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Some people will say that club/travel ball is better than HS. The main difference that I see is that travel is pay-to-play. There's always a B or C team to get playing time. In HS, you have to earn your spot and playing time.

submitted 21 hours ago • 0 comments

The #Padres sign LHP Wes Benjamin to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old spent the last 2.5 years as a starter in KBO. K-rate of 22.8% and walked less than 7%. The ultimate crafty lefty. Rangers picked him in the 5th round in 2014, Preller's last with the org.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Teach BIG secondary lead-offs. Yes, the baserunner will need to hustle back after every caught pitch that isn't a hit, but the big secondaries pay dividends. Lazy players don't like them, because big secondaries are work.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Practicing bunting is important. Even if you never use it in games, practicing the bunt will make your players better hitters. It improves vision and coordination. When they get to HS, they will likely need to lay down a bunt for the team. Make sure they know how to bunt before they get there.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

We must teach and practice catching the ball out front. Barehanded catch with tennis balls is a good way to practice this. For footwork and body positioning, explain to young players that if you were to not catch the ball with your glove, it should hit you either in your gloveside breast or face

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

@baseballszn.bsky.social See the stakes

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Had a colleague ask about a possibly anachronistic jacket in a baseball movie so of course I went down the catalog rabbit hole. Here's the earliest portrayal of baseball uniforms I have in my collection. From an 1859 instruction manual for the two styles of baseball - Massachusetts and New York.

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

Teach your players about the location of the sweet spot on the bat. It's around 6" in from the end of the barrel. Tap two bats together and you can feel it. Many youth players will hit off the tee with the last 3" of the barrel. Let's fix this.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Here's how I make my red & white baseballs. I mask the center of the baseball with electrical tape, then color half the ball with a red sharpie. Sharpies are good because it doesn't affect the feel of the leather. 1/3

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

I watch HS dugouts and listen to the chirping. Some of it is funny. Some is stupid but harmless. Some is really bad. The harmless yelling of "Hawk Tuah..." was trending last summer. Kids borrow from current pop culture It's likely to get way worse this spring. Coaches & Umpires need to call it out

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

As much as I dislike the safety base at 1B, we're seeing it more and more. You and your players should know the rules, should you play on a field that uses the safety base. www.referee.com/know-how-to-...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

A few good cues for young pitchers: 1. Lead with your rear end 2. Let your catcher see your number on your back 3. When you're missing, adjust your sight point Many youth coaches teach a linear OTT style. It kills rotation & leads to pushy throws. Many kids naturally want to throw 3/4. Let them.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

A few good cues for young pitchers: 1. Lead with your rear end 2. Let your catcher see your number on your back 3. When you're missing, adjust your sight point Many youth coaches teach a linear OTT style. It kills rotation & leads to pushy throws. Many kids naturally want to throw 3/4. Let them.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Teach young catchers to throw the ball firmly back to pitcher every single pitch. No soft lobs. Pitcher receives the throw on the top of mound, not in front of the mound. This greatly reduces the number of times that the opponent will try to steal home, and RHP never turns his back to runner on 3B

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Teach young catchers to throw the ball firmly back to pitcher every single pitch. No soft lobs. Pitcher receives the throw on the top of mound, not in front of the mound. This greatly reduces the number of times that the opponent will try to steal home, and RHP never turns his back to runner on 3B

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

So you'll spend $400 on a bat, but refuse to spend more than $99 on a glove? I see this a lot, and I struggle to understand.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

"He who wins the game has broken no rules." There will be parents who laugh and celebrate when their kid cheats or plays dirty. We all know who these parents and kids are. They are cancers to your team and organization, and disrespectful to the integrity of our game.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

Zach Yorke is a force. The Grand Canyon slugger smashed an Opening Day homer for the second straight year. Now, Nick Yorke's younger brother is out to boost his draft stock. 🔗 https://buff.ly/41i83yf

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

I love to allow throwing sidearm at younger ages. Followed by explaining how a good sidearm, subby, 3/4, and over the top throw all look the same from the waist to one's head. If you stand tall and throw sidearm, you've dropped your elbow. A solid arm action with torso tilt is how good sidearm works

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Teach young pitchers to always hold the ball in their hand with a 4 seam grip, and regrip inside the glove right before the delivery. This is baseball 101, but I'm still amazed by the number of travel kids I see under 16 that don't do this.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Teach young pitchers to always hold the ball in their hand with a 4 seam grip, and regrip inside the glove right before the delivery. This is baseball 101, but I'm still amazed by the number of travel kids I see under 16 that don't do this.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

As a team, being really good defensively at sure doubles, while preventing the triple, will help to win more games. On the youth level, practicing this is way more important than 1st and 3rds.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

As a team, being really good defensively at sure doubles, while preventing the triple, will help to win more games. On the youth level, practicing this is way more important than 1st and 3rds.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Not sure who said it first, but one of my favorite quotes is: "Baseball doesn't build character, but it does reveal it." This isn't just speaking to the players. It applies to organizations, coaches, and parents as well.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Not sure who said it first, but one of my favorite quotes is: "Baseball doesn't build character, but it does reveal it." This isn't just speaking to the players. It applies to organizations, coaches, and parents as well.

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

If you're a RHP, learn to throw from the far right side of the rubber (3B side). This used to be the norm, but now it is an oddity. Huge advantage over the RHH. Your perceived velo goes up, and the angle makes the hitter very uncomfortable.

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

"You're never as bad as you look when you lost. You're never as good as you look when you won." This old saying still applies to baseball, but not sure about the Kansas City Chiefs

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

If the batter is wearing protective padding on his front foot, he's telling you he can't hit the inside pitch. Pitch accordingly. If the batter is swinging under your FB by 3" to 6", your changeup might get sent to the moon. If coach calls the change up, don't be afraid to shake it off.

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

President Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Comparison is the thief of joy." It's bad enough when a young player is doing it to themselves, but even worse when parents play the comparison game. Once the joy is gone, the kids don't want to play anymore.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

Practice tip. During warm-ups (high knees, skips, shuffles, etc) make your players wear their glove and hold a ball in it. This is an easy and great way to develop strength in their glove hand and wrist. This also improves pocket discipline & transfers as the glove becomes an extension of one's body

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

One time our pitcher took a comebacker in stomach, picked it up & made the play at 1B for the out. But umpire gave the batter the hit, b/c he called a dead ball for safety as soon as P was hit. If I was on the other side of the play, I'd have my runner voluntarily step off and get tagged for an out

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Before you complain about your HS son's playing time, or whether he's on Varsity, ask yourself what he did outside of organized practices & games while growing up? Did he play catch 5 days a week, 6 to 9 months each year? Did he hit on his own 2 or 3 times a week? Many of the starters did this

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Coaches - Always leave the field better than you found it. That hole near the rubber and the ruts in the batters boxes need to be fixed before you leave your game or practice. This also teaches your kid an important life lesson when everyone else has gone home, but you're both making repairs

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Celebrate effort, not results. Scold laziness and carelessness, not lack of results. All we can ever really do is try our best. Everyone's best is different. We all have different gifts. But try our best we must if we want to be the best version of ourselves.

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

As coaches, we rarely spend time with our outfielders on positioning ourselves. We often allow our RF and LF to set up way too close to the foul lines. On the big field with a RHH, RF should generally never be closer than 80' to the foul line, and LF never closer than 90'.

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

The Allstars on the little field don't always become good players on the big field. Once on the big field (60/90), as everyone grows, the game gets increasingly difficult every year. If you're still playing and starting Jr and Sr years of HS, be humble. There are many peers and parents who envy you

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Kids repeat what they hear at home. I've seen and heard some pretty sexist & racist stuff from the mouths of 13 year olds, both on my own team and others. As a coach, an adult, & decent human being, you have a responsibility to address it. If you ignore it, or even agree with it, then God help you

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Ultimately, the game itself tells you if you're any good at baseball. The game itself identifies what you need to work on to become good, or to go from good to great. Be honest with yourself and seek continual improvement. The work on yourself is never finished. You must become your own best coach

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

We are obsessed with metrics, but baseball is still a game of inches.

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

I'm not a big fan of wrist flicks and towel drills. While they have some merits when used properly, more often than not, they lead to pushy throws. If you throw correctly, you really can't add anything to the ball out front.

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments