The two awesome coaches that my son has had the good fortune of having for the last two years are moving on (taking their kids to one of those high-priced programs), so into the breach step I.
It will be a 10U rec-league team playing under Cal Ripken Baseball aegis.
I have two assistant coaches lined up:
I have learned a lot watching my son's former coaches through a lot of practices and games. Their teams went about 50-10 over four seasons and I honestly put the bulk of that on their coaching. That said, there were some methods they used that I said to myself at the time "That's not what I would do." I've also learned a lot form this forum and other online sources about good drills and techniques.
The overarching themes for me going into this year are:
Thanks
It will be a 10U rec-league team playing under Cal Ripken Baseball aegis.
I have two assistant coaches lined up:
- One played high school ball and is the dad of one of the weaker kids on the team. He's a young dad (probably about 32 or so) and has bought all sorts of training devices to help his son that he happily shares with the other kids.
- The other is my next-door neighbor who played D-1 catcher at Iona. One of his teammates was Jason Motte who went on to be a closer for the Cards. He doesn't have any kids but he has mentored my son a bunch.
I have learned a lot watching my son's former coaches through a lot of practices and games. Their teams went about 50-10 over four seasons and I honestly put the bulk of that on their coaching. That said, there were some methods they used that I said to myself at the time "That's not what I would do." I've also learned a lot form this forum and other online sources about good drills and techniques.
The overarching themes for me going into this year are:
- Keep it fun for all the kids, not just the stars. Praise over criticism. And when criticism is needed, keep it constructive.
- Keep practices moving by breaking into the smallest groups possible for any given drill. IOW, limit the standing around doing nothing time.
- Teach the fundamentals of the basic skills first and foremost.
- Then teach the fundamentals of situational baseball (e.g. backing up a base, relay throws, base running).
- Try to get kids playing different positions as much as possible. My gut tells me that at this age, the only positions that need to have skilled players exclusively during games are 1B, P, and C.
Thanks