It all starts at McDonald's

I have been bless over the last 15 years to coach baseball at some of the highest level in the high school and youth travel teams. This past weekend I had the great honor and privilege to watch a coach help a young 9 year old boy learn to hit. 

It all starts at McDonald's 

I have never really worked with very young kids before and when I did......well lets just say there were some tears.   When I coach a kid one on one or when he comes to play for one of my elite teams he has been taught all the basics of the game.  They already know how to swing the bat, throw the ball, and catch, now I just take them and fine tune all that basic knowledge.  Until this weekend I never really thought about the coaches that spend hours with this kids when they are 5,6,7,8,and 9 years old.  Those coaches that don't do it for the money or the glory but for the love of the game.  They have a heart to teach these young boys to enjoy the game and to have a passion to learn more about it.   This coach that I saw started out the lesson tell the young player lets go to McDonald's...I was in awe by the words and phrases that he used to help this young player develop a swing in an one hour lesson.  Asking the boy to take off his shoes to show him where the balls of his feet are, asking him to knock on the door and asking him which knuckles he used, and many more simple techniques to help the young boy learn the basics of a great swing.

I just want to say THANK YOU to Coach Jaime Arredondo and all those coaches that spend hours at the ball field trying to get young kids better and teaching them to enjoy the game.   Any success that I have had is direct result of your teaching the game of baseball and making the game fun...again thank you.


Coach V

Picking Players for a Developmental Team

Picking Players for a Developmental Team

Developmental teams can be played at a lot of different competition levels.   I have heard from every developmental team that I have worked with that this main goal is to teach the boys the game of baseball with true fundamentals and solid coaching.   I always hear from those coaches that Winning is not important for the developmental team.....I understand were these coaches are coming from but we all know that winning is a lot more fun then losing and nobody puts a team together for them to lose.  When I coach a developmental team, I tell the parents that winning will be a by-product of a good developmental team and it will take some time.  For me and my experiences it takes about 18 to 24 months to see a winning team (winning 85% of games)

Our main focus is to develop players and winning will coming.   

COACHES - 
Coaches when it coming time to picking players for this type of team the most important criteria are great PARENTS.   Due to the fact that winning will not come easy at first you are going to need parents that understand what the mission of the team is and will be with you for the long haul.   As a coach it is up to you to really pick players that you feel will be willing to change.  Whenever I run a tryout for a team like this I talk to the players that I am interested in and will give him some type of coaching tip in the middle of the tryout.  If the kid is able to try my way that is a plus in my evaluation, but if he doesn't even try to put into practice what I have shown him it is a negative in my book.  Again, look for kids that are within your competition level as you don't want to get that one kid that is so much better then everyone else or that kid that you feel is the one project kid.   It is much easier to have a group of kids all around the same level.  You must be like to kids and be willing to do what it takes to make you a better coach.  You need to get with local high school or college coaches and learn what they believe and teach.  You would be surprised how much information you could get with a 30 minute meeting with a high school coach.  Read books and find place on the internet that can help you become a better coach.

PARENTS -
Parents the key to picking the right place for your son to develop is finding a coach that cares about see the kids get better.  I have seen some great developmental team coaches that have never played a college inning in their life but make great little league coaches.  They are great because the want to see the kids become the best they can.   Look for a coach that has a proven track record with developmental teams.  Most great coaches within the developmental team love to build teams year after year.  Look for a coach that is like the players and always trying to better himself.