December 2009
84 posts
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Summer Ball
Sometimes you hear people say if you are good enough coaches will find you. That can be true but you have to be out playing baseball where coaches are at. If you live in a small town and you are not near a college you have to understand college coaches find it hard to make it there and quite honestly they go to places that allows them to see many players at one time. What does this mean for...
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Be honest with your players
One thing I love about the coaches I have played for is whether the news was good or bad, they were honest with me. Your players need to believe in you and they need to know where you are at and where they stand as far as a depth chart. The most uneasy feeling a players has is heading to the field and having to guess if they are in or if they are out because the coach did not communicate with...
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Just Switch Spots: Catcher and Third Baseman
With a guy on first and nobody out we have a bunt situation, I think most of you know this. I often see the ball go down the third base line and the pitcher goes for it but cannot get to it and the catcher instinctively takes a few steps toward the ball, and of course the third baseman crashes in and makes the play leaving third base open. With all this action a lot of youth players will watch...
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Wow: I Found These Stories via ESPN.
The following stories are true and simply amazing. Every time you buy a ticket to a MLB game you can thank guys like this and the front office for the hefty price tag. What a joke, watch the game on TV and go catch a Little League game. Even though these stories are not exactly helpful to players or coaches they are entertaining and baffling, so I have put them here for entertainment purposes.
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Where Should I Be?: First Baseman
First base is the cut off on a few of plays and they have to learn how to position themselves in order to keep the ball from getting away or taking bad hops off the mound. First base is the cutoff man anytime there is a runner on second and there is a base hit to center or right field. First base is also the cutoff man if there is a runner on first and third and there is a fly ball hit to center...
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Use Your Imagination:
I put this post back to the front of the site because I feel it is one of the most important posts I have put up so far.
Get out in your yard and play some baseball. Turn your front yard into Tiger Stadium or your favorite park and imagine the cute old couple and their dog on the porch as 50,000 screaming fans and a crazy barking mascot. Once you get to the stadium (front yard) let the...
WatchDon’t buy a ticket
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Question from a reader: Keep them coming
Hey Sam what do you think about Bryce Harper the kid who hit a 570ft home run dropping out of high school and getting his GED. Making him eligible for the draft this summer?
Josh C.
My opinion on this situation is it proves where are standards are these days. I know you always hear the story of the high school drop out turned multimillionaire and it looks as though Bryce is going to be another...
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Tag Up Rule: For The Coaches
I was coaching a 15U summer travel team and many players were on varsity during the school year. We begin our season as soon as school ball ends, so we play our first tournament after 1 or 2 practices together. We use this time to take ground balls, work on cuts and relays, and bunt defense. What I should have worked on was tagging up.
We are in a tie game and we have a runner on third with 1...
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Where Should I Be Coach?: A series of posts...
We are going to talk about the shortstop and where he should be when the 3rd baseman is the cut. The third baseman is the cutoff man when there is a runner on second and there is a routine base hit to left field, or there is a runner on third and there is a fly ball into left field.
The shortstop should be covering third base even if there is only a runner on third, why? Because the hitter...
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One Tag All Tag
The tag up is something that is very important to the game of baseball and something I see that gets messed up all to often. Coaches tell players half way but if the guy is under the ball get back and give yourself a chance to tag. I think there are times you can completely change the rules of the tag up and doing these may help you by forcing the team to throw the ball around a little.
First...
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Matt Holliday vs Mark Texiera…Boras has lost...
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Jason Bay vs. Vladimir Guerrero
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Read This Post!!!
This is a comment left by Brad Mumma. It touches on some things I have said in earlier posts and fits well with what I try to teach kids and the message I want to get across on this blog. This is a very insightful comment, and kids Brad has been lucky enough to play pro ball over the course of 7 years and I will tell you he is one of the fiercest competitors I have played with.
Sam. I would...
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Believe and Achieve: 1 More Major step
If you can believe it you can achieve it, or if you can dream it you can do it…don’t stop there. See this is incomplete information and incomplete information leads people down the wrong path.
If your dream is to play Major League Baseball can you do it? sure ( it is hard as all get out but people make it). Problem is you can not stop at dreaming, I think this whole thing with the...
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Turning Negatives Into Positives.
Everyone talks about turning negatives into positives. This goes for the athletic fields to corporate America. People will tell you in an interview to make sure you list your weakness in a positive way, which I always find hilarious, because everyone does this in interviews and the employers know they are going to do it so it seems like someone should be creative and just say you know what I...
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Pre Game Warm Up: 4 Corners
This is a great drill do get kids used to getting the ball in and out of their clove. You can use the four corner drill with underhand flips and overhand throws. The drill works just like it sounds to start. For the underhand flips you put 8 kids in a group (two in each corner) and you have them flip the ball underhand to the left like. Use the form we talked about in earlier posts. The...
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Pre Game Drill: 1 of many
All too often I see kids standing around or sitting in the dug out before the game. As a coach especially with 14 year old kids or younger you really have to keep them moving and keep them into the game. Even better would be doing all of this and helping them learn.
The following drill allows two kids to work at once, they work on going back on the ball reading it and coming back in. Also, they...
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Hitting Drill: Pitch Recognition
Everyone will agree that recognizing the pitch is a huge part of hitting. There are a lot of things that come into play in order to recognize a pitch. You must keep your head as still as possible, be smooth and easy with your load, etc… This post is about finding the arm slot and seeing the ball early. I know as a young hitter I used to stare at the pitcher the entire time and I...
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Tomorrow's Posts
Hitting drills, practice ideas, pre game warm ups to keep kids moving. I may have a few more in there but those will be the main focus. I hope you are enjoying the site.
Have a wonderful evening.
Sam Flamont
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Use Your Imagination
Get out in your yard and play some baseball. Turn your front yard into Tiger Stadium or your favorite park and imagine the cute old couple and their dog on the porch as 50,000 screaming fans and a crazy barking mascot. Once you get to the stadium (front yard) let the games begin and have fun. We played from the front of the house all the way across the street and over the other sidewalk. We...
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Priority On Fly Balls And How To Call It
Communication on fly balls is extremely important. A fly ball should be caught so make sure you know who has priority over who.
On a fly ball in the infield the shortstop has priority on any ball he can get, unless someone is camped under it, you can take it.
Second base has priority over first base and pitcher on fly balls to the right side of the infield. Third base has priority over pitcher...
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Simple But Helpful
When you come in from the field after the third out is recorded you need to learn how to place your gloves as a unit. What does this mean? Infielders with infielders and outfielders with outfielders. Catchers take care of themselves and if your pitcher is hitting put his glove with the infielders, if not he will get it.
Why do we do this? Doing this allows the person who made the third out or...
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How To Store Your Glove
If you dig through a kids baseball bag you will see most kids just toss their glove in the bag and put all the other equipment on it. Please do not do this. Storing your glove like this will actually cause it to break down and become flimsy. This mean the top of the glove will bend excessively. I have actually witnessed line drives bend a certain brand of glove back and the ball has popped...
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Breaking In Your Glove
You have seen the excitement on a kids face when he gets his brand new baseball glove, it is awesome. Then comes the tedious job of breaking it in. I have witnessed numerous methods of people breaking in new gloves and there is only one that I like.
What Not To Do:
put a ball in your glove and put it under your mattress.
put a basebball in your glove and tie a belt around it (or any other...
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Reading The Ball As A Runner
This post is about the runner on third. If you can read the ball properly no matter where the infield is playing you will be able to score. What we are going to talk about is a big hop off the bat. Remember we are aggressive in the first place, having this mindset will help this play. What you are looking for is a big hop off the bat. If the infield or corners are in you can score no matter...
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Cut Off Communication
We will talk about proper terms which I assume most people know.
Cut, Hold, Two, Three, Four. You say Four for home because saying home sounds too much like hold and can confuse the cut guy. Two=second base and Three=third base.
Some coaches want the guy at the base to line up the cut guy and other coaches think the cut man should be able to line himself up with more accuracy with a few quick...
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Trick Play: A good laugh if nothing else.
Before you read this be sure you know this play is illegal. It will not get you thrown out but if you get caught your runner will surely be out. If you do not get caught you will score two runs with the ball never leaving the infield. Also, if it does not work out you are going to get doubled off. This play has high risk/reward and should not be used by the faint of heart. There are slight...
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Know The Arm Strength Of The Outfielders
As a coach one thing I notice all the is the cut man goes too far into the outfield. We will use the scenario of a base hit to right field with a guy on first. The shortstop is the cut for this particular play and the second baseman should cover the base. The throw from the outfielder should go toward third base and the shortstop must know the arm strength or he will get to close to him. What...
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Stretching
Stretching is something some players do a lot, some players do a little, and some just don’t do it. If you look around the internet you will see places that tell you stretching prevents injury, other sites will say it does not prevent injury, and then another place will say the results are inconclusive. I have never read anywhere that said stretching will hurt you or will cause you to...
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Picking Up Your Coach: Sure Double
When you are young you are taught to listen and look for your coaches. This is very true especially if you hit a ball to right field that will surely be a double and possibly a triple. The rule when running bases is any ball in front of you means you have to decide if you can make it to third or if you should pull up for a double. You know your speed you can see the ball and you should be able...
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Stealing Third: Lead plus Momentum
In Baseball third base is the easiest base to steal. I know that it is a bold statement but if it is done properly stealing third is much easier than second base. Why? Because you have a moving lead so your momentum is already going to the bag. Yeah I know the throw is shorter but if you pick your spots and get a good lead and momentum you should be very successful at stealing third base.
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Holding Runners On First: Pitchers
As a pitcher the one thing you want to avoid is having runners on base due to having to leave the wind up and going into the stretch. Also, runners on base distract a pitcher from the task of getting a hitter out. As you know runners getting on base is unavoidable, this is going to happen so instead of worrying about it try and get better at holding runners on without paying too much attention...
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Holding A Runner On Second
Holding a runner on second is important for a few reasons. One being third base is a pretty easy base to steal if the runner has a good lead and momentum (for a later post), also you want to give your outfielders a shot to throw the runner out at home on a base hit. Who holds the runner on? This is purely situational, at lower levels coaches usually say if a lefty is up then shortstop holds the...
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Holding Runners On Third: Do Not Do It
For all you youth coaches and players out there Please understand you do not hold a runner on third base. This drives me bonkers, I actually coach kids from other teams while i am in the third base coaches box who are holding runners on. I tell them not to do it and they say, Why not? The purpose of holding a runner on is to keep him from stealing, keep him close in case a ground ball is hit...
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Infield Drill: Teach Kids To Read Hops
The biggest thing as an infielder is being able to read the ball off the bat and get a good hop. As an infielder you are looking to get a short hop or a long hop. This means you catch the ball just as it hits the ground and bounces back up or you get a nice soft big hop that is easy to field. What you don’t want in an in between hop, this is where the ball is on the way up and is about...
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Brad Mumma Comments On The Wood Bat
Sam, everyone, EVERYONE needs to hear what you said about wood. Implement it in your training. The wood bat fad as I call it is spreading like an epidemic. People hear what you say and completely twist it. I love every word you wrote. I’m a huge fan of using it as a strengthening tool, and a training tool, but can you believe there are 8U and 10U wood bat leagues. These kids can hardly get...
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Pick The Proper Glove Size
For some reason I have seen a trend of middle infielders using tiny (10-10.5) gloves. I think most of it comes down to looks but it just does not make sense. The ball needs to go into the glove, therefore the glove should be an appropriate size for the position you play. Middle infielders should use no smaller than an 11 inch glove and I would prefer shortstops to use an 11.5 to 11.75 inch...
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Frustrations Of The Game
With baseball comes many frustrations and it is very easy to get down on yourself if you forget how hard this game actually is. Remember 3-10 is hall of fame numbers, I know you have heard that but you have to remember it. The frustration I am going to talk about is hitting line drive after line drive and getting out time after time.
This is something that bugs every player and it happens to...
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Positive Glove Action: Problem and Solution
Something I see all the time with players and especially young players is pulling off or away from the ground ball when it is bouncing and the ball ends up going through the players legs. Positive glove action goes along with moving through the ball but this post deals with short hops and unexpected hops.
When the ball is hit and the player is making their original read to set up and field the...
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What College Coaches Look For
College coaches want to know what kind of student you are, how you act off the field or your overall character, and what are your physical capabilities on the field. There are different ways a coach can come about this information and coaches find out all three areas in different orders but all three are of equal importance. Academically a coach needs to make sure you meet the minimum...
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Weighted Ball: Watch out!!
More Insight from Brad Mumma. Thanks again Brad, keep ‘em coming.
“Try to stay away from weighted balls. Keep in mind this is just my opinion, but the normal throwing motion with a 5 oz. ball(normal ball) does plenty of damage on our shoulder/elbow. Long toss and hard work in the gym will increase arm strength plenty. I don’t like weighted balls”!!!
I second that motion,...
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Products I Have Found That May Be Useful
As I was scouring the web today looking for useful baseball and softball products I came across two different products that I think may be useful. Both of the products are Tees, as you know I love tees so this should come as no surprise to you.
The first tee I found was at 21stcenturybattingtees.com. This tee is pretty impressive and with shipping and handling it cost around $60.00 (High for a...
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Keeping Score 101
I think all baseball fans should know how to keep score, as a matter of fact it should be a prerequisite to becoming an actual fan and you should have to take a test on keeping book. If you pass you get an official baseball fan badge. I touched on the importance of keeping score in a previous post so here I am going to give you the very basics.
First of all you have to know the positions by...
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Being Versatile
More From Brad Mumma:
“I love this. You need to be versatile. Often the best players on any level are players up the middle. When you go to higher levels you need the versatility of being able to play elsewhere. If you are a stud SS and you make varsity as a sophomore in HS, but your team has a great senior SS you might need to play 2nd or 3rd or even left or right. I recommend all the...
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Stats Do Not Lie
“As a parent, the easiest way to truly see the situation is to learn to keep book. Stats don’t lie”.
The above comment was left by a reader. The comment was in response to “Kids know the Truth”.
I totally agree with the reader and I am going to tell you why. Keeping a book not only tells you what the player did during the game as far as at bats, fielding, and...
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Kids Know The Truth: Why Can't Parents See It
You have seen it before, the irate parent who thinks his kid is the superstar and if you haven’t you either don’t go near a field or you live in a place I would love to move to. What I don’t understand is why kids understand and know who deserves to play but parents just can’t face the facts. I am not saying the kids like to sit the bench but they all know who the best...
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Since when did a K become OK
It seems that in baseball today everyone is OK with players striking out 100+ times a season. I don’t understand when this happened and I don’t like it. Growing up striking out was embarrassing, you were not afraid of it but you surely didn’t just brush it off like players to today. Lead off guys with 100 K’s, really this is absurd and frustrating. Baseball needs...
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Get Out And Play: Off The Porch
I am going to do a series of posts regarding kids simply getting outside and playing baseball. Playing is going to consist of many different activities, some which will be actual baseball games and other that my friends and I made up or learned from the older kids.
Today we are going to talk about a game we play called “Off The Porch”. This game was amazingly simple and it was also...
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Baseball Around The Clock: In The Press
Click on the link below to read the next post. This article is from a while ago but I still have these same beliefs, these views and opinions are what make some people like me and some not want to see me, and I am perfectly OK with that.
By the way don’t call the number at the bottom that is an old number and I no longer have that line.
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