t-ball coachs

[mikel]

looks like i will be coaching my sons t-ball team this year. i havnt played ball in a long time. i guess iam looking for tips on what to start with or some reading material just to make sure i dont miss anything. thanks

[hcshooter]

Man you have a fun job. I worked with kiddo's in T-ball and I think that was most fun I ever had.

Just remember in T-Ball those little guys and girls are just learning the basics. Some light weight bats, some wiffle balls is what I used to start them out. They will have fun and learn the basics all in the same time frame.

Wait until you have your first one run to third instead of first, that is classic and so dang enjoyable.

[Tmag]

Your are gonna have a lot of fun. I coached my son 9 years thru little league. Best tip I can give you is stick with the basics. We did throwing, fielding and batting drills every practice. ANd you will get boys all the way into the majors that have never played before.

[low_tec]

Get as many of the parents involved as you can and keep the kids moving, if you let them stand in one spot very long they will be digging in the dirt and wondering off chasing who knows what.

Most of all just enjoy yourself and hand the wife a video camera

[Artos]

Everybody hits and everybody plays....a handful of parents will be the biggest hurdle. Treat it like water off a duck's back and keep it fun and lite hearted!!!

[Bill]

My son is right handed, and the 1st time he walked up to a T ball post, he said, "Dad, which side do I stand on?". You can easily made your righty into a lefty batter, and give him a 2 step advantage as long as he plays baseball getting to 1st base. Switch hitting cold also be taught early too, a real advantage.

Otherwise, remember it's a GAME, these are KIDS, and the parents will be ***-*****s if you don't put your foot down hard, REALLY fast and really HARD.

Have fun. We always drafted the top 1/2 of the team based on ability, and the bottom 1/2 based on the Moms in shorts. But I digress.........

Make sure you assign to a Mom the after game party, snacks and then have fun and remember, you son will be in college in the blink of an eye, it happened to me.

[markm]

MAKE IT FUN!!!! That is the key at that age. Try your best to teach the basics, but make it fun.

Oh did I mention....make it fun.

And yes the running to 3rd instead of 1st will be such a memorable moment for you.....you will laugh and it will be fun for you as well.

[mikel]

thanks guys, i think this is going to be fun

[spoilerzx]

As stated already, stick to the basics and keep them all busy by breaking up into groups and working on fundamentals. At that age, if you got one kid that can catch and a few that can throw you got a good team.

I coached my son for many years and it was very rewarding, especially when we just found out today that he made the high school team.

[GARY]

Safety first, followed by fun and some basics

1) NO bats in a kids hands in the dugout (EVER)
2) Don't allow a coach or catcher get near the the actual "T" when a batter has his or her hands on the bat
3) I am a fan of all t-ballers to wear a cup and mouth piece all the time

General tips:

4) Catch with glove (make the glove talk....so to actually catch the ball versus trap)
5) Teach the kids to use their glove up when the ball is high and low when it's below the waist. Nothing like a kid with his glove low, trying to catch a ball above the waist and take on in the face
6) Teach them to run through 1st base, and stop on second and third and watch for a coaches hand signals, IGNORING your yelling or the yelling from the stands. Get them to focus on a single coach. It's hard here as you have to train the other coaches to shut their yaps too!!

[timw]

make it fun for the kids. let them enjoy themselves as well as learn. If you try and put to much pressure on the kids they will not enjoy what they are doing. The kids that have a bad experience will soon see it as a negative and will not want to continue to play in the future. Always remember that the kids are only 5 or 6 years old. It will be one the best experiences that you can give to the young kids of the community. Always remember to have FUN!

[parkchief100]

Teach them the basics. Make the parents get involved and scrimmage them. Have your kids watch their parents hit the ball and run to base and have other parents fielding the ball. Teach the kids that it is a race to get to first base and have them tell you when someone is out or safe when running the bases. Remember they are babies so you have to teach them everything. I always taught my players if the ball gets there first you are out and if the runner gets there first they are safe (MAKE THEM TELL YOU SAFE OR OUT) and always bring candy for the end of practice you can use this for leverage and attention getting. You will have a blast. Good Luck

[Target-panic]

Basics, Have Fun, Basics, Have Fun, Basics most are there because thier parents think they are going to play in the majors and make them. lol. Their little bodies can't do it all yet.

I coached my son, from t-ball to 16U select ball. One thing that I did was gathered the parents on day one and explained that I was there to teach them the game of baseball. I informed them that every player on my T-ball team would play every position and that I would inform them when their child would be playing the pitcher and catcher position. I made a big deal about having their camera there for those games. My roster for T-ball was set-up as P-C-1-2-3-SS-LF-CF-RF-XP ... and rotated the kids. Pitch today's game the bottom of the list the next and so on.

Tee the ball a bit higher than waist level, the well struck ball will travel farther. Success breeds success.

[Chew]

I coached tball for a few years. The kids are great!

Good luck with the parents!

[bowhuntertex]

Just do the basics and let them have fun doing it........