In a study by Scott Lancaster, Senior Director for NFL Youth Football Development and author of the book, "Fair Play, Making Organized Sports A Great Experience For Your Kids", the question was posed.
They get bored
Can we learn something here?
Are our players and our own kids telling us something? Are we listening?
Here are some modern day realities.
Burnout, dropout, pushy parents, politics, books with names like "Why Johnny Hates Sports".
These are all realities. But I believe they are realities that don't have to be so widespread.
Personally, I think that some of the greatest qualities of youth baseball are the countless thousands of adults who make it all go.
They give their time, their money & their heart to other people's kids as well as their own.
They also get the criticism, second-guessing and abuse from varied sources PLUS off-field obligations from fundraising to field maintenance to late-night phone calls with parents to league meetings that can test anyone's patience.
With that said, I believe that too many of these fine people are not "getting it" and may be unwittingly contributing to the problems outlined above!
Please consider the following:
Let's quit trying to solve our baseball problems like we do in the office!
Let's quit coaching baseball from our own playing experiences decades ago!
Let's quit trying to teach kids by watching Major League Baseball Players!
We may be boring the baseball out of our kids!
Enough of that. Let's sum up with some quick solutions?
Lets talk .FUN!
1st - Plan tomorrow, today. Plan next week, this week. Plan next season's practice and game ideas.NOW! The result is less standing around, players get better, parents are happier.and so is the guy spending all the time running it. You, the coach!
2nd - Get creative - Plan ahead and you will be amazed at the ideas you have that are baseball specific. Go to Google and type in baseball drills. Baseball Tips has a growing list of drills too, along with 114 baseball instructional articles! Click here to check out this free resource. That alone will give you a lot of practice ideas.
Consider purchasing our video called The 59 Minute Practice Video and Backyard Baseball Drills or any number of our 100 plus instructional videos. A great book is Coaching Baseball Skills and Drills. Great stuff you can use for many seasons.
3rd - Time Everything. Divide your practice sessions into segments where no drill or activity will last over 20 minutes other than batting practice (and you will have 3 other stations going on at the same time during this drill). Your players will love it. You will get their heart rates going and you will really see the Fun-Factor improve!
4th - Look for tools that will incorporate fun into your backyard, your practices and your pre-game rituals!
Two great examples are our newly redesigned Pitch Master Pitching Machine and our Personal Pitcher Pitching Machine. Both are portable, relatively inexpensive and have major fun-factor built right in! See more about them at the end of this article.
The best job in the world is occupied by today's young boys and girls. As adults we know that if it isn't fun.they are not going to stay interested long enough to develop the wonderful skills that take time to mature!
The same goes for you adult readers too! Planning fun is for you as well!
You may never be closer to your own children than you are while having a catch!
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For Coaches
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Who needs the traditional motor turning a wheel to propel a ball? Not users of the Zooka pitching machine, which uses compressed air to push a ball out of a long muzzle (thus the name shortened from "bazooka"). The Zooka throws real baseballs, dimple balls,
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