Play Baseball

Play Baseball

@playbaseball.bsky.social

Helping youth baseball coaches and parents with practice ideas and tips. Keep baseball fun and classy folks.

85 followers321 following198 posts

After games and practices - Clean the dugout. Rake and fill holes in the mound and batters boxes, and sprinkle with water if available. Show respect to the facilities being provided, and leave them better than you found them.

Good luck to all HS players that worked hard all off season. Try to keep your gains by lifting at least twice a week in season. Plus, you gotta eat. It's difficult with school, practices, and games, but you need to plan for snack and meals. If you lose 5 lbs, you may lose 2-3 mph on your FB

Let's remember that while football is militaristic, baseball is Zen. Baseball is legalistic. Baseball is civilized. Baseball is life, not death. Venezuela and Japan last night were great examples of this. So was the Italy vs USA embarrassment few days ago.

ℳatt@matttomic.bsky.social

Cal Raleigh:

The low outside pitch is the most difficult pitch for umpire to see correctly. On full count, 6" low &/or 6" outside is often called a strike. Why? Because the ump wasn't sure if it was a strike or ball, but he didn't want to award the batter for not swinging either. Crowd the plate on FC & swing

If you have a young P who throws gas and finishes with a step over toward the base (on glove side like Bob Gibson), please do not try to correct this for a "proper fielding position." He finishes with a step over because of good connected rotation.

Think about how often you see short throws go wrong, especially when thrown overhand. Short throws, ~45' or less, should mostly be either sidearm or underhand. For the player catching the ball, it is much easier to track and catch. Our brains have difficulty processing short overhand throws

Teach your outfielders to account for the wind. Remember the 5/15 rule. When wind is blowing out, every 5mph of wind adds around 15' of travel for a fly ball. Same goes for the wind blowing in. Adjust your positioning in the outfield accordingly.

When throwing bullpens, mix up the home plate distance by 2 feet, longer or shorter. This helps your pitchers learn to make quick adjustments to throw strikes. This will pay off later when they have to pitch on funky mounds.

I love to allow throwing sidearm at younger ages. Followed by explaining how a good sidearm, subby, 3/4, and over the top throw all look the same from the waist to one's head. If you stand tall and throw sidearm, you've dropped your elbow. A solid arm action with torso tilt is how good sidearm works

If you're a RHP, learn to throw from the far right side of the rubber (3B side). This used to be the norm, but now it is an oddity. Huge advantage over the RHH. Your perceived velo goes up, and the angle makes the hitter very uncomfortable.

Pitchers and catchers - at the start of every inning, both of you should be the first ones out. Get your warm-up throws done quickly. Make their first batter feel rushed, and give him less pitches to see while on deck. If he stands inside the home plate circle, do what you need to do 😉

If you're a high school coach, you need to ask yourself, "Would my players run through a wall for me and their teammates?" On championship programs, even the kids on the bench will run through the wall.

A few good cues for young pitchers: 1. Lead with your rear end 2. Let your catcher see your number on your back 3. When you're missing, adjust your sight point Many youth coaches teach a linear OTT style. It kills rotation & leads to pushy throws. Many kids naturally want to throw 3/4. Let them.

When coaching little guys, celebrate effort and grit. Not everyone can hit the ball to the fence, but everyone can battle at the plate, run hard to first base, and back-up their teammate.

Teach your players about the location of the sweet spot on the bat. It's around 6" in from the end of the barrel. Tap two bats together and you can feel it. Many youth players will hit off the tee with the last 3" of the barrel. Let's fix this.

As a team, being really good defensively at sure doubles, while preventing the triple, will help to win more games. On the youth level, practicing this is way more important than 1st and 3rds.

Not sure who said it first, but one of my favorite quotes is: "Baseball doesn't build character, but it does reveal it." This isn't just speaking to the players. It applies to organizations, coaches, and parents as well.

The best long toss program for youth players is simple. Hit fly balls to the outfield and have them try to throw it to home plate. This develops OF skills at the same time. Quick and smooth transfers become natural, the throws become athletic.

Learning how to catch the ball out front at an early age, one handed, is crucial. This is a difficult thing to correct later as habits develop. I teach that the ball should be hitting you in the breast on your glove arm side, or your face, if you didn't have your hand up to catch.

Play Baseball reposted

Not a fan of wrist flicks. I am a big fan of throwing Clean Fuego, Club K spinner, and white hockey pucks. Great way to teach keeping the index and middle fingers together, cutting the ball in half with middle finger and thumb, and aligning the spin with the arm slot.

Batting practice thrown firm underhand from 30 feet is way better than overhand when the kids are under 13 years old. When thrown overhand by an adult, the throw is too downhill, which contributes to loopy uphill swings. If you need to throw overhand, get down on old knee.

Play Baseball reposted

For all you baseball moms and dads, please remember a few things. The game is meant to be fun. Praise and reward effort, not accomplishments. Don't make excuses. Get your kid to practice on time, 10 minutes early is even better.

Play Baseball reposted

A good portion of baseball gloves come from Indonesia. Parents, be ready to pay 35%+ more for your kid's new glove.

Seth Abramson@sethabramson.bsky.social

Trade war on—recession coming. He slaughtered our economy. These price hikes on goods from... Cambodia: +49% Vietnam: +46% Bangladesh: +37% Thailand: +36% China: +34% Taiwan: +32% Indonesia: +32% Switzerland: +31% South Africa: +30% India: +26% South Korea: +25% Japan: +24% Malaysia: +24% EU: +20%

If you're a high school coach, you need to ask yourself, "Would my players run through a wall for me and their teammates?" On championship programs, even the kids on the bench will run through the wall.

Hot take - As a coach and/or volunteer, you should know how to mark the batters boxes correctly without a template or a 3' rake. (I've been known to grab the chalk pregame and re-layout the boxes after someone else's butcher job)

Of all the folks writing and posting about throwing a baseball, a few stand out. If you really want to understand how 100mph is accomplished mechanically, Paul Nyman's work is a good place to start. If you want to understand how to create a body that can do it, find Ben Brewster and Tread Athletics

Aggressive leadoffs and secondaries at 3B put pressure on the pitcher, and sometimes the catcher botches the back pick. Learn to be an aggressive baserunner when on 3B. Your normal 3B leadoff should match the distance that the 3rd baseman is off the bag

Pitchers and catchers - at the start of every inning, both of you should be the first ones out. Get your warm-up throws done quickly. Make their first batter feel rushed, and give him less pitches to see while on deck. If he stands inside the home plate circle, do what you need to do 😉

When throwing bullpens, mix up the home plate distance by 2 feet, longer or shorter. This helps your pitchers learn to make quick adjustments to throw strikes. This will pay off later when they have to pitch on funky mounds.