Mistake No.3: Players Not Sliding at Every Base
This is tough one. I've seen major leaguers not slide and cost their team runs. The Yankees-Oakland A's 2001 American League Championship series comes to mind when Derek Jeter made that great backhand flip to home and Jeremy Giambi didn't slide and cost his team a run and possibly the game and series.
You can preach and preach for players to slide but they will continue to forget to slide. As youth coaches, we have to remember that these are 10, 11 and 12-year-old kids and their retention is different than say a high school player.
But this is also something that you can practice instead of just telling the player when it comes up in a regular game. I want my players to slide on a force play even if they know they will be thrown out. To me having a reputation even on the youth level that my team slides might become a potential distraction for the opposition and the fielders might bobble a throw to them at the base.
When we practice sliding, I take my team in the outfield grass and have my players remove their cleats. I have a diamond set up with throw down bases. We go through a few scenarios rotating players having them slide in the grass and this process helps. We reinforce them to slide during the game from the coaching box. Again, not foolproof, but very effective.
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Mistake No.4: Not Practicing a Wild Pitch or Passed Ball With a Runner on Third
In youth baseball usually not a game goes by without a wild pitch or a passed ball. When there is a base runner on third base, he has a better than 50 percent chance of scoring if he has just average speed.
Let's break this down from the defensive end. The pitcher pitches and the ball gets by the catcher. The pitcher recognizes this and rushes home to protect against the runner on third from scoring. His head is going back-and-forth between the baserunner coming from third and the catcher getting ready to make the toss. Many times the toss from the catcher is off-target or the pitcher swoops down to tag the runner without the ball.
Very few coaches practice this other than to yell out to the pitcher, "Cover home if the ball gets by the catcher" when the situation comes up in a game. To practice this, set up the positions with a baserunner at third. Plant a ball behind the catcher without him seeing it. Have the pitcher do his wind-up without the ball and when the coach yells "go" the baserunner breaks for home and the catcher locates the ball while the pitcher comes to cover home.
Here we are setting up a practical situation and the catcher is practicing his toss and the pitcher is getting used to the baserunner coming at him while trying to secure the toss and tag him. Coaches should rotate both pitchers and catchers during this drill.
These are only four situations out of many that need to be practiced. In youth baseball we coaches tend to try and teach during the game. Practices are the place to teach and games are the place to reinforce what we conveyed to the players. With this formula they become familiar with the situation and give your team the competitive edge on the field.
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Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 21 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques", "Pitching Drills & Techniques", "Baserunning & Bunting Drills" and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is president of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.
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