Best youth baseball practice in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Best kids baseball practice. Station based. 

I Always tried to recruit as many dads or mom’s to help run practices. Even if they know nothing about baseball you can train them to help. All hands on deck!

+Mike L Mike, If you can try and recruit as many bodies with a pulse as possible it really helps. I know depending on your community it might be tough but they can be such a huge asset for timely practices. Not every parent can help out every practice but they're easy to train at most of the drills. You'd be surprised even the most uncoordinated dads can be a big help. Even if it's just picking up balls and equipment, it makes your life that much easier easier. Saves your back too!! I always felt that the more involved the parents became in my practices they could see how hard it was to coach and have a little more appreciation for what we do. Plus they can see how good or how poorly their own kid is......which takes some pressure off of you if they don't play that much! In addition the time these parents spend with you gives them a chance to buy into your system. They can be your biggest allies if your team goes into a slump and other non-participating parents start belly aching about the job you're doing. As an old timer now with my kids in high school/college...I reflect on the most important reasons to have these extra parents help you out which is..... that some day you'll be sitting in the stands at high school games together! It's some of these great times reminiscing about the good old days together coaching our kids when they were little that brings you all together as a community support system which ultimately just raises the property value of where we live! Good luck in the recruiting and this season! You have any questions feel free to email me back. Jeff

i second that.

One thing to is it doesn't have to always be dads. My first season coaching I had great assistants who were always there. The next season it was like pulling teeth, but then I found that some of the Mom's were willing. Even if they didn't start out feeling very comfortable, I was able to meet my drills with their skills and it worked out well. I don't say this to be sexist, but it's amazing how many coaches complain about not getting enough help, but they only are using half their resources.

You're so welcome my brother! I'm just thankful that we were able to pass it forward. The greatest good for the greatest number of little leaguers was always my purpose which it should be for all involved in youth sports. It is now your time to pass it forward as you're the next generation of volunteer dad coaches! You guys should make your own manager training videos. If you need suggestions I think I still remember things that could be helpful! Best times of your life are right now don't forget them!

Thanks for the thoughtful and inspiring response. I am going to put together a video in the same vein as yours showing a 10U practice plan that has worked for my rec team. I'd welcome any and all suggestions you might have! I'd love to read your thoughts on teaching our young players how to pitch and play the catcher position. It's impossible to have too much pitching and many of these players are learning the fundamentals. The catcher position is another that demands a lot of one on one time. Seeing players succeed at these most demanding and highly involved positions on the field is one of the most rewarding parts of the game. @@jefffisher123066

@@briangreen5641 I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve for those guys too. We’ll have to connect.

You’re welcome brother! You’re embarking on one of the hardest and greatest journeys of your life with your kid! Good luck!

Good luck as you embark on your journey! These can be the best memories of your life.

How did your season turn out? My first year coaching. First practice is this week 😅

There was one extra guy there that day to help out as it was a video for our league and I was a Board member who recruited him.....so in the spirit of full disclosure! But with that said a trick I learned was drafting kids that I knew their dads would help out or kids with hot moms that would attract dads to help out at practice!!! A big part of it was definitely our league and city where we are very fortunate to have lots of dads that want to help. Plus I always tried to schedule my practices around my work schedule which I knew was better for other dads who worked too. We have lights on one of our fields which I always took when the scheduling opened up...plus Sunday afternoons after church! All of those tactics help me get on average 5 dads every practice to help.....beers after practice didn't hurt either!!!

@@jefffisher123066 Kids with hot moms to get volunteer coaches LMAO!! That's is next level recruitment strategy brother...bravo!

@@jefffisher123066 control and prevention of the kids that we're gonna play for you

Awesome glad we could help! Good luck this season!

So glad we could help! You're enter the best years of your life with those little dudes! Have fun bud!

What do you do with them when they first show up? I think it’s pretty common for playing catch as they arrive--it’s kind of a “social” catch.

Practice makes perfect brother! Keep it up as you and the kids get used to it things will flow faster and faster.

Hope it’s helpful! Good luck this season.

Awesome hope it helps!

Max the reps! No rest for the weak! Tired kids equals less trouble at home! parents will love you!

That’s great to hear! So glad we could help.

Good luck have fun!!!

Awesome so glad we could help coach! I hear ya on the cages. We were so fortunate as our league invested in cages on most of our fields. You can hold an entire practice in a cage while sharing the field with another team. Good luck these season. Hope all the kids can get back after it soon!

Awesome brother! Keep up the good work! If my grown kids and a couple of old coaching buddies all can help me....I'm mulling around with the idea of finally making a hitting video. I've had lots of requests but just no extra time until now. Subscribe just in case!

Film don’t lie! Caught the little cheater just years late!

Good man No sudden movements. Just move slowly and not draw attention

This is the only video we made....but remember if you're coaching rec ball all the kids need to learn how to play the game and who knows what positions they will ultimately be playing when they get older so teach them all. I always found that asking the kids what positions they liked the best and had the most confidence at helped decide where they would play. You always want to put kids in the best position for them to experience success not failure. For example if you have a kid who not real fast or athletic it would be hard to put them up the middle (ss, 2B, CF) or if a kid was afraid of the ball you can't put them at C or 1B. Definitely have every kid try pitching as you'll always need arms with the pitch count rules. Everyone still has to play the infield for at least 1 inning too. If you got a couple guys that really want to play the same position have them compete for the job as competition is good. I always told kids I needed them to play certain positions as they gave us the best chance to win and they were the best at that position which made them feel good and important for the team's success. Learn your players and learn what motivates them to play their best!

Usually that’s what we do I just thought maybe there was a different method thanks coach

I’m retired so you young guys have to pick up where I’ve left off!!! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I always recruited as many dads to help out during practices as I could. Makes the dads feel good to participate and have some ownership in the team and quality time with their kid. I always felt that the more parents who bought into my system the greater the insurance policy of support I created in case we sucked! Plus always better to keep your friends close and the enemy closer!!!

Thinking the same…glad you have the support..I’m helping with 2 other guys try and rebuild our league after last years covid stuff..we have 4 teams and 5 guys to help with all of it…but definitely some good drills in here to help with keeping em busy and having fun while learning

@@TheJesse1515 these are some trying times in youth sports, I wish you guys all the best.

You guys should all work together and rotate stations together for a super fast practice and scrimmage at the end!

If I have time maybe this summer. Glad we can help.

Any advice or help with very novice players?

@@educ8life04 I always tried to find a spot for them in the field where they had the best chance of success and the least things for them to try and remember or practice on. If they can experience some success and help the team without a ton of pressure...it's a win win. You might have to take an assistant coach that can work with just simple skills half the practice just working one on one with these guys. It could take them more work and longer hours at simple things to bring them up to speed. Maybe it's just playing catch, throwing the ball, hitting....I'd give kids homework to study to help increase their baseball IQ. Have their parents work with them as much as possible too or big brother/sister. T-work and soft toss for hitting. playing catch with a tennis ball or hitting tennis balls to them for practice with the least chance of injury and fear. Whiffle balls too. Find or help them create at least one or two things they know they can do with confidence and you can count on. Hope that helps some.

We were restricted in our league by maximum weekly pitch counts so for us it was tricky. I'd have the pitchers and catchers at station while we were fielding (rotating them back and forth from the bullpen to the field as the kids played multiple positions. I'd tell the pitchers they had only so many pitches they could throw before sending them over...basically it was the max they threw minus the max for the week which I vaguely remember was 150-160 total. I'd tell them to go throw up to their weekly max than come back out here with the rest of the team. I'd have a dad in the pen with them watching. Our team rule was if you walk 2 in an inning or 4 in a game you're out which included Bullpen work. It just made them work harder and we had a rule so there we no arguments. We had the pitchers pitch simulated counts in the bullpen too so if they walked guys they were done. I also told all the dads if they wanted to catch their kids on extra days of their own they could but no more than 50 two days before games or no more than 25 one day before a game. this kinda of put responsibility on the dads and they were forced to see how good or how bad their kid actually pitched. We also let kids pitch to the team in the cages too....two hitters for a full count or 3-5 hitters starting with a two strike count! Great team competition!

Wow thanks for the thoughtful and detailed response. I appreciate this and it’s really helpful.

Enjoy! Hope it helps!

Tough situation brother. I’d definitely try to recruit a couple of dads just to run simple stations for you but worst case set up the stations some that kids can do on their own and ones where coaches must run. You guys could rotate around the stations to make sure the kids are running their drills for quality control. Also might have to put more kids in each group and just run less stations. We always adjusted our practices based up what skills we felt the kids needed depending on what happened in the last game we played. Practices should be run on gradients....as the kids mastered certain concepts or skills than you added more complex and more advanced concepts or situations on top of what was learned.

Please pass it on. We made it to help others.

We told the kids to do it on their own so it wouldn't take up practice time as we were limited.

Some districts require coach led stretching before practice and games. Check your district rules.

In my opinion it's better that you throw to the kids so they never get hit by your pitchers and become afraid of standing in the box, plus you'll hopefully throw more strikes and they'll get more reps hitting. I also feel that pitchers should learn to concentrate on throwing to a catcher's mit without the distractions of pitching to their teammates. It's all about the important reps so the more reps you can have kids practice their skills the better. Eliminate the dead time like all the old-timers used to have us do.....more reps with less distractions is the key.

@@jefffisher123066 Thank you so much for your reply! That makes a lot of sense to me. One more question if I may. We've got a rec team with several kids who don't have much, if any, pitching experience. Do you have any tips on teaching kids to pitch when we don't have a ton of time to work with them? Thanks again!

@@davidaglio8829 That’s actually a great problem to have as you’re only as good as you have arms to throw once in the play-offs....I’d always say! Start by asking your kids who really wants to pitch? Don’t waste time with a guy if his hearts not in it. Once you’ve narrowed it down a little than tell the last men standing...”I’ll let you pitch but only if you’re willing to do 2 things...one work with your dad outside of games and practices and second are you willing to compete for a job?” If they agree than each practice hold a short quick “pitching challenge” with these fringe guys. Have each guy get a chance to throw 3 strikes. The guy who throws 3 strikes with the least amount of total pitches wins. It’s an elimination contest. If guys tie you go into sudden death. Teaches the kids competition, throwing strikes, working under pressure and you’ll be able to see who’s willing to put in the extra work with their dad outside of your time. It’s a win win. The guys that really want it will rise to the top and those that don’t....don’t pitch.

@@jefffisher123066 Once again, a great reply. While we have limited time with the kids at practice, they can do work at home. I can give them some basic drills to work on. They will have to adjust to pitching off of a mound, but this will at least give them a chance to develop their mechanics. Thank you so much!

We😂3

I might have meant to write 20 min 5 min each... I think you're right! But if they need more work it could be 40 min 10 min each. You can dial it in anyway you want. Good catch!

Sorry brother it has been long since retired like me! It was one of the original models as I remember we had trouble getting replacement battery parts! It was a mule though...those bad boys if they still make em are great investments. Way easier than trying to hit flies on the dime to outfielders. We were very spoiled back than!

Sorry but I retired from coaching many moons ago! We only made one back than. We’ve always talked about making a hitting video but our kids grew up to fast! There’s an outside chance we’ll do it with the new dads on the Board. Thanks. Glad you liked it. Hope it helps!

Get out there with him. I started my son art 4 he's 7 years old and a beast right now, plus I'm getting ready to coach his team..

You can do the same types of stations maybe use tennis balls and wiffle balls so they get over the fear of hardballs. Have them practice catching those types of balls with their hands and no gloves too. Put targets up likes traffic cones or buckets to have them try and throw at them as games. Relay races with throwing in a straight line is good too. Make sure you start referring to the bases as numbers....1,2,3 and 4 so when you're yelling at them to throw the ball to a base they're know where. plus this helps with base running on getting them to go to and stop at a base when on the base paths. Lots of tee work for hitting and soft toss....how to set themselves up in the box when hitting by laying their bat down to the front of the plate and lining their front toe up to the bat. That's a tough age with lots of chaos my heart goes out to you brother! That's all I can think about besides just make it fun and always make drills a game of competition so they grow up loving the game!

@@jefffisher123066 thank you very much! I coach high school football so I love the organization of this. It’s weird coaching a sport you didn’t really play! Appreciate it.

@@harkenm You'll do great than! I coached both my guys at football and baseball. I basically used the stations for both sports. I tried to draft my football players on my baseball teams so they already knew how to follow orders and work hard. Plus we'd talk about football all year around and I could keep my linemen in shape so they'd make weight!!! My opinion is team chemistry was the most important thing.....if these guys learned to love each other like brothers they'd do anything to win for each other! Building trust... builds team. Good luck this year!

Honestly....no clue! Think they’re both the same. It was what my high school coaches always called it. Just like throwing the Javelin in the Olympics trying to bring your back/plant leg forward to throw....I’ve heard of the crow hope but not sure how they’re different. Remember I’m old and my high school coaches are now ancient!

@@jefffisher123066 well I’m almost 40 my old man is almost 70..and he has never heard of it either…just didn’t know if it was something we missed back in the day.

Fisher Traction ... I'm 50 and have spent a large portion of my life on the field whether it's playing or coaching. My first practice is tomorrow night and I decided to find a new drill to try and found my way to this video. I was taught and have always taught the crow hop and have never heard of the javelin throw. I haven't watched the video yet, I always check comments first they give you an indication of it's a good video or not I will be watching to see what the javelin is about

Fisher Traction ... Ok finished and it's a great video. From what I see the javelin is pretty much the same as the crow hop just a different name. I did learn an excellent tip on how to get the kids to keep their hands close to their body while swinging. The bat on the belly button to the fence trick. It's so simple and obvious yet I've never thought about it before. I'm stealing this whether you like it or not 😜😜😜

From that team most are either graduating from college this year or have one more year. One stud will more than likely be drafted this year. 3 played college football, 2 lacrosse in college, 1 soccer in college.....rest not sure but that was a pretty athletic team!

Thank you, They look sharp. Glad so many moved on. Hate to see talent wasted.

5-10 as time allows or depending on how bad the kids need work any given day. You can control that yourself depending on what you and your coaches decide needs priority. We were only allowed 1.5 hrs per day not sure how much time you guys have.

It doesn’t reduce forward momentum if done right. That’s one of the benefits of doing it is to gain momentum. I don’t think this is the age to teach it at though. Should just concentrate on making accurate throws first lol

No I’m done brother my kids are graduating from college now! It’s your turn, I’ve passed the baton!

@@jefffisher123066 okay, that’s great! Do you still have your zooka? 😃

Btw, you aren’t done yet. Grandkids soon enough. 🤣

@@dougp7934 gave my zooka to my buddy who had younger kids! I think he’s passed it on now too.

@@jefffisher123066 seems like a great device.

They paid me words per minute sorry!😂😂😂

@jefffisher123066 ya must of made a helluva killing. Now who play in minor AAA again..lol. good info been doing this for 50yrs coaching / park and rec director nice job. but get to the point. Lol

@@garysimone4977 lighten up gary

Why ???? Lol. ​@@ToledoMotocross

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope it helps coaches to teach kids more.

Jake Fisher I second that, Matt, but not just as a means to win. As an 8u machine pitch manager, I look at our players safety as our top priority (and that’s not to say coach fisher thinks any differently). With coach pitch or machine pitch those kids aren’t going to get hurt in the batters box, they’re going to get hurt when they wear a hot shot off the face on infield defense. My first focus was making sure they can at least defend themselves with their gloves. I don’t care if they record an out but I do care that they can at least protect themselves and get their glove in the way if it’s coming too hot for them to field cleanly. Kids playing first base have to be able to keep themselves safe too from throws coming at them. I won’t play a kid at third, first or especially the pitcher position unless I know they have the tools and ability to protect themselves. And when I’ve had kids playing those positions have focus issues on a given day I call timeout and make a change immediately. Don’t let another ball get delivered to the plate. Coach also makes a great point about positioning and moving every single time the ball is put in play. Some coaches want kids to experience every position on the field but you can’t learn all of the finer points of 9 different positions, particularly at that age, and be able to react on instinct in a game situation. We do need to get everyone time in the infield and outfield in our league, so I have two different platoons. Each kid plays the same infield and outfield positions and they play them with the same teammates to their left and right. From a competitive standpoint this also allows me the opportunity to mix and match skill levels so if I have a weaker 2B I’ll pair him with a stud in RF. When the 2B lets one go through his legs the RF will crash and come hot to get the 9-3 putout. But the kids learn their teammates strengths and weaknesses so they can either cover for or defer to their teammate as necessary. I usually work with 2 assistants at practice and I’ll give a word of caution about recruiting parents to help. RU-vid is a dangerous thing. Dads who have never taken a competitive swing can watch a couple hours of videos and then absolutely destroy their own kid’s swing. I learned early on not all help is good help if they aren’t ready and willing to emphasize what you want the kids to focus on or what skill a certain drill is developing. We had a dad try to change every single player’s swing on the team to mirror how his favorite MLB player (Anthony Rizzo) swings. That stance and swing works for him and he gets paid accordingly, but I can assure you it does not work for 6 year olds who are still learning how to hit a live pitch. I send out an outline via email a couple days before every practice to the assistants and get their opinions on what I think we should work on for that practice. The outline is very detailed, down to which stretches will be performed, and the clock time is highlighted so we can get in all of the work we need and stay on schedule. I’ll set alarms on my phone to go off at the transition points in the schedule and everyone involved knows exactly what we should be doing at all times. I also identify what to focus on in each drill, how the players should be communicating with one another etc, and encourage the assistants to make sure we get the kids some good exercise too. There’s nothing wrong with setting the expectation and making kids run no matter what age. The kids still have a blast at practice and don’t think about the running they had to do when they leave. When our team began it was tough for some of the parents to sit back and not intervene when I’d tell their 5 year old to take a lap because they were screwing off. Having fun is one thing, distracting others and creating a potentially dangerous situation is another. But now the kids know our behavioral expectations so we have to make them run for minor mistakes during practice (missing a cutoff for example) or on the rare occasion we catch them walking instead of hustling on and off the field. Anything to get them some more exercise now that we have them outside and away from their tablets/video games/laptops etc. Best of luck to all of my fellow coaches out there!

That's great bud! These can be the best or the worst years of your life depending on how you create them! Running well organized practices help to manufacture the best products come game day, which will make life so much easier for you and you players. Recruit as much help as you can. The more parents that help out at practices creates good team chemistry and lessons the load on everyone's shoulders! Good luck to you and your family. Keep up the research as knowledge is power...there are many great videos out there that can help you learn.

Thank you for your reply jefffisher123066 My son keeps missing the ball and swings too late (7yr old coach pitch league) What can I do to improve his timing and accuracy?

Invest in some whiffle balls.... big and small(golf ball size) plus tennis balls. I'd get 20 each. Watch some youtube videos on how to "Soft Toss" properly. You'll just sit on a bucket or take a knee in front of your son off to the side where he won't hit you with the balls as he hits them. When this drill is done properly you can work on his timing (load, step, hips rotate, swing & eyes on the ball at contact) over and over until his hands catch up to the ball. This is a great drill for the two of you as you'll learn his technical issues over time to help him and he'll improve as you can have him hit anytime anywhere in a safe environment. This is a great bonding time for you and him too. Look up soft toss drills and start working on it!

jefffisher123066 thank you i really appreciate it!

Matt G How old is the age group you coach?

Fisher Chiropractic Inc 7 & 8 y/o coach pitch.

Matt G yeah they are much older now lol

It teaches proper hip rotation when throwing

9 players are on the field to defend against the one hitter during the pitching/batting phase of the game.

Sorry just saw this! Teaches the kids to try and get their hands through first and have the majority of the bat length lag through the hitting zone to have the greatest chance of making contact with the ball. Think of it as if the ball were cut in half as it is coming towards you....you're trying to get them to hit the inside half of the ball. For more advanced hitters if they try and drive the ball to the opposite field and wait for the ball to get as close to the catcher's mit before they hit the ball(letting the ball get deep into the zone). All of these techniques are to help the kids learn to finish all the necessary techs of stepping, turning their hips, pulling the bat knob at the ball, keeping their head still and down while watching the ball hit the bat...all before pulling the bat barrel into the zone. I know it's lots of stuff but the sooner they start to learn it and we do as coaches the sooner it will be become natural and instinctive.