Thank you for coaching! Providing an enjoyable and engaging baseball experience to younger players is a MAJOR CHALLENGE! In order to accomplish this, we have modified traditional baseball practice routines and game rules. These revisions have been developed based on many years of experience. Regardless of your level of baseball experience, we ask that ALL COACHES FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES. Kids thrive on routines, so we will follow this structure for the duration of the season. WYBS has partnered with Terriers Sports to bring oversight, instruction, and entertainment to the Rookie and A Ball programs this year. We are very excited about this partnership and believe it will facilitate a great seson!
COACH EXPECTATIONS
- Maintain a positive attitude and cultivate one on your team! We want kids to have fun and learn to enjoy the game
- Read and understand the rules
- Attend a pre-season coaches’ meeting to go over rules and ask questions
- Pick up uniforms from commissioner
- Pick up equipment from the WYBS shed
- Send welcome email to team
- Communicate clearly with team about scheduling and any other team issues
- Follow gameplay rules
- Show up on time (at least 15 min. early for games)
- Run a weekly practice; the vast majority of reps will happen in practice, not in games, so these are crucial for development
- Report any concerns (rules violations, safety concerns or incidents, etc.) to league commissioner
- Return equipment to WYBS shed
- Fill out player evaluations; these are crucial for building balanced teams in future seasons
- Fill out coaches’ evaluations; coaches know best what is working and what isn’t, so these are crucial for continuous improvement of the league
SCHEDULE
- Each team will have a Sunday game, scheduled by the league; there are no games Memorial Day weekend
- Each Sunday session will be approximately 90 minutes long, comprising a 30-45 min. warmup/practice session followed by a 45-60 min. game; you have the field for 2 hours but a good rule of thumb is to not start a new inning after the 90 min. mark
- Each team should schedule an additional one-hour, weekly practice; these practices are crucial for skill development; each head coach will receive an invite to a shared practice calendar that will allow for scheduling flexibility while minimizing field conflicts
- In addition to regularly scheduled games and practices, we hope to offer optional skills clinics that will be made available to all league participants for a supplemental fee
GAME PLAY
- Games will be split-squad
- Each team will divide in half
- One small-sided game will be played in the infield and another game will be played in the outfield
- Teams should be roughly balanced (as opposed to fielding an “A” team on one field and a “B” team on the other)
- If one or both teams do not have enough players (at least 8), teams should play a full-squad game in the infield
- Coach Pitch
- For the first 1-2 weeks, players should bat off a tee
- Beginning around week 3, teams can move to coach pitch; this can be done selectively based on players’ ability
- Beginning with Game 5 (after Memorial Day), all teams should move to coach pitch; if kids don’t put the ball in play after 5 pitches a tee should be introduced to keep the game moving
- The goal is to get all kids exposure to coach pitch
- Coaches should pitch from a knee and throw underhand as it is very difficult to hit a pitch that is coming from far above your head
- All players will bat and play in the field (nobody on the bench)
- A coach from the fielding team should catch throws at first base to provide a big target and minimize overthrows
- A coach from the batting team should play catcher; this is to collect pitched balls but also to be available for throws on plays at home plate
- Players who are put out should stay on the base paths; this keeps them busy and provides an opportunity to learn base running
- Teams will bat twice through the lineup (regardless of recorded outs) each inning; in the event a game is played full squad due to insufficient players, teams will bat once through the lineup each inning
- Baserunners may only advance on balls in play (i.e. no stealing and no advancing on wild pitches/passed balls
- Score should not need be kept
COACHING TIPS
- You MUST recruit at least 3-4 assistant coaches to provide a good experience; the more help, the better
- Coaches should arrive a minimum of 15 minutes before scheduled game times
- Gameday logistics
- Each of the 4 corner fields at Bates (Kelly Field) will have been divided into 2 fields; one in the infield and one in the outfield
- These fields will be marked 1-8 and teams will receive a field assignment upon arrival
- Teams should use their assigned field for the 30-45 min. practice session
- When it is game time, the team assigned to the infield will play the team assigned to the outfield; e.g. the team on Field 1 will play the team on Field 2, and so on
- As noted in the Game Rules, each game will be a split squad game; this means each team will divide in half and there will be two simultaneous games between the same opponents, one in the infield and one in the outfield
- Each game needs at least 2 coaches from each side to function well
PRACTICE PLAN
- N.B. – these ideas can be used for both the practice on the front end of the weekend session as well as during dedicated team practices during the week
- Base Running (5 min.)
- Home to 1st (run hard through the bag; can high five a coach 10 ft. past 1st base to encourage this)
- Home to 2nd (take the turn at 1st; can go around a coach, cone, or glove to learn a proper turn)
- - Home run (good turns all the way around; burn off excess energy!)
- Throwing (5-10 min.)
- N.B. – for the first few practices you should demonstrate proper throwing mechanics and have all players practice without a ball before starting live throwing
- Get a partner; one partner on the foul line, the other in the field; ALL kids throwing in the same direction and spaced apart to avoid injuries
- Coach hands ball to each player on the foul line
- Focus on proper throwing technique:
- Glove shoulder points at target; feet lined up with target; eyes on target!
- Step straight toward target, extend glove toward target, throwing arm up to “L” position; fingers on top, ball away from head (i.e. no “cupping” the ball)
- Pull glove in, back shoulder drives to target
- Good follow-through
- Don’t throw until partner is in ready position!
- Focus on proper catching technique
- Ready position: feet apart, knees bent, glove up
- Use two hands; but catch the ball in your glove not your bare hand!
- Move your feet and catch the ball in front of your body
- Ball up, fingers up; ball down, fingers down
- Watch ball into glove
- If you miss a ball, run to get it and run back to your original spot; don’t just launch it from wherever it ended up!
- Make it a contest: which partners can catch the most throws in a row, or which partners can reach 10 catches in a row first
- Fielding (5-10 min.)
- Ready position: feet apart, knees bent, head and chest up, hands ready
- Move your feet: glide left and right, charge the ball if slowly hit
- Receive the ball: knees bent, hips down, glove down, hands in front, use two hands
- Point body at target and throw using good mechanics
- Focus mostly on ground balls for this age
- Make it a contest: break team into two lines and see which group can reach 10 clean catches and throws first
- Hitting (15-30 min.)
- Stance
- Feet a little wider than shoulder width apart
- Feet lined up with pitcher
- Stand close enough to cover the plate, but not on top of it; good rule of thumb is you should be able to reach down and just touch the outside corner of the plate with the bat
- Knees bent
- Weight on balls of feet
- Hands together on bat
- Hands up and relaxed
- Knob of bat pointed at catcher
- Load
- Stride straight at pitcher
- Maintain balance
- Hands move slightly back, away from head
- Swing
- Watch the ball
- Turn your hips; power comes from the hips – explode!
- Hands follow the hips through the strike zone; arms fully extended
- Good follow through; “squish the bug” – back foot turns and heel comes off ground like squishing a bug
- It is easier to make contact if you swing hard, not if you “guide” the bat toward the ball – let ‘er rip!
GAME TIPS
- Hustle! Run on and off the field, run fast on the bases, run for overthrows, etc.
- Make it fun – team chants between innings, encouragement, etc.
- Don’t keep score – kids will try – ignore/discourage – focus on the next play!
- Coaches should pitch from a knee, from a relatively close distance
- Use tees if kids can’t put the ball in play within 5 pitches; keep the game moving!
- Runners can advance on overthrows; players get all overthrows, not coaches!
- Teach fielders to get the ball ahead of the lead runner; this is good practice and will minimize non-stop overthrows/circling the bases/”little league homers”
- Work on covering bases and understanding force outs; understand the situation before the pitch; where are the force outs?
- It is a good idea to assign positions by catching skill for safety; P/2B/SS – average/above average; 1B/3B/OF average/below average
- Make sure kids drop the bat after hitting the ball; don’t throw it!