Now is the time for mastering the basics. I’ve been doing some traveling lately with Cal and John Habyan for our Coaching Clinics.
Last weekend we were in Chicago. The weekend before that, Richmond. Coming up later this month, we’ll be in Boston. Out of that tour, there’s no doubt that Mother Nature has been putting a hurtin’ on the Northeast this winter.
Richmond was mild… somewhere in the teens or twenties. Chicago was downright cold, never getting out of the single digits. And I don’t really expect Boston to be any better than it is here in Baltimore, as we stare down a Nor’easter this weekend.
That’s why this is the best time of year to master the basics of baseball, a point Cal and I try to get across to the coaches attending our clinics. Teams are stuck indoors this time of year and they’re not going outside any time soon. In that atmosphere, there’s no need to overload kids with more advanced aspects of the game.
Trying to cover bunt defenses and pickoff plays just doesn’t make sense in the confinements of a gym.
Break baseball down and you’re dealing with a simple catch and throw game. That’s all it is and that’s what you need to focus on as a coach in these winter months. Enforce proper fielding positions, make sure your players are throwing and catching correctly. Let these basics slide now and you’re looking at a tough season when spring and summer finally roll around. No team is beyond refining the simple fundamentals of catching and throwing.
Improve catching and throwing now and you’ll find the more advanced pieces come easier when you do get outside.
At our Coaching Clinics, we cover some of the more advanced aspects of baseball: the daylight play, situational defense, rundowns, disguising signs. It’s all great stuff, but it’s meant to give these coaches ammunition for the entire season. Don’t go covering all those things when you only have a gym floor to work with.
Take the time indoors to master the basics and save the advanced instruction for when you hit the field.
Interested in attending the upcoming Ripken Baseball Coaching Clinic in Boston? Head to www.ripkenbaseball.com for more.
Filed in: Coaching Clinics, Instruction, Ripken Baseball, Tips, Youth Baseball.
Ripken Baseball represents the endeavors of Cal Ripken, Jr. and his brother Bill Ripken since they retired from playing baseball professionally. The Baltimore-based company is on a mission to grow the game of baseball worldwide, the Ripken Way.
That is great advice for the cold winter months. I was fortunate because I played ball in Tennessee so we had plenty of opportunity to practice outdoors but when it did get cold we took it indoors and practiced the fundamentals of throwing, fielding and hitting in the school gym. There’s nothing better than hearing the crack of the bat indoors when practicing your baseball hitting.
Baseball is a simple game! You hit the ball, you catch the ball, you throw the ball!
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I love the quote from above: “Break baseball down and you’re dealing with a simple catch and throw game.”
That is exactly what baseball is about! I love youth baseball and have put together a web site with simplicity as the model. Our motto is: “Youth Baseball Made Simple”
Sometimes coaches and parents make the game of baseball much too difficult and complicated. Youth baseball should be simple and fun for ALL kids!
Check the site out at: http://www.my-youth-baseball.com