Overview
There are lots and lots of philosophies on running practices. Here’s the main thing. Have a plan. You don’t have to stick to the plan, but if you have a plan it makes your life a LOT easier. At the end of this article I will include one of my sample plans. But what should be in plan and how should you make it?
Here’s some suggestions:
Have a Goal:
Pick something specific you want the kids to learn at your practice. It could be pitching, hitting, receiving, fielding. You name it. But have a goal. If you have an objective it makes it easier to plan because you can pick drills to help reinforce that goal. Of course depending upon the age of the kids you are trying to teach, you’re going to have different goals. With Farm kids (6&7) your goal might be just to catch and throw the ball and swing the bat. With older farm kids you might get to knowing where to throw the ball when (or if) they field it cleanly and how to catch flies. With minors, they see kid pitch for the first time and do some of it themselves. I’ve always found its useful to structure my goals around one or two key aspects of the game I want to teach that day.
Build a repertoire of drills:
If you have a good catalog of drills it makes it a lot easier to structure a practice. Especially if you have a goal and something you want to teach. There are a number of great books, internet web resources, and one of my personal favorites, the Coaches Deck. This is a great product that costs about $20 and it comes with about 50 drills and exercises.
Keep Them Busy:
The main thing with a practice is that you want to keep the kids busy. Break them into groups of 3 or four if you have enough other coaches and dads to help so the kids get LOTS of repetition. Repetition is the key to building muscle memory and learning. It takes lots, and lots of repetition to get good at something.
Keep Them Learning:
Tell the kids WHY they are doing something. Give them context. Every drill has a purpose. Every drill has a goal. Stimulate their minds as well as their muscles with reasons why. It might not help immediately but over time it starts to sink in and as they get older they will begin to appreciate the strategy behind the game.
Structure:
Here’s the general structure I tend to follow with all my practices. Your milage may vary.
- Get the kids loose with throwing (or a slow jog and then throwing).
- While the kids are warming up, brief your coaches on your practice plan. Give assignments.
- Break into stations. 10 to 15 minute drills.
- Team Defense
- Hitting
- Baserunning
I don’t always follow that structure. Some days there is NO hitting. Some days we only do hitting. The main thing, is if you have a plan, you know when you can deviate it and you also know when you are ahead or behind. I’ve run practices for an hour that felt too long. I’ve run them for two hours that no one wanted to leave. It just depends.
Don’t Forget You’re There to Teach:
I got this idea from Ken Lewendowski, TSLL Equipment Director and Manager of the Championship Phillies. Don’t forget that many kids don’t actually know all the rules of the game. Ken used checkers with a baseball diamond drawn in the dirt. I grabbed some old baseball cards (one for each player in each position) and I would do something similar. When we break for water I draw everyone around – they can drink and listen – and we go over covers and situations and have the kids put the players where they belong. It’s not all about technique, showing them where to go and what to do makes a huge difference.
A Sample Plan:
I’ve attached one of my randomly selected practice plans. You do not need fancy graphics (I use a Mac and so some of these things are really easy to generate), but it really helps to have a plan with notes. The most important thing you can do is teach the kids, and give them as many chances as possible to practice the techniques you are teaching them. Repetition is the key to building muscle memory. If kids see it but don’t get to practice it chances are they won’t really learn it. But when they get to learn from their mistakes and practice enough as something to get good, it makes a huge difference.
Conclusion:
Trust your own style. Some coaches are quiet. Some our loud. Some laid back. Some intense. The most important thing I think you can do is be yourself and be genuine with the kids. They will play up to your expectations. Give them a chance to be successful. I’ve adopted a philosophy that we’re going to acknowledge failures but not dwell on them, we celebrate success but don’t revel in it. We need to know what went wrong so we can fix it. We encourage what’s right and give kids the chance to prove the can do it. Ending on a good note – leaving a positive impression as the last moment they do a drill or a practice is important for my teams.
