My son had his first practice tonight. They went from 6:00-7:45. I showed up to help out however I could. The league coordinator didn't want me to coach this year since my son was 6 and playing up with 7-8 year olds. I was fine with that. He asked if I would be an assistant, so I got the best of the deal.

Anyway, coach showed up at 6:10 and was confused about what field we were on. We got started at 6:20. He had the kids stretch (what?), yes stretch. He then pulled out a tee and put it at home plate. He sent 5 kids to the infield and sent the other 7 to hit. One swing, and run the bases. After two rounds of this, it was 6:45. While the kids were rotating in and out, coach was standing on the side yucking it up with a buddy. At 6:45, he announced they were going to put all the kids at IF positions and hit infield for about 45 minutes.

Fortunately, a parent stepped in and said "you know, you got a guy back here who knows how to do this, and could really help you out". I guess they were referring to me. The coach said "yeah, I was told this guy might help me out, but I wasn't sure I needed it".

He walked over and asked if I wanted to help out. I introduced myself at the beginning of practice, so he knew who I was. I said sure, tell me what you want me to do. He asked me to stand behind 2B and make sure the boys were paying attention. After seeing him hit about 5-6 balls and the boys not knowing what to do, I asked him if I could have a minute with the team. He said sure.

I pulled the boys together and told them we were going to put one group at 3B and one group at 2B. A coach covering 2B and 1B respectively. I told them we were going to roll them ground balls and that we wanted them to throw from 3B->2B or 2B->1B. I told them we would focus on a good fielding position, approaching the ball, fielding it, and making a good throwing motion. This took about 1 minute for me to explain, and then we went at it.

The head coach was really getting into it and I think I know why. I focused on his son a little and got him throwing the ball properly. The kid had success, so dad was happy. We did this drill for about 10 minutes. After that, he and his buddy (the assistant coach) wanted to put all the boys in the field. He would pitch to them, and they would hit, one at a time. I didn't speak up...but I'm going to have to do something. I think I might ask him for a private talk to explain how to organize a practice. What does everybody think?

Several parents approached me after practice and thanked me for a solid 10 minutes.

Is this a first time coach? He sounds very disorganized. If he is a first timer, e-mail him or tell him some drills and ideas that you like and that you have found to work. Maybe all he needs is a starting point.

BTW, what's wrong with having the boys stretch? Stretching for 20 minutes is too long, but a quick run through to get the boys into the habit is a good idea.


Good luck.

Larry,
I would say that there is about an 80% chance that ANY coach at this level doesn't know a ton of baseball, but has their heart in the right place.

If you don't try to show up the coach with the fact that you obviously know the game better, and it doesn't sound like you did at all, you'll do great.

Just occasionally ask his opinion on practice idea's so he has some input so that it appears he is still in the decision making process.

Organized practices help the kids the most so take the guy to lunch or give him a call about your concerns about all standing around that takes place during BP. Keeping kids engaged and moving around from station to station is the key. Sounds like you know this already, you just have to find a tactful way to discuss it with the head coach.

Larry,

Had the same issue with my daughter's coach pitch softball team. I gently offered to help out and after practice, we discussed goals for the girls. I asked his if I could work with the hitters and he agreed. I spent the 1st 2 practices on hitters. After that, he realized I had a clue about what to do and asked me to work with the fielders as well. Hopefully, your coach will realize the same. Good luck.

LarryT, You did the right thing. Your approach to what was happening was the best thing you could do. You are right, you should have a talk with the "coach" and ask what his goals are with the team and then ask how you could help. When we moved to a new area, I place my youngest son in the league in the area and had a similar situation. One month into it the head coach ask me to run the entire team and he would help. He and I are great friends six years later. If your coach is not to proud to have someone with experience help out, good for him, you and more important, the team. Good luck and I am sure it will work out for you.

Good advice all! We had practice #2 this morning. 9:00-11:00, 45 degrees with about 5-7 MPH wind. Only 8 boys there today. Seems that the big problems on the team are going to be the two boys, you guessed it, who are the sons of the head coach and named assistant. They don't hustle, they don't listen and they talk back to their dads. I asked the coaches if I could intervene next practice by getting on these two boys if I saw them acting up. They liked the idea. Hey...they can blister their butts at home, but if they act up at practice and cause disruption, then they are my (and every other player/parent's) time!

****edest thing though. The head coach...didn't seem to really have his head around the game the first practice (and hence this thread)...is like a JUGS machine throwing to the boys. Most incredible thing I have ever seen. He was throwing from 40 feet, for a solid 1/2 hour (we broke up into groups with several parents helping...he and I were working on live hitting with the kids), and the man is automatic EVERY time. No lollipopping it either. Good solid pitching. I told him after practice it was the most incredible display of coach pitch I had ever seen.

A new saga has befallen our team (of 6-8 year olds...geez)! The head coach was concerned about the youth of our team. He "asked" the league coordinator (a new guy by the way) to trade two of our players for another kid who played for this coach last year. Mind you, we have already had a couple of practices. The coordinator made the move and as you can imagine, the parents of the two kids who were moved were livid. One called me to vent, and I told him I wasn't part of the decision, but I thought it was silly. The next day, we had the two kids back, and the new kid. Now we have 14 players. Most teams in the league have 10 or 11. And the kid coach wanted on our team is the son of one of his drinking buddies. And by the way, the kid ain't very good and was quite disruptive at his first practice. The saga continues.

Welcome to the wonderfully wacky world of "minor league" ball! It was my experience as a "coach" in this league that that is usually how teams are formed---friends of the coaches and friends of the coach's kid------There will be kids who are "talented" at this age who really want to play and learn the game. There are many more who like to draw in the infield or pick dandelions.....What I did was coach to the "good" kids, the talented ones who paid attention and wanted to learn. And let the others follow along and get better if they wanted.

Oh, then there are those parents who will use you as a free babysitting service. And most kids are really more interested in the snack after the game than the snack itself! But ya gotta start somewhere! Have fun!

Larry, its definitely time to toot your horn. I got involved at several occassions on my kids youth teams. One time I just mentioned to a guy that I had college and high school coaching experience. He then told me to run practices. After 5 very bad practices, I couldn't wait. We turned things around very quickly. There are times were I remained quiet and just helped out, and there were times to toot the horn. I think this is one of those times. Best of luck to your little guys.

We had a crisp 1.5 hour practice tonight. Head coach was at work and asked me to run things. I spoke to him last night to tell him what I had planned, and he was all for it. The two assistant coaches didn't have a chance to "free wheel", as I gave them the practice plan as soon as they showed up.

I went off on a kid tonight. He is 7. I've known him since he was 4. He has no conscience what so ever. His parents enable his behavior. I had to sit him down twice tonight for not paying attention and other transgressions. He was playing SS during a situation drill. A ball got loose in the infield and he picked it up. I was watching him. He looked around the IF, and before I could yell "Jack, throw the ball in here", he turned toward the 3B kid and fired it right at him. The 3B kid was the only one not looking at him. Ball missed the kids head by a foot. I saw what he did and I blasted him for it. After practice, his dad, who was watching practice, asked me why I singled Jack out? I told him what happened and he began to tell me "Jack didn't mean anything by it". My job was done! About four parents, who were listening in, went after Jack's dad with all barrels loaded. They said words like undisciplined, immature, dangerous, evil...and dad looked like a deer in the headlights. Maybe we won't see Jack anymore?