TRYOUT TIPS

TIPS FROM THE COACH

I was recently asked by a friend for some tips about how his sons should
approach their upcoming Little League tryouts. They wanted to know how to
catch the coaches’ eye. The obvious answer is to play well. But there are a
few things they should do to insure an eye-catching performance.

1.Understand that a tryout is not a social event. You are there to take
someone's job.

2. Dress like a ball player. Wear baseball pants, cleats and a hat. You
will get major deductions if you show up in baggy jeans and the latest
skater dude apparel. Wearing your hat backward or sideways is a major no no.

3. When you arrive, place your equipment away from everyone else's. Run,
preferably by yourself, to get warm. Stretch away from everyone else in the
outfield. Coaches will notice that this is a serious,disciplined,
knowledgable ball player. Also your equipment is less likely to grow legs.

4. Throw sufficiently to be completely warm. There may be a lengthy wait
while waiting to perform at your position. Be sure to keep throwing if
necessary to stay loose and warm.

5. Many think that hustling and trying to aggressively make plays is the way to impress coaches. Understand that it is early season and your game is not in midseason form. When it comes time to show your defensive skills you will be much better taking it slow and smooth, focusing on proper mechanics. Get your feet under you and focus on making an accurate throw. The odds are if you try too hard, rush it and throw it as hard as you can, you will boot it and throw it into the stands.

6. When hitting, take a pitch to get a feel for the timing of the pitch. Be selective and only swing at pitches that you can expect to hit with a high degree of success. Here again it is early season so your stroke is not in midseason form. Don’t overswing but just swing smoothly and try to hit line drives and hard ground balls. I once saw a kid hit four straight line drives turn to the coaches and say, “ its going to be a long day, do you want to see any more?” I drafted him!

7.If you have pitching tryouts, again remember that your arm is not in shape. Make sure you are warm and then focus on using perfect mechanics, throwinging only 80%. Throw a couple of curves again just focusing on the proper realise. don't worry about really snapping them off but just flip them up there for strikes. Only on the last couple of pitches, if your arm feels good should you throw your full fastball.

8. Daddies, stay away from the coaches. Lobbying will not help. There are two notations experienced coaches make. DIAs ( Dad Is an Ass) are to be avoided. GLMs (Good Lucking Mom) are prized.

I go into this more thoroughly and humorously and chronicle all the things which you will encounter in my book A PARENTS GUIDE TO BASEBALL-Surviving And Thriving Youth League To College available at www.tipsfromthecoach.com

Good Luck. It’s going to be a great season.

Yours in Baseball

Bruce Lambin

THE COACH

PS. Thanks for all the suggests for this TIP.

A friend of mine recently closed his sporting goods store and asked if I might be able to sell some off the remaining stock. There are 26 pairs of white, belted, youth small pants and 3 pairs medium, that I will sell for $5.00 each plus S&H.

Bruce