Little League Baseball Tryouts And The Draft

Little League Baseball Tryouts And The Draft
By Marty Schupak

In most youth baseball leagues, autumn is the time of year that baseball leagues have registration and also assign players to teams. Tryouts and the player draft are always one of the most interesting times of the year. Some managers try to gain an advantage during this time. There is always a scramble to secure assistant coaches. Parents who have experienced the process, know that some managers will pick an assistant not according to the assistant's ability to coach, but by the ability of his talented child. Another technique done which is highly unsportsmanlike is for the manager to discretely suggest to a player to "dog it " during the tryouts so that manager can get a player of first round ability in the later rounds of the draft.

There is very little a league can do about a manager picking an assistant to secure a spot on the team for his child. Drafting the actual teams can be done in a fair manner. A fair process is for the league managers and league director to pick each team with similar ability and throw them into a hat. For instance, a league will have eight teams consisting of twelve players. Assuming each team has a manager and coach and their two kids, all the managers and coaches will sit in a room and rate the players and assign ten players to teams one through eight. Once it is agreed that the eight teams of ten are pretty much equal, throw the teams into a hat and each manager will pick a team. The league will have more parity with this system and this will limit some of the complaints. One word of advice when using this technique is to make sure enough pitchers are part of the ten players on each team.

The success of a league begins in the autumn. There have been seasons where some teams do not win a single game. The team assignment process can make for a better year for each player individually, as a team and as a league. A league that has parity will make for a better season and in fact will help that league in All Stars with each player experiencing a competitive season with some excellent close games. It is up to the league President and league director to make every effort to make sure each team is fairly equal in ability and take away any advantage that some managers try to gain.

http://www.YouthSportsClub.com

Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills","Winning Baseball Strategies","Hitting Drills & Techniques" and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marty_Schupak


Buy Top Quality Baseball Equipment at Ebay Discount Prices

Youth Baseball Digest - The Power of Praise in Coaching Little League Baseball

Baseball2u.com
By Nick Dixon

Praise is the easiest and most effective way to motivate young baseball players. Understanding and believing in the "Power of Praise" can make a Little League Baseball coach a better and more effective coach. Knowing how and when to praise is the key. This article discusses the value of praise in coaching youth baseball.

Good coaches have a variety of skills. They know how to teach the game of baseball. They know how to communicate their thoughts and observations almost immediately. They know how to correct without humiliation. They know how to motivate without intimidation. They love the game of baseball and that love is displayed through their actions and behaviors. But, one of the universal traits of successful youth baseball coaches is that they know the "Power of Praise".

Good youth baseball coaches know that kids respond differently when they are coached and taught the game of baseball. Many kids do not take constructive criticism. All kids do not respond the same to harsh words or loud instructions. But, one thing that 99.9% of all kids respond favorably to is praise. They love to hear words of encouragement and words that tell them that they did a task well.

What youth coaches must always remember is that many kids we coach never hear many positive words. It is sad and true that many kids never hear words or praise or encouragement at home. Words of praise are "words of respect" for a youngster. They want to love, appreciated, and respected just like most people do. Many kids we coach are hungry for attention, discipline and most of all praise. The more they are praised, the more they want to earn more praise.

So when you see a player struggling or having a bad day, find something that he is doing correctly and praise him for his action. Make his day a better day. I do not mean to give out unmerited or false praise. Make sure that the praise is deserved and merited. Kids can sense if a coach is sincere or genuine when the coach praises a player. False praise is useless and counterproductive.

One good rule to live by as a youth baseball coach is that you should find a way to praise every player on your team at least once a day. A pat on the head or back takes little time and energy on your part, but can do wonders for a kids self esteem and attitude.

I hope that you enjoyed this article. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Good luck to you and your team. Your friend in baseball, Nick.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Dixon

===Advertisement from our sponsor:=====

Baseball2u.com/CoachesBest.com is the ultimate online baseball training and coaching store. With over 1400 products organized into categories Baseball2u.com makes finding that baseball training product easy and simple. Order securely online or by phone. Baseball2u.com is a fully licensed company and has a full time staff available from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. Their toll free customer service number is 1-877-431-4487.

The Categories they have are: Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!

Youth Baseball Digest - What is Baseball Slugging Percentage? How is Slugging Percentage Calculated?

By Nick Dixon


Slugging Percentage is a baseball batting stat that assigns value to hits based on the number of bases reached. The bigger a hit is the more it raises the Slugging Percentage of the batter. Slugging Percentage is also sometimes called "Slugging Average" or "SLG". "SLG" is considered a reliable indicator of a batters power. It is very simple to calculate. This article explains how to determine a batters SLG.

Slugging average assigns a bigger value to bigger hits. So the calculation becomes "total bases" divided by the number of at-bats.
Here are the values for each base hit:

· HR = 4 points.
· TRIPLE = 3 points. =
· DOUBLE = 2 Points.
· SINGLE = 1 point.
The formula for determining SLG:
(HR x 4 points) + (TRIPLES x 3 points) + (DOUBLES x 2 points) + (SINGLES x 1 point) = SUM
SUM (Divided by Total At-Bats) = Slugging Average.

In other words, Slugging Average is calculated by adding the totals for all the hits the batter has, then divide by the total number of at bats. For example, a batter goes 2 for 4 and hits a triple and a double, which is five points. Five points divided into 4 at bats equals 1.250 Slugging Average.

Other examples:

A batter is 7 for 12 on the season. He has hit a HR, 2 TRIPLES, 2 DOUBLES, and 2 SINGLES. The total of bases added up equals 16. Divide the 16 bases reached by the 12 total at-bats and you get a Slugging Average of 1.333
SLG is expressed as a three-digit decimal. It is considered the best indication of a batters measure of power.

I hope that you found this article to be informative and easy to understand. Thanks for reading my article. Have a great day, Nick.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Dixon

===Advertisement from our sponsor:=====

Baseball2u.com/CoachesBest.com is the ultimate online baseball training and coaching store. With over 1400 products organized into categories Baseball2u.com makes finding that baseball training product easy and simple. Order securely online or by phone. Baseball2u.com is a fully licensed company and has a full time staff available from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. Their toll free customer service number is 1-877-431-4487.

The Categories they have are: Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!

Youth Baseball Digest - Good Pitcher Sometimes Can Not Throw a Strike - 10 Things to Check First

By Nick Dixon


If you have a young baseball pitcher that at times looks like a Josh Beckett or Randy Smith and other times he struggles to throw two strikes in a row, what can cause of his control problems? There are 10 key elements of his delivery that should always be checked first. Those key elements are outlined in this article.

There are 10 key elements of his delivery that should always be checked first. Those key elements are outlined below.

The 10 most common causes of control problem in Little League Pitchers are:

1. Pitcher is Not Concentrating on The Target. The pitcher does not keep his eyes locked in on the target from the start to the finish of his delivery. Many young pitchers when get half through their delivery they look away. They take their eyes off the mitt. They must keep their eyes focused on the target at all times during the delivery.
2. Bad Stride Foot Angle - The pitcher is not steeping in the direction of the target. The stride foot landing must be close to an imaginary straight line from the middle of the pitching rubber to the middle of home plate. If the pitcher steps too far to either side of this imaginary line, there will be control problems. The stride foot should land no more than an inch or two off that line to either side. It is best for some part of the stride foot to land directly on that line.
3. Bad Stride Foot Landing - The stride foot should land flat. Many times young pitchers will land on their heel. This can and will cause control problems.
4. Stride Leg Does Not Flex or Bend - Many young pitchers lock the stride leg. This locking action makes the body "pole vault" upward upon the landing of the front foot. The stride leg must bend slightly to allow the pitcher to drive and snap the hips.
5. Dragging the Back toe - The back side toe should be lifted up and out of an imaginary bucket. If a pitcher sometimes drags the back too when throwing the fastball, his control will be inconsistent. Sometimes a pitcher will intentionally drag the back toe when throwing off-speed pitches. That is acceptable so long as the pitcher is conscientious of the action.
6. Inconsistent Release Point - The pitcher is not consistent with his throwing arm extension toward the plate or his release point. To have consistent control, the pitcher must release every fastball in the same release spot. He must release very breaking ball at the same release point. It requires a lot of pitching practice to master the muscle memory that allows these release points to be consistent.
7. Not Finishing Low Enough - The pitcher does not bend at the waist. The pitcher must bend, get low, and drive through the pitch delivery. Trying to pitch while standing more upright is going to cause problems and a lack of control.
8. The Finish and Following Through are Poor - Pitch quality suffers when a pitcher does not finish properly or execute a smooth proper follow through. The pitcher's throwing arm should finish with the elbow below his off side knee. The pitcher's chin must finish down and the head should be in front of the stride toe. The head should finish lower than the waist with the back leg foot lifting above the pitcher's entire body.
9. The Trunk rotates too early - Many young pitchers open the front shoulder prematurely or rotate the truck of the body too early. The shoulder should stay closed until the weight is shifted onto the stride foot. The torso rotation should be delayed until at least 60 to 70% of the pitcher's stride is completed.
10. The grip is inconsistent - The pitcher must practice pitching enough to get a consistent feel for each pitch grip. The pitcher should keep the fastball gripped as far out in the fingers as possible. Pitchers that sometimes grip the ball wrong or change their grip without knowing it will definitely have problems throwing pitches consistently and hitting their sports.

I know that some of these keys were elementary, but sometimes it is the simplest thing that throws the most advanced pitcher we have off his game. I would always check these 10 keys to see if I could diagnose the problem and correct it as soon as possible.

I hope that you found this article to be informative and interesting. wish your team good luck in the coming season. Have a great day, Nick.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Dixon

===Advertisement from our sponsor:=====

Baseball2u.com/CoachesBest.com is the ultimate online baseball training and coaching store. With over 1400 products organized into categories Baseball2u.com makes finding that baseball training product easy and simple. Order securely online or by phone. Baseball2u.com is a fully licensed company and has a full time staff available from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. Their toll free customer service number is 1-877-431-4487.

The Categories they have are: Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!

Instilling A Winning Effort Into Little League Baseball Players

By Stephen K Reynolds

Getting adults to understand the importance of a clear perspective on winning and losing is very difficult let alone do the same with little league baseball players. Here I will show why it is important that adults need to show the way for young athletes to understand the objective in sports.

Let's get right into it shall we. Too often i hear especially at the major boys level (11-12 year olds) it all about winning! Well that's great, I like winning as much as anyone and i get very competitive. However I am an adult and and the coach who needs to keep the players with a great understanding of competition.

The Great and not late John Wooden says you are only a failure if you have not given a complete effort at all times whether on the field of court. What do I mean? if you are get beat by another team or individual it's OK as long as you gave your best. It happens, you tip your hat and move on. Sure we're disappointed in the outcome but not in our effort. After the games are gone what are the players going to take with them about sports and competition?

We are not talking about pro sports here yet that same axiom should and does apply with them most of the time. My point is this you can win a game and not be happy with your players effort and they need to hear about it.

Just last week I watched the team my son is on and that I help with win a game 3-1 against a young team that we should have defeated 8-1 or more. To the other teams credit they played us hard and were right there at the end. Our team made base running blunders that took us out of innings and eliminated additional scoring opportunities.

We had players giving up on plays when they should have been going all out and making the other team beat us with their best instead we gave them easy outs. here is the main point I'm driving here is to make the other team beat you, don't hand it to them. That is not acceptable. I mentioned something to them at practice last night and the best player on the team said well we won anyway! Wrong answer!!

We play one of the better teams in our league and that 3 runs wouldn't have been enough and we left 3-4 runs out there on the field with a lousy effort.

Players need to understand to play aggressive baseball at all times and know that that is what competition is all about. My best against your best!

Remember coaches you are a teacher and these values go way past playing baseball. Teach them the right way to play the game and have fun with it.

Stephen K Reynolds is publisher of the LSR Unlimted "Free" newsletter which focuses on helping newcomers & seasoned pros learn the secrets to marketing in the ever changing world of the internet! Working from home on the internet allows him the time to coach little league baseball in western Montana. For more information on this e-mail lsrwealth@gmail.com

(800)758-1282

406-542-1723

[http://www.urticket.org]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_K_Reynolds