Mite Giant Game Plan

Mite Giant Game Plan

 Bats are a safety issue...
Keep all bats in one place on the field. Keep one parent there to supervise at all times.

Equipment will be lost...
Tell parents to put players' last name and phone number on all personal equipment (i.e. under the bill of the cap).

Buying a glove...
Find out which hand the player can throw most accurately with. Buy a glove for the opposite hand. Recommend a glove that closes easily.

Players do not know the field...
For very young players, run them around the bases before each game.

Home plate is the most dangerous position...
With young players, you may choose to eliminate the catcher position. Always have a coach with the catcher to guard against the following:

Batter throwing the bat
Upcoming batters swinging the bat
Catcher being hurt by runner from third

Young players are unfamiliar with the game
Your least experienced players need your best effort.

Parent's who are impatient with their own children...
Compliment their knowledge of baseball, "I see you know a lot about baseball." Then ask the parent to coach a specific position other than where their child is playing.

Rubber balls are a great training tool...
Tell the parents and players to practice with a rubber ball at home. Rubber balls are safer and rebound back to them.

Teach your parents some cheers...
Long game, hot day? Use the cheering parents to energize the defensive players.

Plastic sleeve for your team roster...
Your copy will get a lot of wear and tear. You also need to keep your copy dry.

Bats are a safety issue...
Keep all bats in one place on the field. Keep one parent there to supervise at all times (repeated for emphasis).

Call it alligator catching...
Have the players put their glove down close to the ground for grounders. Also, have them position the other hand on the heel of the glove. Otherwise, the ball may pop up and hit the player in the face.

Teach players to run through first base...
Position a coach five to ten feet behind first base, and just outside the base line, to give each player a high five as they run through.

Call the ball...
Teach players to call the ball while catching grounders; calling grounders makes it easier to teach them to call fly balls later in the season.

Use a longer base path if possible...
Fifty to 60 feet between bases gives the defensive players time to get the ball and complete the play. A longer base path also gives you more room to place extra players in defensive positions.

Assume all batters are going to throw the bat...
Place an object (i.e. a bat bag) down the first base line. Instruct all batters to carry the bat to that object and drop the bat at that point.

Parents who are critical of your coaching skills...
Admit you could use more coaches to help the team. Ask them to help at the next practice.

Batting tips...
Repeatedly say, “Watch the ball until the ball hits the bat.”

If the player squares up to the plate, the ball will be hit to first base. Instruct the batter to move the lead foot back from the plate so the ball is not hit towards first base for an easy out.

Keep all bats in one place on the field. Keep one parent by the bats to supervise at all times.

Encourage often. Use positive words.
Don’t point out errors and faults; instead show them a better way to do it. And certainly don’t yell during this learning process! That will get you absolutely nowhere and can squash any kid’s confidence.
Be aware of the hand and eye coordination level of your child and practice accordingly. Don’t practice at a higher level than where s/he is.
Provide the right type of bat which should be easy to swing. Not too heavy; not too long. Start with a plastic bat at a young age. Show the proper grip on the bat, depending if s/he is left- or right-handed.
Switch hitting can be practiced and learned at an early age. The earlier you start, the better and more natural it becomes. Let your youngster hit from both sides (left- and right-handed) if s/he wants to - but don’t force it - this has to be comfortable. It’s okay if s/he’s not interested - there’s plenty of time later to learn to switch-hit.

On catching . . .

Provide a baseball glove which fits

Roll the ball first. Then graduate to a few bounces. Next, toss softly at close range. Remind him/her to squeeze the ball after it lands in the glove. Kids are generally

Above all, make coaching challenging for yourself and fun for the kids. Take a baseball and drill four holes into it. Get some "Mr. Potato Head" parts (eyes, nose and mouth) and build a "Mr. Smiley Baseball." Show it to the players, make it the team mascot. If they have parts to add, let them do so. Tell the players that "Smiley" needs ears, and that, like their mascot, they have to listen. Their mascot needs strong legs and quick feet as well. Always remind them that this is a game and that it must be fun to play. When it is not fun anymore, even you should get out and do something else.

Do not get too technical. Yeah, you must teach basics, but do it the way they would understand.

Teach the "alligator." Never teach the technical way to field a ground ball. The "alligator" will accomplish the same thing. The alligator has a big mouth, and we use our hands like the alligator. The glove hand is the bottom of the alligator's mouth; the throwing hand is the top. Now get down low just like the alligator and keep your back flat. Here comes the ball, let it roll to you. Put your glove on the ground like the alligator's mouth and with the top (throwing) hand, close those jaws down and lock that ball in your glove. Even teach them to growl while they close down the jaws. That will allow them to expend air and make the play much easier. It will also keep them from getting hurt.

 Follow the "alligator" with the "bird." Bring the hands to the middle of the chest and spread the wings (arms), with thumbs always downward. Flap the wings, crow hop and throw! This is not only fun, it is natural. It is basic and after a few short practice sessions, the players will be sort of fielding grounders, throwing close to first base and making many strange noises. They will be back next practice, next game, next year and who knows what could be next. ""Squash the bug, ring the bell, hit the ball and run like the wind!"

Never scold or criticize in front of the entire team. Take the child aside and show them what they did wrong. Start out by praising the player about something they do correctly and then emphasizing what to do next time. Wipe their tears when they cry and laugh with them (they will be amusing) as often as you laugh at them.

Always emphasize the need for parent-to-child relationships. Allow parents to watch your coaching techniques and ask them to drill 15 minutes each day on the things taught. As the coach, be a leader, a dad, a nurse and a best friend to the players. To the parents, be the boss. You must know when the child comes to practice or the game and when he or she is being taken home. Discuss parents' differences face-to-face only after practice, never over the telephone.

Be the coach and manager. Never bring the treats! That is for the parents to do. You reward them with high five's, handshakes, words of encouragement and above all, smiles. When a child gets a bump or bruise, be the first to his or her side. Make sure they know you care. Be sure to make practice fun and games competitive only to the point of competition itself-never for the sake of winning at all costs. Leave that must-win thing for Pony League and high school.

Goals – Only 5 

Make sure they are having a GREAT time!

 Teaching the children what each piece of equipment is. They will be able to recognize it when shown.

Teach the children the idea of throwing and catching

 Teaching the children to learn to bat the ball.

 Teaching the children to recognize the playing field and what to do when they hit the ball.

Teach them to run the bases in order.

 Introduce the ball to the kids:

 Mr. Ball

 Decorate a ball with Mr. Potato head parts. Tell them that he has big eyes to listen and big ears to hear and he wears a hat to keep the sun out of his eyes so he can see.

 This ball is the team masqot…..he may tell the coach from time to time what to teach the player.

 Mr. Mit

 Do the same with the mit. The mit can have big teeth on it to give the kids the idea that the mit eats the ball and that the mit is always hungry so he really needs to get the ball in his mouth.

 Be sure that the kids have little gloves that fit properly.

 Mr Bat

 Like to hit Mr. Ball so Mr. Mitt can get more food. If we want to help Mr Mit eat we need to know how to hold Mr. Bat.

Teaching the kids to Swing the Bat

Teach the children how to hold the bat…Here is where stickers will come in handy. Put a dot or sticker on the hand that is on the bottom so they will learn what hand goes on the bottom.

You can do drill on how to hold the bat and how to swing the bat in 4 step just like holding the bat.

1. feet apart bat up call out the number one

eye on the pitcher  call out two (you may want to put a stake out in the field with a cartoon picture on it for them to look at.
bend at the hip call out three
swing level call out four

 We will use a very light weight bat and I would like to use hanging balls if we can figure out how to do it the kids learn to focus on the ball not the T. However if we use a t we will need to set it a little higher so the kids will start to swing up rather than down which is very common.

 Teaching to Catch

A good drill to help them hold the ball is to put a ball or two in their glove and have them walk a little course so they learn to squeeze their glove when they have the ball in it. Also tell them that Mr. Mitt is really hungry so keep the ball in his mouth.

 Have the children take off their glove and show them what their hand looks like inside the glove when they catch the ball……….you can make a game out of that……Open shut them…….Open shut them….you can even put it to a little song…….You can even play a little simon says with this exercise.

They can catch without their glove an imaginery ball. The coach can throw it to the child and they can catch with their hand……high………low………..at their tummy….side ways……however you can keep their attention.

 Another drill would be to use a bigger ball that would ensure they use both hands to secure the ball….

 Have them place their hand with their glove on and roll the ball into Mr. Mitts hungry mouth. Then have them take their other hand and trap the ball into the mit…Parents can roll the ball into the mit and be sure the children catch it . They can also do this at home.

 You can also do an alligator mouth and have them do a course with the ball in their mitt and their other hand over the ball.

 Teaching the kids to throw the ball.

Teach them to count to 4…….Yell it, sing it, whisper it however you can until they can count to 4.

This is very basic but one of the hardest things to teach. You may want to use the sling shot counting to 4.

technique where they will make a fist a in their glove and you will call out the number one.
Raise the ball hand in the air to the side with the ball arm making an L call out the number 2.

Cock the arm back and do a small twist at the hip call out the number three.

Move the hand forward and release the ball on the number 4.

You may want to make some small targets and let them throw at the target or a large mitt with a mouth on it. This drill is probably one of the most important things they will learn.

What is the field

 Show the Kids a big poster of the field so they can see what it looks like. Here is where the counting to 4 comes in again.

Point out each base 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th or home.

The whole team can run to number one and so on. You can have the kids run the bases and count as they pass a base. This will help them run in order and learn the base numbers as they run…You can never do this enough.

Another thing you can do is have a child go to the base you call out. Johnny

Go to 3rd base……….but he will always start at home and run the other bases.

You can teach them a concept that they can relate to about doing things in order. Getting dressed they can relate to…..Would you put on your shoe then your sock? No first you have to put on your sock then you put on your shoe. Show them with a sock and shoe……It doesn’t work…..You have to do things in order…just like running the base’s.

Always have them run the bases in order.

If you can get them to point out all bases and home and run them correctly you have done a big thing!!

Remember we are beginning to lay a foundation here for the children….Not make them big league players…So fundamental learning is our goal…they will never play a game in this clinic. They will just learn the basics and what to do.

Extra Ideas:

Add color, every visual very big  and ad Music……preschoolers love this…you are trying your best to get them to remember what you are teaching them….How did you learn the ABC….most likely to the ABC Song……Repetition and patterns it really will work.

 So here we go set up a regular session schedule, since the attention span is so short you will need to work many things a short time. If you get a group that can do last longer adjust your class accordingly.

Welcome

 Make name tags for each child. Collect them at the end of the session.

Have your stations set and ready to go I recommend 5 stations that way they can spend 10 minutes at each station. Or 5 minutes a station and go around two times. This might be best. Ask the parents to go with the child and help them. If we can get a helper at each station to run it would be the best. Both coaches may want to work together and that would put 6 kids to a station. For preschoolers that would be a great ratio.

 Large Group - warm ups exercise to warm up

 Station One

Catching the ball

Mr. Mitt and Mr. Ball

 Station two

Swinging the bat

 Station three

Running the bases

Poster and stakes on each base with a number on it

 Station four

Hitting the ball

T-s or swinging ball station

 Station five

Throwing the ball

Large Mitt that they can throw into

 Large Group

Great Job everyone hand out stickers to everyone for being great listeners