OT: 4 Year Old T-ball coaching advice

[benatmsu]

So I'm braving the waters of coaching my son's 4 year old t-ball team. We have our first practice tomorrow and I'm trying to put a practice plan together so they're all engaged the entire time. Everything I see online seems a bit advanced as far as "drills" for t-ballers. These are 4 year olds... my kid is doing good just to not try to throw the ball using his glove.
Obviously we will spend 95% of practice working on bunting and working the count, as those are the most important things in baseball **, but other than that for the first practice I'm considering trying to just teach them the bases and the order you run them, then letting them all hit off the tee and take a trip around the bases...

Anybody had an experience - good or bad - with this age group? Things to avoid?

 

[olblue.sixpack]

So I'm braving the waters of coaching my son's 4 year old t-ball team. We have our first practice tomorrow and I'm trying to put a practice plan together so they're all engages the entire time. Everything I see online seems a bit advanced as far as "drills" for t-ballers. These are 4 year olds... my kid is doing good just to not try to throw the ball using his glove.
Obviously we will spend 95% of practice working on bunting and working the count, as those are the most important things in baseball **, but other than that for the first practice I'm considering trying to just teach them the bases and the order you run them, then letting them all hit off the tee and take a trip around the bases...

Anybody had an experience - good or bad - with this age group? Things to avoid?

Make sure somebody brings some really good snacks and nothing else will matter.

 

[8dog]

I never made it past 30 minutes.

Run the bases and make them
Yell out the base

Single file line. Roll them a grounder and have them throw it to first. Have 2 stations doing this

Put the bucket on top of the tee and have them try to throw it and hit the bucket. 2 stations

Hit off the tee into the fence. At least 2 stations

Seriously you cant have enough stations and you cannot keep it simple enough

End it with a race. Just straight ahead. If they race around the bases they all run into each other

Only rule i had was dont ever swing a bat unless a coach tells you too.

 

[klong-dog]

Had our first one (same age) this past Thurs. Tomorrow will be our second. Make sure they do not warm up, playing catch to one another. Not a good idea. (Busted faces) We started off getting in 2 groups and practiced with a coach rolling them the ball & how to stance and field a grounder. From there, we went to teaching them how to stand and hit from the tee & then running to 1st base. Haven't done much else yet. Probably cover more details on base running tomorrow. Of course letting each one of them hit, can take some time & bordem sets in, especially with the boys. You can take half of them to the OF and do some drills with them. More ground ball drills or balls to the fence, running to pick it up ect...

 

[coach66]

Finish up with 40, 40 yd dashes set

The tone*

 

[o_ThreeDawgNight]

I'm coaching for the first time this year. Check out www.littleleaguecoach.org. It's a gold mine!

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

Some time needs to be set aside to teach spitting, crotch digging and glove restrapping between swings.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Everytime you have a player get to second base

have him let go of a bag of butterflies.

The kids in the outfield will be out of the game.

Heck, they already are.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Cohen say bunting is key.

 

[patdog]

Obviously we will spend 95% of practice working on bunting and working the count, as those are the most important things in baseball **,

Sounds like you've already got it all covered. Seriously, 8dog's advice is real good. Just make it fun and keep them all doing something. If they're standing around waiting for their turn, they'll get real distracted real quick.

 

[Dogariffic]

Break up into small groups. Cycle through several fielding, throwing, running drills.Short drills. Let them all bat. Aside from snacks after practice and games they have the most fun hitting.
Short story. My last year to coach the least athletic kid with no hits all year hit a rope to center field. As he rounded third i sent him knowing it would be close. They missed the tag and his only hit was an HR. His single mother cried in the stands and kids carried him off. Last time i saw him and i still smile today.

 

[Palos verdes]

Wasn't T-ball invented in Starkville?

 

[Amadden0408]

Search YouTube for Kent Murphy. There are tons of very educational videos for first time coaches. Your welcome in advance.

 

[KurtRambis4]

I'd start em

out with a PFT. See how many pull-ups (dead-hang), push-ups, and sit-ups they can do (two minutes for each exercise). Then, have them run 2 miles, timed. Give the winner a break while the others have to do butterfly kicks until their core is destroyed. This will teach them a valuable lesson, that it pays to be a winner. That should cover day one.

 

[Dawgpile]

View attachment 1877

 

[amcdan2000]

I loved coaching my kids together. The outfield completely checks out and plays in the dirt except for one kid. He was always alert. If a ball actually made it to outfield, he would get it. he wouldnt throw it in and when the other players tried to take it, he punched them. Unfortunately they also had accept losing because coaches learned to bend the rules. They would have their kids get in the base path and sort of stall the runners. So you can always use that one. Enjoy it because it is a blast.

 

[EthelTheBulldog]

coached girls tball. they had to run the ball to first base cuz could not throw to first. Great times

 

[Shmuley]

Things to avoid: Parents. And social media. But mostly parents.

 

[Dogariffic]

Things to avoid: Parents. And social media. But mostly parents.

+1

 

[coastratdog]

1. Parents and coaches(dads) check your expectations at the gate b4 you enter the park.
2. This is a building process that will take several years to complete. 2/3' s of your team will not be playing ball in the 9th grade.
3. Do not place to the tee directly centered on home plate. You never hit a ball there. Place the tee just in front of the plate so the kids can get their arms extended.
4. Buy a bag of candy and after each practice talk to the kids about what the learned today. Then give them a piece of candy for doing a good job.
5. Have fun.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

1. Parents and coaches(dads) check your expectations at the gate b4 you enter the park.
2. This is a building process that will take several years to complete. 2/3' s of your team will not be playing ball in the 9th grade.
3. Do not place to the tee directly centered on home plate. You never hit a ball there. Place the tee just in front of the plate so the kids can get their arms extended.
4. Buy a bag of candy and after each practice talk to the kids about what the learned today. Then give them a piece of candy for doing a good job.
5. Have fun.

-1

1. nothing pleases a volunteer coach more than to be screamed at by the parent of a 4 year old because you aren't playing their son or daughter enough (or too much or wrong position).
2. most of these kids should be pros.
3. tee? we don't need no stinkin' tees.
4. make sure that candy is sugar free, gluten free, vegan... and if possible, make sure it is fair trade.


***

 

[Xenomorph]

Buy a couple of cheap tees. Spend most of the practice just teaching them how to stand at the plate and swing a bat (somewhat) properly or else you'll go entire games where everybody only gets to bat once because it took so long for each of their turns. Cycle them through quickly so they don't get bored.

Oh... and take a sharpie when you hand out uniforms... write every kids' name under the bill of his or her hat.

 

[benatmsu]

Great advice everybody. Thanks.

*

 

[dogmatic]

Your first impressions are correct

I'm a veteran kid coach with seven tours of duty working up with two kids from age 4. Your own realization that they're all 4 is the most valid advice in the thread, although there's lots of other good stuff.

* 8dog's bat rule is one I still apply. No on deck circle. Hang up all bats upon arrival at the field, both practices and games.
* They don't know where SS and 2B are or anything else, so I got some kickball bases from the sporting goods store and spray painted them different colors. Every time we'd take the field, especially during games, I'd throw these bases out where I wanted them to play and say, "Travis, purple; Sam, green; Walker, red; LaQuon, orange ..." and so on then, once they were there, I'd tell them, "This is short stop," etc. At this age, half the time during games is spent with the defense assing around trying to get into position.
* A few can throw and nobody can catch. Tell each infielder before every play where you want them to throw the ball. Maybe have 2B throw to first and everybody else throw to the pitcher.
* At this level, every kid bats every inning so, to make things make sense, I numbered my kids 1 through 12 or however many Park and Rec gives you, then I batted them in numerical order. Asking them what number they want as you call their parents for uniform sizes is asking for trouble.
* Plan to have one assistant manage the dugout and batting order every game. Draft somebody from the crowd if you have to.
* There might be two balls all year hit out of the infield but, to make what we were doing look something like baseball, I stuck a few defenders on the outfield grass every inning to get them out of the way and harped endlessly on each infielder to let his teammates play the balls hit to them. Their tendency is to play a tidal wave defense, all mobbing onto the ball playground style. You have to make them back each other's points like bird dog puppies.
* Use whiffle balls to begin teaching them how to catch. You'll find you draw a number of players who've never held a bat or put on a glove before they showed up at your first practice. This condition continues, in my experience, at least through 7-8 y-o baseball.
* The more assistants you can line up, the better.
* Somebody suggested finding Coach Kent Murphy on YouTube - I strongly endorse doing this to get yourself some comic relief.

Good luck.