Leaving the Travel Ball ranks. I was chosen to coach my first School Ball team. I will be head coaching a JV team in my area. Any advice from the experienced coaches here on the differences/expectations between the two.

Congrats. Hard work and integrity. Student/Teacher of game, attend clinics and pursue media such as Polk's "Baseball Playbook". Did I mention work hard! Have fun, make the experience a pleasurable one for the participants.

Congratulations HunterMac,
I hope you have a great experience. The book Flintoide suggested is a must have. You will find there are a number of differences with school ball. You will have to teach a lot more of the little things. Having done both before, you forget that many of the kids need a lot of refresher work on situations and the little things that when they get to summer ball they should know. Make a list of those situations and cover the basics early. Also, during school ball, the kids have many responsibilities in the classroom that can sometimes be a distraction. It is important for them to know that they represent their school, and that the school work must come first or they will never make it to the field. Good luck and I am sure you will have the time of your life.

Best of luck on what could be a very rewarding experience. If you want your players to work hard, then do the same. Give them all you can. Don't underestimate what they can learn. Make sure you and the varsity coach are working together. It is his program. If he needs to take your top two sophs, then that gives some other kid a chance to play.

Don't worry too much about playing time. My opinion...keep 18 at a minimum. Grades, jobs, girls, other interests will cause some turnover through the years.

Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Try to be prepared, but understand the beauty of baseball is some thing new could happen every day.

Make it fun and they will learn!!!

Teach, teach, teach, and teach some more. Most kids come into high school and don't have a clue about the basics of the game. Some do but overall most kids don't understand the basics.

You are there to support the varsity team and the best way to do that is have your JV players develop.

Without the JV team there is no next season.

Larrythompson is right that they need to have fun but make sure it isn't at the expense of working hard and learning.

Congratulations and good luck. You will have a great time.

Best of luck - I work with high school kids locally and love it. I don't have much experience with travel ball, so I can't draw a comparison, but develop the players well for the Varsity program. That means making a profile for each player and sitting down with them to address their faults in the field, on the mound, or in the batter's box (my specialty!).

I am a big supporter of video analysis for both pitchers and hitters to identify and correct their flaws. Without seeing video of themselves, they will have no idea what they are doing differently. Show them what you mean by taking video and slowing it down for them. You might need an assistant or two to help with this!

quote:

Teach, teach, teach, and teach some more. Most kids come into high school and don't have a clue about the basics of the game.

How can that be? dont they play on select, travel, elite, all star, tournament teams etc etc etc

Some but not all; you have to work with what you have , no recruiting.

Coach

Be yourself--if that isnt good enough then you don't belong there

Here's a great website for first time coaches. teach your kid baseball. it has a lot of info on youth baseball coaching tips. There are sections working with a variety of different kinds of kids (the klutz, the natural athlete, the lefty, etc) and tips on training the batter, pitchers, and fielders. I've found some really helpful tips and ideas in here that I've been able to take back to my team that I coach. Good luck!!