Tips for Tee Ball Coaches
From a coaching standpoint, the most important thing about tee ball is ensuring that all of the players have a good time and are able to take something positive from the experience. While it is always nice to win, that should have no bearing on any decisions made during a tee ball game, as coaches have the responsibility to ensure that all players have a good time. By coming up with a plan and sticking to it throughout the season, coaches can keep a keen perspective on the situation and prevent themselves from getting carried away.
Perhaps the best advice you will ever receive when coaching a tee ball team is to have a plan. Firstly, you must make sure that you are coaching the sport for the right reasons. If one of these reasons isn’t to have fun, you are clearly not ready to coach tee ball. I have experienced tee ball coaches in the past who have wanted to be part of a player’s development. If that is your goal, you should focus on an older age group, because tee ball players are simply too young to be thinking about a future in the sport.
One thing that you will learn right away is that the players have very short attention spans and, therefore, you must do everything in your power to keep them busy. This can be a difficult task, but ensuring that everyone is active throughout practice is definitely a start. This can be more difficult during a game, since players will surely go through stages where they do not touch the ball. Therefore, you will have to come up with some other ways to keep the players focused. Of course, the best way to keep everyone focused is to focus on fun, which will be a creative process for you to figure out. I have seen many coaches rotate position players throughout an inning, which keep everyone moving and can even be a fun experience.
An extremely important thing to remember is that you must be realistic. You are not going to change everyone understanding of the game and most of these players will not continue to play after tee ball. From my experience, you will probably end up with about half of the players understanding what is going on by the time the season ends, so that is a good goal with which to start. You will also likely have to teach players about the rules repeatedly, as they will likely forget. Do not assume that a player will always know what you are talking about, as you might have to direct a player to first base or even run to the base yourself. This will get better as the season goes on, especially if you make it fun to learn what is done in every situation.
An extremely important part of being a good coach is to focus on the team as a whole, rather than individual players. Every team will have players who are more skilled than others are and I have seen countless coaches focus more on the more talented players during games and at practice. This happens at all levels of all sports, but it definitely is not the right way to do things. By allowing everyone to participate and be given the opportunity to grow, you can make sure that everyone is having fun. This will also help you to laugh when players make mistakes, since you do not want to be one of those coaches who is always yelling and being negative.
In the end, your goal is to become a positive memory in the lives of these young people and be someone to whom they can look up. This is not always easy, especially when you see a player doing something that you have taught him or her not to do repeatedly, but the best thing that you can do is stay calm and explain it once again. In the end, most coaches find that they learn just as much as the players, as coaching tee ball can be a life changing experience. Just make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons and are prepared to avoid the mistakes that other coaches have made it the past.
Freddie Brister is a Retired High School Coach, a parent, and a blogger. Freddie enjoys writing about situations that parents are usually faced with and especially situations that involve Sports! He would like for you to take a look at his Baby Bedding or his Auburn Bar Stools.
