There is a practice that I left off of our original schedule, so please be aware of this:
Friday, April 4th at 5:00pm at Eagle View Elementary
Also, our team pictures will be on:
Saturday, April 5th at 11:30am at the NLLL Fields
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Saturday 3/15 Practice
After 1 week and 3 practices, every player is already improving. And I hope everyone is having fun in the process. Just a quick summary of what we've been learning and some highlights so far:
Throwing Camp: We are seeing improvement in catching. Try to practice the "thumbs together, pinkies together" catching drill at home. Kudos to TJ, Spencer and JD who all seem to be catching very consistently. Others aren't far behind and everyone has improved some. We'll keep starting every practice with "Throwing Camp" with the goal of getting everyone very confident catching the baseball.
Defensive Stance: we've been working on the 3 steps to good fielding of the baseball:
1. WIDE BASE (feet a little farther apart than the shoulders)
2. BOTTOM DOWN
3. HANDS IN FRONT (receiving the ball out in front, rather than right between their feet)
Today Zack was our star at remembering this defensive stance during infield practice. Great job!
We have started hitting and that is coming along too. The kids are learning about their swings starting with hips and keeping their head down on the ball. They should see the ball hit the bat. Nice work Brad and Kyle for smacking some great hits today during batting practice with Coach Scott.
Infield Practice: we had infield practice for the first time today. The boys learned that whenever the ball is hit, every position in the infield has a job, namely:
1. Fielding the ball when hit to your area
2. Cover a base
3. Backup a teammate
We practiced when each position needs to do each job and we'll need a lot more work on this. Blake never once forgot to cover his base was fielding the ball very well. Way to go.
Throwing Camp: We are seeing improvement in catching. Try to practice the "thumbs together, pinkies together" catching drill at home. Kudos to TJ, Spencer and JD who all seem to be catching very consistently. Others aren't far behind and everyone has improved some. We'll keep starting every practice with "Throwing Camp" with the goal of getting everyone very confident catching the baseball.
Defensive Stance: we've been working on the 3 steps to good fielding of the baseball:
1. WIDE BASE (feet a little farther apart than the shoulders)
2. BOTTOM DOWN
3. HANDS IN FRONT (receiving the ball out in front, rather than right between their feet)
Today Zack was our star at remembering this defensive stance during infield practice. Great job!
We have started hitting and that is coming along too. The kids are learning about their swings starting with hips and keeping their head down on the ball. They should see the ball hit the bat. Nice work Brad and Kyle for smacking some great hits today during batting practice with Coach Scott.
Infield Practice: we had infield practice for the first time today. The boys learned that whenever the ball is hit, every position in the infield has a job, namely:
1. Fielding the ball when hit to your area
2. Cover a base
3. Backup a teammate
We practiced when each position needs to do each job and we'll need a lot more work on this. Blake never once forgot to cover his base was fielding the ball very well. Way to go.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Top 3 things you can do to help your son have a great baseball season
#1 - Play Catch with him
#2 - Play MORE Catch with him
#3 - After #1 and #2 are completed....PLAY some more CATCH!
At the coach-pitch level, your son's enjoyment of the game and improvement as a baseball player is going to be directly linked to how well he can CATCH and THROW the ball. We will work on this in practices, but the more you can work with him at home on catching and throwing , the faster he and the team will be able to move on to other (funner) drills and learn more of the game of baseball. A couple simple things to focus on while playing catch:
Catching - 3 steps
1. Start with no ball and work on “thumbs together” (hands up) for balls thrown above the waist and “pinkies together” (hands down) for balls thrown below the waist. Work on using two hands, bare hand right next to glove hand.
2. Begin throwing with a tennis ball (it won’t hurt them, so they'll have no fear). Throw some above the waist, some below the waist.
3. Once they are more confident and starting to catch somewhat regularly, switch to the baseball. Continue to focus on "thumbs together" and "pinkies together"
Throwing - 3 steps
1. Player turns sideways with his glove hand pointing to the target (parent's chest)
2. Player extends arm back with the ball; palm facing down (thumb under ball, 2 or 3 fingers on top of ball)
3. Player throws the ball to target, keeping his elbow slightly higher than his shoulder. Make sure he follows through; his hand should end up down near his opposite knee.
#2 - Play MORE Catch with him
#3 - After #1 and #2 are completed....PLAY some more CATCH!
At the coach-pitch level, your son's enjoyment of the game and improvement as a baseball player is going to be directly linked to how well he can CATCH and THROW the ball. We will work on this in practices, but the more you can work with him at home on catching and throwing , the faster he and the team will be able to move on to other (funner) drills and learn more of the game of baseball. A couple simple things to focus on while playing catch:
Catching - 3 steps
1. Start with no ball and work on “thumbs together” (hands up) for balls thrown above the waist and “pinkies together” (hands down) for balls thrown below the waist. Work on using two hands, bare hand right next to glove hand.
2. Begin throwing with a tennis ball (it won’t hurt them, so they'll have no fear). Throw some above the waist, some below the waist.
3. Once they are more confident and starting to catch somewhat regularly, switch to the baseball. Continue to focus on "thumbs together" and "pinkies together"
Throwing - 3 steps
1. Player turns sideways with his glove hand pointing to the target (parent's chest)
2. Player extends arm back with the ball; palm facing down (thumb under ball, 2 or 3 fingers on top of ball)
3. Player throws the ball to target, keeping his elbow slightly higher than his shoulder. Make sure he follows through; his hand should end up down near his opposite knee.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Welcome to the Team
Parents and Players,
Welcome to our Coach-Pitch baseball team. We are glad to have you and are looking forward to a great season. I will be using this web page as a way to communicate relevant information for the team as well as hopefully posting some pictures and/or comments after games and practices (we'll see how well I stay on the ball with this). I will also try to post some of the drills that we are working on in practice for reinforcement at home. Hopefully parents and players alike will enjoy checking this site throughout the season.
A little about your coaches: We LOVE the sport of baseball. This is the 4th year that Mark and I have coached together in Northern Lights Little League. We started with our oldest sons in T-ball and are now coaching them at the competitive AA level. Mark takes the lead on that team, while I take the lead on this team where our 2nd sons play. We have an "open door" policy and welcome any feedback from parents. We will also likely need occasional help from willing parents during practices and/or games.
Our number 1 priority is that your son has fun and enjoys playing the game of baseball. To accomplish that, we believe strongly that they learn the game the right way, one fundamental at a time. We will strive to run our practices and games to that end. We'll expect the boys to listen when their coaches are talking and to hustle when they are out on the field.
Again, Welcome to the team...Let's have a fantastic season.
Coach Paul
Welcome to our Coach-Pitch baseball team. We are glad to have you and are looking forward to a great season. I will be using this web page as a way to communicate relevant information for the team as well as hopefully posting some pictures and/or comments after games and practices (we'll see how well I stay on the ball with this). I will also try to post some of the drills that we are working on in practice for reinforcement at home. Hopefully parents and players alike will enjoy checking this site throughout the season.
A little about your coaches: We LOVE the sport of baseball. This is the 4th year that Mark and I have coached together in Northern Lights Little League. We started with our oldest sons in T-ball and are now coaching them at the competitive AA level. Mark takes the lead on that team, while I take the lead on this team where our 2nd sons play. We have an "open door" policy and welcome any feedback from parents. We will also likely need occasional help from willing parents during practices and/or games.
Our number 1 priority is that your son has fun and enjoys playing the game of baseball. To accomplish that, we believe strongly that they learn the game the right way, one fundamental at a time. We will strive to run our practices and games to that end. We'll expect the boys to listen when their coaches are talking and to hustle when they are out on the field.
Again, Welcome to the team...Let's have a fantastic season.
Coach Paul
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