Amesbury Little League
2015 Winter Coaching Clinics
Play Ball – Salisbury, MA
Week 1 – Sunday, January 11th
Topics to be Covered Tonight:
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Goals for Winter Program (See Attached Handout)
Goals for 2015 Regular Season (See Attached Handout)
Introduction to Practice Concepts
Establishing Arrival & Practice Start Routines
Defensive Basics – Throw & Catch, Ground Balls
Laying out Tonight’s Practice
Introduction to Practice Concepts:
COUNTING TO ONE MILLION
As we progress through the 2015 Clinic Schedule, this concept of “Counting to One Million” is
something that will be referred to often. As we teach the kids the game of baseball the best way
we can, we should think in terms of how we are taught to count to one million. While most
reasonably intelligent people could do this given the benefit of having enough time, there is
nobody who actually learns this by counting to one million.
Rather, we are taught to systematically progress through a series of steps until we get there. For
example, we learn to from 9 to 10 and then 99 to 100. It continues 999 to 1,000, etc. In short,
we learn A Process that is applicable, consistent, and logical to our brain. This translates to
baseball in that everything we teach should build off concepts we have previously taught.
This is true whether it’s a theme of core strength and balance permeating to all we teach about
hitting, fielding, and throwing or how we teach base running. There are literally 1000’s of
possible base running scenarios based on number of outs, who else is on base, the score, the
inning and how and where the ball is hit.
We cannot possibly expect to have the time to teach, nor can we expect 10 year old players
to have the brain capacity to learn each individual scenario. However, as coaches, we can
boil everything down as much as possible, eliminate what is not essential, and teach the
concepts that allow us to do this.
For example, less than two outs Fly Ball…Tag. Force Play ground ball…Run.
This concept is one we should learn and become familiar with because our time with the players
is limited as is their attention span and ability to learn the nuances of every scenario in baseball.
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Amesbury Little League
2015 Winter Coaching Clinics
Play Ball – Salisbury, MA
Introduction to Practice Concepts, Continued:
CONCEPT OF NON-TEACH
As alluded to above, the aim in these clinics is to teach concepts that can be applied across
multiple areas. This helps to allow players to grasp ideas quicker and gain a deeper
understanding of the game while maximizing the little time we have with them. In doing this,
there is an inherent need to cut out all that is not absolutely necessary. There are 1,000 ways to
correctly teach the same thing in this game. However, in order for players to process the
information we give them and then use those strategies on the field during game competition, we
will cut out some things that are not core necessities.
So, for example, someone may ask, “When you teach hitting, do you teach Squish the Bug?”
My answer would be, “No, that’s a non-teach for me. If you stick to the 5-6 core, essential
elements of the swing we will go over, something like “squish the bug” will naturally happen on
its own. It’s not worth investing the time to get the kid to understand that one, small detail that
may or may not even be absolutely essential to success. That’s like teaching to count to 28 after
being at 27 to me. It’s accurate. It’s not wrong. It’s just not necessary.
Establishing Arrival & Practice Start Routines:
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Begin Practice Formally and with Everyone at Same Time
o Expectation of Arrival time and Practice Start Time
o Give kids a few minutes on bench as they get ready to be chatty and silly
o Begin Practice (On Time – Don’t Wait for Late Kids!) with Base Running & Lots
of Simple Movement – See Below
o Never Begin Practice with Thrown & Catch – Should be 4th Thing at Earliest
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Examples of Baseball Specific Things to Start Practice before Throw & Catch
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Talk! Today we’re going to…
Base Running – Not at Full Speed
Button to Button Drills
Flip Drill
Run Downs (Older Players Only)
Fly Ball Tracking Drills
Stretching Routines
Core Strength Routines (Older Players Only)
Amesbury Little League
2015 Winter Coaching Clinics
Play Ball – Salisbury, MA
Defensive Basics – Throw & Catch, Ground Balls, Flips
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Target, Glove Positioning (5-7 Year Olds, Developing 8 Year Olds)
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Flips (8+)
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Throw Drills (5-7)
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Throw Drills (8+)
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Fielding Ground Ball Position
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Button to Button Drill
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Button to Button Drill with Movement (Advanced)
o Back Hand
Layout to Tonight’s Practice :
(Use as Guideline in your practices to get multiple things done at a time)
o 5-8 Year Olds
Base Running and Warm-Up: (10 Minutes)
1. Run through 1st Base x 4 – Round off to right side
2. Tag Up x 4 – SIMPLE! “Don’t Run until I catch it”
3. “Stretches”
a. Arm Circles
b. Pendulum
c. Criss-Cross
d. Stretch Arm Across, Over Head
Stations: 35 Minutes (8 Minutes Each, One Minute Transition Time)
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2.
3.
4.
Button to Button – Cage 1
Flips – Cage 2
Glove Positioning (5’s, 6&7’s, 8’s) – Cage 3
Throw Progression Drills – Throw & Catch (Deliberate) – Cage 4-5
Compete: 15 Minutes
Cages 1 & 2: 5-6 Year Olds, Developing 7s: Race to 1st Base
Cages 3-5: 7-8 Year Olds: Grounders 2B to 1B with Base Runner
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Amesbury Little League
2015 Winter Coaching Clinics
Play Ball – Salisbury, MA
Layout to Tonight’s Practice, Continued:
o 9-12 Year Olds
Base Running and Warm-Up: (10 Minutes)
1. Run through 1st Base x 4 – Stop Hard: Spread Feet, Over Right Shoulder
2. Tag Up x 4 – Alt. 0,1 Outs or 2 Outs – Take off Like Jet, Not Helicopter
3. Stretches
a. Arm Circles while Standing – Both Ways
b. Arm Circles bent over – Both Ways
c. Pendulum – Side to Side, Front to Back
d. Criss-Cross Arms
e. Stretch Arm Across, Over Head, Behind Back
f. Rotator Cuff Stretches
g. Stop Sign Up / Down
h. Straight Leg – Together, R/L, L/R
i. Bent over, Legs at 45 degree – Middle, Right, Left
j. Standing Groin – Right, Left
Drills: 25 Minutes (11-12 Minutes Each, Then Switch, 2-3 Min. Transition)
Cage 1-2: 9-10 Yr. Olds, Developing 11s
a. Button to Button Drills
b. Button to Button with Movement
c. Flip Squares
(Open all Nets)
Drills: 5 Minutes
Cages 1-4: Fly Ball Tracking, 2 Lines
Drills: 15 Minutes
Cages 1-4: Box Ground Balls, 1 Hop Throws to 1B
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Cage 3-5: 11-12 Yr. Olds
Throw Drills
Throw & Catch (Deliberate)