MidgetBaseballrecommendationsͲMandatoryviewingͲYouTube““TCUBaseballͲTheJourney””
OverallCoachingPhilosophy––““Ifyoubuildit(agreatlearningculture)ͲTheywillcome(backnext
year)””
Kidsaresmarterandmoretalentedthanwegivethemcreditfor.Forexampleyoumaynoticethat
mostkidsseemtohaveaflawedbutnatural““uppercut””swing.Thatisnotnatural,andnotflawedatall.
Thatwaslearnedwhensomebodyintheirlivesfirsttaughtthemhowtohitbylobbingaballfroma
shortdistancewithasignificantarc.Theuppercutisthemosteffectiveswingpathtohitthatpitch,and
mostkidsnaturallyfigurethatoutbydevelopingthattypeofswing.
Acoach’’sjobistocreateanenvironmentforplayerstolearnanddevelop.WinningandFunarenot
goals!Theyareabyproductofkidswhoarelearninganddevelopinginasafe,healthyandteam
buildingenvironment.Createaculturethathasstructureandclearexpectations,withrewardsand
accountability,butthatisalsopositiveandfullofenergy.
Averagecoachesmakethemistakeoftryingtohelptheirplayersavoidfailuresotheywillbehappier
andhavefun.ThisisaCRITICALerrorinbaseballcoaching(anddoesn’’twork).Failureissomethingthat
isnormal,natural,andwillteachustobecomebetter.Greatcoachescreateanenvironmentwhere
processiscelebrated,notresults.Sowhenitcomestobatting,don’’tcelebrateagreathit(theywillfeel
goodenoughaboutthatanddon’’tneedreinforcementinthatmoment).Celebratethegreataggressive
swing,oranadjustmentintheplayer’’sstance,orgettingagood““strideͲload””forthefirsttime.Make
processthefocusandthehitswillcome!
PracticePhilosophyͲHighenergy,highactivity,fastpaced.
PreͲpracticeͲPlayerswhoarriveearlyshouldNOTgrababallandstartplayingcatchontheirown.Use
thattimetotalkwithkidsabouttheirlife,orletthemhavethatthetimetotalkwitheachotherabout
whatevertheywant.Iftheyneedtomove,letthemrunbases,butmakesurethattheteamstarts
practicetogetherwiththewarmuproutineyouhaveselected.
WarmupsͲCreateaconsistentroutineforwarmups.Wealwayswarmupourbodiestothrow.We
neverthrowtowarmup.Warmupsareveryimportanthabitsandroutinescanbelearnedbyeventhe
youngestplayers.Thisisalsoagreattimetoteachfundamentalsofbaserunning(orattheendas
conditioning).
StationsͲMostbaseballpracticesarelikeazoo,wherethereissomeactiontakingplacewithoneortwo
kidsatatime,andeverybodyelsestandingaroundandwatching.Thisiswhykidsgetsoboredwith
baseball.Instead,makeyourpracticelooklikeacircus,highenergywithactiongoingoneverywhere
andactivitieschangingquickly.Stationsarecritical,andtheyshouldrotatequickly.Givejustenough
timeforabout1minuteofinstruction,and1Ͳ2minutesforeachkidtoexecutethatstation,thenrotate.
Afteraboutaminute,theeffectivenessdiminishes,boredomsetsinandbadhabitsbegintoform.
GroupTimeͲOnceoffensiveanddefensivestationsarecompleted,thelast25%ofyourpracticeshould
beforteamactivities.
Holdoutthelast10Ͳ15minutesasoptionaltimewithpotentialforarewardactivitylikeplayingagame.
Thisrewardcouldbeafungamelike““overtheline””,or““quickscrimmage””iftheyearnitbyfocusingand
workinghardduringthefirstpartsofpractice.Ifwedon’’tearnitthatday,maybewecontinuewith
groupdrillsordoconditioning.Putthecontrolintheirhands,butcoachesarethejudgeifweearned
therewardwithagoodpractice.
SamplePracticePlan
1hour30minuteto2hourmax.
Warmuproutine,15Ͳ20min.
Run(organized),stretch(basic,6Ͳ8exercises),throwͲemphasizegoodthrowingposturetoteammate.
Parentsandcoachescanbackupwithballinhand.Throwingbycadenceisalwaysfun.
Stations30Ͳ40min.
a.Offense
Batting- Stance, hands, bat path, finishHittingofftee,hittingsofttoss,hittingoverhandpitches,Use
multipledrillsandvary.Startbreakingdrillsintoupperandlowerhalfmechanics.Buntingcanstart.
BattingPracticecanuserunners,hittersandfieldersasseparatestationsorgroups.
b.Defense
Approach, footwork, throwing mechanics by positionCatchingballsthrown,catchingballshitͲ
groundballs,catchingpopͲupsorflies,throwingballstoforceoutsandtags(userunners).Forehand
andbackhanddrills.
Catchersshouldhaveindividualworkfor15Ͳ20minuteseachpractice(blocking,stances,blocking,
throwingfootworktobases,andmoreblocking).
PitchersͲshortbullpens(10Ͳ20pitches)withstrike%goals(keeptrack).Workonholdingrunnersonby
varyingrhythmandpickoffmoves.
Team30Ͳ40mins.
Defensedrillsandsituations:infieldin,back,forceoutsvs.tags.Communicationdrills,holdingrunners
on.Buntdefense,cutoffstobases.Backups.Livehitting.
GameactivityͲ15min.
QuickScrimmage,overtheline,forceoutgame,throwingtargets.
GamemanagementͲ
PregameͲHavethelineupcreatedbeforeyougettothepark.Atthisstage,allkidsshouldbeplaying
infieldandoutfieldpositionsandrotatingfrequently(2inningsmax).HOWEVER,donotputkidsatfirst
baseorcatcherwhoarescaredoftheball.Letthemparticipateinawaytheyarecomfortableandwill
notfeelunneededpressureandanxiety.
GameManagementphilosophyͲ
BattingͲ
a. Takethefocusoff““hitting””andputthefocusontakinggreat,aggressiveswings,and
demonstratingthefundamentalstheyarelearning.Thestandardpitchforthislevelofmachine
orcoachpitchshouldbetohavetheballpitchedfrommachineorcoachabout35Ͳ40feetaway
sothatapitchwithenoughvelocitywillhaveareasonablyflatplane.Verballyencourageand
rewardgreatswingswiththesameintensitywhethertheyhittheballornot.
b. Keepthingsmovingquickly.Allpitchesshouldcomefrommound.Don’’tgiveextrachances
afterstrike3orball4.Sticktorulesaboutwhenthecoachpitches.Remember,gettingmoreat
batsisbetterthatlongeratbats.Don’’twaitforthecatcher.Haveacoachwarmupthepitcher.
Bringinthe1stbatterandpitchwithoutacatcheronceeverybodyelseisready.
c. Kidswillrememberwheretheyfinishedtheseason,notwheretheystarted.Believeinprocess
andbelieveinthekid’’sabilitytogrowandadjust.Empowertheminsteadoftryingtoenableor
appeasethem.
FieldingͲ
a. Makesureplayersarecreepingoneachpitch.Practicethisandholdplayersaccountable
b. Theballislive.Everythrowthatismadeonthefieldshouldbebackedupbyatleastoneplayer.
c. Playersmustknowwheretheyaresupposedtothrowtheballbeforethebatterseesthefirst
pitch.Alsowheretogoifballishittotheirsideofthefieldortotheothersideofthefield.
Eachfielderhassomeplacetobeanytimetheballisputinplay.
d. Stressthateveryplayershouldbemovingandhassomewheretogoonanyballhitinplayto
eithercoverabaseorbackupapotentialthrowtothatbase.
COREFUNDAMENTALSthatplayersshouldfinishtheseasonwith
Offense.
Batting––GoodtimingofStride/Load,goodbalance,startinghandsaboveshouldersandgettingknob
directlytotheball.BEAGGRESSIVE.
Baserunning––Learninghowtoleadoffproperlyfromeachbase,divebackonallpicks,properrouteson
multiplebasehits.Afterhittingtheballkeepeyesstraightaheadanddirectlyon1stbasecoach
Defense
ThrowingͲThrowing(2/3fingersonCpartofhorseshoeonbaseball),onefootinfrontoftheother,
steppingstraightatthetarget,andusingglovetopointattheirtarget.
Fielding––Creepwithanopenglove.Keepthe““eye””ofthegloveontheballatalltimes.UseLADrillbut
makesureeverychildlearnsthebasicathleticstancewiththeirfeetshoulderwidthapart,kneesslightly
bentandgloveoutinfront.Oncetheballissecured,movefeettocorrectpositiontothrowtospecific
base.
Catching––Good““A””stance(nonͲstealingsituation)andaGood““B””stance(stealingsituation).Receiving
theball,properfundamentalsofblocking(nottryingtogloveeverything),properfootworktoeachbase
andthrowingmechanics.
Pitching:Leteverybodywhowantstopitch,pitch,andencourageeverybodytodoso.Workon
fundamentalsofarmextension,understandingtheathleticstance,findingabalancepointanddrawing
astraightlinefromthepitcher’’smoundtohomeplate.Thepitchershouldworkonlandingonthatline
andpointingtheirglovetohomeplateandthrowingfastballstoalocation(outside,inside,low,high).
Basicunderstandingofhowtoholdrunnersonbase,andbasicpickoffmovesto1stand2nd.Covering
homewitharunneronbaseonpassedball.
CommonCoachingErrors
1. Notsettingclearexpectationsforparentsandplayersandfindingreasonablewaystohold
playersaccountableformeetingthoseexpectations
2. PoorpracticeplanningandexecutionͲrunningazooinsteadofacircus(fromLenClarkmanual)
3. SettingFUNandWINNINGastheprimaryobjectivesvs.teamandindividual
development.Winningandfunareresultsthathappenwhenthingsaredonetherightway.
4. Allowingcliquesorclasseswithinateam.Notattemptingtomakeeachplayerfeellikeanequal
stakeholderinteamsuccesses.
5. Tryingtobringthelevelofthegamedowntoeachplayerscurrentlevelofability(helping
playersavoidfailureratherthanmakingitanacceptablepartofthegameandcoachingthemto
growtoachievegoals)
6. Failingtoestablishhealthywarmuproutines
7. Failingtomakerunningandconditioningapartofeachpractice(ifdonerightthiscanbeareally
funpartofpractice)
8. Spendingwaytoolittletimeonbasicfundamentalsofcatching,throwingandTeachingoutdated
fundamentals.
9. Spendingwaytoomuchtimedoingthesamething(spendinganhourofpracticetimepitchinga
fullbuckettoeachplayerwhiletheother11kidsshag)
10. Teachingadvancedfundamentalstoplayerswholackthemorerudimentaryfundamentals
(needtobeabletoaddandsubtractbeforeyoucanlearnalgebra)
11. Undercoachingduringpractice/Overcoachingduringgames
12. Failingtobringanappropriateamountofintensitytopracticesandgames
13. Discerningtheappropriatebalancingofplayingtimeandpositionrotationsforthelevelofplay
14. Managingarmhealthatpracticesandgames(11yrsoldandup)
15. Teachingkidstobetooselectiveonswingingthebatatyounglevels.Youngplayersneedto
learntohitpitchesthatarenotinthestrikezone.
16. Allowingthedugouttobecomeazooandfailingtoteachplayersthatwhathappensinthe
dugoutisanimportantpartbecomingagoodplayerandagoodteam.