Pray for Rain

I’m convinced that one of the reasons basketball has become more popular in recent years is because you don’t need an entire team to have fun. With a basketball goal on every playground and at the end of every other driveway, kids can shoot baskets by themselves for hours upon hours. Baseball, and other team sports, suffer by comparison because it’s hard to enjoy the sport when you’re alone in your own backyard.

I’ve recommended the SoloHitter before, after just a week of using it, and now that I’ve gone through an entire season with it, I thought I’d recommend it again. And I recommend it not just as a training device for kids….I use it myself, and I’m not training for anything at all. I get tremendous satisfaction from slugging that ball hanging from a bungee cord in the evening after work. It’s a little pricey, but probably no more expensive than putting up a basketball goal at the end of the driveway.

This post sponsored by NeedCred.Com.

The first year I coached 7- and 8-year olds, I ran many of the same pre-season drills I ran when I was coaching T-Ball. Then at our first game, I noticed that almost all of the outs recorded against our team came on base-running errors. Or, to be fair to the kids since I had not actually coached any base-running yet, pre-season coaching errors.

“Run or Hold” is one of the games I implemented at our next practice to correct our early season problems.

Run or Hold? You can play this game on the regular baseball diamond, but to get everyone involved at the same time I like to lay out as many bases as I have players into a giant circle. Since most practice fields don’t have an unlimited number of bases, you’ll probably need to use paper plates, rags, cones, or some other marker to be the “base.” One coach/parent stands outside the circle and another coach/parent stands in the middle of the circle, and each player stands on a base.

The purpose of the game is to teach the kids when to run and when to hold on a base. Players run on a grounder or a missed fly ball, and they hold when a fly ball is caught. The coach/parent on the outside of the circle is the “batter” and the coach/parent on the inside of the circle is the “defense.” If the “batter” rolls a grounder to the “defense,” all players run to the next “base.” If the “batter” throws up a pop fly and the “defense” misses it, all players run to the next “base.” If the “batter” throw up a pop fly to the “defense” which the “defense” catches, all players hold on their base.

‘Musical Chairs’ Variation. After your team gets used to this drill, you can vary the game by making it like “Musical Chairs.” Any player who makes a mistake in running or holding picks up his base and leaves the circle. How many players will be left after five minutes?

One of the hardest things to teach young players is to run through First Base instead of stopping on the bag. Even for young kids who routinely watch professional baseball — and see every player run fast through and past First Base — their initial instinct is to slow down as they approach the base and gently touch the bag. I had some extra time at last week’s practice, so I improvised this quick drill. It worked well, and I plan to make it a regular part of my practices.

Running Through First. This is easy to set up. The team lines up at home plate, while I set up two orange cones (or you can use a brightly colored rag or any other “target”) about ten feet beyond first base. I stand to the side of the cones. When I clap my hands, simulating the sound of the bat hitting the ball, the player runs along the first base line, touches the base, and runs past the “target” marked by the cones. Since the kids’ natural inclination is to slow as they approach the base, I’ve simply given them a different target, well beyond the base, at which to aim. It works.

This week is all about getting the kids ready for their first game. Half of the team played, those experienced 6-year olds, played T-Ball last year, but for the other half, this may be their first time in a game situation of any kind. So far, our practices have consisted of drills, but no game simulations. That changes today.

Here’s the schedule for Week 3’s Practice….

4:00-4:10. Name Game, Stretches, Warm-ups and Base Run. This is the last week we will run the “name game” at the start of practice. Most of the kids know each other by now, so we’ll make this time shorter than usual. We’ll follow the name game with a few minutes of stretching, some light calisthenics, and a “snake run” around the field. (In the snake run, I run in crazy loops and turns, and they run behind me, following my path. At this age, the “snake run” is a game; they don’t realize they’re running laps and exercising!)

4:10-4:30. Simulated Game. We have ten players on our team. For this session of practice, I’ll divide the group into two equal sides, 5 and 5. On the defensive side, we’ll have a pitcher, first-base, second-base, shortstop, and third-base. No outfield. I’ll use some of the older siblings or parents who attend practice to shag balls hit to the outfield. The other five will bat around twice and run the bases. In this simulated game, I only ask the defensive players to do one thing: field the ball and throw it to first base.

4:30-4:35. Water and Bathroom Break.

4:35-4:40. Base-Running Tag / “Monster” Game. This is a repeat from last week, but the kids always love it.

During the games, we want the players to move from home plate to first base, and base to base after that, as fast as they possibly can. This game of “tag,” or the “monster game” as we sometimes play it, uses home plate and the bases as safety zones and everything in the base paths as places whether the player can be “tagged”…or gobbled up by the monster. I’ve found that this game is fun for the kids, regardless of their ages or abilities, and teaches the youngest kids the principle that they need to get to the base, their safety zone, as soon as possible.

4:40-5:00. Hitting Game. I’ll place cones at various distances away from home plate. The closest cone will be 1 point (to play with older kids, call it a “single”), the second cone will be 2 points (”double”), the third cone will be 3 points (”triple”), and the fourth cone will be 4 points (”home run”). Each child will hit two balls off the T, and we’ll keep score as a team, week to week. I like this game because the only thing we track is the team’s point total. As we play this game again at various times during the season, the kids can measure their progress. We usually double the team’s first score within 6 weeks.

5:00. End of practice. As we do every week, we’ll end each practice with a short review of what we learned and some things to practice during the week.

After Practice Note: Most weeks, whenever I’m not pressed to get home or head back to the office, I stay around practice an extra 15-20 minutes to let anyone who wants to do so take extra batting practice.

Anytime I coach one of the instructional divisions of Little League, I try to make sure that each child plays every position a couple of times during the season. At the beginning of the season, however, I only play the most experienced players at First and Second Base. This isn’t a competitive issue; it’s a safety issue. Children who haven’t learned to react to a quick throw to the base are just as likely to have the ball hit them in the face as land in their glove. By the fourth or fifth week of the season, everyone is usually ready to play any of the hot positions of the infield. Over the course of a season, it all evens out.

This week is my team’s second official practice. As I did last week, I thought I’d blog my tentative outline for tomorrow’s practice. For the parents on my team, this should help you follow what we’ll be doing, and for those of you reading from elsewhere in these United States, I hope it gives you some ideas for things to do with your own children.

Here’s the schedule for Week 2’s Practice….

4:00-4:05. The Name Game. The kids are still learning each other’s names. In this game, the kids gather in a circle, facing each other. I move around the circle and, in turn, place my hand about six inches about each child’s head, who then jumps up, hits my hand and shouts his or her name. Two or three times around the circle, sometimes in order, sometimes at random, and the kids usually have learned their teammates’ names.

4:05-4:10. Stretches, Warm-ups and Base Run. Little League emphasizes the “Three Fs”: fun, fitness and fundamentals. We’ll try to get all three in during this short set of stretches and calisthenics.

4:10-4:20.”Goalie.” In the “goalie” drill, I’ll place two orange cones about ten feet apart and ask a player to stand between them, as “goalie,” while I roll balls toward the space between the cones. The job of the “goalie” is to block the ball with his or her glove, or body, and keep the balls from going through the “goal” framed by the orange cones. Each player will be asked to block 10 balls. If we have extra volunteers from the ranks of the parents, we’ll run two “goalie” stations at the same time, so the kids can have extra repetitions and won’t have to wait as long for their turn. This drill teaches the player to keep the ball in front and not let it pass, even when the ball isn’t fielded cleanly.

4:20-4:30. “Alligator” / Fielding Ground Balls. Just like last week, I’ll teach the kids the proper technique for positioning themselves to receive and field a ground ball. Most of the training manuals refer to this position as “alligator,” where the glove hand is the bottom jaw of the alligator and the bare hand is the top jaw. Bring the jaws together on the ball. We’ll break up into teams of two and have the kids roll and field the ball in pairs.

4:30-4:35. Water and Bathroom Break.

4:35-4:40. Base-Running Tag / “Monster” Game. During the games, we want the players to move from home plate to first base, and base to base after that, as fast as they possibly can. This game of “tag,” or the “monster game” as we sometimes play it, uses home plate and the bases as safety zones and everything in the base paths as places whether the player can be “tagged”…or gobbled up by the monster. I’ve found that this game is fun for the kids, regardless of their ages or abilities, and teaches the youngest kids the principle that they need to get to the base, their safety zone, as soon as possible.

4:40-4:50. Hitting. We’ll review the proper batting stance, how to select an appropriate bat, and safety rules for using bats in games and at practice. Each player will hit 10-15 balls off the T.

4:50-5:00. Hitting Game. I’ll place cones at various distances away from home plate. The closest cone will be 1 point (to play with older kids, call it a “single”), the second cone will be 2 points (”double”), the third cone will be 3 points (”triple”), and the fourth cone will be 4 points (”home run”). Each child will hit two balls off the T, and we’ll keep score as a team, week to week. I like this game because the only thing we track is the team’s point total. As we play this game again at various times during the season, the kids can measure their progress. We usually double the team’s first score within 6 weeks.

5:00. End of practice. As we do every week, we’ll end each practice with a short review of what we learned and some things to practice during the week.

After Practice Note: Most weeks, whenever I’m not pressed to get home or head back to the office, I stay around practice an extra 15-20 minutes to let anyone who wants to do so take extra batting practice.

For the last few days, my kids and I have been playing with something called the “Solohitter.” It’s simply an amazing tool. (We have the Solohitter Tournament 3000.) It solves a problem that every backyard baseball player discovers soon after developing a love of the game: how do you practice hitting when you’re by yourself? It’s pricey, but probably on par with the costs of putting a basketball goal at the end of your driveway. I’ve enjoyed playing with it as much as my kids have.

As practices start for the new Little League season, I typically explain to parents those things I can teach their children in our weekly practices and those things I can’t. After several years of coaching, I know I can teach hitting, base-running, fielding ground balls, and the rules of the game. The thing I can’t teach in my one hour each week is catching. The only way to learn how to catch a ball consistently, whether it’s a gentle toss from a nearby teammate or a high fly ball to the outfield, is practice, practice, practice.

The nice thing about practice is that it’s a wonderful time for parent and child to play together. I tell my parents that if they didn’t buy a baseball glove for themselves too, they should go back to the store and find one they like. New Little League parents are usually surprised at how quickly their child learns how to throw and catch by just a week of daily play together. And the parents will enjoy the time too.

T-Ball USA has an interesting page of drills and games for 5- and 6-year olds. One of them they call “catch” in which “two or more players play catch…keep score of the number of successful catches.” With my kids, we call this “chain.” Each successful catch, without a drop, is a link in the chain. We try to see how long a chain we can build. For first time players, it’s also a great game to play with ragballs or sticky balls.

This week is my T-Ball team’s first practice. It’s not easy to plan. The team is composed of five- and six-year olds, half of whom won’t know how to find first base from home plate. Some won’t know what an “out” is. And to top it all off, according to all the Little League books and manuals, at this age they have a three minute attention span. I have them for 57 more minutes.

Here’s my working outline for this week’s practice, the first practice of the year….

4:00-4:05. The Name Game. The kids gather in a circle and we play a quick game to learn everyone’s name. This game is less for them than it is for me. Two or three times around the circle, and I should have everyone’s name. They won’t get their uniforms, with their names on the back, for another two weeks.

4:05-4:10. Stretches, Warm-ups and Base Run. Little League emphasizes the “Three Fs”: fun, fitness and fundamentals. We’ll try to get all three in during this short set of stretches and calisthenics. Because half the kids have never been on baseball field before, we’ll finish the warm-up session by a few runs around the bases, as we identify home plate and each base along the way.

4:10-4:20. “Alligator” / Fielding Ground Balls. I’ll teach the kids the proper technique for positioning yourself to receive and field a ground ball. Most of the training manuals refer to it as “alligator,” where the glove hand is the bottom jaw of the alligator and the bare hand is the top jaw. Bring the jaws together on the ball. We’ll break up into teams of two and have the kids roll and field the ball in pairs.

4:20-4:30. Overhand Throw / Gentle Toss. I’ll teach the proper form for throwing the ball overhand and explain when you should throw overhand and when you should give the ball to your teammate with a gentle toss. The first year I coached, I didn’t realize the importance of explaining when to use what kind of throw, only to find that the kids were throwing the ball overhand to teammates two feet away. Ouch. I’ll have several stations set up around the field where the kids can practice each type of throw at a target.

4:30-4:35. Water and Bathroom Break.

4:35-4:45. Field and Throw. We’ll put the two pieces we learned in the first half of practice to work in this drill. We’ll have line drills in which each player will field the ball, turn and throw at a target.

4:45-5:00. Hitting. This is everyone’s favorite part of practice (which is why I save it until the end). We’ll review the proper batting stance, how to select an appropriate bat, and safety rules for using bats in games and at practice. Each player will hit 10-15 balls off the T.

5:00. End of practice. We’ll end each practice with a short review of what we learned and some things to practice during the week.