Coaching kids baseball

[RashanGary]

I've been promising my 5 yr old son all summer that we'd get him in baseball. We signed up for the fall kids baseball but they didn't have enough coaches. I just sent an email saying I'd coach a team. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. This is my sons first year playing and my first year coaching so I'm not up to speed on how everyting should be structured. Oh well, they're 5 years old, how hard can it be?

[Oscar]

My first year coaching was with 5 year old's as well. My daughters team.. If you can keep them from playing in the dirt... :lol: That will be a step in the right direction... It was challenging to say the least.. But, I had a great time working with the kids and had a lot of laughs as well..

[Freak Out]

I helped with a team of boys that age some years ago and it was a riot.....the outfield was either picking dandelions or kicking rocks the whole game...you would go hoarse yelling at them to pay attention. Practices were fun though if you had folks that knew the game and could teach fundamentals.

[BallHawk]

The kids don't really reach the strategy and "play to win" age until around 8 or 9, but as long as you can teach the kids some solid fundamentals and make them have fun than that's all you really need to do.

[sheepshead]

Ive coached kids for about 12 years baseball and basketball. Its great. as you move up, try to find the best coaches and emulate them. keep your cool. Ill post some of my fav websites a bit later. but here's a good poem:

Alone At The Plate

He pulls on a helmet, picks up the bat,

and walks to the plate, "gotta hit and that's that."

The crowd starts to yell, the game's on the line,

last inning, two outs, the score's nine to nine.

Dad yells, "Go get it," Mom wrings her hands,

coach hollers, "hit it," but alone there he stands.

Heroes are made in seconds such as this,

but he's just a little boy, what if he should miss?

Years after this game's ended and he's little no more,

will he remember the outcome or even the score?

No he'll have forgotten if he was out, hit, or a run,

he'll only look back on his friends and the fun.

So cheer this boy on, alone with his fate;

help him remember with fondness this stand at the plate.

Spend your time wisely and help in his quest

to be a hitter with confidence and always his best.

And when the game's over, this boy can stand tall,

for you've helped him prepare to give it his all!

Author Unknown

[GrnBay007]

If you can keep them from playing in the dirt... :lol: That will be a step in the right direction... It was challenging to say the least.. But, I had a great time working with the kids and had a lot of laughs as well..

LOL Yep, you will find all kind of interesting designs drawn in the sand, mounds of sand. Fun stuff...and at that age you won't have to worry about the parents freaking out on you. The funniest sport I watched kids play at that age was basketball....running halfway down the court and only bouncing the ball a couple times. Have fun with it JH!!

I thought I was going to get a two week break before football (son) and volleyball (daughter) starts but my son was asked to play on a weekend Fall baseball league. So right after the end of the season tournament next weekend (40 games this summer), they start the Fall league.

[texaspackerbacker]

I've been coaching kids baseball and softball off and on for about 43 years--and that's not counting when I was a kid myself, and KIDS coached kids teams--which I did for 6 or 7 years too.

It's fun; It's a decent worthwhile thing to do for your own kids and others.

Few things are more rewarding than coaching little kids in Coaches Pitch, and calculating exactly where some poor little athletically challenged kids will swing, then throwing the ball there, and seeing the joy when he hits it.

And in the realm of eye-opening experiences, after I had been coaching boys baseball for years--without having a boy playing, one day my little 9 year old daughter informed me that she'd like to play softball. Silly me, it had never occurred to me that girls could play sports too, The following year, I started coaching girls softball--which had an even bigger shortage of coaches--and learned how really fulfilling it can be to coach your own kids.

I hope you enjoy coaching as much as I have.

[oregonpackfan]

I've been promising my 5 yr old son all summer that we'd get him in baseball. We signed up for the fall kids baseball but they didn't have enough coaches. I just sent an email saying I'd coach a team. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. This is my sons first year playing and my first year coaching so I'm not up to speed on how everyting should be structured. Oh well, they're 5 years old, how hard can it be?

I am assuming your son will be playing T-ball, correct? That's what 5 and 6 year olds play out here.

As other posters have stated, keep it fun and just stress the basics they can absorb at that age.

Keep the game moving quickly. Kids that age have a very short attention
span and get distracted and bored easily.

For safety's sake, only allow 1 child at a time to swing a bat. That was an important rule we followed.

[GBRulz]

For your kids' sake, please take your meds before the games :P :lol: :P

[HarveyWallbangers]

I've coached youth football. Just remember to keep it fun at that age. Some coaches act like they are coaching high school kids and spend too much energy on winning. At that age, you want them to have fun (so they'll continue playing the game), and you want them to learn how to be good sportsmen and teammates.

[BallHawk]

For your kids' sake, please take your meds before the games :P :lol: :P

I can only imagine the moms and dads lined up in their cars to pick the kids up and when the parents ask what they learned in practice the kids will respond "We learned how to be unselfish teammates....Coach Harrell said we don't wanna end up like that asshole Brett Favre."

[texaspackerbacker]

I've coached youth football. Just remember to keep it fun at that age. Some coaches act like they are coaching high school kids and spend too much energy on winning. At that age, you want them to have fun (so they'll continue playing the game), and you want them to learn how to be good sportsmen and teammates.

Maybe not at 5 or 6, but by age 9 or 10--when they usually get into tackle football, the kids are into winning without any encouragement from the coach or other adults. I can see not pushing them into that kind of attitude, but I sure wouldn't discourage it either.