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YOUTH BASEBALL IS NOT BEING OUTSOURCED-IT'S STILL UP TO YOU!

Youth baseball is the best sport in America. There will be people who argue this for sure. Well, there's no need to argue. I want to help you become a great youth baseball coach. I wanted to create a site that is noncompetitive, and informational. At this site anyone can address issues that arise from being part of a sometimes very competitive atmosphere of youth baseball. My main experience is with youth baseball. I do enjoy watching and coaching other youth sports.

Some interpersonal issues are part of any youth sport. It is the area of sportsmanship that needs help in youth baseball. Travel baseball in particular could use a good dose of sportsmanship training. I don't claim to be the guru of any sport, or expert in human relationships. I've had failures, and have done the wrong thing in relationships regarding youth sports, with my wife for sure, coaches for sure, other parents, and of course my child.

My desire is that I can share my experience with you so that you and your family and child to enjoy youth baseball. If I can help you avoid any of the pitfalls I have fallen into, I will have accomplished my goal.

On our site there will be no direct criticizing of others methods of coaching or training. There will be no claims of being number one. In my opinion, no one has all the answers to helping your family maximize their journey through youth sports.

I would like my site to be a place for someone to come with their issues, and feel that they will get some good solid the options to look into. I may not know the answer, but I will explore my entire network of people to give you and your family some avenue to investigate.

Sports are very emotional by nature. My hope is that we can show our young men and women how to savor and hold on to their experiences in sports, and use them outside sports. Sports are just the icing on the cake of life, and can be gone in an instant. So let's give ourselves, and those around us, the best chance to have fond memories of our journey through youth baseball.

Here are some SECRETS on how to COACH YOUTH BASEBALL

To be an effective fun youth baseball coach you should be a builder. No player likes to be shown up in front of his peers. Here are some timeless tips for players and coaches to keep the mental edge needed to make it through an entire season having fun and learning no matter what your record may be.

COMPETITION

You must welcome competition, your team will not improve by winning every game against weaker teams. You should step up to play teams better than yours. You will find out a lot about you and your players by defeat as well as victory. If you are to play to your full potential, you must be willing to put out just a little more. That willingness to put out a little more in youth baseball often makes the difference. As a youth baseball coach, you should encourage your players to let it all out at times and take some chances to make that special play. Hopefully your players will not feel that making a mistake will prevent them from really going for it. Which leads us to the next baseball and life tip.

COURAGE

To become an outstanding youth baseball player, hitter, pitcher, or base runner, you must have the ability to bounce back from defeat and bounce back to victory.

Develop a fighting spirit that takes you through difficulty and discouragement. As a youth baseball player you must keep your chin high because hitting a baseball is tough business, you will go hitless some times. You make get knocked out of a game as a pitcher. Just remember, the player who refuses to be beaten is tough to beat. We are talking about our competitive spirit here, not just any single game.

SELF-DISCIPLINE

Live clean and take good care of your body with good eating and sleeping habits. Youth baseball coaches will need to lead by example here and remind players to get the rest they need. Encourage healthy snacks and lots of water or low sugar type drinks. Also help team to stay positive no matter what happens, that may be your biggest value to your baseball team.

SPORTSMANSHIP

This is a forgotten area in youth baseball. Coaches think that they are playing in the finals of the little league world series every game. Please do more than just give lip service to sportsmanship, be an example, read up on it. Be respectful to umps, opposing players, coaches, fans, and parents. Remember it's still just a game, even if it is travel baseball. It may be the little league finals or a big tournament game. It is not that important. Please treat everyone with respect even if they don't seem to deserve it. Remember, your players are watching you; you are the example they get day in and day out.

CONFIDENCE

You must have confidence in yourself, a positive feeling that you can do it. You must posses a mental attitude that says I can do it. Give that attitude to your teammates by always being positive with them also, encouraging them to focus, and helping them stay positive if they hit a rough spot.

As a youth baseball player your talent will not develop properly unless you are willing to work hard. There is a price to pay FOR HARD WORK; we might have to give up some of our free time. As a youth baseball player, you have to learn to work hard and do plenty of it,and hustle at all times

Everyone on the team, including the coaches, must be willing to trade sweat, effort, an sacrifice for success.

Youth Baseball Bats-Here's some for finding the right one.

Here is an article on youth baseball bats I found while surfing the net. It brings to light how parents will spend money rather than time and effort on hitting. I know that the parent is not the one doing the hitting, but I'm responsible doing all I can to inspire the player to work. Sometimes kids don't want to go to hitting instruction, for example. I get them there somehow and they have a positive experience.

Don't be fooled into thinking that a 300 dollar bat will make a great hitter out of your child without working for it. If you followed the best hitters around you would see that most of them work hard at it.

Avoid "The Golfer Syndrome" When Choosing a Bat for Your Child

Authored by; Randy Dykstra, Coach and Parent

I've been in baseball quite some time and I'm also an engineer. I've become a staunch opponent to what I call the "golfer" syndrome in baseball lately.

Many golfers are too busy or lazy (or old) to work on their game so many believe that they can go and purchase the latest greatest technology to improve their game. Super fiber shafts with lowest possible CGs and computer aided lofts with over-sized heads costing hundreds of dollars per club.P/p>

Well IMHO youth baseball has been going the way of golf. Parents want what is best for their child and they figure a better bat will make a better hitter... They want to try "making" their son into a ball player with money because it is too difficult the real way (too much time and effort required). Some published studies came out in the early 90s that claimed "Lighter is better" for baseball bats and now you can't find anything with a smaller differential than -8...for youth bats. I have a problem with those studies; they just took the physical components of bat and ball and didn't apply the kinesiology aspects of the human body. As an example, if a batter was using a 20 oz. bat and switch to one an ounce lighter doesn't mean player will be able to swing it 5% faster... Nor fast enough to compensate for loss of momentum due to the 5% loss of mass... It is not a simple linear relationship.

As a coach I only notice small differences in the various bats and then usually only when the top strong hitters use them. The differences I'm talking about are maybe 5% to 10% between the new "techno" models and an a old CU31 bat.... and NOT even a fraction of a percent between this year's "Super-Duper" model and last year's High priced "wonder" bat (now on clearance for 50% off).

My recommendation is to buy the heaviest bat your son can still swing with speed. (This may take experimenting to determine) Depending on his size/strength, (also check league affiliation...Little League can only have 2 1/4 in. diameters) I would estimate a 10 year old is around 29 to 31 and at most 32 inches and -7 to -10 oz from that length. My oldest son used a 30/23 bat as a ten year old... (Travel ball) and my youngest used a 30/22. By 12 years old my oldest was using a 32/25 and youngest son a 31/24. Both of my sons are considered top hitters, and I never spent more than about $100 for a bat, but then again the money I saved has gone into hitting lessons.

In conclusion, top colleges are now, recruiting my oldest son who is top hitter. And in High School and college, all I've said above is magnified because the bats HAVE TO BE BESR rated. That means every model of bat is tested using a machine to see how fast the ball will travel after it has been hit by that particular bat. A bat cannot be BESR certified if it hits a ball ABOVE a maximum allowed "EXIT Speed". Thus for performance sake (ball exit speed), you can figure that all BESR bats are "CREATED EQUAL" and it's just the durability or "balance and feel" or the "paint job" that differentiates them.

Editors Note: If you are wondering what the author meant by the negative number (minus 8 for example) it is the length of the baseball bat subtracted from the weight. For instance, a 28 inch bat that weighed 20 ounces would be a minus 8 drop baseball bat. High school players generally must use a minus 3 drop bat. So as your players gets older, they should work on building strength to drop that high number to a lower one. A high drop number usually means more bat speed. This great is for younger players, but dangerous as players get older and stronger.

I hope you found some help here. Don't hesitate to ask for help by emailing me at chiplemin2@yahoo.com. If I don't know, we will find you an answer.

Thanks Coach Chip

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