Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category

Have Your Baseball Innovation Become A Reality

Posted by ripkenbaseball on Thursday, May 20th, 2010

We are always encouraging our youth baseball players to practice their craft. Whether it be during the season or the off-season, keeping up with their skills is imperative. Oftentimes it’s not easy finding creative and fun ways to do so. That’s where you could come in.

Rawlings is seeking innovative baseball and fast-pitch softball training products and your idea could be the next great addition to the Ripken Five-Tool Training line of equipment.

Submit your idea and help players maximize their potential on-field performance!

Rawlings, a tremendous partner in Ripken Baseball’s effort to grow the game of baseball worldwide, recently partnered with Edison Nation to consider innovative ideas for baseball and fast-pitch softball training products. There is no better time than now to pitch your very own idea and let Rawlings turn it into a reality.

If your idea is selected for commercialization, you’ll receive a $2,500 advance payment from Edison Nation and a share of sales for up to 20 years! The submission deadline is June 7, so get your idea in now!

Submit idea here: http://xrl.us/bhmgmc

Posted in Baltimore, Instruction, Ripken Baseball, Tips, Youth Baseball | No Comments »

Master Baseball’s Basics Now

Posted by Bill Ripken on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Bill at CampNow 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.

Posted in Coaching Clinics, Instruction, Ripken Baseball, Tips, Youth Baseball | 4 Comments »