There is a first for just about everything in life and whether you have kids playing little league baseball or not, you may come across your first opportunity to coach a team eventually. If you’re like most people, you’ll probably only want to take on such a job if you’re either a big fan of the sport or get the chance to teach your own child. Either way, though, you’ll also likely be interested in “hitting it out of the park” when it comes to doing a good job.
How do you know you’re doing a good job and becoming the best little league baseball coach you can be, though? A lot of it is opinion and an argument can be made that only your players can answer that for sure, but chances are if you try to follow a few of our tips, you’ll do okay:
Embrace the Hate
Hopefully you know when it goes too far, but there has to be a certain point to where you’ll let parents and kids express their own beliefs. Tearing you or other players down is never excusable, but you should always respect your players and their parents. With that being said, you definitely don’t always have to agree with them or give in to their demands. You’re the coach and this is your show, but if you let everyone feel like they’re being heard, and you go in knowing you can’t please everyone, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
Learn the Basics
This is especially true if you weren’t a player in your past or if you’ve never coached. Even if you had played and/or coached before, there are still going to be a lot of tidbits you can pick up along the way. But if you are a newbie at being the top guy for a little league baseball team, you should make sure you’re well informed. Researching the game, how to manage a team and strategies is just the tip of the iceberg. If you actually want to be successful in terms of winning games and developing your talent, you may want to enhance your research and preparation. After all, the better you prepare yourself and your players, the less our first tip may even come into play.
Get Ready Early
One of the big things when first starting out is to be so prepared that no one can even tell that this is your first year on the job. It’s going to be hard enough figuring out how to adjust your roster and strategies on the fly, so it’s a good idea to make sure there are very few (if any) unplanned obstacles that pop up and make your coaching life harder than it has to be.
This can be a number of things, ranging from ordering your team’s custom baseball uniforms on time, to getting connected with players and their parents, to knowing the league schedule and truly, the list can go on and on. It’s not always possible to knock out everything before the season starts or even before your first practice, but creating a checklist and narrowing it down as best as possible can only help you.
There is more to learn and know about becoming a good little league baseball coach, but starting with these three key tips will certainly point you in the right direction. In summary, if you want to be a good first year coach, you want to prepare to be challenged by players and parents, know what you’re doing and talking about when it comes to the sport in general and have all of your bases covered when it comes to everything the team needs to operate effectively.
If you get those three areas down before the season begins, you’ll be in a good spot to do well during your first season.
Got tips of your own for fresh little league baseball coaches? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
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Posted on: 21 Feb 2016, 18:30
Posted in: Little League
Author: Kevin Roberts
Tags: Little League Baseball, Coaching Tips
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