Please send me some good ideas on how to coach an 8 year olds little league team. I took the job before i realized what i was doing.

Thanks,
Greg

ACSDenver@aol.com

I NEVER COACH 12 YRS OLD BEFORE.MAJORS 10-12.
TOUGH TASK.ANY IDEAS.
WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE MY GOAL?
TEACHING OR WINNING? STARS PLAY MORE?
IS L.L. FOR FUN OR WHAT?

PLEASE HELP ME.

This is my first time coaching Little League, and I have been given 5th graders. What kind of level is this? I think I am giving them too much credit, but from talking to the parents you would think they are major leaguer's. What are some drills you would recommend as the most productive? Any feedback would be great! Thanks

Hey Stacie. 5th graders are around 10 years old or so, which would be about the Major Division in Little League Baseball. I happen to coach a Major team myself so here's some of my own insight......

Defensive Drills:
-Ground balls (and a lot of 'em). They gotta remember to keep their butt and their glove down to help prevent unnecessary Bill Buckner action.
-On a more microscopic level you can stand/sit/kneel about 10 feet from them with about 5 balls and, with their gloves off, have them field the balls with their bare hands. Try to roll the ball to their left and right somewhat rapidly not so much giving them a chance to rest during the 5-ball drill; this will also get them practice with fielding while moving to their left and right.
-Fly balls for the outfuielders and basic throwing drills which include the proper way for an OF to catch the ball and to hit his cutoff. Discourage big rainbow throws...all throws should be on a line even if they bounce.

Offensive Drills:
There's simply not enough room for all the stuuf we could discuss about hitting and some of this does depend on where they are in terms of development already, but I would say to keep in mind the most important aspect of hitting at this level and all levels for that is watching the ball hit the bat...should you hit the ball your head stays down and doesn't watch the ball, should you miss the ball you should ultimately see it into the cather's mit. YOU MUST GRIND THIS INTO THEM. After all, you've got to see it to hit it and be careful because some of them stop watching the ball when it gets about 5 feet in front of them.
-They could hit of the Tee (level swing and practice driving "through" the ball). This usually plagues a couple players per team
-Soft Toss. Same concept of driving through the ball and helps keep their head down (aka, eye on the ball).
-One thing we do is we use those little miniature practice Golf Balls and a stick and have them practice hitting that way...makes hitting a real baseball easier. This is something that should be supervised to make sure the kids are doing it properly for the right reasons - not goofing around. (Your better players will benefit more from this.)
-Pepper, because its a sort of reduced batting practice and since the kids are only swinging half way, so to speak, their swing should be slower and more controlled, and they should be more focused on the fundamentals as opposed to trying to "crush" the ball. Crucial. Especially since kids are always trying to hit the ball as hard and as far as they can, absolutely must be prevented. Which isn't to say they should swing lazily, just that a proper swing is more important than the aforementioned.
-THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, IMHO, Live Batting Practice and a lot of it. Repetition help both the coach and the kids. Nothing beats this, because gametime this is what they see and this is what they should be prepared for. If this starts to take a toll on the coaches' arms maybe there's a batting cage nearby you could go once every week or 2(if each kid brings 2-3 bucks it should cover the cost). And when I say Batting Practice, I'm talking like 25-45 pitches/hits per kid.
-There's some more stuff but that should cover the basics.

Pitching Drills:
As we all know pitching can be key and one thing that simply cannot happen are Walks. Much in the same way batters should never strike out, pitchers should never walk hitters. They must throw strikes. I can't really speak much of "Drills" here, but there are certain fundamental things that should be kept in mind....
-The pitcher should always be moving toward home plate (never falling off toward 1st or 3rd base), and must be balanced.
1. Pointing their glove hand at the catcher
2. Pushing off with their back leg
3. Stepping "DIRECTLY" at home plate. Always step where you throw. And never throw sidearm.
4. While throwing the ball, the glove hand should try to stay up and they should ultimately pull it into the chest sort of. Point being that if they drop that glove hand or if it flies off to their side that will lead to their body being pulled in that same direction and hence away from home plate - which should really be avoided as noted above. (This is the hardest thing to teach kids because it's somewhat uncomfortable for them. But if you've got talented enough kids and they listen and are very coachable stick with it. But if all else fails try to keep their glove from flying off to their side too much...it will ruin their control)
5. One way you might even to get them to pitch that way without even teaching it, is by teaching them this, the concept of "reaching toward home plate" or "reaching the catcher's glove" when they throw. This also ensures they keep their body moving forward toward the plate, it hould also help prevent them from short arming it and as a by-product, if your lucky, they'll follow rule #4.
6. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE HERE, they should not be overthrowing. THis is two-fold.
1. The players themselves shouldn't be throwing as hard as they can, just slinging it, that will injure their arm big time and should really be prevented.
2. As the coach, you should not throw them too much. Whatever they throw in a game or whatever is fine. But during Bullpen sessions between games and at practice they should be limited to about 40 pitches, and should have "at least" 1 day rest before and after such bullpen sessions. Approximately 3 days rest should observed before throwing againg after they pitch during a game.

I suppose that's a lot to digest, and that's not even all of it, but I hope it does you some good. One thing about being a coach and it's something that you always get better at the more you coach is recognizing each players' specific problem(s). The only other things I could say would be to be patient and discipline is very important. That's just one coach's insight. Best of luck, and if you have any further questions, concerns, etc....CRaine44@aol.com
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As for Ruben...The philosophy of myself and my other coaches is that winning is fun (losing is not), therefore it's about winning. If you win, you will have taught them the following things along the way, many of which they learn on their own and some you teach them......Teamwork, communication, responsibility, the importance of the name on the front as opposed to the number/name on the back, hard work, discipline, proper mechanics and fundamentals. If you do all these, odds are you'll win and have fun the entire time.

Just a comment regarding the following:
"The philosophy of myself and my other coaches is that winning is fun (losing is not), therefore it's about winning. If you win, you will have taught them the following things along the way,..."

Note that not all teams are going to win. You, as a coach, need to teach (and I stress this) "GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP" (whether you win or lose).

There is too much pressure nowadays with kids to win, win, win. Let them be kids, too, and enjoy the game.