Ive got a couple questions

Question
I've just completed my second full year of coaching baseball (2 springs and 2 fall seasons).  My son is 7 and has now really started to enjoy baseball (wants to play catch ALL THE TIME).  

Question 1:  How can I make our "catch sessions" as productive as possible (ie increase arm strength etc) while still keeping it fun?

Question 2:  Do you have any suggestions for literature on coaching young boys?

Thanks for you help

Jim

Answer
Jim,

Thanks for the questions and congratulations!  As far as I am concerned, you and I are having as much fun as is legal!  Coaching your son and other young boys and later, young men, is a true blessing.  It allows us to help improve their baseball skills and make a difference in their lives.

As far as turning throwing sessions into fun, there are many things you can do.  The biggest is to make a game out of it.  My son is 13, playing as a 14 year old. He is a pitcher so we have a weekly routine that we go through in regards to throwing.  Your son is a bit young yet to tab as a pitcher, but if he has good throwing mechanics, you may want to start thinking in that direction.  With my boy, we started the pitching work at 9.

I would try to play like an announcer and throw him fly balls and grounders and do the "play-by-play".  He would have to field the ball and make the throw accurately and within a 5 second count to "get the runner".  This worked on control and also starts to force your player to work under pressure. I still have kids on my select team that will tend to fold or at least tighten up under pressure.  Not my son at this point.

Long toss is key to building arm strength.  Start off throwing from warm up distance and then slowly move back farther and farther.  But it is key to keep your son throwing the ball on a line, not a big rainbow.  You want accuracy and control and a good hard throw on a line.  If he bounces it to you, that is fine.  With my son at 13 and a very strong arm as a pitcher and outfielder, we may reach our max long toss at about 180 feet. That is throwing it in the air on a line.  For your son, it may be 60 feet right now. But over time, it will build up arm strength, reduce possible soreness and injuries and build velocity and control.  He has to be throwing with the proper mechanics though!!

Anything you can think of to make it fun is great!!

As for literature. There are many great articles and books out there. I subscribe to several website newsletters: Webball, Baseball Excellence Tip of the Week, etc.  Do a web search on baseball tips and see what you find.  There are some great video series as well: Tom Emanski has great stuff.  Harold Reynolds new videos are excellent, Skills and Drills baseball by Dr. Bragg Stockton are a favorite of mine. Nolan Ryan has a great pitching book.  There is an ebook that I use called PitchingMaster. Hitting websites such as Batspeed.com and Beabetterhitter.com are great.

There are tons of great stuff out there, just do the search and read the stuff.  You will have to make some decisions as to the type of teaching you want to do, and you have to make it age appropriate.  What you will teach a group of 7 year olds will be lightyears of difference to what I will teach a group of 14 year olds who are all headed for major high school play.  You will only have 1-3 kids on a 7 year old city league team that will turn into serious ballplayers.  But teach them all, because you never know what might happen. Now if you are playing select ball, you will have several more kids who are serious and talented.

Just remember this, have FUN!  Try to make it as much fun as you can.  I tend to lose site of this sometimes and then something has to happen to bring me back to it. We have to teach these kids the right fundamentals, and teach them to respect and love the game. You should never allow a kid, coach or parent to try to show up another team, player, coach or umpire. Baseball is to rich in tradition and deserving of respect than to turn it into what a lot of little league coaches and especially parents turn it into to.  Love the game, love the kids and teach them to do the same.  Control your parents as well.  Sometimes that is the hard part.  

I am thinking about writing my own book in regards to instruction for youth players and also how to run a team in regards to practice, discipline, fundamentals and parents.  Let me know if you think that would be a good idea and I may get on it more seriously.

I hope this helps.  I have tons of info I have gotten from websearches, but part of the fun is actually doing the searching for yourself.

Play Ball!!

Mike Boss