The Alligator Drill

A coworker of mine told me about a drill he used when he coached. It's called the alligator drill. It is supposed to help infielders field a ground ball with 2 hands. Essentially, the fielder will have the glove to the ground and bring the throwing hand down (like the top of an alligator's mouth) to secure the ball. We tried it out in our last practice and the kids loved it. I even started giving out points when a kid successfully secured a grounder in the glove. You may hear me on the field rolling grounders and yelling, "gobble it up". I finding the more fun you can make the drills the quicker the kids take to them.

I've done a little searching on the web and have found these other references to the Alligator Drill.

Stiggy's Infield Drills
This site give a very procedural approach to the drills.
http://www.stiggys.com/drills-infield.asp

Little League Drills & Strategies
Google books exposes a very detailed description of "The Alligator Drill"
Google Books Link

Coach Jim's Fielding Drills
On this page he outlines 2 variations of the Alligator drill. The second variation requires the coach to throw a bouncing grounder and the kid to lift his glove from the ground to secure it in the glove.
http://www.coachjim.250x.com/fieldingtips.htm

Alligator Scarecrow
Here is a video of softball players performing the alligator technique. They also have added the scarecrow position to emphasis a good throwing position.
Alligator Video

Game 2 vs Yankees

In today's game against the Yankees we had some positive improvement on the field. In this blog I will go over some key observations of things that are starting to come around and what still needs a lot of work.

Taking the Field
The first thing I noticed today was that the kids where at the game early. I credit Coach Craig for getting the parents engaged so that the kids arrived 15-30 minutes before game time. This allowed us to practice infield. I worked the kids on the call it drill for about 10 minutes to reinforce what we practiced on Wednesday. Coach Craig had also printed off a lineup with a baseball diamond that had each kid at their position. I think this helped the kids know where they were supposed to go. You could definitely see a difference in the speed in which the kids got on and off the field today. This may not seem that important but every minute counts when you have 4 and 5 year olds with short attention spans.

Hitting
In today's game we had Coach Craig pitch to the kids instead of me. It's important to have a coach that can consistently throw strikes if your going to introduce coach-pitch to Tee Ball players. Coach Craig took a knee approximately 25-30 feet away which gave him enough range to make a short toss across the plate. I realize this is a Tee Ball league but I give serious props to the coaches for agreeing to challenge the hitters with pitching 3 balls before placing it on a Tee. Today we had about 20% of our team hitting the ball pitched to them. I love the idea of challenging the kids to hit a pitched ball at this age. I wonder how many of the kids will be hitting the pitched balls by the end of the season.

Since Coach Craig was pitching today, I had the opportunity of catching, which meant that I also helped get the kids get situated in the batters box. Here is a list of adjustments I made to some of the kids.

1. Hands - Some of the kids still put the wrong hand on top of the grip. Most of the time you can just say switch your hands and they will do it. Other times you have to help move the kids hands. I also asked some of the kids to choke up on the bat. They clearly did not know what I was talking about. I helped a few kids with this but can see this will take some practice. Believe me, in my 30 years of playing ball the best thing you can do to control your swing is to choke up on the bat and inch or two.

2. Feet - Today most of the kids took a good stance in the batters box. The one thing I did make sure of, is if the kid did not hit the balls that where pitched to him, that the kid stand back enough in the batters box that his/her arms are extended when they make contact with the ball placed on the Tee. By back I mean closer to the catcher. Moving the kid back will help them extend their hands when making contact with the ball on the Tee. Usually the kid will hit the ball up the middle or pull the ball. A good way to quickly get the kids feet in the right position is to make 2 marks where you want his/her feet. I noticed when I did that sometimes the kid would setup on the marks without being told.

3. Elbow - I'm getting caught up in this whole lift your back elbow advice. I'm asking some of the kids that have their bat dropping to lift their elbow. I'm still not 100% convinced that lifting your elbow is right for all hitters but take a look at Albert Pujols. This is arguable the best hitter in baseball. Check out the Albert Pujols Swing Breakdown.

Base Running
One of the areas we need improvement on is getting the kids out of the batters box after they make contact with the ball. Some of the kids are also not running as hard as they can to first base. Coach Craig made the comment to me in mid game, "I know what we are practicing next week". He was referring to the kids that could have been safe at first if they had either gotten out of the box quicker or run full speed to first. We also noticed that some of the kids would take their helmet off after hitting the ball. This is a habit that needs to be addressed in practice immediately.

Craig and the assistant coaching staff are going to specifically call out to keep the helmet on after hitting the ball in next Wednesday's practice. After that we are going to teach the kids that running to first is a race. We are also going to challenge them to win that race by putting half of the kids at pitcher and the other half at home plate. When Coach Craig blows his whistle the kid that is in the batters box will swing the bat (at the air), drop the bat and run as hard as he/she can to first. Why is the kid going to do this? Because once the kid swings the bat, one of the coaches is going to role a grounder to the pitcher. The pitcher is going to field the ball and there is going to be a foot race to first base. This should encourage quickly getting down to first base. If this goes well we may also throw the ball into the outfield and have the kids race to 2nd base. Once the kids get better at throwing and catching we may change this drill up a bit.

Call It Drill
I was hoping to see more of the kids calling the ball today. I heard a few of them, but can tell we are going to need to continue working on this. A few times a ball would be hit to the left side of the infield and the players from the right side of the field would round across to try and get the ball. So I marked a line in the dirt and told the players they could not cross that line on either side. We also drew circles in the dirt where we wanted each player to stand. We plan on continuing to reinforce the call it drill and have the other kids back up the play.

Attention Span
Coaching 4 and 5 year olds is difficult because their attention span is so short. What worries me is that one of them will get injured by the ball in the infield. Today I was positioned out near second base and short stop. One of the things I kept asking the kids, was to show me their ready position. After 3 innings of the game I had kids asking if we were almost done. It seemed impossible to keep them focused on the ball. I'm currently looking for ways to help better keep the attention spans after an hour of practice or game play. If I find something effective, I'll make sure to post it. If you have comments on how to keep these youngsters interest longer please post it.

Call It - Infield Drill

As I indicated in my previous Swarming Blog Post we tried the Call It drill in practice today.

Before Practice
Before the practice the coaches discussed the "Call It Drill" in minor detail. Before every practice Coach Craig bring the kids to home plate to set expectations of the practice and what the first drill is. Today he explained the "Call It" Drill as follows:

1. When the ball is hit near you and you are the best person to field the ball. Shout out "I got it".
2. If you are next to the fielder that calls it first, run behind him to back him up.
3. The reason why we are practicing this drill is because we do not want more than one person fielding the ball.

Beginning of Practice
We only had six kids at the beginning of practice, so we lined them all up in the infield. 3 on the left side of the infield and 3 on the right side. I was assigned the task of hitting the balls to the infielders to practice the "Call It" drill. The other 3 coaches where in the field to help reinforce the drill. To make the drill go faster we emptied the ball bucket at home plate and set the bucket down at first so after the play the first baseman could just drop the ball in the bucket.

Call It Drill - Part I
As I started out the drill, the intention was to hit the ball randomly between the kids to put them in a situation where they would have to call it or back up the play. After I hit a couple of ground balls between the kids and the coaches were reinforcing the need to yell "I got it" I could see this was too confusing to the kids. They needed more conditioning before they could decide whether to call it and field the ball or back up the play. Meanwhile 2 other kids had showed up and got on the field. Now we were way too crowded.

Call It Drill - Part II
At the point in which we had 8 players in the infield and the kids were not taking to the drill well. I stopped hitting the balls and asked Coach Craig to make 4 positions and have 2 kids at each position and rotate them in. This time I was going to hit directly at each position just to get them used to saying, "I got it". So I started with 3B and worked around the infield until I got to 1B. I also pointed my bat and told the player I was hitting it to them. After a quick round through the infield a few kids where saying "I got it", while others were whispering and still others not saying it at all.

Call It Drill - Part III
I stopped the drill and told the kids I couldn't hear them call it and I wasn't seeing any of the near by players backing up the play. I said this in a very load voice so everyone on the field could hear me including the parents. This time I pointed at the third baseman and said, "It's coming to you". While cupping my ear to indicate I wanted him to reply, I then asked, "What are you going to say?". Luckily I had one of more vocal players on 3B at the time. He yelled, "I got it". I then pointed my bat at the shortstop and asked what are you going to do? We got silence. One of our assistant coaches illustrated the motions of backing up the play to our shortstop and once he was finished I pointed the third baseman and asked him again what he was going to say. He yelled, "I got it" again. I think the other kids grasped this as something they needed to pay attention to. I then hit the ball to the 3rd baseman and he yelled out "I got it" and made a throw to 1B. The shortstop did not run over to back up the play but at least we got it half right.

I then pointed over to the shortstop and told him the ball was coming. I asked him what he was going to say and I got a weak response. I then told him I can't hear you while cupping my ear and finally he yelled, "I got it". I then asked the 3rd baseman what he was going to do and got a blank stare. The assistant coach demoed the backup motion again. When we finally got through the first round there were 2 of the 4 kids that yelled "I got it" and none of them that had backed up the play. After going through approximately 15 rounds of this, each round got better than the previous one and we had all of the kids yelling "I got it". Most of the kids were backing up the play or at least making an attempt at it as well.

Call It Drill - Conclusion
If I had this practice to do all over again, I would have started the kids off in the 4 positions and had 2 coaches hitting balls. One to the left side of the field and one at the right side. I would have hit the ball right at the plays letting them know it was coming to them right from the get go and kept doing it until each kid was consistently calling "I got it" and backing up the play. I would have also sacrificed the throw to first since the field is now broken up in 2 groups. Throwing to first could be it's own separate drill.

The reason why I think 2 coaches hitting would be more effective is because I noticed some of the kids playing in the dirt while we were instructing the fielders. Obviously you need 4 coaches to effectively pull this drill off since 2 coachs would hit and 2 would instruct the infielder. Fortunately we have 4.

Repetition is the key. I am finding that the kids attention span is short and if they are not involved in the immediate action they tend to loose focus. So when doing drills think about how to maximize the repetitions the kids will get.

Batting Practice & Base Running
After we finished the Call It drill, we kept the kids in their positions and brought one kid in to hit and one kid in to swing a bat in the on deck circle. All the other kids were to stay in the field to practice the Call It drill in live situations and would rotate in to hit. Since this league allows you to pitch to the kids and then use the tee if they miss 3 in a row we practice that way. Coach Craig had to come in and relieve me as I was a bit wild in practice. Having a consistent pitch is important at this stage since you are trying to get the kids comfortable making contact. Once a kid made contact they were instructed to run to 1st and stay there. When the next batter got a hit the runner on first would advance. By doing this we were able to get batting practice and a little base running practice in.
My only wish is that we had more coaches. I know, we already have 4. From my point of view the more coaches you have, the more you can have kids working on drills.

Next Game
My hope is that we will have effectively reduced the swarm effect with the drill we did today. We will see in the game, but will reinforce this concept verbally right before the kids take the field.

Next Practice
We will decide what drills we do next practice but I guarantee it will focused around repetition. We will know more after the game.

Swarming Infielders

In your first few practices and games you will want to teach your kids how to play their positions without swarming after the ball. Our first game of the season made this very clear to the coaching staff. On several occasions we had ground balls with 4 or 5 kids piled on top of it. The coaches were yelling "throw the ball" with little effect!!! In some cases we had kids setup perfectly to field a ball only to have another kid rush in to try to grab it. I guess you can't fault the kid for wanting the ball, but as coaches we need to make sure the kids understand their responsibility in the field. So how do you do that? I've been searching the net for various opinions and drills and here is what I've found:

Coach Calls It and Disciplines Kids
Instruction from the Tee Ball University forum suggests that in the first few practices, the coaches should call out the first name of the kid that should field the ball. Then after getting lots of repetition, kids that cut into another kids territory should be disciplined by running a lap.
http://www.teeballuniversity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4

Note: I'm not fond of this technique because it involves the coach making the decision for the kid and then punishing him/her for not performing correctly. I'd prefer to encourage the kid to begin to think about the situation, even at a young age. As for the discipline, I think this "university" is is missing the point of youth sports.

Learning to Call It
The bestsportstraining website suggest drawing large circles in the dirt of the infield. The player to whom the ball comes closest to (or the circle the ball comes closest to) fields the ball. In the event the ball travels between two circles, or right down the middle, the player who jumps first and "calls it" gets it and the other has to back off.
http://bestsportstraining.com/baseball-tips-and-drills-tee-ball

Note: I like this approach and plan on applying it to our practices.

Using Cones
CoachTeeBall.com suggests positioning cones to indicate zones in which the kids can field the ball. Here is a cheesy video that illustrates.



Note: This video really doesn't show the reality of the kids learning their responsibilities. Plus they look older than the Tee Ball level. You will need coaches out in the field with them to reinforce this.

Spread Kids Out
The FunBe T-Ball book suggests that you put kids into regular positions in the infield and to not stuff them in the infield. This will help prevent the kids from bumping into one and other and give them enough room to field the ball (at least 5 to 10 feet).
http://books.google.com/books?id=PnpKq20Ex90C&pg=PT88&lpg=PT88&dq=T-Ball+swarming&source=bl&ots=rRHX5X2iPO&sig=wKn_BIcEcPJlgCXj_oKLtfGf5OU&hl=en&ei=8gG_SaCgLee0twe-34n3Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPT89,M1

YouTube Videos of Swarming

1. Quick and Funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LocjIy1XioE

2. Long Consistent Footage 7:11 Minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaX3MwKFAZc

Tomorrow's Practice
Tomorrow we will be focusing on infielder assignments. We will be applying the Learn to Call it drill. The outfielders, which typically play on the infield dirt, will be instructed to back up the play. We will not be disciplining a kid for swarming the ball but rather illustrating the correct decisions and providing plenty of repetition. We'll see how practice goes.

If any of you coaches out there have your own drills, techniques and/or opinions, please share them.

The Big Red Machine

About Coach Craig and Coach JB (me)
When my best friend at work asked if I'd like to help him coach T-Ball I eagerly accepted. Coach Craig Ouellette and I have been good friends since I moved to Florida in 2004. Our season started a few weeks ago and we had our first game yesterday. Craig is the head coach of the Reds, one of 4 teams in the Hunter's Creek T-Ball league. As an assistant coach I am writing this blog to record the learnings I've made throughout the process in hopes that it may serve useful to new T-Ball coaches and parents.

One thing you should know about me is that I am a very competitive person. Even at at my work whee they make you take a test to see what your top strengths are, Competition ranked number one, no surprise to me. My others are (Relator, Achiever, Restorative and Futuristic). I think the Competition strength stems from having been involved in sports my whole life. As far as baseball goes, I've played through college and play/coach softball now at age 34. In all aspects of the game I've played to win.

Winning
I have been told by many that little league baseball is not about winning, it's about learning the fundamentals of the game, the social interactions of a team, how to be a good sport and ultimately about have fun. As hard as it is for me to admit, I have to agree with this,... sort of. I agree that at this level there should be little focus on the outcome of the game and more focus on having fun. I like the team huddle that Craig does after practices and games where we all put our hands in and yell "Big Red Machine" on 3. He is an outstanding motivator for young kids and I look forward to learning from his years of coaching young kids.

What I've observed after our first game, is this: Kids even at age 4-6 show the will to succeed and they are reinforced by their coaches and parents. Just listen to the cheer of the parents when a kid hits a ball anywhere in fair territory, or watch the reaction from the coaches on both sides of the field when a kid hits a ball in the outfield. Kids pick up on this positive reinforcement and show an eagerness to play. I realized this when Andrew, our first baseman, asked me if we were going to get to hit again. This question coming a half an inning after he belted one to the outfield. Unfortunately it was the last inning, so I told him, "I wish..., just so I could see you hit again." Realistically not all of your kids are going to be asking you this question. Unless you have a squad of outstanding young talent, there will be some kids that do not start off as strong. As a coach or parent, it is important to stay positive. If they strike out, tell the kid, "good try", and keep encouraging them. While we are not on the field preaching to the kids the importance of winning, we can't forget our commitment to them. We are here to help develop there physical skills as well as their social skills. I think sportsmanship is one of the most important aspects of the game at this level and if we can teach that we are all winners!

Confidence
One of the things I have learned throughout my life is that confidence breeds success. Knowing you can do something is critical to achieving repeatable results. Fear, doubt and disbelief are all obstacles that get in the way of a kid's ability to execute the fundamentals of the game. Being confident allows the kid to focus on the immediate task at hand without any distracting negative thoughts. Since most of the kids are new to the game, confidence needs to be built. I have seen it start to develop in some of our kids already. Early success his helpful. However, I have seen some setbacks wih a few kids that we will need to work through. For example, one of our kids was hit in the face in practice and left the field with a bloody nose. In yesterday's game it was decided that we would have the coaches pitch from a knee about 35 feet away from the kids. If they missed 3 times we would Tee the ball and give them 2 swings. I really liked this approach because it helps develop the players at a young age. I noticed when the kid that left practice with the bloody nose approached the plate, he stood very far away. It was obvious that the kid developed a fear of the ball. Each pitch I threw he would back away from the ball. There is a positive and a negative to getting hurt at such a young age. The negative is the obvious blow to the kids confidence. The positive is that the kid is now paying more attention to the ball in the field and at the plate. "Keep your eye on the ball" is a critical message that needs to be ingrained the head of each kid. My plan for next weeks practice is to ensure I help build back the confidence of that kid by giving him extra repetitions in the field and at the plate.

2 Practice Tips

1. Assign Positions:
Determine the kids fielding and throwing strengths and assign them positions early. You will want to give them primary and secondary positions. Consider putting your best arms on the left side of the field to account for a longer throw to first base. This is important for a couple of reasons. First when you have your first game they will know where to go on the field instead of needing a coach to position them each inning. Believe me this will speed the game up. Second, the kids will begin to understand the responsibilities for that position sooner. Hopefully you won't have the entire team jumping on top of each other to field a ball. Finally, this will allow you to begin practicing situational drills which will get your kids understanding the game faster.

2. Batting & Base Running Practice:
When taking batting practice have the kids run out their hits to first base. It will be good to have the rest of the team in their assigned positions with your assistant coaches helping them with their area of responsibility. Now, leave the runner on 1st base. When your next batter hits the ball have him run to first base and advance the run at first to second, etc... This is needed in the first few practices to get the kids comfortable with paying attention and running the bases correctly. The draw back is each kid only gets one hit in this drill. If you have enough assistant coaches consider taking one or two kids aside while this is going on and practicing off the Tee in the outfield (away from the action) and subbing them back into the field after they get enough repetitions. Maybe 20 swings a kid.

Conclusion
Overall the coaching experience at this level has been fun and educational. I really like the coaches and the kids on the team and look forward to developing these kids into better ball players. Stay tuned for my next blog post.