Tips for Getting the Most Out of Baseball Practice
- rukket
- Sep 23, 2014
- 2 min read
"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."
- Vince Lombardi
Coach Lombardi knew that success in the big game, not just in football but also for all sports, depended upon success on the practice field first, and that a quality practice session should be thoughtfully planned out. Here are some coaching tips from Rukket to make your baseball practices really count!
Warm Up – Never skip it! Even before stretching, take some laps. Especially as players get into their teens, it’s vital to avoid injury.
Combine the Warm Up with a Drill - Instead of just taking laps around the field, line up the team and do karaokes, lunges, backward runs, side shuffles, and high skips. Not only are your players getting warm, they’re also gaining agility and exercising muscles that sometime get neglected.
Informative Stretch – After warm up, a group stretch is the perfect time to go over the practice plan. When everyone is on the same page, transitioning from drill to drill runs smoothly.
Throwing – To play baseball, you must first know how to throw one. Take ten minutes early in the practice session for pairs to throw. Start short, thirty feet or so, and gradually increase distance to one hundred and twenty. This is a time for coaches to catch bad habits and correct them. Diligence here will result in noticeable improvement throughout the season.
Drill Rotation – If you have assistant coaches or parents to help during practice, drill rotation is effective and time saving. Small groups of players can hone a fundamental at each station. During warm up is a great time to brief your assistants on how to run a drill station and recognize correct form.
Make it Fun – Playing baseball is about having fun, so practice should be fun too. Making the drills into games will add a competitive element and lessen the tedium. Players will work harder and develop a love of the game if they are having a good time.
Be Flexible – It’s important for a coach to recognize areas that need improvement. That sometimes means altering practice so a player or group of players has more time to work on an area that needs improvement.
Batting Practice – Batting is vital and should take up at least 45 minutes of practice. If practice is only an hour, some practice sessions should be dedicated solely to hitting.
Hitting Stations – Just like rotating through defensive drills, small groups of players can rotate between hitting stations. While one player is hitting pitches from the plate, a second player on deck can be taking dry swings. A third player can be hitting off a tee behind the backstop and a fourth player can be hitting soft toss against our Rukket Sock It! Practice Net.
Hopefully these tips on time management and fundamentals will make your next practice session a successful one that will win your players confidence, skill, and maybe a few victories, too!
www.rukket.com
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