SERIOUS HELP

[lou]

I need some help with a mini-ball team. I am the coach and the kids are ages 6-8 and they are always bored at the practices. I need some ideas to spunk up the practices so the youngsters aren't as bored. Do you think a slip-n-slide is a good idea to practice slidding? What about competitions? NEED HELP! Thanks.

[whiskers_ump]

lou,

If you find an answer let me know. I
attmpeted to coach 5-7 girls softball.
[t-ball] Talk about lack of concentration.
some pick flowers, others watch mom in stands.
Some just sit on the base if assigned one.

Try using several coaches or parents and do mini stations. Have a coach hitting to the outfield from the foul line,have some doing BP,and have some outside the field doing catching and throwing drills.

It's boring as the devil to just stand out there and hope somebody may hit you a ball sometime.

[tbartel]

Get a book called Kirby Puckett's Baseball Games. About 50 or so "games" that teach baseball skills and are designed for littler kids. It is absolutely great.

[Buster]

For sliding practice the best thing is large cardboard boxes. Major appliance type, just make sure all the staples are out. Works great, no mess and the kids love it.

Buster

[peter_s_n]

Lou,
Mike's idea about using the parents is a great one - there are parents that will get involved if ASKED. Ministations are great - soft-toss, batting cage, pepper etc, but I've always found that a not-so-baseball-savvy parent can be assigned 'traffic officer' to rotate the kids thru the stations which leaves you and the other volunteers to physically deal with the baseball skills. Rotate the kids thru one at a time with the batting cage or soft-toss stations. Getting the parents involved with helping at practice could also lead to that same parent someday becoming coach or manager themselves which benefits the volunteer base for your league.
When I started coaching t-ball, a great book that found was 'Teach you Kids Beans about Baseball' by Kenneth Bean (ISBN#0-9634557-8-8). It is a very age appropriate book for the players you have. The only source that I've been able to get this book has been at Amazon.Com as the book is out of print.
One great suggestion that Ken has is to keep an extra ball or two in your pocket and while kids are standing in the practice field you can throw them popflys during those inactive moments in which the kids are chasing foul balls or switching fielding positions or waiting for a new batter or waiting for a catcher to gear up etc etc.
I've gone on at length, but one other exercise that I've seen used which is great is a game of 'scrub' with your team in which everyone plays and bats at the same time, and as outs are made, your batters become fielders, and the fielders with each successive out are 'rotated' thru the field positions not unlike volleyball rotation. If a fielder makes an out, he 'rotates' to the last position in the batting order. If a batter scores, he takes the tail end of the batting line. If the batter (or runner) makes an out, he moves to the outfield and all the fielders rotate with him.
Rotation order is just opposite of scoring book field position numbering. With parents pitching and catching, the last position in the rotation becomes first base. If slightly older siblings come to the practice, they can be used with this game to increase your practice 'roster'. Use the same steal rules that your league is subject to. Have the batter stay at the plate on their first hit ball, and then have him run on his second hit. Once this game gets going as described, it virtually runs itself, and allows you and your other coaches to walk the field encouraging the kids and correcting bad fielding habits.
Buy the Book.
Leave the slip and slide at home.
Good Luck!