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Youth Baseball Coaching - Outfielding Drill Posted on YouTube by CoachBuford
http://www.YouthBaseballVideo.com - This baseball fielding drill will help young players react to a fly ball in the outfield. Focus on starting in an athletic ready position, taking a decisive drop step, finding the ball, and getting underneath it to make a play.
Bats, Balls & Bladders - Hilarious But True Little League Stories by Guest Author Doug Rogers
I sat down last night and tried to calculate how many total youth sports games I had attended for my three sons over the years. I'm not sure why I did this. Perhaps I was bored. Or perhaps it was the realization that my youngest son was turning 13, and this phase of our lives would soon be over. It was nearly impossible to calculate, but each of my several estimates carried me close to 1,000 games. Could that really be true? And I didn't even try to guess the number of practices to boot. By any measure it all added up to a large amount of time spent with kids' sports. And the great majority of it was fun.
I suppose when you combine all that time spent at youth sporting events with the basic reality of human nature and emotions, it is statistically unavoidable that one would bear witness to a wide variety of incidents ranging from the most hilarious to the most heart warming to the most shameful. And unfortunately, when I think back on it, I can't help but recollect that it was the adults who were almost universally responsible for every one of the shameful behaviors I witnessed, whereas the kids monopolized ownership of the hilarious and heart warming events. Funny how that worked.
While the shameful behaviors of parents and coaches make for interesting and easy news columns and blog essays, there's plenty of worthwhile entertainment to be had in recounting the hilarious and heart-warming stuff of the kids. Thankfully, these stories outweigh the shameful ones by a large margin. Here's just one that sprang to my mind the other day.
Simon
I had a boy on one of my Little League baseball teams one year whom I'll call Simon. Simon was the quintessential Little Leaguer by my definition. He came early to every game and practice. He was always fully decked out in baseball paraphernalia, with all of the coolest accessories like double-wristed sweat bands, flip-up sunglasses and a large wad of Bazooka gum tucked neatly in the cheek. His spitting ability was second to none, and his knowledge of Major League Baseball statistics and trivia would make Tim McCarver blush. He loved baseball. Unfortunately his athletic skills and coordination did not match his love and passion for the game.
Because of his weaker skills Simon did not qualify for the "major" league and was therefore playing on my "minor" league team with much younger players. He was nearing his last year of eligibility for playing Little League, and Simon had spent his first few years in the league logging a lot of bench time, pulling a lot of right-field-only duty and mostly batting last, if at all sometimes (believe it or not). He had never been on the pitcher's mound except to walk across it on his way to right field. His parents had written to me at the start of the season to say that his experiences in the past were demoralizing and had all but squashed his joy and desire for participating in the game. Their stories of past experiences were unsettling to say the least, and probably cruel by any standards of decency. I assured his parents that Simon had come to the right team this year.
On one particular early spring night we were excited to play a game under the lights on one of the premium fields in town usually reserved for the older players in the "major" league. It would be our team's first game with real infield grass instead of dirt, actual dugouts and a 200' fence outlining the perimeter of the outfield. Cool stuff for a bunch of 9 and 10-year-olds with visions of baseball grandeur still dancing innocently in their heads. And for Simon, it was baseball fantasy brushing against reality as he jogged onto the lush grass field with the giant overhead spotlights illuminating the perfectly manicured diamond. He took the field with his usual professional stride, happily ignoring the probability that any balls hit his way would once again not likely land safely in his glove. To Simon, that was not a devastating concern. Like his errors of the past, if another occurred he would once again shake his head, smack his glove a bit and raise his hand to us coaches as if to signal, "I shoulda' had that one, Coach. But I'll get the next one." And we'd simply give him a thumbs up and yell, "Great try, Simon!" It was a pretty good arrangement; stress free for all of us that way.
Being the true professional he was, I half expected Simon to tip his cap to the dozen or so "fans" as he strode out to his position. One thing was certain, Simon would savor every precious moment of his Little League experience, as long as somebody provided him with the opportunity to do so.
Bats, Balls and Bladders
Unfortunately, as Little League tends to go, our excitement of the big game under the lights began to dwindle around the third inning when the opposing team proceeded to score 10 runs, with no end in sight. I'm sure you know the inning well; walk after walk, error after error, stolen base after stolen base, relief pitcher after relief pitcher. It was painful for all, especially on what turned out to be a freezing cold, misty night. And as if the baseball follies weren't punishing enough, there was yet another side effect from this "Bad News Bear" moment. The inning lasted so long that I started to notice a few of our players in the field squirming, wiggling around and tugging at the crotch of their pants. Suddenly, while my fourth reliever was warming up, our second baseman bolted off the field towards our dugout.
"Coach," he pleaded, "I gotta' go bad."
"Go where?" I responded.
"I gotta' pee so bad," he replied with the look of desperation in his eyes. Darn those 24-ounce Gatorade bottles!
"Alright," I said, "go ahead, but hurry back. This game is taking long enough already." As he took off towards the latrine, the first baseman arrived right behind him.
"Coach, I gotta' pee bad too."
I told him, "Go ahead, but please hurry." Then comes the third baseman as well.
"Coach, can I go too?" he asked.
"Sure, why not?" I said. I was thinking that by the looks of our next pitcher's so-called warm-up pitches, this is going to be the longest inning in Little League history anyway. Hell, I thought, I might as well go myself. At least it's probably warm in the men's room.
As I glanced at my near-empty infield and realized that our only chance for turning a double play would have to take place in front of two urinals and a sink, I also noticed that the opposing coach was becoming annoyed by these further delays. I couldn't figure that one out. I guess he wanted to get on with the resumption of our slaughter before his team lost any momentum. Perhaps a future bench-coach position with the Yankees was hanging in the balance. Who's to know?
To be fair, the inning was dragging on for an eternity. But given the current state of my infield, my biggest concern was who else might be suffering from nature's calling. Back on bladder patrol, I once again scanned the field for more squirming and crotch tugging. Nobody else seemed to be in apparent discomfort, but suddenly I noticed Simon now also jogging to the dugout from the outfield. I met him at the fence and preempted his expected request by saying, "Yes, yes, Simon. You can also go to the bathroom if you have to."
But Simon replied, "No Coach, I don't have to go."
"Then what's the matter, Simon?" I asked.
He said, "I have to come out of the game to rest my eyes."
Rest your eyes?
"The giant spot lights are too bright and they are hurting my eyes. I'm afraid they may damage my retinas." And without waiting for my reply Simon passively took a spot on the bench and calmly removed his wrist bands and flip-up sunglasses. I never even got the chance to ask him why he wore sun glasses to a night game, or - since he did - why he didn't employ them to protect his retinas from spotlight damage. Simon sat down politely in the dugout, opened up a fresh piece of Bazooka and scanned the field with his usual enthusiasm, belting out a few supportive "C'mon guys!" to his teammates whom he still believed could engineer a comeback. Simon was not one to let reality ruin his baseball fantasy. And why should he? That's what baseball's supposed to be at that age.
Seeing Simon so matter-of-factly perched comfortably on the bench, I thought to myself, that was the final kicker. Our team was getting clobbered and the game wasn't half over yet, the night was freezing cold, my entire infield was taking a pee and missing in action (probably warming themselves under the hand dryer), my fourth relief pitcher was busy bouncing balls three feet in front of the plate during warm ups, and now one of my players had ejected himself from the game for fear of going blind.
The coaches and I had no choice but to look at each other in disbelief, and then, burst out laughing. You just can't make this stuff up.
By the way, Simon did finally get the chance to pitch that season for the first time ever. He gave up one walk, one hit and struck a player out. For that moment, for that boy, baseball fantasy became reality. The smile on his face proved it.
Doug Rogers is a retired corporate executive who now devotes his time to speaking and writing about Nice Guys.
Youth Baseball: Little Leaguer Goes Off on Dad Posted on YouTube by DugoutTheMascot
Most parents are very supportive and positive. However, this is what it's like if a Little Leaguer were to act like some adults. This batter turns the tables, berating his dad for not cheering enough.
See more about Little League Baseball and Softball at www.LittleLeague.org
The Importance of Team Sports For Children by Guest Author Susan T Roberts
As their children grow up, every set of parents has a different idea as to what should be the main focus of their upbringing and how they should spend their free time, especially when it comes to extra-curricular activities. Some parents place a huge emphasis on academics and want their children doing extra reading or working with a tutor. Other parents are heavily into sports and want their children to focus on sports. Some parents simply want their children to be children and don't push them in any particular direction at all.
In most cases, schools give children at least some opportunity to participate in a team sport. Along with the team sports that are taught during physical education classes, there are usually a few varsity sports teams that will represent the school while competing against other schools in the area. In addition to this, most communities have a few organized sports leagues that children can be active in.
In my opinion, participation in team sports is vital to healthy social, physical and emotional development. Participating in a sports team exposes children to a range of challenges in a team environment where they are forced to work with others, rely on others at times and also to encourage or root for others on their team. All of this leads to the development of a cooperative mindset. Now although all of this sounds ideal, I am aware that it does not always work out this way. Some times a child might be a 'ball hog' and refuse to pass the ball, or want to score all of the goals themselves. But with time, even this child learns at some point that they must work with others if they want to see true success.
Some kids just love sports and have a natural tendency towards them. There is very little that a parent could do to stop a child like this from participating in sports. Other children are quite nonchalant about sports, and some children even hate sports. A variety of factors can influence the way that children feel about sports. Sometimes they are shy or insecure about the abilities yet with a little encouragement they will get out there and do fine. At times, a child may have a physical attribute that they are conscious or overly conscious about that stops them from doing a sporting activity they would love. I encourage parents to find at least one team sport that their children can become involved in. Not all team sports have to be high impact activities or 'popular' sports. A swim team is great for a child that is not boisterous or overly physical. Some schools have sailing as an extra curricular activity which again falls outside of the typical team sport.
I believe that team sports teach children not only how to compete, but how to compete fairly within structured boundaries. This is an important life lesson and the skills and the disciplines that they learn in sports will definitely last them a lifetime. Team sports will teach children how to communicate, since most team sports require children not only to talk to each other while the activity is taking place but also how to plan strategies for an upcoming event and how to debrief or review things that have happened in a game. Perhaps most importantly, team sports teach children how to succeed and how to fail since inevitably throughout each season of their sport their team will do both. With every win and loss, children learn coping skills. These again are important skills to develop in a child and they will last them throughout life.
Susan Roberts writes freelance for a number of different companies including KS Child Locate on locate child mobile. She has many years experience working with teens and families and also publishes on HubPages on subjects such as "My Childhood and my Children's Childhood".
What You Need to Become a Great Baseball Player By Guest Author Jack Perconte
I am not sure that I can write anything about how to become a great baseball player that you do not already know or that is not stating the obvious. Having played major league baseball though, I will discuss some of the ingredients that I believe helped me make it to the major leagues. I will not go so far to say that I was a great baseball player, but I believe I reached my potential using the attributes listed below.
First of all, it is important that a player develops a "Love of the Game." This may not happen at a young age but develops somewhere along the way. Many young athletes are like I was, where they are in love with all sports at a young age and developed a love of baseball when greater success came at baseball. Love of the game often leads to the next ingredient, which is necessary to become a great baseball player - a never give up attitude.
I often tell people that if all the current major league players quit playing baseball when they were told, at sometime in their life, that they were not good enough, there would be a whole set of different major league players. Just like in every aspect of life, a never give up attitude is essential to make it to the top. I always had the thought process that no one would make the decision when I would hang up the spikes but me.
The next ingredient that is necessary to reach potential is focus. Players, who stay focused on the goal, have the edge when it comes to competition. Many talented players play to prove something, where as the great players play with the idea of constantly "improving." Obviously, the players with this latter attitude are the ones who usually go the furthest. Even though there were times that I lacked confidence when playing, I remained focused so that, in the end, I reached my goal of becoming a major league player.
All of the mentioned ingredients allow players to have the next ingredient necessary for development into a great baseball player - a solid work ethic. Baseball, not unlike many sports but maybe even more so, requires fundamentals that need to be repeated over and over. It has often been stated that, "hitting a baseball may be the hardest thing to do in sports," so great fundamentals are needed. Pitching and fielding a baseball are equally tough, so players must combine the dedication and motivation into a great work ethic if they hope to have success. One thing that I am proud of was the work ethic I applied to playing baseball, and even to the point of over-working, which became detrimental to good performance at times.
The next ingredient is similar to focus but is an added characteristic of great players. Great baseball players have the ability to "calm the mind." Many players have talent and qualities to be good baseball players but lack the ability to tune out distractions, which come either during games or in their everyday lives. Many a great athlete had their career end because of off the field distractions that did not allow them to keep a clear mind during play. Many players become distracted easily and lack the intense mental focus necessary to excel under game pressure. When I first made it to the big leagues, I had a difficult time believing it was still just a baseball game. This led to a lack of a calm mind, leading to many misplays and wasted at-bats. Eventually, I overcame this and was able to keep the mind calm and play baseball like in the "back yard" when growing up.
All of the above ingredients lead to confidence. All great athletes play with self-confidence in their abilities, believing they belong where they are at the top level of sport. The intense pressure packed game moments or the major league atmosphere does not overwhelm them. As mentioned earlier about a calm mind, it took me a while to gain the confidence necessary to be a somewhat successful major league player. Playing with confidence leads to a long successful career for many, whereas a lack of confidence often leads to an abbreviated career.
Finally, there is another ingredient that leads to greatness and that is the overall physical attributes that players are genetically given. This is not to say that all of the other ingredients are not necessary to become great, but players who are more physically gifted than most, obviously have a higher athletic ceiling than those less gifted. When they apply the above characteristics with their physical abilities, a great baseball player is the result.
Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball playing lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his positive parenting advice and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com
