It’s the Little Things in Baseball – Baseball Coaching
Baseball Coaching
Just finished up a baseball camp. If I said it once I said it a million times, “Practice the way you play and that starts with a simple game of catch.” Warm-ups are such an important time for young baseball players to work on good mechanics – those initial throws, catches and swings are important because they set the stage for the habits that kids are forming. When players warm up in a lackadasical manner, they are often developing bad habits that will be hard to overcome and they set the stage for incorrect game fundamentals. There is not a better time for coaches to coach then in their teams warm up time. So often, coaches tell kids to warm-up their arms and swings and allow players to do the fundamntals incorrectly by not paying attention to them at this time. Coaches then get upset when players cannot make plays in games. Allowing players to warm-up incorrectly is a sign of a poor coach. Once again, bad habits that are allowed in warm-ups will show up in players game fundamentals.
Coaches have the responsibility to concentrate on players warm-up time as much or even more than their regular practice habits. A good coach will not allow players to warm-up in a lax manner where players can get away with doing things incorrect or even halfway correct.
