Presents a comprehensive guide to coaching baseball with contributions from twenty-seven coaches who share their secrets to winning; and offers advice on building and managing a program, practice sessions, team strategies, player motivation and leadership, and making baseball fun.
Youth baseball instruction guide for coaches, parents and players. Written by Dan Gray, former MLB catcher with the LA Dodgers and who now runs a two-location instructional academy in Mount Kisco and Port Chester, NY.
Coaching young players, developing their skills, and cultivating a love for the sport may be the most rewarding experience baseball can offer. Cal and Bill Ripken understand this like few others. From their father, Cal Sr., a legend in the Baltimore Orioles organization for 37 years, they learned to play the game the right way. Those lessons, paired with their combined 33 years of big league experience, helped develop the Ripken Way, a method of teaching the game through simple instruction, solid explanations, encouragement, and a positive atmosphere. In Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way, Cal and Bill share this approach to coaching and development. Whether you're teaching your children at home, managing the local travel team, or working with high school-level players, Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way will help you make a difference both on and off the field, with these features: More than 50 drills covering defense, hitting, pitching, and baserunning Age-specific practice plans for players ranging from 4 to 15+ Strategies for setting goals and reasonable expectations for your players and team Advice on communicating with parents, players, and staff Methods for creating a positive and fun environment in which kids can learn the skills and strategies of the game Bill Ripken was once voted by his peers as one of the big league players most likely to become a manager. Cal Ripken, Jr., known as baseball's Iron Man, is a member of the game's All-Century Team and a future Hall of Famer. Together, they are proof positive that the Ripken Way is the right way to teach the game of baseball.
Collegiate coaches from the American Baseball Coaches Association team up for Practice Perfect Baseball, the ultimate guide to organizing, running and evaluating baseball practices. Their advice will help coaches from youth leagues through college ball prepare players in the field, on the mound, at the plate and on the bases. The book covers every key aspect of preparing players for competition, from session organization and assessment to establishing work ethic and providing tips for improvement. Original.
If you are a baseball fan, then coaching youth baseball is one the most enjoyable and rewarding activities you’ll experience. But what if you’ve never coached before? Or you haven’t played the game in a while and have forgot some key points to the sport? No worries! Coaching Baseball for Dummies guides you through the rules of the game, explaining all the essential skills and the best ways to teach them to your players. Covering different age groups and great practice routines, this guide is all you need to have a fun-filled season. You’ll discover how to: Fulfill the role of being a coach and parent Develop a coaching philosophy Understand how your league works Evaluate your team Teach your players fundamentals Understand all kinds of children Create your practice plan Prepare for game day Overcome challenges and problems This plain-English guide also shows you how to run all kinds of drills, from hitting and pitching to fielding and base running. And when your team is tense or low on morale, it shows you how to relax your players and keep them focused on the game. There are also suggestions for making your season, and theirs, a memorable one. Coaching Baseball for Dummies shows you how much fun it can be to train kids to be athletes, have good sportsmanship, and work together as a team.
Offers advice on coaching softball from twenty-eight top coaches, covering priorities and principles, program building, practice sessions, team strategies, player motivation, and other topics.
St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny's New York Times bestselling manifesto about what parents, coaches, and athletes get wrong about sports; what we can do better; and how sports can teach eight keys to success in sports and life. Mike Matheny was just forty-one, without professional managerial experience and looking for a next step after a successful career as a Major League catcher, when he succeeded the legendary Tony La Russa as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. While Matheny has enjoyed immediate success, leading the Cards to the postseason four times in his first four years−a Major League record−people have noticed something else about his life, something not measured in day-to-day results. Instead, it’s based on a frankly worded letter he wrote to the parents of a Little League team he coached, a cry for change that became an Internet sensation and eventually a “manifesto.” The tough-love philosophy Matheny expressed in the letter contained his throwback beliefs that authority should be respected, discipline and hard work rewarded, spiritual faith cultivated, family made a priority, and humility considered a virtue. In The Matheny Manifesto, he builds on his original letter by first diagnosing the problem at the heart of youth sports−it starts with parents and coaches−and then by offering a hopeful path forward. Along the way, he uses stories from his small-town childhood as well as his career as a player, coach, and manager to explore eight keys to success: leadership, confidence, teamwork, faith, class, character, toughness, and humility. From “The Coach Is Always Right, Even When He’s Wrong” to “Let Your Catcher Call the Game,” Matheny’s old-school advice might not always be popular or politically correct, but it works. His entertaining and deeply inspirational book will not only resonate with parents, coaches, and athletes, it will also be a powerful reminder, from one of the most successful new managers in the game, of what sports can teach us all about winning on the field and in life.