Coaches Guide: Three Week Plan to guarantee a GREAT SEASON!

The first few weeks of a baseball or softball season can make even confident parents feel stressed, especially when your roster has everything from future stars to kids who have never swung a bat. We share the “secret agenda” we think every Little League coach should adopt: stop coaching only for Opening Day and start coaching so every eight or nine-year-old leaves the season begging to play again. When that’s the target, your practices get simpler, your players get braver, and your sideline stays a whole lot calmer. 

We break down a practical youth baseball practice plan built for short attention spans: stations, not lines. You’ll hear exactly how to set up small groups, rotate every 10 to 15 minutes, and cover fielding reps, tee work or soft toss, and base running without losing kids to boredom. Then we dig into differentiated coaching, a way to keep one team together while still meeting different skill levels by changing the objective, not the drill. We also explain why pairing experienced players with beginners creates instant leadership and trust. 

As Opening Day arrives, we walk through a game plan that prioritizes development and confidence: rotate kids through positions within safe limits, use the three-second rule to respond to mistakes before they spiral, and define success as hustle and cheering instead of the score. If you’re coaching youth baseball, coaching youth softball, or just trying to create a positive sports culture, this approach will help your team improve while keeping the fun intact. Subscribe, share this with a parent coach, and leave a review with your best tip for keeping kids excited to play.

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Transcript

Welcome And The Real Goal

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What's up, fellow parents? Welcome back to Raising Athletes. I'm your host, Rob Teramina, and today we're going to be giving you guys the secret agenda: how to handle the first few weeks of the season and even that first game. Because if you're a parent and you're likely coaching the upcoming spring season for baseball and softball, you've got your rosters and there's a lot to do. Don't worry, we're here to help. Raising athletes, the things that causes all dads to go bald and moms to buy minivans, empowering parents to help their kids succeed. So a bunch of you are definitely gearing up for the new season as a coach. Now, whether or not you are a season coach or this is your first time doing it, it can be a little bit stressful. And right around this time is when all of the coaches are getting their rosters. And in that roster, you're seeing some kids who are really good, some kids who have never played before and are probably putting their glove on the wrong hand. This is known as the Great Divide. This applies to all age divisions, from the little ones all the way up to the older divisions. But for the sake of today's episode, let's focus in on the eight and nine-year-olds. In Little League, this is the melting pot of experience levels. Now, your mission over the next three weeks, well, it's not to win opening day games. I know a lot of you guys are probably tuning off right now, but please do me a favor. Just stay with me here and hear me out. Your job, your mission as a coach of your local league, it's to make sure that by the end of May, the end of June, every single one of these kids, regardless of talent, they're begging their parents to sign them up again for next year. So today, we're gonna be mapping out your first three weeks of practice and that high stakes first game. Here's the reality: most kids, they've got the attention span of a peanut. It's really not that long. So if at your practices you have everyone standing in line waiting their turn for ground balls, you likely already lost them. The strategy, stations, not lines. That's one of the secret tips here. Break your team into three groups of four. Station A, heavy reps with ground balls. Station B, hitting off a T, or maybe some soft toss. Yes, even the older ones should be doing T. In fact, I preached that everyone, regardless of their age level, should be hitting off of a T. And station C, base running. Keep them moving every 10 minutes or so. You're gonna want to rotate these groups through every single station. I would say between 10 and 15 minutes. Because if they're moving, then they're learning. If they're standing still, they're likely just picking grass. So how do you handle the kid who's been playing since he was three and the kid who's never touched a bat before? Well, it's called differentiated coaching. Don't give them different drills. Give them different objectives within the same drill. Don't give them different drills. Give them different objectives within the same drill. For the rookie, the goal is just to get the glove on the ground, see the ball into the into the pocket of the glove. For your vets, the goal is going to be transition, field it, clean transfer, look at the target, make a good throw. And here is my favorite raising athletes tip for you guys pair them up. Ask your experienced players to mentor a teammate on how to hold the bat. It builds leadership in the stars and confidence in the beginners. It turns a group of kids into a team. In the two weeks leading up to your first game, as a coach, you're gonna want to just focus on the baselines, the basics of the game. Mechanics over magic. That should be week one. Focus on ready position, how to hold the bat. If they don't know where to stand, then they're not gonna be able to play. They're gonna be confused and you're gonna be frustrated. In week two, situational awareness. This is where most eight-year-olds they get lost. You know, where do I throw the ball if it's hit to me? Uh run dry plays, no ball, just shouting out a scenario. There's a runner on first and the balls hit to third. What do we do? Make it a game. Give them points for throwing it to the right base. By rewarding them, they're gonna be more into doing it. And if they're more into learning, then guess what? It's gonna benefit you and the team for your first game. Okay, opening day is here. The parents are in the stands with their cameras and the kids are nervous. Here's your secret game plan. Rotation is key. Let the kids play everywhere. Now, obviously within reason and safety first, but rotate the kids to various positions. Don't let just your best player play the most popular position. Let all of the kids play. Remember, our objective this year is at the end of the season, you want every kid going to the parent saying, sign me up again. This was awesome. If you just stick the kid who's maybe never played before in right field for a few innings and that's all they play, they're not going to want to come back. Next is the three-second rule. If a kid makes a mistake, you know, like they strike out or they miss a fly ball, you have three seconds as a coach to give them a high five or a you'll get them next time. Don't let the failure marinate. Lastly, define success clearly for the entire team. Before the game, tell them success today isn't the score. It's how loud we can cheer for each other and how fast we run to our positions. If they look like a team, they're gonna start playing like a team. Coaches, you are the gatekeepers of this sport. Whether or not they continue to have the opportunity to maybe play in middle school or play in high school, it could rest on the environment that you create over the next three weeks. So make it fast, make it fun, and make it more about just the box score. Thanks so much for tuning in today. So I just want to encourage all you parents out there that are going to be coaching this spring. You can do this. And you have an amazing opportunity to even though maybe at the end of the game the box score says that you lost, you can still turn that into a team win depending on the culture you create. You're in the driver's seat. You can make this as fun as you want. Again, my objective for you guys, my recommendation is at the end of the day, at the end of the season, if every single kid goes to their parent and says, sum in up next year, then guess what? That's an overall win for you as a coach. I can't wait for this season. I'm so excited for you guys. We're in this together. We're raising athletes. We'll see you next time.