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| Introduction | |
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| About This Book | |
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| Conventions Used in This Book | |
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| What You're Not to Read | |
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| Foolish Assumptions | |
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| How This Book Is Organized | |
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| Child's Play: Beginning Your Coaching Career | |
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| Building Your Baseball Coaching Skills | |
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| Working on the Fundamentals of the Game | |
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| Playing Sound Situational Baseball | |
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| The Extra Innings | |
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| The Part of Tens | |
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| Icons Used in This Book | |
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| Where to Go from Here | |
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| Child's Play: Beginning your Coaching Career | |
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| Teaching Baseball to Children | |
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| Acknowledging Your Behind-the-Scenes Responsibilities | |
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| Working with parents | |
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| Getting a handle on the rules and terminology | |
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| Stepping onto the Field | |
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| Planning and executing fun and effective practices | |
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| Taking your coaching out to the old ballgame | |
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| Succeeding in the Dual Role of Coach and Parent | |
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| Conquering Coaching Challenges | |
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| Preparing for a Successful Season | |
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| Developing a Coaching Philosophy | |
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| Tailoring your philosophy to your age group | |
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| Emphasizing teamwork | |
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| Motivating your players | |
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| Fostering a positive atmosphere | |
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| Keeping lines of communication open | |
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| Focusing on fun and skill development | |
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| Modeling good sportsmanship | |
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| Understanding How Your League Operates | |
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| Throwing the book at 'em: Your league's rules | |
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| For fun or for first place? | |
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| From Helmet to Cleats: Gathering the Necessary Gear | |
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| What the player is responsible for | |
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| What the league is responsible for | |
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| Inspecting equipment to ensure that it meets safety standards | |
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| Calling Coach Dad! Tips for Coaching Your Own Child | |
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| Focusing on all in the family | |
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| Walking the parenting-coaching tightrope | |
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| Covering the Baseball Basics | |
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| Surveying the Playing Field | |
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| Inside the lines | |
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| Outside the lines | |
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| Scouting League-Specific Rules | |
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| Making adjustments for the really young | |
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| Modifying the rules as the kids get older | |
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| Poring Over the Rules of the Game | |
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| Reviewing the structure of the game | |
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| Batter up! Scoring runs and making outs | |
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| Navigating the base paths | |
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| Taking Positions in the Field | |
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| Batting Around Some Baseball Lingo | |
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| Meet the Parents | |
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| Let Me Introduce Myself | |
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| Planning the meeting | |
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| Implementing effective meeting strategies | |
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| Presenting Your Coaching Philosophy | |
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| Determining playing time through the ages | |
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| Creating your lineup: Who plays where (and why) | |
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| Emphasizing the importance of model behavior in the stands | |
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| Putting Together the Paperwork | |
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| Filing the league paperwork | |
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| Passing out personal packets | |
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| Assembling Your Parent Posse | |
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| Seeking assistant coaches | |
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| Searching for support | |
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| Meeting Your Players' Special Needs | |
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| Emceeing a Follow-Up Q and A | |
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| Building Your Baseball Coaching Skills | |
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| Evaluating Your Team | |
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| Practicing the Art of Evaluation | |
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| Evaluating your players' skills | |
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| Identifying strengths and weaknesses | |
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| Using Your Evaluations to Help Fill Out the Lineup Card | |
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| Assigning fielding positions | |
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| Choosing a batting order | |
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| Understanding All Kinds of Kids | |
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| The shy child | |
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| The uncoordinated child | |
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| The child with a short attention span | |
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| The athletically gifted child | |
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| The disinterested child | |
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| The disruptive child | |
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| The child with special needs | |
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| The bully | |
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| The inexperienced child | |
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| The scared child | |
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| Preparing for and Running a Great Practice | |
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| The Big Picture: Creating Your Practice Plan | |
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| Setting practice frequency and duration | |
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| Putting plan to paper | |
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| Ensuring plenty of repetitions for each child | |
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| Letting kids help select practice drills | |
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| Setting the tone for practice | |
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| Keeping your practices as consistent as possible | |
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| Adjusting your practice plan as the season unfolds | |
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| The First Practice: Kicking Off Your Season | |
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| Greeting your team for the first time | |
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| Introducing everyone | |
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| Choosing the skills to focus on first | |
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| Functional, not Filler: Making Each Practice Beneficial | |
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| Building your players' skills | |
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| Helping players who need it | |
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| Accentuating the positive | |
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| Putting smiles on their faces with fun practices | |
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| Fun for the Road: Ending Your Practices on a Positive Note | |
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| Game Day | |
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| Mowing Down Your Pre-Game Checklist | |
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| Inspecting the field | |
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| Meeting with the opposing coach and umpires | |
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| Checking your equipment | |
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| Penciling in players | |
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| Warming Up | |
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| Running and stretching | |
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| Throwing | |
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| Hitting | |
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| Fielding | |
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| Holding a Pre-Game Team Meeting | |
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| Keeping your instructions simple | |
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| Executing the inspirational talk | |
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| Play Ball! | |
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| Motivating your players | |
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| Using hand signals to communicate | |
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| Substituting players | |
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| Making mid-game adjustments | |
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| Winning and Losing Gracefully | |
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| Delivering the Post-Game Talk | |
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| Refining Your Coaching Strategies throughout the Season | |
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| Dealing with Shifting Team Dynamics | |
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| Recognizing improvements | |
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| Dealing with weaknesses | |
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| Revising your current plan | |
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| Rounding Second on Your Season with the Mid-Season Review | |
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| Setting goals | |
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| Making a plan for your players | |
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| Sharing progress | |
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| Getting Feedback from the Parents | |
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| Is your child having fun? | |
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| What else can my coaching staff do? | |
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| Working on the Fundamentals of the Game | |
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| Teaching Offensive Fundamentals | |
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| Becoming a Master of the Box: Batting Fundamentals | |
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| Teaching the grip | |
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| Taking the proper stance | |
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| Swinging at a pitch | |
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| Sacrifice bunting | |
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| Bunting for a hit | |
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| Hitting troubleshooting | |
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| Running to Safety: Base-Running Fundamentals | |
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| Proper running technique | |
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| Leaving the batter's box | |
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| Legging out a ground ball | |
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| Rounding the bases | |
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| Leading off | |
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| Tagging up | |
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| Base-running troubleshooting | |
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| Getting Dirty: Sliding Fundamentals | |
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| Bent-leg slide | |
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| Head-first slide | |
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| Pop-up slide | |
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| Hook slide | |
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| Sliding troubleshooting | |
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| Teaching Infield and Outfield Fundamentals | |
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| Protecting the Infield | |
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| Grasping general fielding skills | |
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| The blooper-scooper: Playing first base | |
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| The double-play don: Playing second base | |
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| The diamond diva: Playing shortstop | |
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| The hot corner: Playing third base | |
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| Patrolling the Outfield | |
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| Moving into the ready position | |
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| Catching fly balls | |
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| Fielding hits | |
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| Making throws | |
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| Outfield troubleshooting | |
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| Teaching Pitching and Catching Fundamentals | |
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| Sending Youngsters to the Mound | |
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| Focusing on the fundamentals of baseball pitching | |
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| Working with the Masked (And Armored) Men behind Home Plate | |
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| Crouching in stance behind the plate | |
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| Blocking wild pitches | |
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| Handling high pitches | |
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| Retrieving passed balls | |
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| Nabbing base stealers | |
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| Protecting home plate | |
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| Tracking foul balls | |
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| Fielding bunts | |
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| Troubleshooting for the backstops | |
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| Fundamental Drills for Beginners | |
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| Preparing to Score: Offensive Drills | |
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| Hitting | |
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| Base running | |
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| Protecting Your Diamond: Defensive Drills | |
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| Pitchers | |
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| Catchers | |
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| First basemen | |
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| Second basemen | |
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| Shortstops | |
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| Third basemen | |
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| Outfielders | |
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| Combining Your Drills: A Sample Practice Session | |
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| Taking Your Drills to the Next Level | |
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| From Bats to Bases: Offensive Drills | |
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| Batting | |
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| Base running | |
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| From Dirt Stains to Grass Stains: Defensive Drills | |
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| Infield/outfield practice | |
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| Pitchers and catchers | |
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| Infielders | |
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| Outfielders | |
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| Considering Sample Practice Plans | |
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| Playing Sound Situational Baseball | |
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| Coaching Offense 101 | |
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| Becoming a Tough Out at the Plate | |
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| Developing your hitters' attitudes | |
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| Working pitch counts | |
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| Protecting the plate | |
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| Sacrificing to produce runs | |
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| Wreaking Havoc on the Base Paths | |
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| Practicing situational base running | |
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| Stealing bases | |
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| Challenging outfielders' arms | |
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| Coaching Your Runners on the Bases | |
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| Sending them around: First base coach | |
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| Bringing 'em home: Third base coach | |
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| Coaching Defense 101 | |
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| Getting Defensive After the Ball Is in Play | |
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| Assigning responsibilities on singles | |
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| Making adjustments on potential doubles and triples | |
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| Ranging to cover the shallow outheld | |
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| Covering sacrifice bunts | |
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| Shifting Players before the Pitch | |
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| Moving in close to prevent runs | |
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| Protecting a lead | |
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| Dealing with pull hitters | |
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| The Extra Innings | |
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| Keeping Your Kids Healthy | |
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| Packing Your Game and Practice First-Aid Kit | |
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| What to pack | |
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| How to pack it | |
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| Putting Prevention at Leadoff: Taking Steps to Avoid Injuries | |
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| Stretching before practices and games | |
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| Breaking a sweat during warm-ups | |
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| Cooling down after practices and games | |
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| From Coach to Coach, MD: Recognizing and Treating Injuries | |
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| Treating common baseball injuries | |
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| Acting fast in an emergency/first-aid situation | |
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| Accounting for your kids during an injury stoppage in play | |
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| Considering the Weather Conditions | |
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| Tracking storms | |
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| Beating the heat | |
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| Hammering Home the Importance of a Healthy Diet | |
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| How to maintain energy during games and practices | |
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| What to eat before games and practices | |
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| What to eat after games and practices | |
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| Staying hydrated | |
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| Overcoming Challenges That Every Coach Faces | |
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| Dealing with Problematic Parents | |
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| Win-at-all-cost parents | |
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| Parents who complain about playing time | |
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| Disruptive parents | |
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| Pitting Yourself against Problematic Coaches | |
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| Opposing coaches | |
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| Dissenting assistants | |
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| Disciplining Your Players | |
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| General advice | |
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| Employing the three-strike technique | |
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| Assisting Your Befuddled Players | |
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| Analyzing problems | |
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| Recognizing physical issues | |
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| The Part of Tens | |
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| Ten Pre-Game Tips to Relax Your Players and Keep Them Focused | |
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| You Want to Be a Little Nervous | |
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| Remember the Tasty Post-Game Treats | |
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| Don't Worry about Making Mistakes | |
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| Be a Good Teammate | |
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| Remember to Be a Good Sport | |
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| In One of My Little League Games, I... | |
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| Visualize Success | |
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| I Can't Wait to See You in Action Today | |
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| What Are You Looking Forward to Most? | |
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| Have a Lot of Fun Today | |
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| Ten Ways to Make the Season Memorable (In a Good Way) | |
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| Bring in New Faces to Practice | |
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| Try a Crazy Uniform Day | |
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| Invite Guest Speakers | |
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| Change the Practice Scenery | |
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| Pit the Kids versus the Coaches | |
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| Give Your Players a Voice | |
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| Hold Contests | |
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| Solicit Reviews of Your Work | |
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| Encourage Nickname Mania | |
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| Hand Out Progress Reports | |
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| Ten Fun Ways to End the Season on a High Note | |
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| Staging a Carnival Day | |
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| Presenting Individual Awards | |
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| Creating Team Trading Cards | |
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| Recording Team DVDs | |
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| Showing Highlights with Player DVDs | |
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| Organizing a Team Photo Album | |
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| Handing Out a Baseball Memento | |
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| Forming a Team Newsletter | |
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| Conducting Personal Meetings | |
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| Taking Trips to Cool Places | |
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| Index | |