Coaching high school freshmen in the fall ....

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Originally posted by RedSoxFan21:…
Two questions to choose from:

1: What would your initial 90 minute practices be focused on?

Fundies! You can never go wrong practicing basics.

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2: How would you organize your game line ups?

Championships are not the goal in the fall. Player development is. But yeah, you still want to win games!

That question and the following 2 statements do not work together because they have opposite goals. If you’re worried about what the “best” lineup is to win, you’re not really very concerned with development. If you do what’s best from a development perspective, your chances of winning drop dramatically. …

quote:

Originally posted by RedSoxFan21:
Two questions to choose from:

1: What would your initial 90 minute practices be focused on?

2: How would you organize your game line ups?

Championships are not the goal in the fall. Player development is. But yeah, you still want to win games!

Coaches: What has worked for you?
Parents: What would you do if you were coaching.
Players: What would you like to accomplish?

>

.

What didn't work for us last year was giving the kids way to much credit when it comes to baseball 101.

1: This year we are practicing twice a week and focusing on specific fundamentals during each practice. IE: discussed bunting last Thursday. Why you bunt, when you bunt. Gave game time examples (runner on 2nd, no outs). Spent about 30 minutes discussing and demonstrating proper bunting. Then went to work. This is just an example of one practice so you can understand when I tell you... we gave then way too much credit last year and it bit us in the booty. Focus on fundamentals, it will pay huge dividends down the road.

2: Line up. Well I am going to set an unwritten and unannounced policy that during Fall baseball I am going to play the starters 4 innings and substitutes 3 innings. The subs and starters will swap each game. Why? Well I need them putting the fundamentals that we teach to use at live game speed. I need to know who gets it and who doesn't...I am not telling the players or parents about my 4/3 rule because if there is an unforeseen issue in the rotation and a player only gets 2 innings... well, some times things like that happen.

In short - It's Fall ball, and we are working on the fundamentals now and watching them (closely) putting those skills to use. Winter and Spring are a different story.

For fall batting lineups we have done it a couple of different ways when son was younger.

One way was who showed up first was the order. first 10 guys batted and started. Usually worked. Kids got to play different positions.

One season the coach made out the line up. We always batted the entire team. If the number 6 guy made the last out of the game, the number 7 guy led off the next game. It actually worked very well. Taught kids how to lead off, move runners over, it put them into situations that they hadn't been in before and helped prepare them for HS ball because nobody knows where you will play or where you will bat once you get into HS.

Ad please work on the fundamentals. It is the most important part of fall ball. 13-14 year old kids are NOT fundamentally sound. NOt even close.

Bull pen

I loved Coaching Fall leagues. I know my Goal was to improve every players chance to make his team and earn a line-up spot. The Players and their Parents wanted similar things, get reps and improve their odds!

That being said; the first meeting had to provide me that information, at the very least.

Every 90 minutes practice, when there is finite number of them and limited field accessibility, must involve multi-group activities simultaneously. As everyone has said, they all need work on fundamentals.

Game time line-ups should afford players an opportunity to play, where possible, the positions they see themselves or you see them, trying out for.., and or contributing at.

The first and foremost activity, IMHO, should always be Hitting for reasons we all know WELL!

Agree with fundamentals. And also would focus on their best effort during the game. This sort of a mental thing, but if they can figure it out in the Fall it should roll into the Spring as well.

Something just dawned on me. With all the players having played some kind of elite, travel, or tournament ball, why is there any worry about incoming Fr? Aren’t they all top-of-the-line?

As I recall, 13 year olds sometimes forget everything they once knew.

Fundamentals. Too many kids get to this age with a gap in fundamentals. Being fall ball, I would have everyone practice fly balls in the outfield, and infield grounders.

FUNDAMENTALS......the overwhelming reason I see HS teams lose games is not becuase the other team beats them, but becauae they let the other team win because of a breakdown in basic baseball 101....

At this level

They do not know their cut off responsibilities...
They do not know how to hold runners
They do not know the balk rule
They do not know how to bunt (move runners)
They do not know "hitters counts"

couple good thoughts from above that I agree 100% ....Do not give them credit that they know this stuff....some may,... most dont....

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Originally posted by piaa_ump:
FUNDAMENTALS......the overwhelming reason I see HS teams lose games is not becuase the other team beats them, but becauae they let the other team win because of a breakdown in basic baseball 101....

I don’t think that ever changes.

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At this level

They do not know their cut off responsibilities...
They do not know how to hold runners
They do not know the balk rule
They do not know how to bunt (move runners)

I understand that taken as a whole, those things can mark the difference between a very very good team and an average team, but why is it do you suppose that after they’ve been playing 5-6 years they haven’t yet learned those things? Is it possible that the coaching hasn’t been nearly as high quality as people believe, even on the “elite” teams?

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They do not know "hitters counts"

IMHO, that one has a lot more to do with the abilities of the pitchers than the hitters. Because of that I’d change it to say they do not know yet how to judge the capabilities of the pitchers they face.

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couple good thoughts from above that I agree 100% ....Do not give them credit that they know this stuff....some may,... most dont....

I think that by the time they get to HSB, they “know” the “mechanics” of the fundamentals, but they haven’t yet become so ingrained they appear to be instinctive. What it seems like to me is, they have to think about what to do, and if given the time can usually get it right. But the game has sped up to the point where there’s not a lot of time to think.

So how do you ingrain the fundamentals?

One approach I might take is that you don't get to swing full out at BP until you lay down three consecutive 'good' bunts, even if it takes your entire hitting session.

Also, we have a nice 6 station drill where 3 lines are parallel at the mound, taking bunts, and each line sets and throws to their corresponding base. Receivers at the base must stand 'big' as a target and not stretch to the throw until the ball is thrown. Teaches how to collect the ball properly, set, and throw, as well as creating a good target. Lines at each of the 6 stations rotate clockwise.

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Originally posted by RedSoxFan21:
So how do you ingrain the fundamentals?

One approach I might take is that you don't get to swing full out at BP until you lay down three consecutive 'good' bunts, even if it takes your entire hitting session.

I played for several years back in the 50’s and 60’s, and my boy played from ’95 as a 9YO until he was a 19YO college So, and I’ve been watching HSB since then, and I honestly don’t remember any of the teams I saw take BP that didn’t require bunting prior to swinging away. But of all the kids on all those teams, I can honestly say that not 1 in 20 of the ones I’ve seen since ’95 could bunt worth a flip, while probably at least half in days gone by were at least “proficient” at it.

That’s not a knock on anyone playing or coaching today, but rather a reflection of what the “teachers” have been “taught”, which translates into what and how they teach. I’ve said many times that in my mind it sure seems like the ability to bunt and the ability to put the ball in play rather than strike out started to dwindle as the “NO PEPPER” signs went up.

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Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
I’ve said many times that in my mind it sure seems like the ability to bunt and the ability to put the ball in play rather than strike out started to dwindle as the “NO PEPPER” signs went up.

Couldn't agree more. In fact PEPPER is something I actively utilize while players are waiting to bat. It's sad to see how many players have no idea what PEPPER is. And yes, I ignore the signs!

We play Pepper and bunt every offensive day in the fall. In fact when we start teaching bunting everyone goes down to a knee for the first two weeks. At the end of it we force the to bunt 5 out of 6 to get off a knee.

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Originally posted by IEBSBL:
We play Pepper and bunt every offensive day in the fall. In fact when we start teaching bunting everyone goes down to a knee for the first two weeks. At the end of it we force the to bunt 5 out of 6 to get off a knee.

When my boy was in HS, every fall ball, every pre-season, and intersquad game the same thing took place. The 1st time through the lineup, every batter had to bunt, even if there were two strikes. When I 1st saw it, I thought it was pretty silly, because like most parents, I ASSUMED kids that age could bunt. It didn’t take too long for me to lose the misconception, and it showed when the boys needed to get a bunt down. They couldn’t hit HRs and they didn’t hit for a very good average, but when they had to, the execution was almost always top notch, and many times they reached because as we all know, defenses in HS aren’t generally known for their great bunt coverage.