New coach, new program.

Welcome to the site and bless you for what you do. I can't imagine how tough the job you have is and what it would take to be successful. You should be commended for helping those kids.

It would seem that the overall attitude and outlook is what you need to fix first. Without a good attitude it's hard to succeed in anything in life. These kids probably have had very little success in anything and they don't know how to act.

My advice is to have high standards but be the most positive influence you can possibly be. Everytime they succeed in something make it seem like it's the greatest thing in the world without coming across as fake or corny. I think limiting harsh criticism would be key - they need criticism to help learn from mistakes but to jump onto them for mistakes would be counterproductive overall.

Next thing I would suggest is create success. Come up with several drills or things where you can measure what they do. Once a week, every two weeks or a month have them do these drills and measure how well they perform then compare the outcome to what they did in the past. This creates a feeling of accomplishment and pride. They can see how their hard work can lead to success.

You might be able to create a buddy system where you pair the players up with each other and make them responsible for the improvement of each other. I would do more along the lines of a reward system than a punishment system.

This is probably going to be a long process and you are going to see more failure than success early on but stay the course. I like what your tagline says "Trying to get better everyday" and I think you need to make that a team slogan or something like that.

Best of luck and keep us updated as to how you are doing this season and the next few years.

Thank you for what you are doing with the kids at your school. I have not been in that situation so all I can offer is what helps the kids that I have that seem to be easily distracted or not understand the finer points of the game. Preach hustle and passion. Teach to bunt and run all out on everything. Dive for any ball out of reach. After a while that aggressiveness tends to carry over. Good luck to you. Please keep us informed on your progress.

Thanks coaches. I'm definitely trying to teach them the game. Tonight is the governors cup in Pearl, MS which features Mississippi State University vs Ole Miss. I'm taking a bunch of my guys who could go up there tonight to see how baseball is suppose to be played. I'm hoping if they see the game being played and see the hustle on the field then they can emulate it, or at least attempt to. I've always taught hustling and we sprint to first base (an any base for that matter) each time we hit or walk. We sprint on and off the field. I try and tell them that right now there's not much we can do well but we are going to do the things we can do well, well, all the time. I've pretty much just adopted the lets fix a problem one problem at a time then try and tackle everything at once. I don't know if that is the best way of doing it but it keeps me (and the kids for that matter) from being overwhelmed since the baseball IQ is so low. Thanks for the help thus far and if you all have any fielding and pitching drills I could sure use them. We have difficulties finding the strike zone and making routine plays which greatly extends our innings. I don't have the numbers in front of me from last game, but we had double digit walks. All my pitchers are throwing are straight fast balls, four seams, and down the pipe (suppose to be down the pipe that is). Any tips guys, and I do mean any, are gold to me. Thanks again.

I like the fix one problem at a time that way it won't overwhelm them. Usually kids like that instead of accepting the game they fight the game becuase the game is not built for success. But one of the things that has helped me and some other coaches is get them to do as many things together as possible, almost like a gang, if they do alot together they can learn to handle each other if nothing else. I think going to the college game is a great start, and being around next level baseball can also help them learn the game. No where to go but up. One of the basic drills that we worked at was one you can do with a baseball, tennis ball or raquet ball. Is wall ball, draw a couple of boxes on a school wall or build a wall and make them throw the ball in the boxes then field it and make a game out of it to build competiveness. They are competitive, they are working on fielding and throwing a ball.

I think you are on the right track with what you are doing. Fix one problem at a time and go from there.

Something that may help is do a rule a day (or every couple of days). Put your guys out there and run them through it. Something like the Infield Fly rule to help teach them the game.

Here is a link to another thread that I think you will find very useful in terms of getting drills. This is a website that socalcoach set up that will be very beneficial.

If you got any questions feel free to ask away here or through a PM.

I'm stupid - here's the link


http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/f...86003481/m/284104653

no hit three in a row? Tough.
Until they get better maybe we're real selective at the plate...tyring for a walk. once on steal.

Bunt a lot, if they're as athletic as you say. put some pressure on the defense and build on that.

I'm not a coach, but I had friend that was in a similar situation as you with players who didn't have the baseball iq. He offered a free baseball camp to elem kids and had his hs kids run the camp with him. He limited the number of kids in it. He said the hs players' lights came on as they would explain to the younger kids. Most elem kids are in aww of hs players, so it built their confidence. He said also if player x understood bunting and player y wasn't sure; but when player x was explaining to the elem kids, player y finally got it.

I can sympathize with you to a point. I have coached this type of kid, however they were a high talent summer team, so they had the desire to be great. It's a tough battle but if you have it in you... keep on grindind. some will quit. but the ones who stick it through.. you;ll have forever changed their lives.

Utilize what you have and teach them to use their strengths. Its going to take time to assist these kids in their development as players. But what do they have right now that can be used to allow them to have some success?

You say they are great athletes. OK teach them how to bunt. Teach them how to drag bunt. Teach them a simple approach at the plate that will allow them to put the ball in play. You can expand on your hitting instruction as they move along in the game. But right now its about taking what you have and getting the absolute most out of it.

Teach them how to run the bases. How to take a primary and secondary lead. Teach them how to use their athletic ability to its fullest and use that.

Bunt, drag, slash, steal, delay steal, etc etc.

Dont get too fancy with the pitching or fielding. Teach them basic pitching and fielding fundementals and then focus on simply making the routine plays. Teach them how to run cuts and hold singles to singles , doubles to doubles, etc etc.

Take what they do well and make that your focus as a team. Tell them they are a bunch of athletic kids and they need to use that as their way of competing in the game. Good luck