Teach All the Kids

I had a grandparent tell me "You would get a lot more outs if you put your best players at pitcher and first base". I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to not respond w/ sarcasm "REALLY? Do you think so? Wow, I would've never thought of that!". Instead I talked to him just like I would to one of the 4, 5, or 6 year olds on the team: "Yeah, that's true, but we really want to teach all of the kids how to play."

Teaching all the kids and getting them experience helps the individual kids in the short term and your team in the long term. While you might be able to identify some extremely talented kids (or the other end of the spectrum) right off the bat, no one can determine the potential baseball career of a 5 year old.

Using the forceout at third as an example, every player should be able to get the force out at third base (not every time, but definitely should be taught and given chances). In my experience, the key is to remind them ahead of time when the situation presents itself. "Brad, there are runners on first and second. If you get a ground ball what should you do? That's right. Catch the ball and then run and step on the base. Remember, it's a race!". Kids at that age understand what a race is. Have them practice the maneuver. Teach them to touch the base and then get out of the way so they don't get killed. When they get it down, teach them to try to get the double play at first base. Never expect the double play, but it looks great and the crowd is easily impressed at this age ;-). If they're "ready", don't forget to add that in your instruction when the situation arises "...That's right. Pick it up, step on third and then throw it to first. Remember, it's a race!". Congratulate them for their effort, regardless of the outcome. Kids smiles last a life time in my mind.

Ask yourself this: does your league keep score? If the answer is no, then focus on having fun, teaching the FUNdamentals, being a positive "cheerleader" during the games, and teaching good sportsmanship. Btw, if the answer is yes, do the same things. It's really sad to see coaches and parents in tee-ball that are worried about winning.

Off the top of my head, a few tips for coaching the young kids:

• Keep lectures short.
  
• End each drill w/ a friendly competition. For example, see how many times in a row the team can throw/catch w/out dropping the ball. Time how long they take to run the bases. Tell them you will do 20 push-ups if they can complete more catches in a minute than they did the last time. Etc., etc.
  
• Here's one I've found to be true: After they hit the ball, don't just yell "RUN, RUN, RUN". Use their name. It seems to break them from their trance. "Run Craig, Run Craig, Run Craig!".
  
• Tell them it's ok to make mistakes. If they aren't making mistakes they aren't learning and trying new things. Ask them if they know who Mark McGwire is. Tell them he hit 70 homeruns in a season. Tell them on the other hand, he's struck out ONE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-EIGHT times over his career. A GREAT batter in the majors gets out 6 out of 10 times (that's 40%, what grade would that get in school?). Baseball is a game of mistakes. They even keep track of it: runs, hits, and ERRORS.
  
• If they make a mistake, calmly explain to them what the mistake was. If possible, re-create the situation to see if they understand your correction. If they didn't get it, calmly explain it to them again. Have them explain it back to you. Patiently try it again. It's ok if they don't immediately break a bad habit (tell them that it's OK!). In my experience, too many coaches shout out some instruction w/ no explanation. Infield practice seems to be the worst for this as the coach just continues on w/ the next person and never explains the proper mechanic or tries to re-create the situation. Rarely is anything learned that way.
  
• Praise effort, not success.
  
• During a game, write down the common mistakes. The running game at this age is an area that a lot of mistakes are made. The boys will fight over the ball in the field. Go ahead and laugh (that's the best part of this age). But don't let it end there. Use your head and figure out a way to teach them during the next practice how to avoid the mistake (they thought it was hilarious when another coach and I both dove after a ball in the outfield and started to fight over it). Identify the common mistakes and try to address them.
  
• Keep track of the good things that every players does. Especially point out areas that they worked on and have improved. Don't miss the little things. If you want the kids to back up plays or hustle through the base at first, then POINT IT OUT WHEN THEY DO IT and congratulate them, REGARDLESS of the outcome.
  
• Be POSITIVE. E.g., Don't scream about them swinging at a high pitch and tell them it was over their head. Even at this age, they know it. Even if they don't, why scream and roll your eyes? Praise the good aggressive swing (or at least the aggressiveness at the plate). The batter will be in a much better state to hit the next pitch. This sounds silly, but it worked for me. Wear your watch on your opposite hand during games a few times. Every time you go to look for the time and your watch isn't there, remind yourself to be positive. It only takes a couple of games and it becomes habit.
  
• Buy some good books/videos, especially those targeted at beginners. Dusty Baker's "You Can Teach Hitting" is good for basics in hitting and identifying common flaws and ways to correct them. Go to the library and rent some videos they have.
  
• Even if you don't use the tee in games (it's optional in our "tee-ball" league), use it in practice. Hit into the backstop. They get lots of good, quality swings that way. Be careful not to take too many swings. They get tired physically and mentally at this age. Better to rotate them through a couple of times than get them tired or frustrated in one sitting. In general, keep the tee set low and in front of the batter. For advanced hitters, you can vary the location and height to start teaching them how to handle pitches that aren't perfect.
  
• Get parents to help and break into small groups. This is hard because you might have a lot of other "beginner" parents. Get together w/ those volunteers and find out their area of interest. If they aren't motivated enough themselves, get some materials that discuss the basics of their assigned area (targeted at begining players) and get it to them. You can find it all on the 'net.
  

Please excuse the rambling. I could go on and missed tons of things.

Tell the kids to "have fun, try hard, and be good sports". Literally. In fact, they should be able to recite this after a few weeks. Spend a few minutes w/ them early on and brainstorm on how they can achieve those goals during practice and games.