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For a coach, the first day of baseball practice is a chance to leave a lasting impression on your team and set the tone for the entire season. Players and parents have been anticipating the first day of practice for a long time, especially those who are new to the program. Speculation is about to end. What do you want parents and players to think after the first day? The first chance to get off to a positive start is to show you are organized. All the equipment should be ready and waiting. As much as possible, paperwork has been taken care of in advance. Practice starts at the exact moment it is scheduled to start, and practice segments are clearly following a plan. Maybe, if you are a veteran coach, you can fly by the seat of your pants. Most of us need to sit down and plan practice almost minute by minute. Visualize how you want the practice to go; write your plan down; post it in the bench or dugout area. Follow it! Your plan need not be complicated. It might simply read: Meet
Stretch/Run
Throw
Batting practice
Fielding Practice
Base running
Meet Add times, break your players into smaller groups, specify individual drills. There are hundreds of ways to make your plan more detailed, but the bottom line is: Organization equals credibility. It says, "I know what I'm doing, I have a plan, get with the program." Another impression you want to leave is that you are running an authoritarian democracy. Establish that you are in charge of this team. Be true to your values, and let them show right away. If you want players to completely focus on their work, then do not let them talk about anything except baseball during the drills. Be forceful in a non-derogatory way. Avoid using sarcasm. Establish your authority in a way that communicates fair toughness. Within that framework you can also be democratic. It is critical that you do not play favorites. Treat everyone as equally as you can. Give every hitter, regardless of ability, the same number of swings. (As a matter of fact, once the season starts it is a good idea to give your bench players MORE swings than the regulars. Little touches like that lead to team unity, because it shows that you care about each player.) Find something to praise about every player every day. For the coach who has a child on the team, these factors are of paramount important. Nothing erodes team unity faster than a parent giving a son or daughter preferential treatment. Finally, decide how you want to interact with parents. Be professional, be polite, but be careful. Many parents are looking for an "in" with you that they can parlay into playing time for their children. Make it clear that playing time, especially at older levels, will be determined by who wins the job in fair competition. Make it clear that you are giving up your social life/free time to coach their children and you expect the kids at every practice, and make it clear that positive participation in practice is a factor in playing time. Follow through on your philosophy. The first day, or first week, of practice is not the be-all and end-all of your season, but if you do not want to spend time undoing a bad start, think hard about the impression you want to leave when practice begins. Coach Mark is the owner of www.baseballbeforeweknewit.com, a blog talks about nothing but baseball. He has been coaching since 2008, read and watched tons of videos on how to bring out the best in the team and players.
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