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Coaching Tips
Practice can be, by definition, a chore. In order to perfect game-related skills, players must perform repetitive, sometimes mundane tasks in a quest to build muscle memory and skill. Even so, beware of making practice boring - players who dread practice won't get as much (or anything) out of it, will distract the rest of the team, and may even quit.
Come to practice with a plan. Before you practice, identify the areas you'd like your team to work on. If you don't have any idea what's going to happen in practice, chances are, the results won't be good... at the very least; you'll waste a lot of valuable time.
Stations are the gospel of practice. You should spend very little time with the entire team working on the same thing. Instead, break your team into three or four groups. Have one work on hitting, one work on ground balls, another work on relay throws, etc. After fifteen or twenty minutes, rotate the groups. This ensures that each player gets many more repetitions than they ever would have otherwise, and it breaks the monotony - by the time the player is used to doing one station, it's time to move to the next one. If you don't have enough coaches for this, ask for parental help. Tell them what to do, then go to the next station.
Be inventive, Turn drills into contests - give points to different teams within your squad, and watch the intensity level rise.
Don't underestimate the power of encouragement. Keep in mind that, as a coach, you are one of the most influential people your players will ever have in their lives. Don't fall into the trap of always criticizing failures without recognizing achievement and effort. If a kid is giving something there all, recognize that fact, even if they are failing. Support them, and they may amaze you and themselves with what they can do.
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