By Brian Gotta, President of Upstart Sports

While most kids this age are pretty limber by nature and don’t have much in the way of muscles to pull, it is always a good idea to get them to warm up their throwing arms before every game and practice, and to have them do some stretching exercises. I also recommend you start each practice and game with a short, medium paced jog out to centerfield and back. And though it is unusual to see muscle pulls and strains in six and seven year-olds, it is still a good idea to get them stretching at an early age if nothing more than for the good habits it forms for later. Besides, it’s fun to watch a group of six year-olds in a circle together trying to touch their toes and doing jumping-jacks.

​Brian Gotta is a former professional recreational youth baseball coach and volunteer Little League coach and board member. He is President of Help Kids Play, a collection of companies whose mission is to further the development and enjoyment of youth sports.

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 are in charge of creating the most bat speed, you can target those areas with some baseball hitting drills. This is the first part to a three part series of articles that will help explain the three sources of power to your baseball swing. I will provide a good drill for you to use below.

The first source of power to improve bat speed is your back side. It’s a combination of movement of your back knee, thigh and back hip. Before I get into how this movement works, I need to make sure you understand how to maximize this movement. Prior to the pitch, it’s necessary to shift some weight onto your back leg. This “load” process will allow you to rotate your backside with some force IF you have enough weight loaded up on your back leg. Hitters who avoid loading properly won’t have any pressure on their back leg and consequently won’t rotate their back knee, thigh, and hip properly.

Ok, now that you understand what a proper load is, I’ll explain how this rotation occurs. After the pitch is thrown, the hitter begins to rotate his back knee, thigh, and hip toward the pitch. Simply spinning the back leg in a circle without gaining any ground on the pitcher is not effective and will not produce power. All of your baseball hitting drills should focus on taking energy towards the pitch. A good way to make sure you are doing this correctly is to see if your knee cap is closer to the pitcher than before you started your swing.

One good drill to work on is to begin in a pre-loaded position with a batting tee set up in the strike zone. At about 70% of your full swing potential, take some swings working on rotating and taking your back knee towards the pitcher. Keep in mind that it’s absolutely vital to keep your front leg fairly straight when you are doing this movement. A front leg that bends will prevent any power from being transferred into the second step.

When working on your baseball hitting drills on your own, work as long you can remain focused. Once you lose your focus, you’ll lose the intent of what you are working on. Look for Part II in this series next issue.

Dan Gazaway, a seasoned High Performance Coach, is passionately dedicated to guiding student athletes towards excellence, both on and off the field. With an unwavering commitment to coaching spanning 23 years, Dan has been instrumental in helping athletes fuel their minds with confidence and belief in themselves. He takes time to understand every athletes unique needs, current mental makeup and implements correct strategies so they can perform at a much higher level in the shortest amount of time possible. Learn more at www.dangazaway.com

There are many different reasons, some better than others, that people get into coaching. Some do it for the love of sports and because they would like to share their knowledge with others. Some coach for more selfish reasons, because they want to make sure that their sons or daughters have as many advantages as possible. Others sign up for the first time because they see other coaches who are in so far over their heads that they’re sure they would be an improvement. And some people end up coaching because there are simply no other volunteers willing to take the job and they heroically “step up to the plate” and volunteer to carry the equipment bag to practices and games.

Whether you’re coaching for one of these reasons or a combination, whether you’ve ever coached before or not, and regardless of how many years and at what level you’ve played the game yourself, you’ve been given a great responsibility, opportunity, and privilege.

If any of this talk of “responsibility” makes you nervous, don’t let it. It’s mostly a lot of fun. And though there are some fundamentals you’ll want to know and teach to your team, its not that complicated. The four basic cornerstones to this season should be:
1. Keep it safe
2. Make it fun
3. Teach fundamentals
4. Make every player want to come back
That’s it. If you can keep those four goals in mind through every practice and game, you’ll have done a great job.

Brian Gotta is a former professional recreational youth baseball coach and volunteer Little League coach and board member. He is President of Help Kids Play, a collection of companies whose mission is to further the development and enjoyment of youth sports.

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 for parents to be alone with their kids after a game, says Gardner. Especially if they spend that time talking about the players’ performance.

“A lot of times, parents think more about their kids’ success than the whole team,” says Gardner. The result: They give too much instruction, which can undo Coach Gardner’s lessons and coaching system.

“At the least harmful level, the parents second-guess some of the systems we put in place, such as a power play system. They say ‘You should do this, not what Coach says,’” Gardner relates.

On a more harmful level, parents tell their kids that they played badly. Out of frustration, parents sometimes even suggest to kids they should consider giving up the sport.

This behavior, while well-meaning, is counter-productive to Coach Gardner’s efforts and not helpful for the players, he says.

What exactly is the best way to talk to a young athlete after a game?

First of all, it’s critical to support the coach. You’ll only confuse your child by disagreeing with the coach or offering counterproductive coaching.

Second, you need to encourage your child as often as possible. Even if your athlete’s team lost, you can find something positive to say about his or her attitude, effort or about two or three positive plays. As a sports parent, your goal is to build your child’s confidence—not tear it down.

During the car ride home, you should avoid discussions about what your child did wrong in the game. Young athletes know what they did wrong in a game and don’t need to dwell on it during the car ride home.

Let your athletes cool off after the game for 30 minutes to one hour before jumping in to discuss their performance. Let your child initiate the conversation rather than bringing up the missed pass that cost their team the win. Be as positive as possible.

Award winning parenting writer Lisa Cohn and Youth Sports Psychology expert Dr. Patrick Cohn are co-founders of The Ultimate Sports Parent. Pick up their free e-book, “Ten Tips to Improve Confidence and Success in Young Athletes” by visiting www.youthsportspsychology.com

By Brian Gotta, President of Upstart Sports

I’m a big stickler for safety when it comes to youth recreational sports. Small kids don’t always foresee the consequences of their actions and thus, need us adults to be sure they aren’t accidentally put in harm’s way. Of all sports, baseball has the potential to be the most dangerous without proper oversight.

I’ve seen T-ball coaches arrive at practice, lay down an open equipment bag, and turn away to talk to other parents while 6 year-old players pulled out bats and balls with no supervision. I’ve even watched games and practices at higher levels where you’d think the coach would know better, and helmets, balls and bats are strewn out all over the field or next to the backstop. Just because your equipment is “out of play” doesn’t mean it’s out of the way. Players chasing fly balls or overthrows aren’t always watching where they’re going. You don’t want a player to come down on a piece of equipment and twist or break an ankle. A good rule of thumb is that if a ball could be hit or thrown there, make sure no equipment is lying there.

Many coaches and managers don’t realize this either, but if a child is hurt on the field and any negligence, (such as equipment not properly stored), contributed to that injury, the coach or manager – not the league, could be responsible.

​Brian Gotta is a former professional recreational youth baseball coach and volunteer Little League coach and board member. He is President of Help Kids Play, a collection of companies whose mission is to further the development and enjoyment of youth sports.

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