The Little League Coach

This post was guest blogged by Dan Green, President of DeBary Little League and manager of the DeBary Minor League Cubs.

I have been involved with Little League Baseball for 10 years as Board Member, Manager, Coach, Umpire, Treasurer and President. I have been blessed to manage some of the greatest kids I have come in contact with. This year is no different.

I have particular young gentlemen that I have a pleasure to work with in the fall of last year and this spring. This particular boy struggled at the plate. He was always stepping out of the batter box and swinging. This spring was no different. I worked with him on his stance and on his confidence. It is nice to see a kid progress in baseball especially when you have an influence on the kids.

The other night we had a game. We were losing but that did not matter to me. I told this young man if he got a hit I would buy him a chocolate shake. First pitch was high and the boy swung and missed the ball. The next two pitches were balls. The next pitch he hits the ball to left field for a double.

If you could imagine the smile on this boy’s face. He was jumping up and down on the base. Mom was cheering loudly in the stands and dad was just smiling from ear to ear. Of course the manager was just as excited as the boy and raised his hand in the air as the ball was hit.

After the game was over this young boy received the game ball and reminded me that I owed him a chocolate shake. My pocket was a little lighter but it was well worth it. This is why I volunteer my time as a Board Member and Manager. To see a kid with a smile on his face will have a lasting impression.

Coach Green

Do you have a similar story to tell? Post it below or email it to me for posting.

Please see our other posts:

Smart Money Magazine Interview
Variation of the Around the Horn Drill
New Pitching Drill
Blowout, Pitching Questions, Resume for Article
SmartMoney Magazine Interview

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Yesterday I had my SmartMoney Magazine interview! It went very well! The interview was conducted by the author of the piece, Anne Kadet. She was very friendly and very interested in how the youth baseball programs functioned. The article will publish in the July issue which will be released in June. (Don’t ask me, I just report, you decide)

Uniquely Qualified

I, of course, was uniquely qualified to provide her all the information she needed! My 18 years experience w/ Little League and brief experience w/ travel ball and its effect on Little League was what interested her. She delved deeply to gain a true understanding of how each program worked and how they worked together. She was also interested in where they created conflicts.

Will Your Child Fall Behind?

The point she was most interested in was “do you feel your child will fall behind if he does not participate in the travel programs”? What a great question! She asked, she said, because a hockey parent she had interviewed the day before had stated that they felt their child had no shot at a high school team unless they participated in the travel leagues. I had to agree that those that play in travel leagues definitely have advanced skills.

Quality of Play

She then asked, “Do you feel the quality of play in the ‘elite’ travel leagues is coming down since anyone can start a team and there are more teams available now”? Another whopper of a question! I had to admit that yes, as the numbers increase, it was inevitable that travel teams quality of play decline. I also pointed out that travel ball is for play, not for gaining fundamentals, nothing can replace Little League for that.

This is an interesting concept though. Many of you know that I used to be a hardcore metal head in my younger days. I used to complain to my super-cool boss at the time (he tolerated my late nights and frequent early afternoon departures as well as my unique travel schedule) that radio stations never played the kind of music I liked. He used to say, “if the radio stations played it, then it wouldn’t be cool to listen to it any more”. I didn’t agree then, but wisdom has taught me what he meant.

I think this might be a decent analogy to travel ball. If everyone is playing, is it really an elite travel league any more? Or is it simply a league of the same kids playing Little League circumventing the draft process?

What does the Future Hold?

Of course everyone doesn’t play travel ball, and Little League provides a home for EVERYONE. But I have to wonder what the face of travel ball will look like in 10 years? They certainly do not have the money that Little League has, nor the corporate sponsorship or media coverage. ESPN’s multi-million deal to cover every division of Little League’s World Series on TV will certainly boost participation.

This will be an interesting topic that I will visit often over the next few years.

What effect do you feel that travel ball is having on Little League? Is it positive or negative? What would you change about the current situation? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

Check out some prior posts that may interest you:

Variation of the Around the Horn Drill
New Pitching Drill
Blowout, Pitching Questions, Resume for Article
SmartMoney Magazine Interview
It’s All About the Fundamentals

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Tonight we did a variation of the “around the horn” drill. Everyone has thrown the ball around the horn. While it seems pretty boring, if you get the ball moving fast enough, it can be very effective. We like to usually do it like this:

1. Straddle 3rd, 2nd, and 1st base.
2. Pitch to the catcher.
3. Have her whip the ball to 3rd, then 2nd, then 1st, then home.
4. Catcher whips to 3rd and you start all over.

It is fun to see how many times you can get around without an error.

For variety we advance to “making a tag” when they receive the throw at each base.

Tonight we switched it up a bit. We had the following throwing pattern:

Catcher —> 2nd —> 3rd —> 1st—> home.

I feel that the catcher to 2nd is a more effective practice for the catcher. Likewise, 2nd to 3rd is a good practice for “pickoff” once the out is recorded at 2nd. Third to 1st is a throw that is often made and almost always the 1st baseman has to catch for the out and immediately fire home.

This went very well, and while it didn’t move quite as fast, it was much more “game friendly”.

Throwing and catching are simple skills that are often overlooked. It is usually boring to practice them, so coaches sometimes neglect them. They are too important to neglect, finding fun drills that hone those skills w/0 the kids even recognizing they are practicing is the key.

Have you used a modified drill before? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

New Pitching Drill
Blowout, Pitching Questions, Resume for Article
SmartMoney Magazine Interview
It’s All About the Fundamentals
A Typical Long Saturday

No Comments »

Today we had pitchers and catchers practice and I discovered some great new drills from the Ohio Fastpitch Connection.

The drill we implemented today was a variation of the walk-in drill. For those of you unfamiliar w/ the walk-in drill here is how it works:

1. Stand about 2 steps behind the pitching plate.
2. Walk towards the plate and “walk in” to your motion.
3. Pitch as normal.

What this accomplishes is getting your pitcher’s motion moving towards the plate. So often they want to simply pitch w/ their arms and they forget almost all of their power is derived from their lower body. This is a great drill to do every day!

The variation I found at the Ohio Fastpitch Connection was combining the “walk-in” with the “long-toss” drill. For those that don’t know about the long toss drill it is simply extending the throwing distance between the girls every five minutes or so and have them throw long. They should not “whip” the ball, but should throw “over the top” with smooth, flowing, motions.

Combining the long toss w/ the walk-in was a very good drill. We started about 20′ apart and slowly backed them up to a distance of 60′. By the time we moved to the 40′ pitcher’s plate, they thought it was short and every one of them threw harder! This is a great drill I will use very often in the future.

Do you have a pitching drill to share? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

Blowout, Pitching Questions, Resume for Article
SmartMoney Magazine Interview
It’s All About the Fundamentals
A Typical Long Saturday
Lock Was Kicking My Butt

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Tonight I spent most of the night preparing my resume for submission to the SmartMoney Magazine reporter to help her understand my qualifications for the interview she is doing the story on me about. This is after we got back from a 19-5 trouncing of one our our softball competitors. Not that we are that great, just the way the game worked out.

I preach and preach about how pitching is the most important part of the game, and without a doubt, it definitely is. But, unfortunately, we have very little of it. Well, that is not entirely true. We have quite a few girls that can throw plenty of strikes, we just have no dominant pitcher. This is causing us to develop quite a few.

I guess in the long run this will be better. We shall see. We had three home runs, a triple, and two doubles today, so hitting is not an issue. We can post runs, and we are starting to gain confidence. Our fielding is great and we can really whip the ball around the field for outs, hopefully our pitching will be “just enough” to get us by. We shall see.

How do you work your pitchers if know you have no studs? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

Recent Posts that may interest you:

SmartMoney Magazine Interview
It’s All About the Fundamentals
A Typical Long Saturday
Lock Was Kicking My Butt
What a Game!

No Comments »

Friday I was contacted by Anne Kadet of SmartMoney magazine to interview me for a piece she is doing on the professionalism of youth sports. Specifically she wants me to comment on the effect this has had on local parks and recreation leagues and Little League Programs. I am very honored to be selected for comment on this issue and hope that my input helps Ms. Kadet with her research.

My interview is scheduled for Thursday at 10AM and I will post Thursday night how I felt it went.

Do you have a great story to share? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

Recent Articles of Interest:

It’s All About the Fundamentals
A Typical Long Saturday
Lock Was Kicking My Butt
What a Game!
Briggs and Stratton Diamond in the Rough Contest

No Comments »

Teaching kids is actually fairly simple if you break it down to their terms. The problem we adults have is we tend to underestimate the ability of a child to learn and comprehend. I never cease to be amazed by how much a child can learn when they are constantly drilled on it. Do they get it right away? Almost never, in fact, I have said the same things over and over again for almost 20 years.

The Light Bulb Moment

I don’t know why or how it happens, but one day you see a light of comprehension in their eyes! With some it happens almost immediately, others a while later, some a lot later! But all of them, (99.9% anyway) get it, and when they do, they transform!

Fundamentals

This is where the fundamentals come in. Drill, drill, drill, and when you are done drilling? Drill again! A good friend of mine said a few weeks ago that the entire sport is about the practice. In practice you get 100-200 reps/drill, in a game you may field 1 or 2 balls and swing the bat maybe 5 or 6 times. It is too late to learn “in-game”, you have to have productive practices that focus on fundamentals.

Basic Fundamentals

A coach at any level can gain great advantage by simply focusing on the basics and assuring all of the kids perform them properly. (Assuming a right hander, reverse for that coveted lefty)

Throwing:

1. Place Arms in front of chest w/ hands together and ball gripped for throwing
2. Step forward w/ right foot pointed in a 90 degree angle towards the outside
3. Bring left foot up and across body pointing left knee in same direction as the right foot (hands still together at chest)
4. Thigh Sky - Arms separate bringing glove hand and throwing hand to the thigh then glove hand points straight out (pointer or gun sight) throwing hand goes to the sky w/ elbow bent at a 90 degree angle. Important!!!! Palm should be pointed outward! Say peace to the fence.
5. Step towards target, aiming w/ pointer/glove hand while bringing pointer elbow in. Bring throwing hand “over the top” and land on front foot.
6. Push over front foot and follow through pushing w/ plant leg for maximum velocity.
7. ALWAYS throw on a bee-line (straight). Never w/ an arch. Better to one-hop a throw than airmail one. At least a low throw can be cut off.

Image retrieved March 24, 2008 from http://www.qcbaseball.com/skills/pc_throwing2.aspx

Hitting and Fielding Fundamentals to come later!

What do you think the most important fundamental is? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

A Typical Long Saturday
Lock Was Kicking My Butt
What a Game!
Briggs and Stratton Diamond in the Rough Contest
Pitching is King

No Comments »

Today started at 8AM, uggg, an alarm on a Saturday morning! Then an hour’s drive to our first game. A major softball game against what was essentially a minor team. We won easily.

Then a trip to Sports Authority, a lunch w/ my lovely girls at Smokey Bones and off to my son’s minor game. We had to come back in the last inning five runs just to tie at 16-16. Whew, what a long game! We are struggling hitting, but I think that is because nobody will throw is any strikes. I guess we shall see. Our pitching struggled a little tonight also, which is unusual.

I have a series of articles coming up over the next few months that address a number of topics such as drafts, substitutions, pitching, hitting, and much much more. Anything you would like to see addressed? Let me know.

Did you have a long day? What did you do to keep the kids focused? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

Lock Was Kicking My Butt
What a Game!
Briggs and Stratton Diamond in the Rough Contest
Pitching is King
Also on the Board

No Comments »

Worlds Greatest Equipment Manager

We have the best equipment manager on the planet! He has worked thanklessly and tirelessly (ok maybe he got tired, he looked it anyway) to make sure that every player had the proper size uniform and each team had enough equipment to play. Another thing he is; a master of The Bargain!

The Budget

We budgeted $800 to get one lock upgrade at our snack bar. We needed a way to track who was coming and going and decided a great idea would be a lock w/ a code that we can download information from. We chose the Trilogy 2800 because he got 2 for less than our budget!!!! Great idea right????

ummmmmm……If you had asked me four hours ago I may have said no, but now??? Sure it was fabulous!

The Set Up

OK, so programming a basic code into the locks was a piece of cake! Simple entry similar to what you would do on any device. But, this lock comes w/ a sophisticated software that allows you to program all kinds of neat stuff! The software? Piece of cake! I had every team programmed w/ a different code and ready to upload to the lock in no time. I was even able to restrict entry to the teams to the hours of 5:30-9:30 so they can’t get in during the day when nobody is around.

Sounds simple right?…SURE!!!!

The Trouble

The software comes w/ a D9-2 pin connector that communicates w/ the lock. You are simply supposed to plug it in, click the button and boom! About a week ago we plugged it in, clicked the button and…………………….waited………………….waited……………..waited………………….ut oh.

OK, guess we will have the actually read the manual! I hate manuals! Checked the manual…nothing. hmmmmmmmm…..

OK, let’s check one of the 5 bulletins that came w/ it since the manual was printed. On the 5th one I found a clause that said that some modern laptops are not truly RS232 compliant on their D9 serial adapters and don’t provide the proper voltage needed for this lock! In addition, you can run a loopback test to see if your laptop is compliant. (This is where I say 2 hours in, if we had read the thing in the first place we wouldn’t have been two hours in…but I will ignore that part for humor’s sake!)

What do we do? We run a loopback test……fail….fail….fail…..fail…..fail. hmmm….I guess we have one of those non-compliant serial connections. Why would they build it this way? I have no clue. So what do we need? A “proprietary” cable of course!…I go home and search for it online. How much???? $150!!!!! HOLY COW!!!!

OK, this can’t be. Our equipment manager, who also happens to be a very handy guy, he installed the locks, new PA speakers, and much much more, mentioned that he didn’t think that cable was anything special. It was simply a cable to convert a USB port to a serial port. Why do I need this if I already have a d9 connection? That is a question for Dell I guess. The more I thought about this, the more I agreed. So I headed out to Office Depot for a cable….no longer stocked. Oh, no problem, Radio Shack will have it of course..wrong!

I had to go to the local Bad Boys Computer store, and they had it. The good thing about this was I was able to ask the technogeek working there if he thought it would work or if I would need their $150 cable! He was fairly certain, as we were, that there would be nothing special about it. I came to learn that the d9/usb adapter actually came w/ software and a driver. Pretty cool, and pretty sure it would work.

Tonight’s Adventure

So what do I do? I trudge on over there tonight, determined NOT to be defeated by a lock! I install the cable, install the driver perfect, no problems. Hook up to the lock, run the loopback test..fail..fail…fail….hmmmmm.

OK, what is up w/ that? I really have no idea and almost am willing to surrender to the $150 cable! (this cable cost $29.99 at the computer store btw) But what kind of example would I be setting for my kids if I simply gave up? The game wasn’t over yet!

What did I do? I checked the com ports under the devices settings in the my computer properties. The device was set up as com 16, I needed it on one of com1-com4. After some manipulation I was able to get a successful loopback test! Yippee! I had the polarity wrong and also had to reset the port to com2 but I was able to get the thing to work!!! WOOHOO I WIN I WIN the Little League Coach WINS!!!!!!

Great Features

The locks are actually great. They have features that allow us to limit access and track who is coming and going. I suspect that cases of hamburgers will no longer be walking out of the snack bar any more. Here are the features we chose to use:

1. Restricted entry times for team parents - This allows them to enter only when other’s are around
2. Individual tracking codes for each team - We know who is coming and going
3. Full access 24/7 for board members
4. Special code for the city to get in

When all is said and done, these will be a great addition to the league. I think we will probably install one on the equipment room as well and then maybe gloves and balls will stop walking out.

Have you faced a technical challenge as a volunteer? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

What a Game!
Briggs and Stratton Diamond in the Rough Contest
Pitching is King
Also on the Board
Opening Day a Huge Success

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The Scenario

We were down by 3 after 3, then went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the 4th only to allow the other team to go up 6-4 in the top of the 6th! But, we had a girl hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, 1-2-3 in the top of the 7th, a single, stolen base, and a double, boom, we won!

OK, that is the physical. The girls were impossible to contain, they were pumped! I was so proud of them, but I really don’t even care about that part.

The Reality

The girl that hit the double happens to be my assistant’s daughter. He is more of a co-head coach and knows as much, if not more, about the game as I do. When I looked up after I waved our winning run home, she had run to him full speed, launched and gave him the biggest bear hug ever! Full leg and arm wrap. That is what this is all about, moments like that make every volunteer hour upon hour worth it.

Congratulation Flames! You deserve to enjoy this one.

Do you have a great game result tip to share? Post a comment below and let us know about it.

Other articles that might interest you:

Briggs and Stratton Diamond in the Rough Contest
Pitching is King
Also on the Board
Opening Day a Huge Success
I Love Vista Print

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