongly urge you to read. It is about how to organize your team and yourself and is titled, “Plan To Succeed.”

Please finish this article before you jump there (I’ll includerepparttar 150881 link atrepparttar 150882 end of this article).

Rule #3 – You will have fun! Look,repparttar 150883 more fun you have,repparttar 150884 more fun your kids will have…and yes,repparttar 150885 opposite is true.

Personally, I think that some ofrepparttar 150886 best things about youth baseball arerepparttar 150887 adults! I also think they are some ofrepparttar 150888 worst things about youth baseball. I mean this because as we get older…we tend to forget how to have fun and play games. Life just does that to us. Here we are trying to solve problems on a baseball field like we do at work…UGH! We get tight, our kids play tight. We say ugly things inrepparttar 150889 dugout…well, you getrepparttar 150890 picture… Let’s move on (This lesson either hitsrepparttar 150891 mark or it doesn’t).

One final thought (from someone who is privileged to be in baseball for 350 days each year)… IT’S JUST BASEBALL! BASEBALL IS JUST A GAME! (It just happens to berepparttar 150892 best game ever!)

Rule #4 – You are here for every player! If you are in this game for any reason other than those kids… every one of them… GET OUT NOW! (This was paraphrased and stolen from a speech given by a friend, Gordie Gillespie,repparttar 150893 winningest coach in college baseball history! He is absolutely correct!)

You will get more joy with that attitude than you can imagine!

Every player who doesn’t share your last name is not here forrepparttar 150894 entertainment and support of you and your son! (You have probably seen it happen). Coaching your own child is a trick indeed. I hope you will truly enjoy it (though it can test your mettle). But, I can assure you that embracing an entire team of kids can really give you an idea of how good a coach and person you might be or can be! Personally, I can tell you thatrepparttar 150895 early influences of my youth coaches are indelibly stamped on me…That’s how important you are.

Rule #5 – Winning is important…It is just not everything. I determined something many years ago. Take this for what it’s worth…

Few 10 year olds have a grasp ofrepparttar 150896 concept of winning! Half ofrepparttar 150897 11 year olds have a grasp ofrepparttar 150898 concept of winning! Almost all 12 year olds have a grasp ofrepparttar 150899 concept of winning!

Every? All? No. I guess I wouldn’t include all players on some hot team of 9 year olds who travelrepparttar 150900 country vying forrepparttar 150901 many “World Series” out there (how many worlds are there anyway). Those teams and families have adopted a lifestyle. It’s a language spoken atrepparttar 150902 dinner table. They are probably morerepparttar 150903 exception thanrepparttar 150904 rule anyway.

You simply need to have a strong grasp ofrepparttar 150905 competitive nature of your league and your team.

Rule #6 - You will berepparttar 150906 boredom police. Looking for a great way to turn a perfectly good baseball player into a soccer player? (God forbid)… BORE HIM!

A young boy begins his day by opening his eyes with a first thought of…”HEY, WHAT’S FUN TODAY!” And we dare to bore them? Remember my comment on how we tend to want to solve problems in baseball as we do inrepparttar 150907 office? They are kids. It’s a game…and games are fun… It’s fun OR THEY FIND A GAME THAT IS MORE FUN!

Rule #7 – Ask for help from other parents. Women are right…Men do not ask for directions. We need to be rock steady and have allrepparttar 150908 answers…yada, yada!

Personally, I have never had a coach come up to me after a game and ask me anything on how or why I played a situationrepparttar 150909 way I did! I MEAN NEVER!

WHY? Because this is baseball…and we are guys. We played Little League (20 TO 30 YEARS AGO). We watch Pro Baseball on TV…UGH. What a bad idea to try and teach a group of kids to playrepparttar 150910 same wayrepparttar 150911 greatest players inrepparttar 150912 game do. So, we don’t ask…and that cheats our kids.

SOLUTIONS: Aside from reaching for information such as reading articles such as this and finding videos, books, etc (did you check out our video and book library?)… Why not incorporate and embrace some ofrepparttar 150913 parents. Have a parents-only meeting for 10 minutes after one of your very first practices. Let them know who you are and how you envisionrepparttar 150914 season (in general).

A team mom is worth her weight inrepparttar 150915 dozen roses you had better buy her atrepparttar 150916 end ofrepparttar 150917 season.

Make note ofrepparttar 150918 dad(s), hopefully plural, who hang aroundrepparttar 150919 fence during practices. Many really want you to ask for their help. They don’t want to horn in so it’s up to you to ask because they may not!

Some parents are better served as your scorebook keeper instead of your BP (batting practice) pitcher. Another may be most comfortable helping you set uprepparttar 150920 dugout and raking and liningrepparttar 150921 field before games.

Yet others really want to be onrepparttar 150922 field hitting fungoes or infield.

The bottom line is that I believe that adults play better when they work together…and as a byproduct, you will all be richer for actually developing relationships with your new-found friends.

WARNING: There is one rule I highly recommend… You arerepparttar 150923 coach, they arerepparttar 150924 team's parents. One guy hasrepparttar 150925 final say so. You,repparttar 150926 coach! This is a no lobbying area, disputes are handled away fromrepparttar 150927 kids andrepparttar 150928 action and decisions of management (you) are final. There are no politics, just honest decisions made by you…the coach!

Note: Baseball isrepparttar 150929 greatest game inrepparttar 150930 world to second-guess!

One Last Important Suggestion Regarding Communication:

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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