Lesson #3: Teach Mechanics at Practice & Let the Games Be Fun - Lessons from Coaching Youth Baseball

Hitting a baseball is accepted by many as the most challenging skill in sports. It’s cruel because even the most accomplished player, falls short most of the time. That’s why it is critical to let the kids play and allow the game be fun. Throughout the course of a game there might be an opportunity to teach the mental aspects of the game. Mechanics, though, should be taught and corrected at practice (unless, of course, there are safety concerns). We’ll cover pre-game, soft-toss, and cage work, which should be considered an extension of practice, in future lessons. When game time rolls around, let the players concentrate on what they have learned and try to put them in a position to succeed. Praise them on “keeping their head in the game”, attitude, hustle, and determination. Don’t be engrossed in the mistakes. Help the players get past the mistakes; help the players have a “short memory”. Most mistakes in baseball are obvious to the players and the fans. As a coach, create a mental note of the mistakes and work on the solutions in practice. Every player recognizes when they have made an error or struck-out. Pitchers do not need to be instructed to throw strikes. All pitchers desire to throw strikes; that’s what they are trying to do on every pitch.

Baseball depends heavily on something called muscle memory. The more mechanics are practiced, the more they become second nature. They become a part of the player’s muscle memory. Baseball players use repetition to hone their mechanics. Things happen so fast in baseball, a player will revert back to whatever mechanics are set in their muscle memory. That is why it is crucial to save mechanics for practice and fun for the games. The entirely worst time to be coaching mechanics is when a player is up to bat during a game. At that point, muscle memory is going to take over. If a coach or a parent tries to correct mechanics, it only distracts the player and ruins their concentration. I have had to control many a parent that tried to change mechanics while their son or daughter was at the plate during a game. I only try to convey positive expressions while a player is at the plate. My favorite phrase is “it only takes one”. It implies that out of a possibility of six, or more, pitches, it only takes one pitch to make contact and get a hit.

Players do an adequate job of punishing themselves after making a mistake at the plate or on the field. It is the coach’s job to keep a positive attitude. It is a coach’s duty to let them know that strike-outs and errors happen in baseball and all players have to have a short memory. Coaches need to be aware that baseball is very much a game of momentum. Skilled hitting and skilled fielding are contagious; mistakes are also contagious. The more a player dwells on past mistakes, the more they will be affected on future plays. It is critical to let the players play and have fun; if players are playing play not to make mistakes, then mistakes will happen and the fun will disappear.

This is the third lesson, of many, contained within the article "Lessons from a Youth Baseball Coach". Upcoming lessons will include planning, choosing the right glove and bat, fielding, base running, philosophy, and a myriad of baseball subjects. All of the lessons can be found at Baseball Armory – “The Baseball Blog”. Baseball Armory – “The Baseball Blog” is sponsored by Baseball Armory. Baseball Armory is an online store that contains quality Akadema baseball and softball gear. Akadema produces high quality softball and baseball equipment, including outfield and infield gloves, catcher’s mitts, metal and wood bats, cleats, turf shoes, batting gloves, sunglasses, apparel, equipment bags, glove care products, and miscellaneous baseball and softball accessories.