Coaches' Practice Plan Page

A baseball coach has plenty to worry about throughout a baseball practice. Whether you are a youth league or college coach, there is still some element of time that is of major consideration. Today, the NCAA controls the amount of time that may be allotted to practice in each given week. Every youth league program also limits the amount of time that a given team may reserve the practice field. Therefore, time management is extremely important when it comes to conducting a quality practice.

A good practice plan utilizes every available minute to better prepare a team for game situations. If a practice is scheduled to start at five o'clock, then that practice should start at five. That doesn't mean the players show up between five and five-fifteen. To best maximize time, the players should report early. If the players are at the field twenty minutes early; then the running, stretching, and throwing can be completed prior to the start of practice. All of this is accomplished without compromising the actual time allotted to the practice itself.

The quality of a practice is directly related to the number and quality of coaches and players on the roster. A team with twenty players that like to goof around that only has one coach is in for a long, slow, and very unproductive practice. However, a team of twenty with a coaching staff of four can accomplish a lot within an hour time frame.

There are three major points of interest to address during a youth league practice. Those points are: hitting, pitching, and defense. Sure base running and conditioning are important, but if time is of importance you will need to prioritize your practice plan accordingly. Most often at the youth league level this means practicing most on hitting, pitching, and defense.

Lets assume that you have one hour to accomplish all of your practice goals. Instead of doing one thing at a time, orchestrate several things being done at once. A good example of this would be while conducting a batting practice also have your infielders and outfielders take balls "live" off the bat. You can hit them all the ground balls and fly balls you want, but nothing will accomplish as much for your players as seeing a ball come off a live bat.

Here is an example of a predetermined practice plan. Remember that this is to be used as an example or guide. Also, if your team needs more concentration in a particular area, then adjust the time recommendations accordingly.

Practice Plan

Take a round of infield. This will consist of fly balls and ground balls being hit to the outfielders. The outfielders will be asked to make a few throws to each base, while stressing the importance of hitting the cutoff man. The infielders will then handle ground balls while throwing to first. They should then be drilled on turning a double play at second base. All the while, catchers will also be able to thrown down to second base. This need not take a lot of time, but should be done both quickly and crisply. (Approx. time 15 minutes)

Batting Practice. Break up your team into manageable groups. A group of four or five seems to work well. The number of groups you have will determine how many "stations" there will be during a batting practice round. There are several possibilities to choose from. One group should be hitting on the field off a live arm. This is either a coach or player throwing batting practice. The object is for the batter to hit the ball hard somewhere. The object is NOT to strike out the batter. While this live batting practice is going on, a group should be on defense. This group could be infielders or outfielders. It would be best if they all were the same. This would create the opportunity for the outfielders to work on their communication, and the infielders could also learn to work as a unit. The other groups are to be assembled into drill stations. It depends on how many other groups you have as to the total number of stations. The goal is to have every batter doing something to get better. A very unproductive batting practice would be if all the fielders were in the filed while one batter hit. This creates the opportunity for horseplay. Also, there are several players standing around accomplishing little in terms of getting better. These other hitting stations would consist of Hitting Drills. There should be a timetable to follow with one minute in between stations to allow for a rotation. A generic rotation may consist of - batting live, defense, hitting drill station. There would be ten minutes at each station. (Approx. time 30 minutes)

Base running / Conditioning. Yes, baseball players need to be in good shape. They should run both distance and sprints. However, the team would benefit much more from conditioning specifically for a baseball game. This means instead of running ten, forty-yard sprints, they should run six times to first base and four times from home to second. This way the players are getting their legs and lungs in shape as well as drilling on the proper way to run the base paths. Batter / runners should drill on their routes to first base, turns at each base, and the techniques to advance from first to both third and home. (Approx. time 10 minutes)

This practice format would leave five minutes for announcements at the conclusion of practice. Note that pitching was not mentioned. During the batting practice routine, the pitchers should get their work in on the side. (Additional coaches permitting) Also during the batting practice round an extra player could hit fungos to the infielders. Again, the most important thing to remember is to have every player getting better all of the time. The above time schedule works if the players report early to stretch and warm up their arms prior to practice actually starting. This way when the team takes the field, the practice begins. If you are a coach that is fortunate enough not to have to worry about the length of a practice, then adjust the schedule to emphasize areas of particular need. Make a practice fun. The kids are there to better themselves, but there will be no improvement if it becomes work.

Be sure to see the Terms and Drills Page for additional ideas regarding batting drills. Also visit the Pitching and Defense Page to see additional related information.

Please email coach Ray with practice suggestions or comments !

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