STICKBALL

Hosting Youth and HS tournaments in the best state!

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

🚨 SPRING SCHEDULE 🚨

[Baseball Dudes Inc. 🇺🇸⚾️ @BaseballDudes48]

15 Things I've Learned as a Coach

The game has been a part of me since I was 5 which means for the last 40 years it’s been a constant process of learning. I played until I was 32 and have been teaching full time ever since. Here are a few things I’ve learned throughout this process that are necessary, needed and missing…

1. No matter their age, even those big kids we get to watch on TV, they need to believe in themselves. Their level of confidence will determine the quality of their performance. We as coaches (and adults in their lives) are there to help them with this. Mechanical adjustments can help especially when they see a positive change in their ability but helping them get their mind right, teaching them approach, visualization, how to handle adversity, etc. WILL give them the best chance at consistency.

2. Communicate!! The best coaches I’ve been around are great communicators. They explain well, are great with eye contact, they follow through with their words, if they tell a player one thing but plans change they take time to explain. Without communication minds are left to wonder and we all know what happens when that happens.

3. Organization is key. Practice plans should be made well in advance of showing up to practice. Line-ups should be written before you get to the park. We need to be mentally prepared for an audible at any moment but scrambling to make a plan will always lead to mistakes and often confusion.

4. The Player:Coach ratio is vital when it comes to player development. For the younger I’ve found the ratio is best around 4:1 and as they get older 5/6:1 works well. The smaller the ratio the more eyes on reps, the more touches they get, the smoother practices can run. The goal is little to no standing around during practice.

5. We want great competitors out there. Players who play fearless, aggressive, have awareness, know their jobs and have great baseball IQ. So we need to teach them what that means. Some need more help at it than others but that’s why we are out there. We need to teach them the game. Situational baseball. Give them the freedom to be aggressive knowing mistakes will be made. If we want them to have feel for the game we need to teach them and then let THEM play it. When we hold their hands, tell them what to do and when to do ALL THE TIME, we are not giving them those chances to develop that feel.

6. We preach confidence, believe in yourself, focus on what you can control. The best way to help them with this is to live it. Be that voice for them. Be that example for them. We have to be ultra aware though of how many of our actions go completely against this. Our body language when they make a mistake. Our belittling tone when they make an error. How we respond when we think the umpires are making the wrong calls. Speaking positivity one moment but then going against it in the next is an US issue. BE THE EXAMPLE!

7. Get them to talk. See what they are thinking. Athletes are used to always being talked to, I’ve found talking WITH them helps them be more aware and more engaged and we know better what we are working with when we get to hear how they are processing things. It doesn’t matter how much we know as coaches, when we give them TMI we can’t get upset with them when they simply aren’t ready for it all yet. We need to be aware of our audience.

8. We never know what’s going on at home or on that car ride home. We have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives. Some may see it differently but there are many times when coaching baseball becomes much more than teaching a game. That PERSON may just need one person in their life to show them kindness, understanding, someone to trust or even on the flip side, someone to hold them accountable, call them out and teach them that’s now how we do things.

Continued…

[Mike McCabe @mmccabe1977]

@chad_pantuso @Connor_McCabe19 @stsliders teammates since 1st grade and coach by @LukePantuso the same amount of time!

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

🚨 SUNDAY FALL LEAGUE 🚨

We are live! Send us a message if you want to join. @dbatkerrville

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

Great weekend of baseball! Thank you for choosing to play with us. We look forward to our next event on March 25-26!

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

Come and be apart of our 4 game round robin event to kick off the 2023 season!

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

🚨 All of our tournaments for the spring 2023 season are live! 🚨 ~ you can visit https://t.co/f3hD6v0JBm and head over to the Kerrville tab to find them. Age groups are filling up and we are excited for a successful season.

[Chad Pantuso @chad_pantuso]

Thanks for the write up @PBR_Texas

[shawn hamilton @shawnhamilton32]

We are extremely thankful for everyone who made this a possibility! My Dad’s time at Clark was filled with success on and (most importantly) off the court. I know he loved and greatly appreciated the time he had working there, and the relationships he formed with his players and

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

FEBRUARY 11th ~ Saturday ONLY event in preparation for the Super Bowl! Sign up on the PG website or send us a DM!

[South Texas Sliders @stsliders]

Happy Birthday to the guy who started it all for us 20 years ago. We miss you greatly. #forscotty

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

🚨 CHECK OUT OUR YOUTH SPRING SCHEDULE 🚨 We are live on the Pg website. Thank you to @dbatkerrville for being our host. #firstclass

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

Register Here: https://t.co/ubOFUCjBtp

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

13u games have been pushed back one hour

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

10u, 11u, 12u games have started on time

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

https://t.co/GcnjrN9a4A

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

We are excited to announce fall league plans for 14s, 15s, 16, and 17/18s

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

The 14U SA Angels Blue-L outlasted the SA Kings to win the championship in this weekends 14U PGBA South Zone Qualifier II tournament.

[STICKBALL @Stick_balll]

Congratulations to the Hustle 13U Premier for winning this weekends 13U PGBA South Zone Qualifier II tournament.