How to Run a Practice in Youth Baseball
- 1). Start each practice with a brief meeting explaining what you want to teach your players on that particular day. "Today we are going to work on our baserunning," you might say. "We will also hit and field but we are going to pay close attention to running the bases." This takes confusion out of the process. Communication is important.
- 2). Run your baserunning drills. Teach your young players that it is fine to overrun first base but that you can't do that at second or third. Teach them how to round the bases. Use a term like "banana" when teaching the kids to turn one base and go toward the next. That's because the angle the runner uses when going to the next base resembles the banana.
- 3). Go through your fielding drills. Before hitting grounders and fly balls, tell your fielders the situation they are facing. After telling your team to assume runners are on first and third with one out, teach them what to do if they get the ball. Kids who aren't sure of what to do will undoubtedly stand there holding the ball because they are confused. By going over the situation ahead of time, you are eliminating the confusion. Once you have hit five or six grounders, continue to give the situation and then ask the shortstop what he will do if he gets the ball. Eventually, your players need to be able to answer correctly.
- 4). Work on pitching practice with your young players. Even if your league asks the coaches to pitch, young players will eventually move up to a more competitive league where they do pitch. Teach the basics of the pitching motion: the set-up, the wind-up and the follow-through. Work with three pitching candidates at a time and have them throw 10 pitches before moving on to the next youngster.
- 5). Work on hitting at the end of practice. Players will be looking forward to hitting and if you hit earlier, they may not pay attention once their time in the batting cage is over. Keep it simple by teaching the stance, the swing and the follow-through. The simple advice is the best. Make sure the players don't step towards third base if a right-hander or first base as a lefty and remind them to keep their eye on the ball. Many hitters will pick their heads up because they want to see it fly. It is your job as a youth coach to make sure they don't lift their heads until the ball has left the bat.
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