What does it mean to be organized at baseball practice? It is up to you as coach to know what you are going to do with your players for the next hour or two. What are your objectives today? What special skills do you need to work on? How are you going to accomplish your objectives? These are all questions that must be answered as you plan your strategy for today’s practice. The key word is “plan.” It’s vitally important that you don’t waste your player’s time and also your time.
Get a clipboard and write down what you are going to do. Your players will see that you have a p
lan and will work accordingly. The worst thing that you can do is to come to practice and ask, “What shall we do today?” It is not up to them , it is up to you. So many areas need to be covered. Things like hitting, fielding, catching, throwing, bunting, baserunning and pitchings need to be covered on a daily basis. Your key is to situate your practice so that everything can be covered in a reasonable amount of time.
Make sure you bring a watch with you to practice. A stopwatch would be ideal. Break your practice into segments so that everything you planned gets covered. For example, an hour can be broken up into 6 ten minute segments. One group of players can be taking ground balls in the infield, while another group gets fly balls in the outfield. A third group can be working
on proper throwing technique, while a fourth group is bunting. A fifth group can be taking dry cuts while the sixth group is working on baserunning. Depending on the number of players on your team, you may need to cut down on the number of groups. With 12 players for example, you may only want four groups of 3. You are in charge. You decide how you want to break up your time at practice. Time goes by so quickly. The players will be moving constantly. There is no time to be bored. Obviously, you may need to recruit parents to supervise your groups. Tell them what you want them to do and they will surely respond to your request. Being organized will cover up any lack of knowledge in any one area.
Make your practice fun. Instruct, don’t yell. Have patience with your players. They are there to learn. They will look forward to the next practice. You will find that missing practice will no longer be a major problem. If it is a fun experience, they will find a way to be there. Stick to your time schedule. If its ten minutes per group, then at ten minutes the groups change. Its important to be on time. You may want to use the first part of your practice for group work and the second part may be team hitting practice. I say hitting practice because it takes longer than ten minutes to complete bp. Again, keep bp moving. Give your players, for example, 5 cuts and 2 bunts. This way you can cover batting in a reasonable time. Utilize your time and your players will not be bored.
Get a clipboard and write down what you are going to do. Your players will see that you have a p
lan and will work accordingly. The worst thing that you can do is to come to practice and ask, “What shall we do today?” It is not up to them , it is up to you. So many areas need to be covered. Things like hitting, fielding, catching, throwing, bunting, baserunning and pitchings need to be covered on a daily basis. Your key is to situate your practice so that everything can be covered in a reasonable amount of time.Make sure you bring a watch with you to practice. A stopwatch would be ideal. Break your practice into segments so that everything you planned gets covered. For example, an hour can be broken up into 6 ten minute segments. One group of players can be taking ground balls in the infield, while another group gets fly balls in the outfield. A third group can be working
on proper throwing technique, while a fourth group is bunting. A fifth group can be taking dry cuts while the sixth group is working on baserunning. Depending on the number of players on your team, you may need to cut down on the number of groups. With 12 players for example, you may only want four groups of 3. You are in charge. You decide how you want to break up your time at practice. Time goes by so quickly. The players will be moving constantly. There is no time to be bored. Obviously, you may need to recruit parents to supervise your groups. Tell them what you want them to do and they will surely respond to your request. Being organized will cover up any lack of knowledge in any one area.Make your practice fun. Instruct, don’t yell. Have patience with your players. They are there to learn. They will look forward to the next practice. You will find that missing practice will no longer be a major problem. If it is a fun experience, they will find a way to be there. Stick to your time schedule. If its ten minutes per group, then at ten minutes the groups change. Its important to be on time. You may want to use the first part of your practice for group work and the second part may be team hitting practice. I say hitting practice because it takes longer than ten minutes to complete bp. Again, keep bp moving. Give your players, for example, 5 cuts and 2 bunts. This way you can cover batting in a reasonable time. Utilize your time and your players will not be bored.
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