TEE BALL TIPS
1. Unfortunately, a late start in a game like tee ball or baseball typically
means players won't make up the difference until the following season whenhe
can get a better start. Get organized, develop a plan, and prepare to work
hard. Learn as much about tee ball and baseball as you can. Prepare to learn
enough about baseball to be able to present the material in "kid terms."
2. Kids don't know what it means to "step in the bucket" or "take an extra
base" or "turn two" until you teach them and show them. Successful coaches
know their audience and use analogies and common visual imagery to establish
an intellectual and cognitive connection with their players. For tee ball
players, these images are best when they are a bit dramatic: point the belly
button toward the part of the field where you want to hit the ball (get your
hips rotated), make your arm like an elephant's trunk when throwing (don't
launch the ball like a catapult, THROW it), and point the button on your cap
in the direction the ball came from when fielding a ground ball (keep your
head down), for instance.
3. Whether your league keeps score or not, or whether you have a team that
can win games or not, don't ever fail to take your responsibilities as a coach
seriously. Being a serious coach means that you'll try to teach them
something about baseball, basic skills, and sportsmanship, it means that
you're attentive to player safety, and it means that while you're asking your
players to put their best foot forward, so are you.
4. Having been a good player is no assurance that you will be a good coach
any more than being a good student necessarily means you will be a good
teacher. A coach must possess certain qualities – many coaches are satisfied
with merely having characteristics. A coach has to be a good teacher, he has
to be patient, he has to be confident and decisive, he has to be nurturing
when his players get hurt or make mistakes, and he has to be able to get as
much as he can out of his players without going too far.
5. Tell players' parents not to assume that the game of tee ball is just like
the game of baseball; try to tell them the difference because it might spare
you an untimely laugh and them the humiliation of asking a silly question
later.
6. The most difficult thing a coach has to do is see the twelve players on
the field who are not related to him. If you can do it, try to be a coachon
the field and a parent off the field, and get your fellow coaches to do the
same. Impartiality (and avoiding excessive impartiality) is essential to
success.
7. Coaches need the assistance of their players' parents. I found that
parents are normally willing to help out if they aren't too busy and they tend
to learn that the more they participate in the operation of the team, the more
they also stay in touch with the challenges coaches encounter as they try to
build the team. (Getting parents' assistance does not mean losing controlof
the team to them.)
8. There can be three hundred people in the stands and three coaches shouting
during a game, but the one voice a player hears is his own mother's. This
isn't a problem until the coach tells the player to stop and she yells forhim
to go. The only thing a coach can do about this is tell the parents how tough
it is to communicate with the players when there are conflicting instructions
on the field. At times, it can be a safety issue.
9. Parents bring their own expectations into the season and it's safe to
assume that coaches and managers do the same. The best way to ensure there
are no surprises as the season develops is for the manager to hold a meeting
and set the tone early. He should let the parents know that he knows whathe
is doing and help them develop confidence in him during this first team
meeting.
10. The only way to build a good team out of a group of individuals is
through effective practice. On the field, you have to be a teacher as well as
a coach. Teach them what they need to know, show them what you taught them,
practice the things you taught them over and over, then be prepared to do it
all over again.
11. Practice, by definition, presumes repetition. Repetition is the keystone
of successful game preparation. However, repetition soon turns into monotony
with players, particularly tee ball players, unless you: (1) PLAN every aspect
of every practice right down to the minute, (2) Maintain a distinct sense of
MOTION to your practices and a coherent FLOW to them, and (3) Make a GAME out
of as many things as you can.
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