When you first start out coaching youth baseball, it could be very challenging because the philosophy is, and as it should be very different than coaching higher levels of baseball. It's usually a parent who volunteers to coach a youth team and often times they have very little coaching experience. One of the biggest mistakes a youth coach can make is learn from watching and listening to the baseball commentators. The commentators are usually talking and explaining something only a seasoned player can execute. So it's alright to understand the concepts, but do your best to keep it simple.

Keep practice fun! Remember these are kids and some or all of them could be playing for the very first time. Don't be surprised if more than half doesn't even want to be there. For a lot of the kids, the experience can be almost as traumatizing as their first time going to school. Remember that experience? And that's why it's important to keep it fun.

Of course you still need to teach them something. Don't worry, you don't have to be an expert. In fact, the more honest and candid you are could be a blessing to all. The idea that you're all learning together can create the perfect team atmosphere. So what I'm getting at is, the mechanics of executing a skill is not important. As long as you know the objectives of the skill you are doing and keeping it fun, you will accomplish a lot.

Learning teamwork is the core of it all. After all, it's a team sport. So how should you focus in? Team communication is the key. Get the kids to yell out what they should be doing so they can function as one unit. Can you imagine how much fun they'll have just by yelling? They're told all day long to keep quiet, and you get to give them back their freedom to yell! How cool it that?

Through it all, you want every kid to enjoy their first experience in baseball. The experience is only centered around baseball. The memories is everything, it's the friendships, families coming together, playing in the playground after the games, any team outings. Remember, baseball is a very hard sport to learn for a youngster. It involves so many motor skills and the rules can be very confusing. It's even confusing to a lot of adults.

Incorporating the fun, general skill objective, teamwork, and a great experience can be done. And the good news is, you don't need baseball experience to accomplish it. So roll up your sleeves, or roll them back down and enjoy coaching American"s favorite pastime.