Practice Agenda - 10U

[rsully]

I have been coaching kids for a number of years, but more recently began coaching baseball.

We have had a successful season and I feel like the boys made progress and had fun with many kids who had never played organized baseball before.

This summer I am coaching an all-star team of 10 YOs.

My question is has to to with practice agenda. I often struggling with how to best use the time - does anyone have suggestion for a typical 1.5 hour practice agenda? I have an assistant coach and perhaps one dad to help out.



Thanks,

Ron

[songtitle]

All here will not agree with this, but decide who plays infield and who plays outfield. Then manage practice accordingly.

[RodCarew]

Here's what we do -

600-615 Warm Ups - Throwing (add in long toss every other practice)

615-700 - Stations
A- Hitting off Tee
B - Hitting off Live pitching
C - Infield Work (progression drills)
D- Outfield Work

700-720 Specific Skill Drill (choose something to work on - eg. Secondary leads, Cutoffs, Infield Situations, Outfield Situations, Etc. - We change this up every day)

720-730 - Conditioning / Baserunning Drills - Home to 2nd, 1st to 3rd, 2nd to Home, etc.

We will pull our pitchers and Catcher during practice to work on specific drills for those positions.

Takes at least 5-6 good coaches to run a good practice.

[Prouddadof5]

For hitting practice, I would have a couple of hitting stations set up where you could work with the kids on their hitting techniques, before moving on to live pitching. Work with them on a tee first, then move on to a soft toss. Either soft toss yourself, of set up a soft toss machine and have them hit into a net. With a soft toss machine, you can still work with the kids on their hitting techniques like on the batting tee, but they will be seeing a moving ball. Then move on to live pitching.

Hittingworld.com has a good selection of batting tees and soft toss machines.






G.G.

[SLBaseballDad]

I have a belief that All Star preparation/practices are strickly for preparing the kids for positions that they may not know, for reinforcing fundemental fielding skills and play making and live hitting (in a cage or other). I don't think there's time to correct mechanical flaws in swings, pitching or throwing. Fielding ground balls however is something that can be improved upon quickly.

Presumably the kids made the AS team because they are at the top of the talent ladder. AS coaches need to figure out how to use that talent to field a team wiht the highest and best use for each player.

Having said that, I planned practices around first trying to make the decisions of who will play where and then trained them at those positions. 3-4 days of everyone fielding GB's, catching POP's, turning DP's, catching a hot one at 3rd and throwing across the diamond, picking one hoppers at 1st basically to evaluate the players.

The balance of the practices are specifically tuned to middle infielders/corners/OF's/catchers (really whoever consistently blocks is my catcher) to learn these positions.

Throw in some games or a water balloon fight (dad's who help and coaches get the balloons first though) to make it fun and I'm done.

That's me though.......

[shake-n-bake]

Require the kids to be there early, say 15-20 minutes or so, and for them to get their warm-up tosses, running, and stretching in before practice is scheduled to begin.

Spend about 30 minutes breaking into groups - one group takes infield, the other outfield. Have your pitchers take PFP.

Then lots of scrimmaging - some with kids pitching, some with coach pitching.

Stop every once in a while after a play and talk about what went right, who was in the proper position to make the play or backup, who wasn't, and what adjustments need to be made. For the offense, talk about baserunning, what you'd do if the situation was a little different or a ball was misplayed.

Be available after practice for anyone who wants to take additional BP and work on pitching and catching.

Because of the group of kids being all-stars you're teaching to a little higher least common denominator - adjust your expectations accordingly.

MHO is that 1.5 hours is a short all-stars practice. Last year my son's 9/10 team went 2.5-3 hours / 7 days a week. And, we'd get there +/- an hour early and weren't there all that long before kids started trickling in. Then we'd stay for another hour + afterward and weren't usually the last to leave. That might be a little much, but "good" is "great's" worst enemy. There's not much time to get kids in the mode of playing at an elevated level. Play "good" and you'll get bounced out after pool play.

[Ursa Major]

Shake said, "... "good" is "great's" worst enemy."Actually, I believe the quote is conventionally recited as the opposite -- "the great is the enemy of the good". In other words, people who are constantly trying to get something perfect never actually get something done well.
MHO is that 1.5 hours is a short all-stars practice. Last year my son's 9/10 team went 2.5-3 hours / 7 days a week. And, we'd get there +/- an hour early and weren't there all that long before kids started trickling in. Then we'd stay for another hour + afterward and weren't usually the last to leave. That might be a little much, Isn't this why God invented Moms -- to put a stop to this nonsense? I guess if this is during the summer, that schedule four days a week (without the pressure to come so early and stay late) plus games is not the worst in the world. But anything beyond that . . . whew!

I think the main difference for all-stars at that level compared to regular season practices is that you'll want to prepare them for better pitching (maybe even curves), get defensive alignments (cutoff positions, backing up throws and first-and-third strategies) worked out, and get them used to talking to each other. With the totally clueless kids screened out, you can work out baserunning strategies (i.e., risk/benefit scenarios, as I like to think of them) and the like.

Rod Carew's schedule looks pretty solid to me. I'm a firm believer in drafting every able-bodied (and even non-able bodied -- you can do soft-toss from a wheel chair) parent you can to run stations, catch for fungo hitters, etc.

[bballdad175]

Last year my son's 9/10 team went 2.5-3 hours / 7 days a week. And, we'd get there +/- an hour early and weren't there all that long before kids started trickling in. Then we'd stay for another hour + afterward and weren't usually the last to leave.

If your team didn't make it to the LL WS then that is way too much time to spend for 10YO playing All Stars. They're kids for crying out loud, not horses who need training.

Get them 3-5 times a week for shorter practices and let them have a summer.

I'm with SLBaseballDad, figure out who plays where, get them setup for proper fundamentals, then practice the TEAM in their positions. If you have sign systems, get those dialed in. Throw the pitchers/catchers in bullpen. Then have water balloon fights.

Geez. It's not like the pro scouts are at everyone's LL tournaments.

[shake-n-bake]

Tell them first day of practice that in 2 or 3 weeks when you guys are having your post game huddles out in RF, that you guarantee you'll be talking about which team won because they played better on defense and made less mental mistakes - because that's what you will likely be talking about.

If you're competitive - your pitching and hitting will be roughly equal to the field of competition. If you don't have one or both, you're going to get creamed anyway, and the 2 or 3 weeks of practice before your AS season will be the equivalent of putting a Band-Aid on a heart attack.

No matter how your league selects all-stars, they definetly told the kids being considered that they'd have to commit and be available. School's out. Trust me, you might get tired because you worked instead of playing Guitar Hero, played in the pool, or texted your buddies all day - they won't.

You don't have to work them excessively hard, but you do have to raise the level of play because that's what the teams you'll be competing against are doing. There's no rule that says you cannot have fun either. My son wasn't showing up an hour early because he was forced to. He couldn't wait to get there and hoped his teammates would get there early too.

If you think you can get it done in 1.5 hours/ 4 days a week with just two or three weeks to prepare, then great. Just remember that your team's preperation is going to be what shows up on the field and that once your AS tournament starts - you're probably not going to see much practice time then.

[bballdad175]

LOL! It's 10 year old baseball!! Losing is part of the game. 'Nuff said about that though.

I hope your team made it pretty far.

Our league has had teams with similar practice schedules (1.5-2 hrs, 3-4 days a week) go to the Bronco World Series in Monterey, CA (11-12 YO). And others have gone home early. Most all of them had good memories and experiences either way.

Isn't that what this is for?

[shake-n-bake]

If your team didn't make it to the LL WS then that is way too much time to spend for 10YO playing All Stars. They're kids for crying out loud, not horses who need training.

Get them 3-5 times a week for shorter practices and let them have a summer.

I'm with SLBaseballDad, figure out who plays where, get them setup for proper fundamentals, then practice the TEAM in their positions. If you have sign systems, get those dialed in. Throw the pitchers/catchers in bullpen. Then have water balloon fights.

Geez. It's not like the pro scouts are at everyone's LL tournaments.

You know, it's never the kids who complain. It's always the wear the pants in the family moms and the Nancy dads. Check with Ripley's - 10 y/o like playing baseball. My son and his friends will play during the day before their practice starts.

[bballdad175]

It's always the wear the pants in the family moms and the Nancy dads.

Okey doke. Have it your way. My wife's name is Nancy!

[crazyhawk]

I like Shake-n-bake, but he is very far on the fringe when it comes to the fanatical side of kids baseball. 3-4 hour practices every day is just plain stupid. The kids need a summer. Don't tell me that these kids would be playing baseball regardlesss....yeah whatever. They are still kids and seven day a week baseball practices are not ideal by any means. 3 days a week for 1.5 hours a week is more then okay and you can still win.

It sounds to me like Shake-n-Bake's kids' coach read the book about the team that went to Williamsport and how they had practice every single day for basically a month before the Little League World Series. Just because it worked for that team (not the second year they tried this strategy by the way), doesn't mean that it is good for the kids...or that it actually was beneficial for the kids.

[shake-n-bake]

I like Shake-n-bake, but he is very far on the fringe when it comes to the fanatical side of kids baseball. 3-4 hour practices every day is just plain stupid. The kids need a summer. Don't tell me that these kids would be playing baseball regardlesss....yeah whatever. They are still kids and seven day a week baseball practices are not ideal by any means. 3 days a week for 1.5 hours a week is more then okay and you can still win.

It sounds to me like Shake-n-Bake's kids' coach read the book about the team that went to Williamsport and how they had practice every single day for basically a month before the Little League World Series. Just because it worked for that team (not the second year they tried this strategy by the way), doesn't mean that it is good for the kids...or that it actually was beneficial for the kids.

I wouldn't advocate this schedule throughout a regular season, but when the AS tournament starts 2-3 weeks after the season ends there's a lot of work to do and not much time to get it done.

There's plenty of summer left after AS ends. 20-25 hours a week for 2 or 3 weeks isn't really that huge a commitment. For the coaches it is though, and I had my son thank them several times for putting in the time.

That might be on the upper end, but my point is that the increased competitiveness requires a higher level of play. A person could be a decent golfer with little practice, but if you shot 85 and wanted to get to 75 it'd take a lot more practice than getting from 95 to 85.

[crazyhawk]

Or in time...that person might just quit golf.

I know that your kid wouldn't Shake, but your kid is on the very high end of the spectrum when it comes to putting in the "work" that he feels is needed to succeed. There are 14-15 players on a team and many of those kids (and parents) simply don't have the time or will get burnt out with that kind of 3 week schedule.

[shake-n-bake]

Or in time...that person might just quit golf.

I know that your kid wouldn't Shake, but your kid is on the very high end of the spectrum when it comes to putting in the "work" that he feels is needed to succeed. There are 14-15 players on a team and many of those kids (and parents) simply don't have the time or will get burnt out with that kind of 3 week schedule.

How much of that is adults implanting the idea that it's "too much?" Just asking? I see your point and there were some complaints and it'll be the same coaches, so there's going to be complaints again this year. It wasn't the kids complaining though. I'd say most of the kids looked forward to practice and unless some of their parents do something crazy like drag them off on a vacation during AS (I know you know that's a joke) it'll be basically the same group of kids again this year.

The kids go to school for 7 hours a day during the school year, by my calculations they've still got 4 hours a day they didn't have before to do non-baseball summer activities.

Like I said, it might be on the high side, but the teams they'll face will put in a lot of time (however much "a lot" might be). To be competitive, I think its realistic to plan on significantly more practice time than the regular season. It doesn't have to be a drag for anyone. It's baseball. It ain't football, but it's still a fun game. Like I tell my son, someday you won't look back and say, "Gee, I wish I hadn't spent so much time playing ball with my friends, fishing, or spent less time with my dad." Someday he'll have a job, a wife, his own kids, a mortgage, yardwork, all sorts of have-to's, and he'd give his left nut to play baseball 3 or 4 hours a day.

[crazyhawk]

Fair enough Shake. It wouldn't work for my family as we have 4 kids and that is just too much of a time commitment on our end. But every family and every kid is different. If this works for you guys, I truthfully wish you guys the best. I just hope this isn't a trend in the competitive youth baseball world. I really don't.

[shake-n-bake]

Fair enough Shake. It wouldn't work for my family as we have 4 kids and that is just too much of a time commitment on our end. But every family and every kid is different. If this works for you guys, I truthfully wish you guys the best. I just hope this isn't a trend in the competitive youth baseball world. I really don't.

Truthfully, what would your kids think of that much practice?

[crazyhawk]

Mine are too young to give you an honest assesment. My eight year old is always in multiple sports, so he wouldn't like it at all. If he is in baseball, he is also in soccer. In fact, he is a very big "play them all" kind of kid. I asked him if he wanted to play fall ball this year and he said "not if it interferes with flag football." We have a rule in our house that the kids can't be in more then 2 sports at a time due to time restraints. I have 3 kids in sports activities and a baby. We just don't have enough time for more.

When my kids are older, maybe I will change my tune...but I just think 25 hours of practice a week in baseball is excessive and I don't truthfully think that it makes them that much better. I think individual time working on a skill to supplement the 4.5 hours of practice that I discussed earlier would yield solid results.

I guess I am just not in the "win at all costs" mentality yet, and who knows, maybe I will get sucked in later. But, I sure hope that I don't. I am currently a "let everyone play the infield and outfield" when they are young type of guy. My kids are very talented, so it isn't that I don't have the competitive juices flowing, it is that I think that from reading this board I feel that the talented one's will be the talented one's in the end.

[shake-n-bake]

Mine are too young to give you an honest assesment. My eight year old is always in multiple sports, so he wouldn't like it at all. If he is in baseball, he is also in soccer. In fact, he is a very big "play them all" kind of kid. I asked him if he wanted to play fall ball this year and he said "not if it interferes with flag football." We have a rule in our house that the kids can't be in more then 2 sports at a time due to time restraints. I have 3 kids in sports activities and a baby. We just don't have enough time for more.

When my kids are older, maybe I will change my tune...but I just think 25 hours of practice a week in baseball is excessive and I don't truthfully think that it makes them that much better. I think individual time working on a skill to supplement the 4.5 hours of practice that I discussed earlier would yield solid results.

I guess I am just not in the "win at all costs" mentality yet, and who knows, maybe I will get sucked in later. But, I sure hope that I don't. I am currently a "let everyone play the infield and outfield" when they are young type of guy. My kids are very talented, so it isn't that I don't have the competitive juices flowing, it is that I think that from reading this board I feel that the talented one's will be the talented one's in the end.

It helps, the extra time, especially with a group of kids where the low hanging fruit is mostly plucked already - relatively speaking.

I won't tell you what you'll feel or that you aren't able to comprehend the future of your kids' sports. I've been told that and I think it's pretty much b.s. I do think its a real possibility that you won't see it at as a win at all cost situation. I prefer to see it through rose colored glasses I guess.

It may be the case that I'm a bit over-the-top, but I'd never hurt my kids. I think people can tell that by my posts. My daughter couldn't take that much of anything, at least not now, and I'd feel a lot like you do if it were her we were talking about. But, my son isn't all that much different than a lot of the kids he plays with. That much of a commitment to baseball at this time of the year is by far more taxing on the family as a whole than the boy individually. Right or wrong, we let him play basically as much as he wants to and do what we can as a family (often w/o him) to keep everyone fulfilled.

It's a juggling act for sure and I'm last in the pecking order. I hardly recognize my friends and my clubs have been known to pick up cob-webs, but life is still good. And we're probably basically the same as everyone else. Sometimes I put it in this perspective - we're very lucky to be working around my son's sports and not an illness in the family.

I am sick though - kids are home, so now I've got someone to play with - time to play some ball!

[songtitle]

It is an honor and a privilege to be selected to an AS team to represent your school district or city. Of course, you are expected to win.

Only kids that are willing to commit to practice several hours a day for the very short 2-3 week practice window should be allowed to play on the team. Tell the parents up front, so they can decide to leave or stay. (Car pools make it easy)

You will only make AllStars a few times in your life, at most. Make the most of it.

AS make great memories for a kid. Parades, banners, signs, announcing your name when you come up to bat, traveling to a new park to play, playing other cities and schools, seeing your name and picture in the newspaper, etc.

[bballdad175]

Maybe your All Star seasons are different. In ours, we have 2 weeks before our first invitational, non-Pony sanctioned tournament (we are Pony baseball in these parts) with a 3 game guarantee pool format. Then another one of those 2 weeks later. Then we have the Pony-sanctioned tournament 2 weeks after that.

Our kids play about 12 games by the time you factor in a couple of practice games. They are therefore not done with baseball until the middle/end of July. Which only give them about 2 weeks before school starts.

So to run them with shake's schedule would turn these kids off of baseball forever.

[Ursa Major]

Shake, your original comment didn't mention that the 7-days per week schedule was only for three weeks or so. That alters the equation a little...

But, saying that kids are willing to play that long -- and Ursa Minor was willing to do so at that age too -- doesn't end the debate. As my wife has said a million times, "Somebody has to be the adult out there."

But, unfortunately, you just plain lost me when you relegated the concerns about too much baseball practice to the worries of moms and "nancy Dads". (Emphasis in original.) I'm sorry, but I thought homophobia went out of fashion a while back, but I guess I'm mistaken.

Yeah, it's nice to win, but you're not going to turn a group of good 10 year old players into champions just because you work them an additional hour each day. All you do in overworking young kids is to reinforce the bad habits that will emerge when trying to play while tired.