Coaching Manual

7.0 Managing the Game

Following are some hints about running your team during a game.

Get your kids onto the field a few minutes before Game Time, and have them all field a few grounders.  Then run a quick batting practice, so each kid gets at least three swings, and one bunt.  Do it in the deep outfield if the other team is using the infield.  If you’re really squeezed for time and space, run a couple stations of side-toss for batting practice.  Any batting practice you can work in just before a game starts is likely to help a lot, because it refreshs hand-eye coordination..  Note the rules about which team is entitled to the field for warm-ups at which time just before Game Time.

Don’t let your kids stand around idle waiting for the game to start.  If they aren’t busy with anything else, have them play pepper with each other.  Anything to get their reflexes and hand/eye coordination refreshed just before the real competition starts.

When your team is finished with their on-the-field warm-ups, pick out some landmark about fifty yards away, and have them all run down there and back into the dugout. That is to get their blood circulating and rid them of “tired blood”; it really does help with getting the game off to an energetic start.

Go over and introduce yourself to the plate umpire, and the opposing coaches.  If some sort of dispute should develop later in the game, it will be a whole lot easier to handle if you’re all on a first-name basis.

Remember that good defense will win most baseball games.  Hitting is a wonderful skill to develop, and a lot of fun for the kids, but it is good defense that will win you the most games (assuming you have decent pitching).

Teach your kids how to think themselves to victory.  The naked truth is that most youth baseball games are lost, not won.  By that I mean that most teams beat themselves by making too many critical mistakes during games, and it is the mental mistakes that kill your chances the most often.  So teach your kids how to think during their games.  Then you will usually find the other team making the most mistakes, and your team walking away the winner.

Yes that is easy to say, less easily done.  You have to teach your kids an awful lot, because baseball is such a complicated game, with so many different situations that can, and do, come up unexpectedly.

Start by getting your kids to understand that they have to plan ahead for every defensive play.  They have to know where they plan to go with the ball if the next pitch is hit to them.  Every pitch, for the entire game.  There is no time for short naps when playing defense in baseball.

Then you have to teach some of the essential special skills that apply to every defensive position.

Here are a few examples:

Young first-basemen have to learn that their first responsibility is to get the ball when it is thrown to them.  Don’t stay glued to the bag if the throw is off-line - go after it.  Let that batter-base runner have first base if necessary, but don’t let him go to second base just because you stayed on the bag - go after the ball and get it under control.  Freeze the runners.

For most games in Minors and younger, and very often even in Majors, outfielders should think ‘run’ first, and ‘throw’ only second, when the ball is hit to them.  By that I mean that outfielders can very often freeze the base runners simply by running the ball back into the infield, rather than throwing it into the infield like teen-age and older players do.  When the ball is thrown a long distance, it’s like a long forward pass in football - too many things can go wrong.  Things that can lead to runs being scored against you that need not be:  bad throws and bad catches being the main ones, but unprepared infielders being very common also.  So play it conservatively, forget the close play at the plate, let that runner score.  But choke off any others that might score if the ball is thrown awry, or to the wrong place.  Teach your outfielders to think of using their legs first, and throwing only when they know they just have to.  Keep your risks down.

Teach your catchers and pitchers how to pace the game.  When everything is going well, and the pitcher is in his groove, catcher and pitcher should be brisk and all business, wasting little time between pitches.  But when the pitcher’s control is wandering, and/or there are runners on base, they should slow down, let the pitcher catch his breath and get his mind settled between pitches so he can get the situation back under control.

Teach your catcher how to circle the ball that is hit as a “nubber” right out in front of home plate. How to smother the spinning ball with his glove, how to get lined up for the long throw to first.  Also, teach your catcher how to back up first base when a throw is coming over there (imagine how surprised a runner is when he rounds first base after a bad throw over there, but gets thrown out at second by the catcher).

Teach your shortstop when to play inside the baseline and when to play outside it.  It mainly has to do with how long a throw he will have to make.  When he can make a short throw to second for a force out, he can often afford to play back.  But when he will have to go to first with a long throw, he might be better off playing inside the baseline.  You will be telling him where to play from the dugout, but he has to be prepared to understand what you are telling him to do.  Similar for your third-baseman, although he will normally play inside the 2nd/3rd baseline, to guard against the bunt.

Every defensive player must always know how many outs there are.  A good technique is to have all fielders raise their throwing hand after every out, to indicate to each other, with their fingers, how many outs there are.

Make sure your second-baseman is especially alert when a left-handed batter is up - there is a big chance the ball will be hit to him, so he needs to be prepared by knowing what he will do with the ball after he fields it.  Often he can afford to play farther back - he has a short throw to first.

Teach your outfielders how to back up your infielders on every ground ball.  Let the batter get first base in case the ball is muffed in the infield, but choke off any aspirations for extra bases by using your outfielders to freeze the runners.  Too many youth teams let their outfielders think that outfield is a boring place to get exiled to.  Good outfielders are busy on every pitch, changing their position so they can have the best defensive effect.  It is NOT an easy job.

For pop-ups in the infield, the pitcher should seldom field the ball unless it is very obvious that he is the right one to get it.  Much more often, the pitcher should act as traffic cop, yelling out who should be catching the ball, so collisions are avoided.

On fly-balls, both in the infield and outfield, the magic word is MINE.  The player who intends to catch the ball should fend off any prospective collision by yelling “MINE...MINE... MINE... MINE... MINE...” until the ball is in his glove.  When two players start yelling MINE at the same time, it is the most assertive one who should take charge (and in the infield, the pitcher should be doing his traffic-cop job to help out).  Discourage use of “I’VE GOT IT”.  Encourage “MINE”, for two reasons:  First, MINE is a sound that carries and stands out better than I’VE GOT IT, and is less likely to get drowned out by crowd noise and other background goings-on.  Second, there is often a heckler in the stands who will start yelling I’VE GOT IT, just to confuse your defense.  Seldom do the hecklers ever yell MINE.  The fielder who is called off can act as backup, and also direct the throw (”THROW 3, THROW 3”, for example).

For conflicts between the infield and outfield on pop-ups, the outfielder normally has priority, because the ball is coming down in front of him.  For the infielder that same ball may need a circus catch.  Make sure your outfielders understand that, and yell MINE...MINE....MINE to assert themselves when they can catch the ball.

On conflicts between the catcher and the pitcher, third-baseman or first-baseman, it is usually NOT the catcher who should get the ball.  The ball is coming down in front of the infielder, whereas it is falling away from the catcher (making it a tougher job to catch it).  Again the infielders need to use MINE...MINE...MINE, and the pitcher should be directing traffic (or yelling MINE...MINE if he intends to catch it himself).

Teach your runners that they should lead off third base on the foul side of the baseline.  Then if they  get hit by a sudden line drive, they are still safe, because it is obviously a foul ball.

Back to Table of Contents

7.2  Signaling Systems

In professional games, you see the managers and coaches flashing hand signals all over the place, on both offense and defense.  What in the world is that all about?  Is it just so the old guys have something to do, or do they just have to stroke their own egos by putting their oar in the water for every play?  After all, these are million-dollar professionals playing out there; why do they need those pesky coaches telling them what to do? 

Well, on defense the signaling systems are used to give the manager authority over how the defense will be played, and often over what kind of pitch will be thrown in tight situations.  He does have the responsibility for the overall result of the game, so it’s only fair that he get authority over the tactical decisions from play to play.  But in Cal Ripken baseball, we won’t usually be using signaling systems for defensive purposes (although you certainly can if you think it’s a good idea).  We coaches will normally just use plain old English when we want to shift players around, and maybe one or two secret signals to occasionally call for a special pitch from our pitcher. 

But on offense, there is a very practical reason why we need a signaling system.  That is to coordinate the efforts of our batters and base runners, without letting the other team in on what we’re up to.  Your baserunners need to know when the batter is being told to bunt the next pitch.  The batter needs to know when the runner on first will attempt a theft of second base on the next pitch (so normally he will swing at that pitch, no matter how bad it might be, to delay the catcher’s throw that little bit that might make the runner safe at second).

So you need to teach your batters how to take signals from the third-base coach (usually the manager).  And you need to teach your base runners how to pick up every signal the third-base coach passes to the batter.  It’s a pretty simple thing to teach, but very wordy to describe it all, so we’ll just plan to explain everything about signaling at the coach’s clinic each year.  Be sure you and/or your assistants are there.

And there is one other signaling system you also need in Majors baseball, especially at the tournament level - the one the catcher uses to call for particular pitches from his pitcher.  Most of our young pitchers will only have, at the very most, three different pitches they’ll throw (e.g, four-seam fast-ball, two-seam perhaps, and a change-up), but still the catcher needs to know what’s coming (and where) so he can be prepared.  Catchers don’t like surprises - they lead to passed balls.  So we’ll talk about that at the clinics also.

Back to Table of Contents

7.3  Game-Time Substitutions

I've been asked how often I move players around on defense.  Following is some commentary and opinion about that.  These comments are directed most toward the Rookie age group, but a lot of it is worth thinking about at the Minors and Majors levels, too.  It's worth reading.

I believe that Rookie-age players need to get some extended experience at more than one defensive position over the course of a season. And I'm not talking here about moving from left field to center field. - I mean experience at WIDELY differing positions.

I don't, however, believe in substituting a lot in any one game. Better is to change your defensive lineup from game to game. The reason is that it takes kids a number of plays (and innings) to "settle into" a position. If you move them around a lot from inning to inning they never get comfortable in any one position, simply because they're never there long enough to start "feeling" that position.

So what I like to do better is to start with a certain defensive lineup for a particular game, and stay with it for AT LEAST two innings, and better three or four. Then go to something different for the next game, so all the kids get extended experience at more than one position.
 

Here's an example from a game my own team played recently. Most infielders started in a position they had never been a starter in before - the (fielding) pitcher, catcher, first-baseman, shortstop, third-baseman.  I stayed with them for three innings before I started to shift players around.  Next game, the defensive lineup will be different again. Within the same game I don't like to substitute too much, because of the reasons stated above. But toward the end of the game, I substitute more freely, if only to get the outfielders into the infield for at least an inning of that game.

At this point this season, I have three kids who alternate playing catcher, four at "fielding pitcher", two at first base, four at rover, four at second base, three at shortstop, three at third base, and everyone plays outfield at one time or another in almost every game. As the season wears on, those numbers will gradually keep increasing.

One important thing to keep in mind is that at Rookie age, many of the kids on our teams, even most, are DESPERATE to feel some real success at playing this game. Our job as coaches is to do our best to help them find it. So we note the way they stand at the plate and swing the bat, and pitch to them in a way that matches into their strengths and away from their weaknesses. On defense we help each one by stationing him in a position where he has a real chance of doing at least a few things well. That builds their confidence, so you can start thinking about moving them to more demanding positions.

Simple exposure to a particular defensive position does not really accomplish much all by itself.  It is SUCCESS (in at least a few plays) at a particular position that works the real magic. They MUST have some success at a position because that first raises their confidence level, and then their enthusiasm - and enthusiasm is the mother of all real sustained accomplishment. We best build a team of kids by setting things up so that every kid experiences some success somewhere on the field as early as possible. Then they all start to feel like real contributing players, and "The Team" concept begins to arise within them. And they get hard to beat.

So you look for the position for each kid where his chances of achieving some successes are maximized. Sure you wish it was an infield postion for every kid, but the reality is that that is almost never the case. Some kids MUST start in the outfield, because sticking them in the infield too much will lead to too many failures, poor self-image, lack of self-confidence, etc.

So play kids mostly in positions where they are likely to succeed after getting some experience there. WHICH position depends on each kid's particular characteristics. Here are some examples:

You have at least one kid who is clearly bigger than average on your team. He might be a good candidate to succeed at first base if he can catch the ball fairly reliably. Even if his throwing is way below average, and his quickness is not the best. A kid who learns to play first base well raises the confidence of your entire infield.  He becomes a rock that all the other kids lean on - especially when their throws to first are not the best (which we know is very often at the Rookie level). Typically he is one of your older players.

(BTW - the most important thing to teach a first-baseman is to GET THE BALL. Get off the bag when and if necessary to get to a throw, then come back to the bag. Better to let the batter get to first than to let the ball get past you so he goes all the way to second, or worse. Freeze that baserunner! You do that by getting the ball under control just as soon as possible. It is remarkable how many first-basemen have still not learned that fundamental lesson even
at age 10 or 11.)

Only put kids at shortstop who are among your best all-round athletic types. They catch well, throw well, have good quickness, and are mentally sharp. Putting other kids at that position accomplishes little because they will make so many errors that they feel very self-conscious about their play and can't concentrate on business. Marginal kids can work themselves up to shortstop by playing positions like second and third base (or centerfield), where there's usually less pressure.

(Another BTW: When I say catch well, throw well, have good quickness, etc., I'm talking RELATIVE TO THE OTHER KIDS ON YOUR TEAM. We'd all wish for an Ozzie Smith to play SS for us, but we have to work with the kids we have. One or two of your kids are likely your better athletes, and they should normally end up as your most frequent shortstops until one or two others begin to look like they are catching on.)

Kids with good quickness but weaker throwing ability can play positions like second base and the rover between first and second. If they can catch reasonably well they can succeed there despite a weak throwing arm. The throw to first or second from the rover position is usually a short one. Some of your smaller kids can learn to play these positions successfully. A year or two later, some of them may play shortstop on other teams, because they learned the fundamentals and self-confidence on YOUR team. You put them where they could learn to succeed, and they end the season with a lot of enthusiasm because of that success. They don't end up with a lot of memories of failure at positions they just weren't yet ready to handle.

Kids without good quickness and ability to field the ball initially belong in the outfield a majority of the time, for their own good, their own potential development. On each play, they typically need extra time to evaluate what's happening before they respond to it. You can bring them in to the infield late in the game, AFTER their minds have had some opportunity to adjust to the tempo of the game they are playing in. You make them infield starters in the SECOND HALF of the season, AFTER they have had plenty of opportunity to learn the fundamental thought processes of defensive play. If you do it right, they will learn that, despite making more physical errors, they can sometimes make up for that by learning how to play a SMART game, often even smarter than the more physically gifted kids on your team. One or two plays that work out for them because they play SMART raises their confidence, and that leads to better physical play. They will still be your secondary infielders, but you will have done just about everything you can for them this year if you follow this approach of not burdening them too much with play at positions that are over their heads.

The key is to lead them GENTLY and gradually to higher levels of play, and do it by teaching them how to play SMART, even if their physical play is still below average.

The best way to play outfielders is to get the idea across to them that the outfield is really nothing more than a second defensive line behind the infielders. To borrow a football term, the outfielders are your linebacking corps.

Too many people let their outfielders be the sleepers on the defensive team. Kids are allowed to believe that the outfield is that boring place where you almost never have anything to do. And Coach seldom talks much to you, like he does with the infielders all the time.

The way to do it is to regale the outfielders with constant descriptions of how they must be moving on EVERY hit, and always putting themselves into the best position to be helpful. Most often it means getting into the best and most useful BACKUP position to cut off overthrows and muffed catches in the infield that would allow the runners to keep moving around the bases. Once they begin to understand how they can have the effect of freezing the runners on many plays, they stop seeing the outfield as such a bore, and they start to THINK the game. Then you are over the hump in teaching them something with real lasting value. And those new thought processes will carry over into their infield play when they get opportunities there, which will help boost their confidence, and increase their chances of at least some later successes there in the infield.

You can put a Rookie kid at catcher who catches the ball pretty well, but lacks quickness. Even if his throwing is downright poor, because he is seldom called on, at the Rookie level, to make a difficult throw. About the most he will have to do as a thrower is to get the ball to first base on a dink hit out in front of the plate. And even that will go away when we start to enforce the fair-but-foul rule. As a catcher, he will see a lot of plays in full view, so hopefully he might develop into one of your better thinkers. Be sure to teach him some of the fundamentals of playing catcher - they are relatively few at this level, but essential if he is to make some good plays that will build his confidence.

I always tell my kids (all of them) at the beginning of the season that they are going to learn how to play SMART baseball, and that because of that they are going to win some games even when they get outplayed physically. They don't really understand that at first, of course, but over the stretch of about a month they begin to catch on. And they love it, especially the physically weaker players - they discover a way to compete effectively against the more talented (but less mentally alert) players they have always feared or felt inferior to on the ball diamond.

Don't forget this about kids' baseball: Most games are not won; they are lost by the other side. Lost because they made more mental mistakes than the winning team. Teach your kids how to make fewer mental mistakes and you can afford more physical mistakes. First teach them how to avoid losing. Only then are they ready to start learning how to FORCE wins. If all they learn this season is a solid sense of how to avoid losing, you will have ACCOMPLISHED A LOT.

This question always comes up: HOW MANY different positions should a kid learn to play in a given season? My opinion is not very many. Sure it would be nice if every kid learned every position. But let's be realistic. EVERY position is complicated, there is just plain a lot to learn. And time is very limited. So I tend to concentrate on two positions for each kid. For the older kids, with longer attention spans, maybe three (or even four for the very most advanced). Any more than that spreads their attentions too thinly, and they don't learn ANY single position very well at all - they don't get themselves best prepared to do better next year.

I especially like the idea of one infield position, and one outfield position. One good example is third base and left field, because when well played at the youth level, those two positions form a "team within the team". Same might be said for shortstop and centerfield. And first base and right field, etc.

When, for example, you develop a rightfielder that knows how to back up first and second base, you start getting outs at first THROWN BY THAT OUTFIELDER, simply because he gets himself into position to cut off balls that got by the firstbaseman, rover or secondbaseman. Imagine the startled batter who gets thrown out by the alert RF'er who hustled into position behind the rover and grabbed an errant ball in time to throw for the out at first. Or picture the beauty of a RF'er who nabs a ball that's overthrown to first base and throws out a greedy batter/baserunner who tries to stretch the hit into a double after the overthrow. Those are examples of how outfielders can be taught to be your linebackers. It teaches them to think, it hugely builds their self-image, and it helps your team do well, all at the same time.

The outfielder behind a particular infielder has a great opportunity to watch how that infielder plays that position. Then later he has a better idea of how to get the job done when he himself moves into that position. So trading those two nearby positions back and forth makes sense to me. I've done it for years, and it works well.

In summary then, I say substitute a lot between games, but not as much within any one game. Especially after you have figured out where each player is most likely to find some real success. Teach your younger players how to play two positions reasonably well for their age, especially closely related positions in the infield and outfield. Don't expect any player to see real success at more than three - it's just too much for 98% of kids at this age. And it's not necessary for any really good reason I can think of.

There is one time you should definitely get your youngest/weaker players into positions where they would not normally start a game.  That is when the outcome of a particular game is no longer in doubt.  If you are very far ahead or behind, and there is only a very small number of innings left to play, that is the time you should get kids into positions they have indicated they would like to take a stab at, or positions that you would like them to start aspiring to.  Use the opportunity to put some of your strongest players on the bench, and get your strongest/weakest players on the field.

By following the guidelines above, my kids have a lot of fun. And it's the kind of fun that comes from learning something that will carry over into next year. They get that "feeling of accomplishment", and there's just nothing better or more important. It makes the hard work all worthwhile, and leaves them wanting more. Then you know you had a good season.

All of the above is my OPINION. You will develop your own opinions over the years that you coach and teach. But I really believe that if you give this method a real try, you will have more happy players, enthusiastic parents, and more success for your team. And along the way, you'll find ways to modify what you get from this philosophy to suit your own style of coaching and player development.
 

The 10 Unwritten Commandments of Baseball:

Thou shalt not swing at a 3-and-0 pitch when your team has a big lead.
Thou shalt not bunt to break up a no-hitter or to extend a hitting streak.
Thou shalt not bunt while holding a comfortable lead late in the game.
Thou shalt not steal a base in the late innings with a big lead.
Thou shalt not score from second base on a single with a big lead in the late innings.
Thou shalt not, when batting, look back at the catcher to determine pitch location.
Thou shalt not stand at home plate admiring your home run.
Thou shalt not aim above the waist when throwing at a batter.
Thou shalt not bring a bat onto the field during a brawl.
Thou shalt not kick an opposing player during a fight.
(Needless to say, of course, the last three have no place in youth baseball.)

Back to Table of Contents