mannytorres19

Monday Morning Coach, will provide coaches with helpful tips and ideas to run an efficient, effective practice routine for your youth baseball team. 

My philosophy is simple “preparation is the key to success.” Coaches need to set up a practice schedule that is consistent.  Whether you choose twice a week or three times a week, you must have a consistent plan.  Having a written practice plan is vital to setting the tone early in the season, this relays to your players that you are ready, you are prepared, you have thought out a plan to get them better.  It takes about 10-15 minutes to write a practice plan for the day.  An outline of your practice routine will remind you what you want to do and when you want to do it.  It can be written on anything, as long as it gives you enough detail to allow you to move through your practice in a structured and organized manner.

For me, the practice plan is the most crucial part of a practice, start your plan with objectives. What do I want to accomplish during this practice?  I try to keep it to 3 to 5 areas that need to be worked on. Early in the season this can be very difficult because there’s so much to learn and cover. This is another example of where the objective can help you plan, do not go to practice and hope you cover everything you want.  You may miss something that is important and may also be teaching things that would be better covered during the season.  If you stick to your well thought out plan you will be sure to cover the details as you go.

The practice routine process should always follow a systematic format that is simple for players to understand when and where they need to be during transitions.  Write a list of the skills, situations, and plays you want to cover.  Break skills and plays down into stations, 3-5 stations is a good start.  Set a time limit and be sure to yell out how much time is left periodically.  Make sure players understand the importance of time and make sure they are hustling from station to station when told to rotate. 

I mentioned earlier the importance of preparation, so make sure as a coach you are prepared to train your athletes.  Do not go to practice and wing it, this does not establish routine and consistency which is vital when starting a season.  Your season depends on you the coach, to teach your athletes the skills and fundamentals necessary to have a solid season.  Have fun, check into www.mannytorres19.com for your Monday Morning Coach post!