Trent Mongero - Winning Baseball

Youth Baseball Practices

Trent Mongero - Winning Baseball

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General Practice Considerations:

Never cancel a practice. I like to say “you can find a way, or make an excuse.” There is always something you can get done. Players need practice much more than they need to play games in order to improve their skill sets. If the baseball field is too wet for a game or practice, find an open grass field somewhere, a playground, or a basketball court to use. As you choose places to practice always take player safety into serious consideration
Sometimes you can rent an indoor cage to practice. Each player brings 5 dollars, for example, and that pays the cage rental fee for an hour. Then bring half the team to practice for first 30 min., and the second half of the team for last 30 min. This way you don’t have a bunch a players standing around watching each other hit. If you have room around the cage, use that area to get something done…even if it is just talking about game strategy.
Use Winning Baseball – Books 1 and 2 and “Talk Hitting With Tim” downloads and the Winning BaseballYouTube channel, as a trusted resource to learn how to teach the fundamental skills and drills you will need to use at practice. Each download can be loaded to 3 devices. Give each assistant one offensive drill and one defensive drill that you want them to learn and be able to teach the kids. They should coach that same drill at practice every time you have drill work. Over time add a second offensive and defensive drill for them to learn to be able to teach the players. This way you can have many offensive and defensive skills going on at the same time to make great use of your practice time. Make great use of your help. This includes your “official” assistant coaches and any parent you feel is capable of helping at practice.
Because all the Winning Baseball instruction in downloadable onto 3 devices, you can have it with you at practice as a reminder to yourself as to how to execute a drill or to show to your players. Let them watch it together and then do the drill.
If a drill you want to implement is on the Winning BaseballYouTube channel, send the video link in an email to the parents and have the parents show it to the players. In older age groups, many of the players will have phones and can watch the video clip before they come to practice.
Practices are just as important once the games begin as they were to start the season. Games will expose team and individual weaknesses that you should work on in the next practice. At games keep a little note pad in your back pocket with a pencil in your cap and jot down quick notes to yourself as things happen in that game that you want to improve on at your next practice.
Make the best use of your facility. Field, batting cages, bull pens, drill nets (permanent and pop up type), fences to hit wiffle balls into, open field areas, black top areas, etc.
Restricted flight balls allow for more activity in a small space. Wiffle balls are inexpensive and can be hit outdoors, indoors, into fences, etc. (Remember, you don’t want to damage facilities or fences by hitting baseballs into things that will get damaged). Insider bats (insiderbat.com) are short hitting devices that allow hitters to hit without the danger of a big bat being swung. It allows for more hitting is restricted spaces.
Batting Tees are critical for drill work and teaching good swings. I would suggest 4 tees per team. You can buy them for about 20 each, make your own tees, or ask parents of players on your team to pitch in to purchase them. Many families will have a tee at their house, and they may allow the team to use them at practice.
Start on time so you will get maximum use of your 1.5 hours.
Establish routines for your practices. This takes a little more time up front, but saves a bunch of time as the season progresses. For example implement a warm-up routine that is the same every time. Implement a throwing routine at the rate of one to two throwing drills a week until your throwing routine is fully implemented. Implement 3 hitting drills and use the “Big 3” all the time when doing hitting drills. Then implement one new tee drill at the rate of 1 per week/two weeks. The same holds true for defensive drills, etc.
Always start practice by giving players a quick overview of what practice will look like for that day. This way they can mentally prepare themselves. It improves focus and helps insure that the coach stays on track also. Accountability. Doing what you say you are going to do.
Plan your practice and share that plan with your assistants and any other parents who will be helping at practice. This way everyone is prepared to give their best effort.
Try to stick to your plan, but make adjustments where necessary to make practice as efficient as possible. Try not to get bogged down on one thing, and it ends up eating up your entire practice. As much as we want our players to “get it,” spending too much time on one thing is boring for kids who want to have fun.
Always do a quick warm up (run and/or dynamic flex routine) each practice and game to prepare their bodies for work.
Gradually implement a throwing routine until it is fully learned and executed by your team. Then use that routine at the start of each and every practice and game. Coaches should be with players when executing the throwing routine to keep players focused and provide verbal cues to the key points of each drill. Note: From age 4-6, coaches may have to catch thrown balls by players at the beginning of the season to allow players to throw the ball with confidence. Also this will save time from players playing “fetch” after every throw.
The most important defensive skills set for any player is being able to throw and catch. You can’t do enough to build confidence in this area. When a player possesses average to above average throwing and catching the ball skills, they can play just about any defensive position on the field.
The goal of every practice should be to first teach the skill, and then provide as many quality repetitions as possible. You should never want players standing in long lines waiting their turn. That is boring for players and not efficient with your time.
If you have 12 players and 3 coaches, it would work well to make 3 drill stations with 4 players in each group. Within the sub-group of 4 players, partner them up into 2 groups of two players (partners).
Read all the league rules for your age group. You must use practice time to teach the players how to end a play and how to deal with the “cat and mouse” play that many of the coaches will encourage their base runners to use to score runs. If you expect your players to execute something in a game, you must first teach them how to do it in practice.
When doing base running, use throw down bases where applicable so that you can have more players getting repetitions at one time.
Players should learn to play multiple positions. However, it is important to always have someone at first base who can catch the ball well. This will improve the experience of the entire team. When a team can get “outs”from thrown baseball to first, confidence goes way up for everyone.
Bring energy and excitement to practice. Have fun and build up your players. Having an organized practice will make them look forward to their 1.5 hour practice with you, and they will improve throughout the season!
Use your Winning Baseball e-book and video downloads to learn the basic skills and drills your players will need to know to advance in the game. You have a fundamental responsibility to do your best to help the kids grow as people and ball players.
Lastly, always be prepared, relax, and have fun! You players will become a reflection of you! Lead in a way that will make a lasting positive influence on the kids. I remember every single coach I had from T-Ball through pro baseball. Your players will remember you.

Basic Elements of a baseball practice

Note: You will only get to do a few of these things at each individual practice.

* Practice expectations (every practice): 1-2 min
* Warm up (every practice): 2-5 Min (Choose a few from my dynamic flex routine on my Youtube). Finish with a static stretch of “Right arm back, Left…Right arm front, left.”
* Throwing routine (every practice): 10 -20 min – Depending on age group
Hitting drills (Do the “Big 3” at minimum)
Offensive execution skills – Sac bunting, drag bunting, hit and run, squeeze bunts, etc.
Fielding drills (Use 2-3 staple drills from Book 1 and 2 for both infield and 2-3 for outfield)
Base running: including how to slide correctly.
Bull pens (If you have pitchers, they need practice off mounds and with batters in box)
Team offensive “situations”: at the end of each chapter in book 1
Team defensive “situations”: at the end of each chapter in book 1
Pick-offs: in leagues where players can lead off and steal on pitch
League Rules - Teach the rules of the games to your players (i.e – How to stop play)
Modified scrimmage
Team batting practice – Always do in small groups of 3 players. Also have player take many small rounds of swings as opposed to one long marathon of swings.
* Practice Closing (every practice): 1-2 min

Equipment you may need for practices(suggested, however a practice can be run without these items)

Stopwatch (most mobile phones have stop watch)

Fungo or small bat to swing with one hand

Tees (2 Minimum), 4 would be awesome!

Wiffle balls – 25 or so

Tennis balls - 10-20

Cones – 5 or so

Old Tennis racket – 1 to hit fly balls with tennis balls

Throw down bases and/or plates (can make out of cardboard)

Competitive games to play at practice

Offense

Base Hit game – Give each hitting group 5 minutes to hit with a defense in place. The hitting team gets a 1 point for single, 2 points for double, 3 points for triple, and 4pts for home run. They get minus one point for not hustling. The team with the most points after one or two rounds each is the winner.

Barrel game – Each hitting group hits for 5 minutes. The team gets a point for every ball that is barreled up (hit hard). It does not matter if the ball is caught or not, or a hit or not. What matters is that it was hit hard. That hitter gets to swing again as long as they keep hitting it hard. They DON’T run the ball out. When they miss-hit the ball, they are done and the next hitter comes in. The team that accumulates the most points “barrels” is the winner. Try to make the teams even

Modified Scrimmage (Team1, vs 2, vs3, vs 4) – Hit off coach, machine, or pitcher. When you only have 3 batters hitting, it ensures you have an entire defense in place. Everyone will try on defense because they are working as a group to keep each hitting group from scoring the most runs. It also gets more at-bats in a shorter period of time.

Modified Scrimmage (hitting off of a Tee at the plate) – Same as above except off batting tee. This gives defense a lot of work, and it gives the offense a lot of practice base running. It keeps things moving in practice.

Defense

Quick feet/quick release– Played as a part of throwing routine or as a separate competition. Two throwing partners make as many throws back and forth in an allotted time of 20 seconds. The team that has the most exchanges is the winner. This teaches players how to make throws and how to catch the ball under pressure.

Rundowns – Take turns executing rundowns and have one player (with batting helmet) try to survive the rundown. Keep track of time and see how long he can stay alive before being tagged. This forces players to learn the importance of how to defend a rundown and will help with the “cat and mouse” that base runners attempt to do in the games.

18 outs- The coach hits the ball to the defense with a base running group at the plate. After every three outs the bases are cleared. The goal is for the coach to create various “situations” for the defense that they have to defend. The coach can change base running groups every 6 outs (3 outs x 2). This gives everyone a chance to run and play defense.

Four corners- Against the clock. Put your team in even groups of 4. Put one defensive player at each base including home plate. Start with the basic throwing from home to first, to 2nd, to 3rd, to home. Time them to see how fast they can do it. Teach players how to turn “glove side” and how to stay to turn to the inside. When they can throw and catch with some consistency, the coach can make it even more challenging by changing directions on command, or adding in diagonal throws (i.e., first to third, second to home, etc.).

Example Practices

Reminders: In Winning Baseball – in Book 1 you will find age appropriate ideas of what has to be covered in your practice in the specific chapter that addresses your age group. For example, when a player graduates from Tee Ball, he should be able to perform the various skills and drills found in the Tee Ball chapter of Winning Baseball Book 1.

You will also find team offensive and defensive strategies that should be covered for that age group. T-Ball (ages 4-6) Page 26-27. Coach or Machine Pitch (ages 7-8) Pages 56-57. Player pitch (ages 9-10) Pages 115-117. Any age group above 10 should certainly be able to execute the team offense and defense on pages 115-117 as well.

Note: Age appropriate skeleton practices can also be found in book one on pages 201 – 204.

Skeleton Template #1

Team Meeting (2 min.) Discuss today’s practice and what we are going to accomplish

Dynamic Flex(3 min.) Teach and execute these simple stretches

-Running High Knees

-Slides

-Skips with forward arm swings

-Right arm back, Left arm back, right arm front, left arm front

Throwing Routine(15 min) – Teach how to properly catch ball and Teach/implement 2 throwing drills

-Standing figure 8

-Standing power position

Defense – 3 stations (30 min) 10 Min each

3 step/5 Step – Teach and execute
Fly ball pattern drill – Teach and execute – Use Tennis balls to make sure they can safely catch ball
Ground ball station – Teach and execute - Coach hits ground ball & player fields and throws to another player

Offense – 3 Stations (30 min) 10 min each

Isolation drill – Teach and execute
Pitchers drill – Teach and execute
Basic set up to batting tee for 3 pitch locations – Teaching station only

Base running - 8 Min.

Swing and run home to first with proper technique
Swing and turn at first base with proper technique

Conclude practice – Summarize what they did well and what they need to improve. Remind of next practice time and dismiss.

Skeleton Practice Template #2

Team Meeting (2 min)

Dynamic Flex (3 min)

Throwing Routine (15 min)

Offensive and Defensive Drills (30 min)

3 Step/5 Step
Fly Ball Drill
Catchers – Receiving and blocking – With Tennis balls – all players – Might find another catcher.

Team BP (38 min) - (divide team into 4 groups of 3 to hit) - 9 min each group

-2 Groups on defense (playing live and/or fungos)

-One group doing hitting drills of Tees in hitting station somewhere safe

-One group hitting

BP Rounds
Round 1: Two sac bunts (in older age groups), 4 swings
Round 2: 4 Swings – Middle approach
Round 3: 4 swings – Middle approach
Round 4: 4 Swings – Middle approach

Conclude (2 min)– Discuss strengths and weakness, remind them of next practice and dismiss.

Skeleton Practice Template #3

Team Meeting(2 min)

Dynamic Flex(3 min)

Throwing Routine(15 Min)

Team defense(30 min)

-Infield/Outfield (10 min)

-Situations or 18 outs (Sub in players every 3 or 6 outs) (20 min)

Coach: Focus on basic plays that your team must make to be successful

Team Offense (38 min)

-Modified Scrimmage: Each team bats for 9 min.

-Team 1 vs Team 2 vs Team 3 vs Team 4

-Pitching for Scrimmage: Coach

Conclude(2 min) Summarize strengths and what needs to be improved. Be positive. Gather all gear. Remind players of next practice or game and dismiss.