BASEBALL FOR COACHES:
TECHNIQUES, DRILLS AND PLANS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADOLESCENTS

by GARY W. ARBOGAST
1st ed., 85 pgs, $13.95 
ISBN 978-0-89641-432-7

 

 

Baseball for Coaches: Techniques, Drills and Plans for Children and Young Adolescents has been specifically written with the volunteer youth league baseball coach in mind. The format will take the volunteer coach from skill development and practice drills to general practice plans for the entire season! The student is encouraged to use a progressive, success oriented approach, with player development and fun being the major emphases. If this is accomplished, winning should begin to take care of itself. The objective of this book is to provide the youth league coach with a resource that will be used often to answer those coaching related questions that often arise. Questions such as, should I teach sliding and what is the best sliding technique to teach 8-12 year olds? Or, what drills are available to improve the fielding of ground balls? Or, if I have 14 days to practice during the summer, what should I include and in what order?

Chapter 1 is called Teaching the Major Skills. This chapter describes suggested techniques and mechanics of the basic baseball skills such as throwing, catching, fielding, hitting, bunting, pitching, baserunning and sliding. It will also remind the coach about useful feedback that can be given to players when errors in skill performance are made. Short teaching/learning cues are provided in brackets. These cues can eventually be provided as corrective feedback that athletes can easily remember.

Chapter 2 of this book is called Practice Drills. The drills included in this book have all been tried by youth league coaches or have been used with 8-12 year old youngsters at summer baseball camps and are felt to be most appropriate for most youngsters within this age group. In most cases, youth league programs anywhere would not need special equipment or facilities to conduct practice drills that follow. The practice drills in this book are presented for each of the Major Skills from Chapter 1 including routines described from the time before your team has access to the field until the game begins.

Chapter 3 is called Planning the Seasonal Practice Schedule. This section of the book was designed so the volunteer coach can offer youngsters sequential and progressive practices. All of the practice drills in Chapter 2 appear somewhere in the season plan. Much of the "guess work" has been taken out of the planning process by providing practice plans for the entire season.

Chapter 4 of this book is called General Hints for the Youth Sport Coach. This chapter deals with several, easy-to-forget items that help in the successful administration of a baseball season. These items include facilities and equipment reminders, general hints for conducting practice drills, and guidelines for conducting safe practices. Finally, the Coaching Helpers that appear in Chapter 5 should provide youth league coaches with some options for record keeping, player evaluation, and communicating with parents. The appendices related to this chapter provide useful planning materials and blank forms for you to copy and use.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: TEACHING THE MAJOR SKILLS

Throwing
Receiving the Ball (Fielding)
Pitching
Types of Pitches
Batting
Bunting
Running Bases
Sliding
Tagging Up

Chapter 2: DRILLS

Warm-up/Fitness Drills
Practice Drills
Pre-Game Routine

Chapter 3: THE SEASONAL PLAN

Introduction and Description
Seasonal Practice Plan

Chapter 4: GENERAL HINTS FOR THE YOUTH LEAGUE COACH

Facilities and Equipment
About Practice Drills
Guidelines for Conducting Safe Practice

Chapter 5: COACHING HELPERS

Roster: Practice and Playing Record
Parent Letter
Checklist for Skills, Rules, Strategies
Baseball Skill Rating Chart
Baseball Skills Progress Report
Teaching/Learning Progressions

APPENDICES

A Practice and Playing Record
B Parent Letter
C Checklist for Skills, Rules, Strategies
D Baseball Skills Rating Chart
E Baseball Skills Progress Chart
F Teaching/Learning Progressions for Basic Skills

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