[UmpJM]

Rufus,

First of all, as others have said, USSSA plays under rules based on OBR, not FED. From the USSSA 2008 rules published on their website:

RULE 8.00 – RULES OF PLAY
Playing rules not specifically covered herein shall follow the Official Rules of Baseball (National League) as published by Major League Baseball on mlb.com. State Directors also have the authority to administer rules within his respective state as deemed appropriate with the approval of the Association’s Executive Vice President of USSSA Baseball.

You can find the complete text of the USSSA rules in a downloadable PDF at:

http://www.usssabaseball.org/documen...ulesMarch6.pdf

Now, it's still a good idea to check with your local association, because local associations have a proclivity to make all kinds of "local rules" without having any clue as to the unintended consequences of those local rules. And it wouldn't shock me if someone had added a local rule that said something like, "High School rules will govern any situation not addressed in these local rules..." or something like that.

Originally Posted by RPatrino

My advice echo's JohnnyG's. Teach them to throw strikes, hit the glove on a consistant basis. Also, teach the 'jump turn' pickoff move to your righties. Forget about the step off and throw to first move, which is a very poor technique to use, IMHO.

I have a different take on JohnnyG's advice (and Bob P.'s "endorsement") to "not worry about it very much". It has been my experience that, at the age that players first start playing with lead-offs, "unrestricted" base stealing, and balks, a team that has a good understanding of how to legally "hold" runners and how to properly "read" pitchers has a HUGE advantage over a team that does not.

While I would agree with the point that it is MORE important to teach your pitchers to throw whatever passes for a "strike" in your league, it is also, in my opinion, very important to teach them how to properly hold runners, throw pick-offs, and, for your baserunners, teach them how to "read" the pitcher so they know when to start their steal attempts.

A couple of people have mentioned the Jim Evans "Balk Video" which is by far the best resource I have ever found for learning about balks and what is and is not legal for a pitcher to do. So I would also encourage you to get it.

Having said all of that, it is also my experience that balks tend to be very "leniently" enforced at levels where the players are first playing under balk rules, AND that the umpires who work these games tend to have less experience & inconsistent understandings of the proper enforcement of the balk rules.

This is a big adjustment for the players (regardless of the age when they start playing under these rules), so try to keep it as simple as you can and don't overwhelm them by trying to teach them everything at once. By the middle of the season, most of them should have it down pretty well.

A couple of other things. Bob P. says,

Forget about the step off and throw to first move, which is a very poor technique to use, IMHO.

I completely agree with Bob on this point! This seems to be the most "common" move to 1B taught to young RHPs and it is very poor coaching, IMO. First, it is such a relatively "slow" move, that you're never going to get a runner out. Second, should the lad happen to throw the ball out of play, the runner will get TWO bases instead of ONE. (However, I have found that a "step off" and FEINT to 1B can be a VERY effective "setup" for a subsequent "jab step" move to 1B at this age.)

Bob also suggests that you teach RHPs the "jump spin" move to 1B. I have found that the youngsters do much better with the "jab step" than the "jump spin" - it is easier for them to learn to do properly AND it is easier for them to throw more accurately than the jump spin move.

The other thing you might want to spend some time teaching your players is the rules governing when a batter does and does not become a runner on a third strike not caught.

Best of luck.

JM