Little League Coaches Get Ready – Here comes Baseball Season!!
Okay, the Super Bowl is over, which officially marks the beginning of the baseball preseason. Major League opening day is less than two months away, and spring training is, ohmygosh, almost here!
Although there may be snow on the ground for many of us, and the kids are tiring of the indoor practices, there are several important things that every youth coach must do in the next 45 days before the season begins to help ensure a successful season. Here’s my own checklist:
- Define success. It should incorporate the ideals of Fun, Learn, Compete and be specific enough to clearly guide thinking, behavior, language and decisions of parents, players and coaches throughout the season. We HAVE to know what we are going to accomplish as a team.
- Have a parent meeting. We all have to be on the same page on a number of things, perhaps most importantly is our common definition of success. Again, my own definition of the terms Fun, Learn, Compete will guide this discussion.
- Have a conversation with each player, and the team as a whole, about their goals and aspirations for the season. If I know what each kid wants to accomplish, I can better help him or her achieve it.
- Throwing fundamentals. Devote part of one indoor practice each week (or outdoor weather permitting) to teaching and reinforcing proper throwing mechanics. My experience is that we don’t spend enough time teaching this critically important skill – we let kids do what they’ve been doing.
- Quotes for life lessons. Helping kids learn life lessons is a key opportunity (and responsibility) we have as coaches. I’ll dig for 10-15 quotes from famous people (some athletes, some not) that speak to ideals like teamwork, tenacity, leadership, etc. and use one each week as a quote we’ll discuss before and after each practice and game.
- Pitch limits. I limit pitchers based on the number of pitches they throw in a game, NOT innings pitched, which are the rules set down by many leagues. Counting pitches is a much healthier approach to limiting wear and tear on young arms. I’ll build my pitching strategy and rotation around these limits set by the Little League (other organizations do this too.).
- Fill my well. While I’m optimistic about the upcoming season and believe we’re going to have tremendous individual and team success, there will be dark days. There will be unpleasant situations with parents or kids, there will be disappointing losses and frustrating times that make me question my sanity (if not value as a coach!). I’m going to find four “pump me ups” – emails from parents, quotes, or even favorite memories I simply jot down that I can pull out of my desk drawer when I’m feeling down. These will restore my confidence and passion and help me lead the team to success.
There are many other things that need to be done between now and our first game, but these are some of the big ones. And, if I don’t get these done now, it can be much more difficult to accomplish them as the chaos of the season begins!
What am I missing? What are other critical actions for my checklist? Post below!
Best of luck in 2012, and here’s to your Perfect Season!
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Get Immediate Access to 10 tips For Parents to Ensure a Perfect Season
(an excellent list for coaches to
review at their parent meeting!)
Great thought on getting everything accomplished before the season begins. You will always seem to run out of time once everything has started.
Yeah – never enough time!!
What a good idea to have a few letters around that will reinforce the positive that others see in you. There are times that make it easy to forget that others find value in you. I’m going to use this in my life. Thank you.
Your welcome! Yes, reminder notes to bolster self esteem are great for coaching, and great for life!
I like your idea of having 10-15 quotes to inspire your players with. I think it’s great to let the kids ponder these thoughts over the weeks.
They usually really get into the quotes. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to get in a rhythm, but after a while, they seem to really think about the ideas and make the concepts their own. This is a great way to help teach life lessons!
What a well thought out checklist, thanks for the ideas. I will use these with my own team.
Great! Glad they were of value – keep me posted on how things work for your team. I’m always looking for ways to improve the message and make the ideas more accessible.
Do you make the parents meeting mandatory? Do you recommend having the players come too?
I do make the parent meeting mandatory. Usually the ones who don’t want to go need it the most! I like to have it at a restaurant or a parent’s house, invite the families and make it a bonding experience for all. This allows everyone to feel more comfortable with the other kids, parents and coaches with whom they’ll share the next several months freezing in the bleachers and baking in the stands. I use the time to go through my expectations for both players and parents (my 10 tips for parents to ensure a perfect season is a document I hand out and discuss). By all of us hearing the same thing, asking questions and aligning our goals we are in a much better position to avoid conflict and enjoy success.
Great Blog posting, thank you for a list of things to do before the season starts. This should get us well on our way to a successful season.
Glad you found it helpful! Best of luck and keep us posted on how the checklist worked for your team!
Thanks for clarifying that throwing is counted as number of pitches not innings pitched. It’s so important to protect their bodies from over use.
Yeah, we’ve been following that outdated model for way too long. Innings doesn’t tell you much at the youth level.