I disagree on two points-

#1 – In our little league Majors division I’ve seen 5-10 two throw double plays every season. What’s even more interesting is that they are only executed by two teams. These teams are not “Elite” teenage teams, but rather your run of the mill little league teams. So, why do you think they can execute them? Because they practice them and they are taught the correct way to execute it. Every practice and during pregame we run a double play sequence. Before the season we spent about 2 hours one practice teaching the proper fundamentals. Our team and the other team have reaped the rewards. I could go on about how the first part of the double play is critical as it is a force play at second and if you are practicing this (which you should!) then completing the double play does not take much more time at all!

#2 – We are trying to develop players that if they choose to play after little league, they can walk onto their Junior High and High School teams and plug in immediately. They will not have to look foolish if at the tryouts they are asked to perform a double play and have no clue.

Anyway, that being said, there is some good stuff in his book. He is very opinionated and has a style/coaching approach that works for him. I’m not going to say that it doesn’t work, but I think there are other factors and reasons to do certain things differently…

Just my two cents and I would still recommend getting the book. It is entertaining and offers some great insights/tips.

Here is a sample practice plan – Could be used for B, C, Tball, etc. Hope it helps!

- Sample Practice Plan -

*Players need to line up their bats, helmets and gloves on the field during practice*

1. Stretch/Dynamic (Line up a Start and Finish Cone – 4 lines of 3 players )- CORE (10 Mins)
A) Jog around field as a Team
B) Walking forward Arm Circles
C) Butt Kickers
D) High Knees
E) Front Lunges
F) A Skips
G) Marching Band Kicks
H) Carioca
I) Running Backwards
J) Shuffle, Crossover Sprint (leadoff/steal movement)
K) Jumping Jacks

2. Line Warm Up Drill (Keep players in lines and have them get gloves. Position a coach in front of each line to play catch with the players – do A LOT of reps for each of these) (10 mins)

A) Catch throw from coach. Step and throw back to coach. Move to back of line. Repeat many times with the coaches moving back every so often.
B) Groundballs from coaches. Fielding triangles then step and throw to coaches.
C) Pop Flies.
D) Running at coach and catching a thrown ball on the move.

3. Water Break (5 mins)

4. 18 Drill (Set up two cones an appropriate distance for the age group to throw/catch) (10 Mins)

Divide the team in half and send each group to a different cone. Have the starting player throw the ball to the player at the other cone. As soon as he throws it he moves to the back of the line. If the player catches the ball, all players count “1!”. That player that caught the ball now throws back to the next player at the cone. Have the team count out the next number each time a successful catch is made. Drill ends when team has 18 successful catches. Why 18? That’s the number of outs in a Little League game.

5. Break up into Stations (each station can run 10-15 mins. You can go through twice if you have time – Players will be rotating in and out of groups to pitch/catch/hit individually).

A) 1st Base Station (3 players)- Coach works with players on core 1b skills and gives reps.

B) Fielding Triangle Station(3 players)- Coach works with players on fielding a grounder correctly – add throws if possible.

C) Pop Fly Station (3 players) Coach works on proper technique for catching pop flies. Tennis racket and tennis balls adds fun and safety. Have players call the ball each time they make the catch.

D) Bullpens. One at a time, have pitchers throw a bullpen to a catcher. Have a pitching coach working with the pitcher an a catching coach working with th catcher at the same time.

E) Catchers station – Have a coach working on catchers drills including throws to 2b.

F) Tee work – Have a coach working with a player’s swing mechanics off a tee.

6. Bucket Game- Finish practice with a game. In the bucket game, divide into two teams and put a team at 2b and a team at SS. Stack two buckets at home plate. Have a coach on the 1b line rolling to SS and a coach on the 3b line rolling to 2b. Have coaches roll the balls and players field the ball and try to throw and knock over the buckets. Knocking a bucket down is worth 3 points. Hitting them on the fly is worth 2 points. Hitting them on a bounce is worth 1 point. A player must treat it like a game and field and throw the ball quickly (not aiming or taking extra steps to the target) First team to ?? wins and the losing team picks up the balls and puts them in the bucket.

7. End Practice – Team discussion. Ask players what the learned. Let them know what you saw that was good. Try to single out each player if possible, or even have other players tell what they saw that was good. End with a loud cheer.

Let me know how it works!

Hopefully someone can post a minor b practice plan. I’ll try to get one up by tomorrow. Each league is a little league is a little different, Are they 8-10 year olds?

You are more than welcome to use any of it that you would like. This site is dedicated to helping coaches so please feel free to use it. If possible and you could add some sort of acknowledgement to this website, that would be appreciated but if not, no problem. Good luck this season!

I read your philosophy and am very impressed with it. I am involved in little league baseball in Alberta, and wanted to ask you if I could quote parts of it to be used in helping us to train new (and vetran) coaches to work with our kids?

Thanks