I once heard an amusing quote which was, “If someone ever says they miss the ‘good old days,’ tell them to turn off the air conditioning.” When most of us grew up there was no PlayStation, cable TV or Internet – things our kids take for granted today. Would any of us want to go [...]
Filed under: Parents and Children | 3 Comments »
By Tom Turner Support Does the player move with the game or do they pass and stand still? Young players should not be restricted in their movements on the field and moving “with the game” should become a natural extension of passing. Passing sequences involving two and three players should be encouraged and can be [...]
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By Dan Gazaway The single best way to improve your bat speed is to work on the sources of your power and bat speed as a hitter. Hitting a baseball well is nothing more than moving the right parts of the body at the right time. Once you understand what parts of your swing mechanics [...]
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By Dr. Patrick Cohn Coach Brian Gardner of St. Louis, Miss. has coached ice hockey for 10 years and even led one team of 11- to 12-year-olds to a national championship. Some of Gardner’s players’ parents drive for as long as 1.5 hours to get their kids to the ice rink. That’s a long time [...]
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You’ve all probably heard about Marlins All-star shortstop Hanley Ramirez getting benched for not hustling on a play where he made an error in the field. If you think it is bad, but haven’t yet seen the play, here it is. My guess is you’ll think it was even worse after watching. Hat’s off to [...]
Filed under: Sports World | 1 Comment »
(Because of some questions we’ve been asked recently here at CoachDeck, we’re re-printing an article first published in our newsletter last year. This article addresses the issue of pushing kids to play up with older kids in order to expose them to a higher level of competition). Should My Child Play Up? I’m in my [...]
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Giving players a pat on the back for a good performance is the easiest way to get the most out of them. If players can tell they’re making progress, and that improvement is rewarded often and enthusiastically, they can’t wait to come to practice to get more of it. Be generous in your praise without [...]
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Stan Ziomek, head of Amherst (MA) Little League, recently purchased CoachDecks for his league’s coaches. What we didn’t know was that Stan is an icon in Amherst and that his grandson, Kevin, is a projected early-round draft pick as a pitcher. Here is a fantastic article about Stan and his pride and joy.
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If you are a volunteer coach in any sport and any age and you are wondering how your performance will be graded, this article may provide you with some direction and peace of mind. http://www.coachdeck.com/articles/are-you-a-good-coach.asp
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Kids love games and they love to compete. If you keep these two things in mind as you work with your players, your practices will be filled with fun and excitement. For instance, a good coach will teach his players baserunning by having them line up behind home plate and encouraging them one by one [...]
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