The Little League Coach

Safety First

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The Set Up

How often do you watch a game and see a coach down by three or four runs late in the game trying to impose their will on the game by being way too agressive on the base paths? What happens? They often run into an out of course. What ever happened to safety first on the base paths?

The Huddle

Let’s assume you are down by 3 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. The first thing I tell my team at the huddle before we go into the dugout (you do a huddle between every inning don’t you?) is SAFETY FIRST on the base paths. I immediately follow this up with "you can’t hit a three run home run with nobody on base".

First Runner

Once a baserunner gets on base I remind them very clearly that it is much more important for them not to make an out than to score. The tying run is still in the on deck circle. Outs are precious at this point and you have to bring the tying run to the plate.

Tying Run at the Plate

Once the second runner gets on, now it is time to sit back and enjoy. Hopefully this is your slugger, but if the baseball/softball Gods have their way, and they always do, it is your number eight hitter. Bunt if you have to, but probably better to sit back and let them come through. Encourage them. Something I have heard coaches say lately is "nobody better in this situation", beautiful. At this time the only important thing is to instill confidence in the batter, let them know you believe in them, and reinforce the fact that even if they fail you will still love them.

They have, after all, been on your team for years, have received all your fantastic training, and have been being prepared for exactly this situation. You will be amazed how often they come through in the clutch.

Back to Normal

Once your tying run puts the ball in play you can go back to standard/agressive ball. That is up to you how you coach it, but you cannot under any circumstances run into an out. If you are agressive, you must be successful.

Why do so many teams ignore this simple fundamental? What other fundamentals do you see violated regularly?

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agressive, baseball, Baseball field, batter, batting, coach, huddle, List of baseball jargon, Little League Baseball, Pitcher, runner, safety first
18 August 2008 comment TrackBack-URI

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