Orioles First Week

SNACKS? DONE (THANK YOU Lisa Mitchell!!!!)

We brought snacks/drinks for the team today as I forgot to ask if anyone wanted to take a few minutes to ask for volunteers. Since we have seven games left, the best way might be for one family to take drinks each week, and another to take snacks. No peanut or orange-based items due to allergies.

GAME 1 Wrap-up

The first week of fall ball is always a really tough one for players and families. Everyone rushes to get proper fitting cleats, new belts since we seem to lose one or two along the way since the last game of spring ball and I as a coach usually get only a partial schedule. Add to this, we have

only one practice and we are off to playing just two days later.

So, the moral of this story is if your boy is feeling a bit down after today - PLEASE tell him that I know that everyone tried their best and I am proud of the entire team.

We had several really good plays in the field - we caught several hard line drives, made several put outs and snagged a couple fly balls. I know we have some good arms on the mound, so as the season progresses, we will see everyone who wants to pitch get their chances. We also made some late inning noise with the bats, so I expect to see great improvement in our offense.

CATCHING DRILL:

Most kids seem very intimidated by the role of catcher, yet it is one of the most fun and certainly one of the two most active positions on the field. The main reason young kids don't want to catch is that they feel that they can't catch the ball. Yet most can! The reason it is hard is because they don't typically put them selves in a good receiving position. Here are two pictures of catchers in good positions. Notice that the feet are spread apart, the glove is out forward (not over the plate though) and that the bare hand is behind the foot or behind the bottom). I REALLY like the picture above as the hand behind the foot decreases the chances of an injured shoulder if they were to be hit by a foul ball on the bare hand side.

So, have your boy(s) practice getting into this position in front of a mirror or you. Tips: heels are apart at least 1.5 feet, toes point out, glove out front with a bent elbow, and the bare hand is hidden behind the leg.

What IS important is that by staying wide and low, the catcher can sway to their left or right to catch the ball. Use a rolled up sock indoors to have them track a ball left/right/up to get used to this position. (The sock will be used again below.)

THROWING DRILL

Throwing a baseball is an amazingly complex set of movements, that done right can send a ball on target and at a rather fast pace even when thrown by an eight year old. One of the most difficult part of coaching is in fact getting a young player to change the way they throw and make it "their natural motion." So, here again is an opportunity to help your player out.

I really like this drill because it to can be practiced indoors (use that balled up sock) and a long hallway. If doing this indoors, focus on mechanics, not how hard or accurate the throws are.

Each player kneels on the ground 10 yards apart facing each other. (Right handed players kneel on right knee with the left leg out in front, while left handed players kneel on left knee with the right leg out in front.)

The players throw the ball back and forth to each other for a desire time period. Then the players are moved apart another 5 yards, and they continue to throw back and forth to each other for an additional time period. The important parts of this drill are that the both the glove arm and throwing arm should be BENT (uh, not like in this picture!) The throwing arm must be bent, holding the ball up and away from the head. The glove arm really should be bent almost 90-degrees, pointing glove to the third baseman (right handers), the first baseman (left handers)

We will go over both of these drills on Friday, but it would be great if the boys are familiar with them before practice begins. The other areas we will work of Friday include batting and infield.

Really good mechanics here - Ball is pointed away, back elbow is bent, front elbow is bent, front foot is pointed directly at home plate and the pitchers' eyes are focused on the target.