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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 | |