Jamie Joy Feature

Organization, Multitasking Can Make Practice Productive

By Jamie Joy, Manager of Operations

As I write this article I am sitting here in a gymnasium watching my two boys play basketball. Now you might wonder what this has to do with baseball. Well, it has everything to do with coaching and how you can make practice the best it can possibly be.

There are more than 35 kids that attend this six-week basketball program that runs every Tuesday, Thursday, with games on Saturday.

Now my boys love sports. The youngest brother doesn't have the focus or drive that the older brother has, but because the practices are so well run he is having the time of his life. The players are broken into six squads with six players per squad. Now each squad starts off by working on the same fundamentals, then they break into six (6) specialized groups, where they focus more on honing their individual skills.

Again, what does this have to do with baseball? Well, what I want you to come away with after reading this story is a perspective on how to make practice fun, interactive and educational, while keeping everyone involved. As a coach you need to prepare for everything that you do, and that includes your team practice. I recommend breaking your team into four (4) squads of three (3). Here is a sample of what you can do for hitting followed by fielding:

Hitting (done simultaneously)

• Squad 1 - Soft Toss
• Squad 2 - Bunting
• Squad 3 - Live Hitting
• Squad 4 - Wiffle balls

Fielding (done simultaneously)

• Squad 1 - Fielding ground balls at SS throw home.
• Squad 2 - Fielding Fly balls all directions
• Squad 3 - Digging balls at 1b
• Squad 4 - Fielding ground balls in the OF