Running 7-8 practices...

You are on the right track. If I had that many volunteers I would be breaking the kids up into small groups for part of the practice and rotating those groups through the skills you want to teach that day. Kids are more focused and learn faster and you get more done.

The other thing, as you already know is to make it fun. I always liked making a competition out of everything we could. The kids are then in a game situation and having to focus on the task at hand. To me, they learn faster and retain more that way. It really sinks in when you can make a correction or two and that individual or team gets better or wins the competition. You have just taught them to win.

I often wonder if 5 or 6 assistants are too many? I don't want to quash anybody who is willing to help, and on game days, that many coaches is great! Practice on the other hand, can be a little difficult unless I am prepared. In T-ball, I had team coaches and kid coaches. Kid coaches for a practice worked with individual kids on particular skills. Team coaches ran the drills for the larger groups.

There are never too many. Ask a teacher. The real objective is to make sure the skills are being taught and the kids are learning to love the game. Just communicate with your helpers. Be specific. Let them see your vision.

90 minute practice 2x a week is good. And we had them arrive 45 minutes prior to game time. 30 minutes is just too rushed to get reps done.

I second 80Pat's comments on competition. No doubt about it. If it's a team vs team drill, I like to let the winner choose the losers consequences, that way it's the other team that made them run or do push-ups, not you. And if you run the drill multiple times, then the losing team will often be more focused.

In teamwork drills we used to have a win and the coach will run, lose the team runs. Nothing will get them working together faster than trying to make the coach run or do push-ups if they execute something successfully.

My experience/observation is the primary danger in having 6 assistants during practice is consistency of message.

Also, don't let 6 assistants translate to 6 in the dugout on gamedays. (some leagues have rules on this) Make it clear who is the game day staff (you plus two, maybe 3). Give assistants other duties if you need to, scorekeeper, ball shagger, whatever but you don't need them ALL in the dugout.

It's much easier to run a game without all the father-son dynamics that are created with 6 dads in the dugout. We've been on more than one team in that scenario and it's just doesn't work.

Coachdubya...well put!

My 6 on game day have very specific jobs, like I did it in T-ball.

One is the pitcher (remember, this is coach pitch).

One is the 1st base coach

One is the 3rd base coach

One is the scorekeeper

One is the offensive coach (gets the kids in the right batting order)

One is the defensive coach (gets the kids in the right positions)

I, as the head coach, simply focus on the individuals playing the game.

You prolly already know this but one thing regarding the coach pitcher. DO NOT let him lob balls in to the batter. He needs to put a little velocity on it. Why? There was a study done a few years back, can't find it at the moment but in a nutshell it discovered that kids cannot judge slow moving objects very well. Their brains have not developed that skill yet, so the objects look still to them. Obviously this has a major impact on their ability to hit a ball. Put a little velocity on the pitch and their judgment increases significantly. They might be a little behind it at first but they will eventually catch up.

I was the CP for both kids teams so have first hand experience with that. There's definitely an art to it!

Excellent point and I remember reading about that on this forum.

I have, for many years, conducted youth clinics with my 17-18 teams. I have been a strong proponent of two issues related to pitching when it comes to coach pitch baseball. My theories are controversial, but I believe they are well thought out. Either ---

1. If the adult is standing, have the adult pitch underhand. Underhand is a more natural motion and will lend itself to better accuracy. More velocity can be applied to the pitch, therefore mitigating the problem you referenced about slow pitches and poor judging by the youngster.

2. If possible, throw the pitch in an overhand motion, but from your knees. This will also allow for less arc on the pitch and increased velocity.

My reasoning is that the #1 thing I hear coaches say to their players, with respect to hitting, is not to uppercut. If an adult is pitching overhand while standing up, the ball is being released between 6 and 7 feet in the air. Players are about 4 feet tall. The ball will have a natural arc and will therefore get to between 8 and 10 feet in the air at its apex. How can a player not develop an uppercut if they are always looking for the ball up?

Perhaps this is overanalysis on my part, but putting players in the best position to succeed is the best way to help them develop a love for the game. More accuracy by the pitcher equates to less fear for the hitter. I can't tell you how many times I have seen adult pitchers throw every ball on the outer half cause they are scared of hitting the kids. While teaching a young player to go the other way is a great way to get them started, if they aren't prepared to handle the inside pitch, then they will be handicapped further as they move on in baseball.

My opinion.

Yeah, I may have posted that a time or two.

I don't really care much for the underhand motion, theorhetically I get it, but maybe I'm just old school.

Throwing from knees is ok, from what I've seen one knee works best. I haven't tried it cuz I'm short enough that I can pitch to them at a decent angle.

Not sure many leagues allow either technique though.

I think the kids feed off the adult pitcher's fear of hitting them. If I was missing it was usually inside. So I always teased our players and said they are not officially part of the team til I hit them. Often times they'd come to me 4 or 5 games in and say "hey, I haven't been hit yet!"