SHORELINE LITTLE LEAGUE SMALL BALL COACHING 101

What is the coach’s job?

• You are the organizer, cheerleader, and communications coordinator.  In my opinion, all of those things take priority over running baseball drills.

• I cannot stress the importance and value of communicating with your parents and families.  They will appreciate updates from you regarding practices, games, volunteer opportunities, your coaching philosophy, etc.  They can always choose to not read your communications (emails, Game

• Changer app messages, texts, etc.), but they might complain if they don’t know what is going on.

• Focus on creating structure for your team (organized practices, games, etc.)  If you show up to practices or games without a plan things might get a little chaotic.

• Once you have your families and team organized, then you can get to teaching your kids about the game of baseball.

• As the head coach you will want to do the following:

• Establish team rules

• Build a positive and safe environment for learning and having fun

• Create a system for equal playing time for every player by managing your lineups and defensive positions
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Understanding, following, and teaching the rules of the game to your players.

Be a positive coach

I highly recommend every coach, even coaches who have coached before, participate in the Positive Coaching Alliance training.  The good news is the league is setting this up for coaches and parents, you just need to participate in an upcoming session.  One of the key takeaways for me was to provide five positive points of feedback before providing one point of constructive feedback to your players.  Think back on your favorite coach from your childhood and hopefully you will remember a calm, positive example in your life.  This is not the Major Leagues and trust me, the kids won’t stick around to play at a serious level if their intro to baseball is a negative one.  

None of us went pro (is my assumption), the experience and learning is more important than “winning”.  Take organization, prep, and your team communications seriously, but not coaching the kids on the field too seriously.  The goal is for them to have fun and to want to play another season whether it’s another season of T-ball, A ball, or AA ball and ideally they are ready to move up because of the foundation you’ve created for them.  Even if you don’t know what you are doing, there are resources available to you through the league and through the parents on your team.

Do not overcoach in games

I used to overcoach in games and it wasn’t fun for me or for the kids.  Each new level of Little League will feel intense for you as a coach and I empathize that you will want to succeed for your kid, for your team, and for yourself.  However, it’s not that big of a deal.  You will see as you move up, how each level you left wasn’t as serious as you thought it was, so enjoy the experience and don’t take yourself too seriously.  Take communication and organization seriously, but not intense baseball teaching.

Take note of the things your kids should work on and work on them in practice.  Trying to explain baseball strategy and what your players should have done in real time in the game is near impossible in the Small Ball Division.  With T-ball you probably won’t practice once games start, so ask the kids to show up 30 minutes before the game and incorporate drills and lessons while they warm up.  At all levels of sports including the Small Ball Division, do your best to be clear on what you expect of your players and how they can improve.

Now that you have a solid baseline on what is expected of you it’s time to start thinking about team communication and organization.

Team Communication strategies and examples