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It's About What's Good For The Kids

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11

Dec, 2013

7 TIPS TO PREPARE FOR SPRING TRYOUTS

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. Dont 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.