Little League baseball coaches (1 Viewer)

[Standing Hampton]

If you coach little league, I have a favor. I've been coaching HS for a couple of years now and this is what I have observed from the players coming into our program. They don't seem to understand the game. This is because they are not being taught at the lower levels.

THis is what a HS coach would like to see when they step on the field as 9th graders.

1. Catch, field, throw, hit--goes without saying.

2. Can they run the bases correctly. Do they know when to tag up and when to go halfway and what to do when the pitcher is in the windup vs. stretch. Do they know what a secondary lead is.

3. Communication between players. Letting the catcher know when the runner goes, what base to throw to from the outfield and calling "Mine" on a pop fly.

These will work for starters.

If you do these already, outstanding. If not, please try to do these. At least introduce them.

 

[Godsbrother]

If you coach little league, I have a favor. I've been coaching HS for a couple of years now and this is what I have observed from the players coming into our program. They don't seem to understand the game. This is because they are not being taught at the lower levels.

THis is what a HS coach would like to see when they step on the field as 9th graders.

1. Catch, field, throw, hit--goes without saying.

2. Can they run the bases correctly. Do they know when to tag up and when to go halfway and what to do when the pitcher is in the windup vs. stretch. Do they know what a secondary lead is.

3. Communication between players. Letting the catcher know when the runner goes, what base to throw to from the outfield and calling "Mine" on a pop fly.

These will work for starters.

If you do these already, outstanding. If not, please try to do these. At least introduce them.

My son's HS coach didn't know some of this this stuff.

 

[Polecat]

I'm not a little league coach but I do coach a 9U select team. We spend at least half of our practice time on the mental side of the game. Who covers second on a steal attempt? Who is the cut-off man? How do you hold a runner on? Who controls the infield on a pop-up? Back up the throws down to all bases. Pickoff moves. Rundowns. How to dive back to base on a pickoff move. Proper leads. Etc. ad infinitum.

There is alot to learn instead of hit/throw/catch/run. It's cool when you can see in a game that the kids get it, and they execute mentally.

 

[Godsbrother]

I'm not a little league coach but I do coach a 9U select team. We spend at least half of our practice time on the mental side of the game. Who covers second on a steal attempt? Who is the cut-off man? How do you hold a runner on? Who controls the infield on a pop-up? Back up the throws down to all bases. Pickoff moves. Rundowns. How to dive back to base on a pickoff move. Proper leads. Etc. ad infinitum.There is alot to learn instead of hit/throw/catch/run. It's cool when you can see in a game that the kids get it, and they execute mentally.

I applaud you. It is very difficult to do an adequate job of this as a voluteer coach. That is what really ticked me off about my son's HS baseball coach and my daughter's HS softball coach. They had these kids for a couple hours every week day (and BP on Saturdays) and they rarely, if ever, had skull sessions.The result was lots of mental mistakes come gametime.

 

[Standing Hampton]

If you coach little league, I have a favor. I've been coaching HS for a couple of years now and this is what I have observed from the players coming into our program. They don't seem to understand the game. This is because they are not being taught at the lower levels.

THis is what a HS coach would like to see when they step on the field as 9th graders.

1. Catch, field, throw, hit--goes without saying.

2. Can they run the bases correctly. Do they know when to tag up and when to go halfway and what to do when the pitcher is in the windup vs. stretch. Do they know what a secondary lead is.

3. Communication between players. Letting the catcher know when the runner goes, what base to throw to from the outfield and calling "Mine" on a pop fly.

These will work for starters.

If you do these already, outstanding. If not, please try to do these. At least introduce them.

My son's HS coach didn't know some of this this stuff.

Then I'll take that as a compliment. I've decided that at the beginning of each season we are going to have a "Baseball 101" practice just to see what they know.

 

[Standing Hampton]

I'm not a little league coach but I do coach a 9U select team. We spend at least half of our practice time on the mental side of the game. Who covers second on a steal attempt? Who is the cut-off man? How do you hold a runner on? Who controls the infield on a pop-up? Back up the throws down to all bases. Pickoff moves. Rundowns. How to dive back to base on a pickoff move. Proper leads. Etc. ad infinitum.There is alot to learn instead of hit/throw/catch/run. It's cool when you can see in a game that the kids get it, and they execute mentally.

Polecat, you are doing the HS teams a BIG favor in your area just by doing this. Baseball is more than finding the best hitter and pitchers and then letting them play. That stuff won't work in HS because they can ALL hit and pitch.Do you see much bunting? If so, have you introduced bunt coverages yet. Also, do you have defensive "plays" for 1st and third situations?

 

[Polecat]

We practice bunt coverage all the time. As soon as it's evident, the first and third basemen crash the plate. This is possible because of rules against slashing (wherein the batter fakes the bunt and swings away). The second baseman covers first. Depending upon the situation, the shortstop either covers second or third. It's second nature with our guys because we practice it, every time we do infield.

We have a couple of plays with a first and third situation. We'll call the play from the dugout. On a code red, there is no throw down on the stolen base attempt. On a code yellow, we throw down to second and try to get the tagout, essentially conceding the run. On a code blue, the catcher will make a normal throw down to second. However, the second baseman cuts the throw off behind the pitcher's mound and confronts the runner trying to score. This often results in a rundown, when we almost always get an out. It takes alot of practice to get the timing down, where the second baseman intercepts the throw on the move towards the left side of the infield. If it's done right, the runner will usually freeze for a second, unsure of which way to go. Pretty cool.

We have some cool pickoff plays too. It's hard to get an out on a runner stealing second, because at 9, the pitcher's generally take too long to deliver the ball to the plate. An average 9 year old can go from 1st to 2nd in just under 4 seconds. There simply isn't enough time from delivery to the plate then a throw down to second to catch many runners. It happens, but it has to be a perfect throw...even then it's a bang-bang play and you often won't get the call. SO, we try to pick runners off when we can.

Most of our pickoff plays are called by the catcher. Even 9 year olds aren't stupid enough to take too big a lead when the pitcher is staring at them. So, the pitcher relies on the catcher to be their eyes. In one of our pickoff plays to second base, the catcher will call it before the pitcher addresses the rubber. The 2B/SS will acknowledge the call by kicking some dirt. After the pitcher becomes set, the 2B/SS will break behind the runner. The catcher lets them get two steps into it before dropping his mitt which signals the pitcher to turn and fire the ball at the second base bag. If it's done right, the 2B/SS and the ball both reach the bag at the same time. Bang. OUT!

We also teach our catchers to use snap throws to catch runners at 1B/3B off-guard. It's surprising how many base runners basically fall asleep and get picked off by a snap throw when they aren't expecting it.