In less than 12 weeks baseball/softball tryouts will be upon most of us. Some players will not give it a thought until its too late. Gone are the old days where a player can come into tryouts/Spring Training and work themselves into shape. Now is the tine to get ready. Everyone’s arm is different however a slow steady ramp up period is needed to be the best at tryout time. Tryouts is the time to showcase what you have to your coach not what your lacking. Start now and don’t w

Coaching is a difficult job but one of the most rewarding job out there. Coaches have to wear multiple "hats" when working with a player or team. Coaches must be a : 1. Teacher 2. Parent 3. Role Model 4. Tutor (for older kids) 5. Confidant 6. Trouble Shooter 7. Manager 8. Planner 9. Individual/Team assessor 10. TEACHER The above list is just a fraction of what a coach must be every day in the lives of their players. Coaches at the younger age group (4-15 year old) need to foc

Now we are at the point in our training to begin to convert on sport-specific training into specific baseball skills. Practice: Do drills, fielding, hitting, and throwing as a team. Running: Players should be running 5-6 times per week. For the first two weeks in this training group focus on stamina on Mondays, focus on speed on Tuesday and Friday, light jog on Wednesday, do speed-endurance on Thursday, and so speed-endurance and run bases on Saturday. Take Sunday off or an e

At this point in the training program you should be training five times per week to be in peak performance by the start of Spring Training. The objective during this phase is to lift heavier weights for more sets and fewer reps. This will teach the body to turn on more fast twitch muscle fibers. Aerobic fitness focus during this time is Sprints for speed and acceleration. Do plyometrics twice a week. Warm up and stretch properly before workouts; cool down after them. Play cat

Last night I was at the local baseball field and noticed a few things as coaches/parents we really need to work on. I was there observing a young player that I've been working with - I wanted to see if the practice work has translated into his games. But while I was there I noticed that the coaches on both teams never moved kids around to other positions, they kept the infielders on the dirt and the outfielders in the outfield. Kids at this age, 6-9 years old, need to experie