I was recently asked by a friend for some
tips about how his sons should
approach their upcoming Little League tryouts. They wanted to know how to
catch the coach’s
eye. The obvious answer is to play well.
But there are a
few things they should do to insure an eye-catching performance.
1. Understand that a tryout is not a social
event. You are there to take
someone's job.
2. Dress like a ball player. Wear baseball
pants, cleats and a hat. You
will get major deductions if you show up in baggy jeans and the latest
skater dude apparel. Wearing your hat backward or sideways is a major no.
3. When you arrive, place your equipment away
from everyone else's. Run,
preferably by yourself, to get warm. Stretch away from everyone else in the
outfield. Coaches will notice that this is a serious, disciplined,
knowledgeable ball player. Also your equipment is less likely to grow legs.
4. Throw sufficiently to be completely warm.
There may be a lengthy wait
while waiting to perform at your position. Be sure to keep throwing if
necessary to stay loose and warm.
5. Many think that hustling and trying to
aggressively make plays is the way to impress coaches. Understand that it is
early season and your game is not in midseason form. When it comes time to show
your defensive skills you will be much better taking it slow and smooth,
focusing on proper mechanics. Get your feet under you and focus on making an
accurate throw. The odds are if you try too hard, rushing it and throwing it as
hard as you can, you will boot it and throw it into the stands.
6. When hitting, take a pitch to get a feel
for the timing of the pitch. Try to be selective and only swing at pitches that
you can expect to hit with a high degree of success. Here again it is early
season so your stroke is not in midseason form. Don’t over swing but just swing smoothly and try to hit
line drives and hard ground balls. I once saw a kid hit four straight line drives
turn to the coaches and say, it’s going to be a long day, do you want to see
any more?
So I drafted him!
7. If you have pitching tryouts, again remember
that your arm is not in shape. Make sure you are warm and then focus on using
perfect mechanics, throwing only about 80%. Throw a couple of change ups and
NEVER throw curses during a try-out. Any coach should never ask you if you can
throw a curve, much less tell to throw one. Try to just focus on the proper release
of every pitch. Don’t worry about really snapping them off but just flip them
up there for strikes. Only on the last couple of pitches, if your arm feels
good should you throw your full fastball.