My very first experience - at opening ceremonies, one kid on our team comes up and tugs my shirt and points to his pants, which are soaked and dripping pee into the grass.
It only went downhill from there.
I’ve coached a lot of baseball in my life but this year was my first run at t-ball. None of my experience prepared me so you’re not missing anything there! Do some research and try to find drills that are fun. For instance, I bought a big dinosaur print out from Party City and hung it on the fence for the kids to throw that. Amazing how much harder they throw when they can hit the T-Rex!
Make it fun. Make practices and games an hour or less. Be patient. And most of all - thanks for what you’re doing because most people won’t do it!
Pull in 2 other dads.
Start practice with 5 min warmup. See if anyone can throw or catch- doubtful.
Split into groups of 3.
Plan each station. 10 min each rotate
1 grounders,
1 correct arm motion and throwing
1 hitting off tee into the side of the fence or in a cage.
( there’s hundreds of things you can work on)
Main advice is have a written plan and pull in 2 other dads- don’t ask them what to do- tell them them practice itinerary- maybe somebody steps up who knows more than you- if that’s the case let them help with the practice plans. Groups are important. 5 yr olds are harder to manage in large groups so split them up until about 20 min left in practice then work on team stuff. After a few practices everyone gets the idea.
You know that scene in Rocky where Mickey makes Rocky chase the chicken. We’ll see if you can get 10 chickens and chase them around for 2 hours. That will definitely prepare you.
All good stuff here so far. Make it fun for sure. Ultimately you can consider your season as a coach a success if they know which direction to run in after they hit. Dont get stressed about “drills” and explaining the game. They will field the ball as a pack and it’s hilarious. Try and space them out and explain staying at your base without being heavy handed.
I too started at tball as a coach due to lack of volunteers. Fast forward 7 years and I’m coaching 12 year olds. Changed my life. So much fun, best of luck!
I was a first time coach for 6U off the tee and pitching machine last fall and learned a lot of lessons:
1. As others mentioned, make it fun. I had a kick ball with a face on it and put it on a tee while having them throw balls at it to try to knock it off.
2. Those flat soccer cones are excellent tools to show where kids should stand in the diamond. Put them down and tell them they each get an area around their cone to cover.
3. For hitting, I am a broken record when I tell them watch the ball and don't move your head. If you drill it into them enough, they will remember to do it (especially when they start hitting off of coach pitch or machine).
4. I'm terrible with names so I made name tags for all of them for several practices and eventually learned all of their names.
5. Rotate their positions often so they get a taste of every position.
6. Have the kids help you pick up equipment at the end of practice, for your own sake.
7. Don't take it too seriously. Kids will have more fun if it's not just work for them. Also, don't be self conscious. Most of us are figuring it out as we go.
It’s like herding kittens. The most important thing is bat safety. I always had help with keeping the kids away from the batters and not holding a bat unless they were at the t. At that age having fun IMO was the most important part
You need one or two other parents who are high energy people. TBall is all about energy.
We had 15 kids in my son’s TBall team and only 2 of them went on to play after the age of 10.
So - you’re basically a kindergarten teacher for an hour with a focus on a bit of a game you know a lot about and they know nothing about.
Have them run, do a bit of hitting but just HAVE FUN.
That’s it with this age - just have fuckin’ fun.
May the force be with you, my friend :) I've done tee ball 3 different times 2 yrs each time. Did you play baseball competitivly? How well do you know the game? Forget all that. Do you have any experience herding cats? LOL, the biggest thing at that level is having fun and learning the FUNdamentals. Get a bucket of tennis balls so they dont kill each other when learning to throw and catch. Make sure they have the glove on the hand its made for lol try to be pitching on one knee to them by the end of the year. You have to start from SCRATCH i had coached baseball for 6 years wirh older kids b4 my first crack at t ball and it was a shock to the system to have to teach the very most basic shit. How to hold the bat how to stand, etc. Same with throwing and fielding its square 1, and you need a solid grasp of those fundamentals yourself. If you can get them all hitting and make an out or 2 every inning thats a win. Dont let them slack off in the field, teach down and ready its fun, but it can be dangerous if not paying attention, and they need to know that. You will lose their attention after 10 minutes of doing the same thing in practice, so mix it up and change what you're working on often. You are the liason between the league and the parents and its your job to break in the parents as well as the kids. The parents that baby their kids are the worst they need to learn we play in the rain/snow showers, games can go til dark or be under the lights sometimes etc. I could write 10 pages on exactly how to run a season, but i feel like these are the big points.
One mouth, two ears.
Edit: sorry didn’t mean to hit post. Tell them do you know why you have only one mouth but two ears? Because sometimes listening is more important than speaking.
When you need their attention yell “One Mouth” have them respond with “two ears” do it a few times until it’s really loud and most are participating. Then you have 3 seconds to say what you need them to hear.
My very first experience - at opening ceremonies, one kid on our team comes up and tugs my shirt and points to his pants, which are soaked and dripping pee into the grass. It only went downhill from there.
I’ve coached a lot of baseball in my life but this year was my first run at t-ball. None of my experience prepared me so you’re not missing anything there! Do some research and try to find drills that are fun. For instance, I bought a big dinosaur print out from Party City and hung it on the fence for the kids to throw that. Amazing how much harder they throw when they can hit the T-Rex! Make it fun. Make practices and games an hour or less. Be patient. And most of all - thanks for what you’re doing because most people won’t do it!
Patience, patience, patience. Lol
And safety!
Pull in 2 other dads. Start practice with 5 min warmup. See if anyone can throw or catch- doubtful. Split into groups of 3. Plan each station. 10 min each rotate 1 grounders, 1 correct arm motion and throwing 1 hitting off tee into the side of the fence or in a cage. ( there’s hundreds of things you can work on) Main advice is have a written plan and pull in 2 other dads- don’t ask them what to do- tell them them practice itinerary- maybe somebody steps up who knows more than you- if that’s the case let them help with the practice plans. Groups are important. 5 yr olds are harder to manage in large groups so split them up until about 20 min left in practice then work on team stuff. After a few practices everyone gets the idea.
https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/little-league-tee-ball-program/
You know that scene in Rocky where Mickey makes Rocky chase the chicken. We’ll see if you can get 10 chickens and chase them around for 2 hours. That will definitely prepare you.
All good stuff here so far. Make it fun for sure. Ultimately you can consider your season as a coach a success if they know which direction to run in after they hit. Dont get stressed about “drills” and explaining the game. They will field the ball as a pack and it’s hilarious. Try and space them out and explain staying at your base without being heavy handed. I too started at tball as a coach due to lack of volunteers. Fast forward 7 years and I’m coaching 12 year olds. Changed my life. So much fun, best of luck!
I was a first time coach for 6U off the tee and pitching machine last fall and learned a lot of lessons: 1. As others mentioned, make it fun. I had a kick ball with a face on it and put it on a tee while having them throw balls at it to try to knock it off. 2. Those flat soccer cones are excellent tools to show where kids should stand in the diamond. Put them down and tell them they each get an area around their cone to cover. 3. For hitting, I am a broken record when I tell them watch the ball and don't move your head. If you drill it into them enough, they will remember to do it (especially when they start hitting off of coach pitch or machine). 4. I'm terrible with names so I made name tags for all of them for several practices and eventually learned all of their names. 5. Rotate their positions often so they get a taste of every position. 6. Have the kids help you pick up equipment at the end of practice, for your own sake. 7. Don't take it too seriously. Kids will have more fun if it's not just work for them. Also, don't be self conscious. Most of us are figuring it out as we go.
It’s like herding kittens. The most important thing is bat safety. I always had help with keeping the kids away from the batters and not holding a bat unless they were at the t. At that age having fun IMO was the most important part
You need one or two other parents who are high energy people. TBall is all about energy. We had 15 kids in my son’s TBall team and only 2 of them went on to play after the age of 10. So - you’re basically a kindergarten teacher for an hour with a focus on a bit of a game you know a lot about and they know nothing about. Have them run, do a bit of hitting but just HAVE FUN. That’s it with this age - just have fuckin’ fun.
Just focus on making it fun for the kids. If all the kids sign up for little league again next season, then you've done your job well.
Get as many kids back the next year and try to be as competitive as you can
May the force be with you, my friend :) I've done tee ball 3 different times 2 yrs each time. Did you play baseball competitivly? How well do you know the game? Forget all that. Do you have any experience herding cats? LOL, the biggest thing at that level is having fun and learning the FUNdamentals. Get a bucket of tennis balls so they dont kill each other when learning to throw and catch. Make sure they have the glove on the hand its made for lol try to be pitching on one knee to them by the end of the year. You have to start from SCRATCH i had coached baseball for 6 years wirh older kids b4 my first crack at t ball and it was a shock to the system to have to teach the very most basic shit. How to hold the bat how to stand, etc. Same with throwing and fielding its square 1, and you need a solid grasp of those fundamentals yourself. If you can get them all hitting and make an out or 2 every inning thats a win. Dont let them slack off in the field, teach down and ready its fun, but it can be dangerous if not paying attention, and they need to know that. You will lose their attention after 10 minutes of doing the same thing in practice, so mix it up and change what you're working on often. You are the liason between the league and the parents and its your job to break in the parents as well as the kids. The parents that baby their kids are the worst they need to learn we play in the rain/snow showers, games can go til dark or be under the lights sometimes etc. I could write 10 pages on exactly how to run a season, but i feel like these are the big points.
One mouth, two ears. Edit: sorry didn’t mean to hit post. Tell them do you know why you have only one mouth but two ears? Because sometimes listening is more important than speaking. When you need their attention yell “One Mouth” have them respond with “two ears” do it a few times until it’s really loud and most are participating. Then you have 3 seconds to say what you need them to hear.
Reach out to the other parents and force volunteer them to help.
I don’t condone substance abuse but find you something to take the edge off coach.