Need advice - coaching a 9-10 Y.O. baseball team

Get some parents to help as assistants.

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The coach that we had last year was awful and we went 0-19 while keeping only one opponent within 5 runs.

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Sounds like talent sucks too. You're gonna have a bad time.

Get them to run the bases well. Just keep them running during games. Only way to win if your team sucks

Your son is the pitcher for every game this season. Also, make sure he's batting first.

Only instruct him at home so that only he knows how to correctly play.

Insist parents buy a bat that costs $300 minimum.

Make sure it's not fun for any of them.

ETA: obviously joking, I'm blessed to have a really good coach for my son. Good luck man

9-10 is kid pitch, right? Get 3 kids that can throw accurate and teach them to throw over the plate (not at the glove but in the zone). Get them throwing as hard as they can while doing it. You want kids to throw strikes but it's good for them to learn how to throw hard strikes eventually.

Start everyone on 3rd and see who can make the throw to first...keep 1 or 2 kids there and move everyone to short...do the same thing at 2nd and see who can catch balls consistently at 1st. You're going to need to determine your IF ASAP. Once you do, get your OF catching flys and most importantly keeping everything in front...then work on cutoff stuff.

For hitting, get them all on the fence to start, give them 3 pitches to hit and then get quickly to the end of the line. Do that a few times, then go a couple of times where they only get 1 pitch per turn. Get them watching the ball. This also prevents a lot of standing around when they only have 3 / 1 pitches to hit. One BIG thing that kids need to do it loading up. A lot of times they want to start their swing as the ball crosses the plate...they are going to be late every time. Have them try to make contact before the ball gets to them, and make sure they are loaded up so they just have to come forward. I tell mine to load up when the pitcher has the ball above his head coming forward.

Also, at this age you can still win / lose games on base running. Teach them through the bag (at first)...make a turn, and go 2. They need to know to pick up their third base coach when rounding first.

Most teams are already together so you are essentially taking on the leftovers. You'll likely have a last place team so focus on building the kids' confidence and make big deals out of base hits and runs scored. If I were you, I would try to focus on being the best base running team in the league and going from there. It's probably overlooked the most but it will keep you in games and even win some for you. Good luck.

You can learn the basics of what they are suppossed to do but if they aren't practicing at home or have natural talent then they will suck.. Baseball is all about reps to gain a comfort level..

You may be better off than you think. Hopefully they had several 9s last year who are now 10. Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Be aggressive stealing bases. Keep practicing pitching. Most batters will walk or strike out........let players know when they are doing something wrong, but give praises also. If not, they will tune you out eventually.

Get those Fred McGriff hitting videos...

That's a tough age. You are still very much learning fundamentals - especially with kids pitching and kids hitting a kid pitching. Most umps have a YUGE strike zone at that age, otherwise, you would have nothing but walks.

Get some parents to help. Focus on fundamentals. Try to get the kids to hit, run, and field (and for some, pitch) at every practice.

I've coached my daughters who are younger than 9-10, and I really try to focus on skill development. Most practices, especially early on we warm up, then divide the kids into three groups, and have each group do a station for about 10 min, then bring the team together for a team session.

So we might have some kids working on fielding, others on hitting, and others on throwing. They rotate through the groups. They come together, and we'll have each kid hit a few balls while everyone else is in the field, and then we'll end with baserunning.

This of course means you will have to have assistant coaches to help.

If you go in with the right attitude and willing to work you can do it. I bet I played less baseball than you and I was able to coach successful teams at this age and the next few years.

Some tips:

1- put the work in before practices to structure them so that each kid gets the maximum reps. As people said above - avoid having the majority of kids standing around while 1or 2 hit or catch at a time.

2- look on the net and ask experienced coaches for drills that maximize the time every kid is catching, throwing and hitting.

3- if you have a draft, bring your (girlfriend's) kid to tell you who can play if you can pull it off. Also, if the director is really short of coaches tell him you'll do it but you expect him to make sure you don't get screwed in the draft.

4- communicate your philosophy and expectations to the parents and kids before the season, preferably in a nice succicintly written handout. Put in there practice time, your goals (mine were to play the best baseball we can, to win as many games as we can and to have as much fun as we can). Put that you are available to talk to anyone at times which are NOT during practices or games, that you Will listen but that there can only be one person making the final decisions about positions, playing time, etc and that for better or worse that is you.

5- if leads/ base running is allowed, teach it and do it until teams can stop it regularly

6- End practices with a running drill. I liked a relay race after splitting the team evenly for speed - 1 team circling the bases clockwise, the other counterclockwise. Send them away tired but happy. If you have a really energetic team start practices with running too.

7- if you have parents that just can't avoid "giving advice". Put them to work throwing BP, hitting fungous, etc.

Does the league drug test? Cause if not...