Little League Baseball Coaching
Coaching for youth baseball is no easy task. Most of the time, it requires patience, dedication and best of all, hard work. It’s not every day that you teach life lessons, but with the Little League, coaches are expected to be older brothers and fathers of these baseball youngsters. The rules that apply in playing youth baseball are not really that different with the rules played by big guys. The approach, however, is different. But the job is a rewarding, so here are the basics in Little League baseball coaching.
Coaches do mistakes too and these are made because the Little League coaches fail on a lot of things. For instance, time management. Little league baseball coaching requires time. Often times, it leads coaches to stay on one player and repeat the whole drill over and over while the other kids are sitting on the bench doing nothing. This is seen to be an unhealthy practice not only for coaches but for students too. While it might not be really avoided that you sometimes focus on one kid, give the other guys something to do.
Rotation of positions is a good practice, only if done seldom. If the intention of the coach is to expose the kid to all positions, it well could give them an idea, then it becomes good. But if the coach does it frequently without giving the player a chance to master his first position, then it becomes bad. Take time and learn the expertise of each kid. The idea is, not everyone can fully master all of the baseball positions.
Always give the players enough time to practice sliding. It may just be sliding, but it should be done the right way. Use stats in assigning positions. This way the students learn the art of gaining good stats. They’ll be proud of themselves that if they get good stats, they’ll get good rotation and positions too. And the kids will have something to tell to their parents.
Coaching little league baseball does not end with talking and playing with the kids, you need to address the issues of the players to their parents too. Their parents need to be involved in the games, be it moral support or financial support.
Inasmuch as parents want to become good models to their children, be the right baseball idol for your players too. One legendary coach once said, teaching baseball is not about talking, you must act it out. What players really need are models and not critics. Show them how to do stuff. A timid runner will always be a timid runner if he is not corrected by the right way of doing it. So, the coach must not be a timid runner too.
Sometimes, coaching little league baseball pitching leaves even the minutest detail, coaches are so busy about teaching the best way to pitch, not knowing they have already forgotten some basics. Wrong practices that are often tolerated like pitching from the top of the pitcher’s rubber should be corrected.
More on little league baseball coaching tips, put more encouragement and confidence on the players. Avoid giving negative feedbacks and reactions to the swing and pitches, or the runs and slides of the players. It only takes a few moments to tear down the confidence of a kid. With such a delicate age, give them constructive criticisms. The best thing to do is show them the right way and without telling them they’re wrong. Otherwise, they will think joining the Little League baseball is a wrong choice.
Professional coaches observe that most of the incompetent Little League coaches do not necessarily have low skills in playing. Often times, what makes a coach incapable are his attitudes towards coaching young men. Little League baseball coaching is not just about teaching, it’s also about becoming a role model.