By Cal and Bill Ripken
The tendency among all coaches - especially those at the younger levels - is to feel a need to insert themselves into the game more than is necessary. Coaches by nature are teachers, and they often feel that if they aren't instructing their players at every opportunity or calling all the shots all the time they aren't doing their job. This often leads to over-coaching and situations in which the players are overloaded with information and can't perform to the best of their
ability.
The truth is that the best coaches resist the urge to tinker and teach constantly, specifically during the heat of competition. These coaches observe first, make mental notes or put their observations on paper and teach only during times when their kids are capable of absorbing the information. We call these "teachable moments."
That is not the only example of over-coaching. Sometimes the desire to win or to help our kids to develop as players at a young age can lead to situations in which coaches actually slow the development of their players through strategies, teachings and decisions that are inappropriate for a particular age level. Remember, from the youngest age groups right up through high school we are in the business of developing baseball players. Naturally, as the players progress up the ladder and mature, a greater emphasis is placed on winning. But, even at the high school level, the desire to win should never prevail over a coach's goal of making his or her players better.
There are several examples in youth baseball of situations in which we feel it is more beneficial to let kids play rather than following what might be considered baseball's traditional strategic blueprint. Even if you are coaching a more competitive travel team, the ultimate goal should be to ensure the improvement of each player throughout the course of the season. Sometimes you may actually have to sacrifice an opportunity to win a game for the betterment of the individual. This type of reasoning should prevail right up through the junior varsity level. It is really more important to win a basically meaningless JV game at the expense of player development? We would argue that it's not.
As you progress up the ladder there are more opportunities to play for championships and to achieve other team-oriented goals that the kids will remember for a lifetime. There are situations in which a season of hard work can be rewarded by a well-timed bunt or by having a kid take a 3-0 pitch, two of the situations we are going to discuss here. However, by and large, giving kids the opportunity to sink or swim in certain situations at younger ages when the pressure is actually much lower is going to help them as they get older and winning becomes more important. Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, always talks about all of last-second shots he missed in his life before making the ones that won the NCAA championship vs. Georgetown and the NBA championship against Utah.
What follows are some situations in which we'd really like to see you let your kids play:
3-0 Counts
We've seen coaches of players as young as 8-years-old making their kids take pitches when the count is 3 and 0. Ask yourself this question: Would you rather see an 8-year-old walk or get a base hit. Which of those scenarios is going to benefit a young player more - walking without getting a chance to swing or having the opportunity to take a confident, hard swing knowing that he or she still has two more strikes to work with if it doesn't work out?
Letting your kids hit in 3-0 counts can help players grow in a number of ways. First, it gives them an opportunity to hit in a relaxed atmosphere. How many times do we see kids who hit line drives all over the field in batting practice but can't seem to put the bat on the ball during games. Often this is because of fear or tension. Actually the tension is caused by fear. In very few team sports is a player in the spotlight like a hitter in baseball. Of course there is a fear among young hitters of getting hit by a pitch. But there also is a fear of failure and embarrassment. When players are nervous or afraid they get tense, which can hinder their ability to relax. A player with a 3-0 count can relax and swing hard, knowing that he or she still has two more chances if the result is a swing and a miss.
The second benefit of letting kids hit 3-0 is that they can start to learn the strike zone and figure out which pitches they really hit well. In life we learn best through trial and error. For our young players there aren't many opportunities to fail and still maintain the advantage. This is one of them. This situation can introduce them to the concept of looking for a pitch in a certain area and then trying to hit it hard. There are likely to be a few times where kids swing at pitches that are not ideal in this particular situation. However, young players learn fast, and it will only take a couple of pop-ups or weak ground balls before they really start to understand which pitches they can drive.
The third benefit of kids being allowed to swing in this situation is confidence. Successful hitters are confident hitters, but the only way to build that confidence is through success. Letting kids hit 3-0, for all the reasons mentioned above, provides players with a better chance of having the success they need to build confidence at the plate.
One thing that we strongly discourage is asking kids to square early and fake a bunt when the count is 3-0. This is a tactic that is designed specifically to rattle the pitcher and cause a walk, and that is not beneficial to the development of either player.
Bunting
Bunting is an important strategy and skill to which baseball players at just about every level should be exposed. The younger that kids learn to bunt and practice it, the better they will be at it when they get older and the games become more important. Bunting drills also are a good practice diversion that can be performed in a limited amount of space and be turned into a fun contest (bunt the ball between certain strategically placed cones to earn points). You never know when that
special moment might arise and a bunt can help your team create one of those lasting memories, so it's good if players understand the concept and can execute if called upon. With that said, we don't recommend giving the bunt signal very often.
Generally speaking, bunting is a strategy used to win a game - one that doesn't take into account the overall development of the player. That's why we prefer that coaches let their players hit away whenever possible. Think of it this way: How is a good bunt by a 9- or 10-year-old going to help that player grow and earn a spot on a high school team? It's not. Hitting against live pitching in game situations as much as possible is what young players need and don't get to do enough. Keep that in mind the next time you've got a runner on first, no outs and your ninth batter at the plate. That ninth batter is never going to become a 5th or 6th batter if he or she always has to bunt.
Backhands
Young shortstops often realize that they have the time to circle or get in front of ground balls that are hit to their right and still throw out the runner at first base. The reason for this is that players are not very fast at the younger levels and that circling the ball allows the fielders to really get their legs into the throw. Players can be very successful approaching plays in this manner when they are younger, but that success can come at the expense of their future
development.
As players get older it is imperative that they learn to backhand balls and throw off the backhand. Players get faster every year, and at some point the extra time it takes to circle a ball or the extra couple of hops to the right a player has to take when getting in front of a hard-hit ball in that direction is going to be the difference between a hit and an out.
So help your players learn to backhand the ball correctly by rolling them balls over and over again in practice until the skill becomes second nature. Then start hitting the balls to backhand. Finally, emphasize the importance of taking their momentum back toward the target when throwing after a backhanded catch. The time saved by getting to the ball more quickly most times will allow them to get their legs under them and make a strong, accurate throw. Players who circle or try to get in front every ball often are forced to throw off the wrong foot of off balance as they get older. Encouraging your kids to backhand balls at a young age may cost you a baserunner here or there, but in the end they will become better baseball players.
Catching up with the Fastball
Young kids facing hard-throwing pitchers often develop the habit of striding forward as soon as the ball is released to give themselves a chance to catch up with the pitch. This can create fatal flaws in a player's swing. Number one, it really eliminates a proper weight shift, which drains a swing of the power that can be created with the legs and the core muscles. And second, as players who do this get older they tend to become front-foot hitters, which limits their power
and makes them susceptible to off-speed and breaking pitches.
Have your kids develop their weight shift by concentrating on going back to go forward when hitting off the tee (when the ball is stationary) so that their bodies can become accustomed to the concept. Then explain to them that they want to gather their energy to the back foot as the pitcher is about to release the ball. That's called getting into hitting position, with the weight back and the hands about even with the shoulder, ready to explode forward after the pitch is released. Complete the lesson by using the lob toss drill in which a coach tosses balls with a high arc from in front of the plate with the hitter waiting as long as possible and trying to drive the ball up the middle or the opposite way.
Kids have no idea how fast they can react and how quickly their hands can get to the baseball until you show them. Lob toss is great show and tell. Many kids don't take their hands back until after the ball is released and don't take their weight back at all. If you just throw them into the fire, their natural reaction is going to be to lunge forward toward the ball immediately. But if you break the swing down in drills, explain the timing and the why behind each drill and let them develop muscle memory before they are challenged, the light bulb is going to turn on in a game situation and you will have given your players the knowledge and confidence they need to succeed at any level of baseball.
Isn't that what we are all striving for?