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Pitching can begin at a variety of levels, but providing the fundamentals is important.  Any baseball pitching coach will agree that grip, wind up and delivery are three elements that should be worked on.

What you need – A pitcher’s mound, baseballs and players that want to pitch.

How this drill works – Less like a drill and more like basic instruction, we will provide a few basics on getting your pitchers started in pitching.

Grip – To begin, you can teach the players the proper baseball grip for a basic fastball.  Most coaches will start with a four-seam fastball grip.  In this grip, the index and middle fingers go across the horseshoe seam, as opposed to the two-seam fastball, where the fingers go with the seam.  The players should have a firm grip, but the ball should not touch the palm (the more friction, the less speed on the ball).  This might take time for younger pitchers to get used to.

Windup – Players need to learn the proper windup technique, as this is where they begin to generate the power behind their pitches.  Here are the proper steps:

- Placement of foot in front of rubber (for push off)
- Bringing the ball to rest, the step, the kick, reaching back
- Uncoiling the body

Delivery – the delivery may seem secondary in the entire equation, but it is crucial for a pitches success.  The one element that is likely most important is to find a release point for a pitch that allows for more strikes.  Hitting this release point is a matter of constant repetition, and takes time.  This helps to deliver consistency in the pitches.  The different pitches may have different release points, but, in each pitch type, the release point should be relatively similar.

Follow through after the pitch should be encouraged.

This baseball coaching practice drill will show players that they need to hit the man helping them to get the ball in to the infield.

What you need – Have a man at shortstop, 2nd base, right and left field to do this drill.

How this drill works – When you teach this baseball drill, you will have to show the players when they are supposed to go to be the cutoff person and why it is important.  Illustrating this is important.  Show them that a younger player will have trouble getting the ball all of the way into the infield by themselves, and that by having a player help them, they can get the ball in quicker and save some runs.

You can hit the ball to right field and instruct the 2nd baseman to go out to cutoff the ball.  The shortstop should be shown he or she should cover second base.  Likewise if the ball goes to left field, the shortstop should cut it off and the second base man should cover second.

Result – Your players will soon learn the value of using their teammates to get the ball in to the infield quicker with the cutoff man.

Players at this age often understand how to get players out at first base and they may have also learned the basics of a force out play.  But, they must also learn about tagging players out at bases.  Before this drill, you need to teach players the difference between a force out and a tag out.

What you need (set up):  You will need players to fill the infield.  Put a runner on second base to start.

How the drill works:  You will hit grounders to the infield with the runner on second base.  The players must understand that the player can stay at second or run.  If the player runs, then they can go to third and make a tag out.  If the runner doesn’t go, then the infielder can look the runner off and then throw to first.

There are several different variations of this drill that your team can use.  You can hit shallow fly balls into the outfield and then try and tag out the tagged up runner.  You can hit line drives through the infield and if the players catch it, they have to throw to the base with the runner to try to get them out.

Results:  The results of this drill is that your players will have a better understanding of when they should be tagging out a runner, and when it might be a force play.  This is an important element of the game.  The younger you can teach it to a player, the better off they will be in baseball.

Although not taught extensively for beginners, it can be a very valuable baserunning tool for players to learn.  Try this coaching tips baseball with your higher level teams.

What you need – You can set up a couple stations for this baseball drill, each with a line of players and a bag that they are going to slide into.  Later on, you can add players trying to tag the runner out if you like.  If you have players that are first learning this drill, you might want to try it out in the outfield to work on the technique, before you move to the infield. This one is probably much better to learn the proper technique on the grass than on the dirt.  Although eventual practicing on the dirt should take place.

How this drill works – You can run it the same as the beginner drill, except of course, the players will be going head first to the bag, instead of foot first.  There is one major advantage to sliding head first, and that is reaching for the back corner of the bag.  This should be one of the major elements taught to the player.

Runners will always approach the bag at different angles, but if they plan to slide head first, they should reach for the back corner.  This allows the runner to try and avoid the tag from the defender, who will normally guard the front of the bag.

Players should also be taught to slide properly:  ease into the slide (don’t jump up and land on the chest, this will knock the wind out of them), make the slide an extension of their running to the bag, not a completely separate motion and they should begin a head first slide about 2 strides away from the bag (6 to 8 feet).

Result – This is simply an additional skill that can be taught to base runners, so they can reach a bag safely.

Note:  Players may have a hard time nailing down the proper technique for sliding, and this can cause unnecessary pain to the ankle, knee and the behind, so learning good technique on the grass is probably the best way to go to start.  Once a player becomes more confident with their slide, then you can move to the shale infield.

Here are a couple ideas for youth baseball coaching tips for reinforcing pitching skills.

Pitching in slow motion – Since the delivery is important, one of the ways to get your baseball pitcher to find a consistent wind up and delivery is to have them exaggerate each step of their entire pitching motion.  This creates muscle memory, and will help their body and mind work together to build a solid, consistent, motion for pitching.

Strike zone pitching – You can easily create an apparatus that simulates the average strike zone for a little league player, and you can use that to help a pitcher build control, and to learn their proper release point for an increased number of strikes.  Once a player starts to gain control, you can decrease the size of that area as the pitcher begins to pick specific target areas.

Frank from Iowa sent in a request for more drills for coaching little league he could use with his team.  Here’s one sent to us by Rich.
 
Use this as the last base running drill.  The goal in this baseball drill is for speed and running under pressure.
 
Have all your players line up at home plate.

Place a glove 8 feet up the first base line.

Have your first player start sprinting around all the bases.

When he reaches the glove, the next player in run starts sprinting and tries to pass him on the bases.  This continues with all the players.

If a player gets passed or misses a base, he must do 10 push-ups.

I realize in baseball you can’t pass runners, but it gets the kids to run hard and cut the angles on the basepaths.

KIDS LOVE THIS..Place kids with equal speed back to back in the line and watch them fly…

It seems that many players and coaches recognize how little time is allocated during practices for catchers to work on their catching skills, like blocking, exchange drills, pickoff throws, and proper handling of passed balls with a throw to the pitcher covering home plate, just to name a few.

Often times it has been said to me that there just isn’t enough time to fit it in a practice. I would like to challenge that idea by pointing out the most wasted 20 minutes in a catcher’s life.

The time is called “Infield Practice.” I’ve lost count of how many practices I have observed where a coach is hitting infield practice with often times the starting catcher standing beside them taking the throw from the fielders and then handing the ball back to the coach. WHAT A WASTE!!!

Now I know that some of the items covered during infield practice do require the catcher’s involvement in a true game situation play. However I have seen at least 20 minutes go by when all they do is catch the ball and hand it to the coach.

I suggest that at the beginning of infield practice another player fill that role, and even maybe rotate with other infielders. During that time the catchers, all of the catchers if possible, are off to the side working on blocking, throwing, etc.

When it is time to do the plays that involve the catcher, call them back over and run them all at one time.

Here is one thing that I had a coach do with me when I was about 14. Grab a bucket of balls and have your catchers put on all his/her gear except mask and glove, they will not be needed for this drill.  Find any old place where there is a fence, and position your catcher a few feet away from the fence, down on their knees, and back to the fence.

Stand about 20 to 25 feet away and soft toss the ball so that it hits one to three feet in front of them.  Mix it up by making them have to go after the ball to their left and right. You do not need to throw the ball hard. The point of the drill is to get your catcher sharp on blocking/going after the ball on a bad pitch.

Do this drill for 5 to 10 minutes every practice, and your catcher will be ahead of the curve on 59 footers come the beginning of the season.

..and I do not agree with him.  USA is probably averaging no more than 10,000 fans to their games, and that sucks.

“I don’t think we have enough pride in this. It’s kind of a sad day – and I know it’s a tough time (economically) to buy tickets – when you see that. I don’t think there’s as much pride in the USA as there is for these other countries. There was a whole section of Dominican fans (Sunday) night just here to watch baseball. I think we’re losing a little bit of pride for, quote, ‘America’s national pastime.’ ”
…
“It definitely hurts a little bit to know that you’re always the away team in your own country,” he said. “There are some good people out there, but it would be nice to have a lot more of those people chanting ‘USA,’ holding up American flags. That’s the one thing we didn’t see much of the other night – there were more Puerto Rican flags than American (flags).”

It’s pretty sad to feel like the  away team in your own country. This just adds to my thought of having the WBC played in different countries each year, where you know there will be packed stadiums.

Teaching young players the need to keep their eye on the ball might not always be as effective as we as coaches would like.  This baseball drill for kids focuses things on a much smaller area of the ball.

What you need (set up):  Set up a tee that is about waist height for the player.  Put a dime size dot on the backside of the ball, just above the halfway circumference of the ball.  Always place the ball with the spot facing toward the backstop.

How this drill works:  Often times younger players don’t grasp the entire concept of keeping their ‘eye on the ball.’  Therefore, this drill has been designed to get them to keep their eye on a certain spot on the ball.  Once they focus on a target smaller than the ball itself, they can swing at the spot using the fundamentals they have been taught to this point.

Results:  Children see the ball as a target that needs to be hit.  When they aim for a bigger target, they have a larger room for error.  When they focus on a smaller target, they naturally assume a smaller margin for error.  This helps them build confidence in hitting the ball, and also develops muscle memory when they are swinging.

Technorati Tags: baseball drill for kids, ‘eye on the ball, drill, Children

When it comes to weight training, it’s not uncommon to have a lot of mental resistance. Alot of people avoid weight training saying it’s boring. Others don’t know where to start.

But most of them, especially those looking to drop a few pounds, have a tough time seeing how a workout session with weights could be as beneficial as sweating it out on the elliptical machine or by taking a power walk.

They’re right in one sense: one workout with weights won’t do much good if you want to drop a few sizes.

But, over the long run, resistance training is one of the most effective ways I know to lose weight. (In addition to having tons of other health benefits!)

Here’s how it works:

Say you have an hour to dedicate to your workout. You could jog for that hour and burn about 600 calories. Or you could weight train for an hour and burn about 300 calories.

Why would you want to burn 300 versus 600 calories?

Because, when you’re done with your jog, you’ve burned those calories-and only those calories. But, during that hour of resistance training, you’re revving your body to burn calories for that hour-and many hours after that.

When you incorporate resistance training into your routine consistently, you’ll build lean muscle that will burn more calories for you not only when you are working out, but also when you’re sitting in front of your computer or the TV or even sleeping.

Plus, if you skip or miss a cardio workout, and that’s all you do, then you miss out on the calories burned during that one workout. But if you have resistance training built into your plan, your body will still burn more calories, even if you miss a session with the weights.

How much does that extra pound of muscle really burn? Physiologists differ in numbers ranging from 6 to 50 extra calories per day. However, that number isn’t important. What is important is that lean muscle is more metabolically active than fat and will increase your daily metabolic rate-the perfect foundation for losing fat!

Keep in mind, there are two additional qualities you need to reap all the benefits of resistance training: consistency and patience. It takes 6-8 weeks of steady resistance training (at least three times a week) to make your body a more lean, mean, fat burning machine.