There are many valuable youth baseball conditioning techniques to increase your players’ abilities by maximizing their strength, range of motion, and flexibility. Just as a car can only travel as fast as its engine will allow, in like manner, baseball players can only perform to the degree that their bodies will allow. If coaches, parents and mentors ensure that their players are involved in recommended youth baseball conditioning training, they will be increasing their players’ chances to fulfil their maximum potential.

Here are some advised youth baseball conditioning techniques that are recommended for youth baseball coaches for the development of their players:

• Pitching Better through Swimming - Swimming can actually strengthen the shoulder muscles and enable pitchers to throw the baseball harder while protecting pitchers from devastating shoulder injuries. It is recommended that pitchers swim in free style for two minutes with a series of 4 repetitions. If the player can not swim, then the pitcher can stand waist deep in water under adult supervision and push the water away from the body with a hard thrust and fingers spread apart. This should be repeated for 2 minutes at a time.

• Sprint to Success - One of the traditional youth baseball training programs remains the best. Players need to build up their endurance in order to play the entire game with strength and energy. Wind sprints are the best way for youth baseball players to build up their endurance and, at the same time, bond with their teammates. If your players run wind sprints as a team or in bunches, such as pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders, you will be building up their endurance and the team will become closer as a unit. Ten 60 yard sprints are a good way to start, and you can lengthen the distance and repetitions over time.

• Squeeze that Ball - Another simple youth baseball conditioning exercise can be done everywhere from the ball field to the schoolyard and even to bed. Baseball players can increase their wrist strength by squeezing a rubber Spalding ball. Yes, these pink balls are still of infinite value to baseball players – pitchers, to increase the speed of their pitch; hitters by increasing their bat speed and, therefore, the distance of their drives; and fielders by increasing the strength of their throws.

• Stretch Before Games – Stretching and warm-ups are a key element of baseball conditioning training protocols to prevent injuries. Prior to every game and practice, baseball coaches should lead their team in a regular series of stretching and warm-up exercises for at least 10-12 minutes. Before the players begin playing baseball, make sure to cover all major muscle groups including shoulders, legs, arms, hips, and back.

Of course these are just a few, simple youth baseball conditioning exercises among many. Baseball coaches should be familiar with a wide variety of exercises and should weave these into a more holistic conditioning training plan that is appropriate to the age of their players.

Combined with a variety of baseball drills that make the game fun and build the fundamental skills needed to play, a strong baseball conditioning training regimen will ensure that players reach the top of their game and avoid unnecessary injury.

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Now in its fourth year, the Red Sox Mentoring Challenge is an initiative designed to recruit more mentors in MA and refer them to official campaign partner mentoring programs in the Mass Mentoring Partnership network.

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By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a  youth baseball community dedicated to providing parents, coaches and athletes the tools and information they need to celebrate the love of the game.  Weplay has one of the most comprehensive baseball drill libraries in its active baseball community.

A 42 game schedule for 9-10 year olds! Tournaments every Saturday and Sunday where 9-10 year olds play 3 games on each day with 20 minute halves!

Did your jaw drop at these revelations? It should. These are 9 & 10 year olds playing in a tournament league, in games that are longer than 32 minute high school games and in a schedule that would test any college team.

I just moved to Oregon and in talking with an acquaintance here learned that his ex-wife just signed their son up to play in the league described above. A couple of questions came immediately to mind—no, make that numerous questions.

1. Is this schedule for the adults or the kids?
2. Do the parents realize that all day, each Saturday & Sunday, all they are going to do is sit waiting for the next game?
3. Would any sane high school coach allow their players to play in three games in one day? In fact, the rule book will not allow it.
4. Twenty minute halves—that means a 40 minute game, even if it is a running clock. High school games are 32 minutes.
5. 42 games in a season! Colleges may play 45 games over a 4 month period.

I have written many times in my articles about youth sports being for the youth—not for the adults! Here is a quote from an article I wrote earlier this year: “Youth basketball is for the youth. A child must be allowed to be a child. They should be allowed to have fun with learning and playing the game and experience the joy.”

Young players have so much pressure placed on them to participate, and often to win in sports, that is just unnatural for kids to be subjected to. Add the expectations of parents and coaches to this mix and we’ve eliminated much of what being a kid is all about. With all the angst causing things coming at them, from every direction, related to school, clubs and other activities—now add all this time a kid has to be a kid being tied up in a tournament every weekend. (Oh, I forgot to mention—these teams also practice 3 times a week.)

Where were the sane and clear thinking adults while all this was being planned and passed into action? Didn’t anyone involved stop to think of what injuries can be inflicted upon developing young bodies from all this over-vigorous activity? Didn’t anyone care? There are many precedents for how to set up and run a youth sports program that is for the youth’s enjoyment and safe physical development. Obviously, these kinds of programs were never looked at, or if they were, they were dismissed.

This is so much of what is wrong about youth sports in today’s society. We have been bombarded with sexual abuse issues, anger issues, and over-reaching programs and schedules like the one I describe here, plus sports burn-out at an early age.

When will the parents wake up fully to the fact that these types of programs are not in the best interests of the kids they so willingly put at risk. What tragedy must befall some unsuspecting child in order to awaken adults to the injustice of what they are pushing at their kids?

Unfortunately, just about every kind of tragedy one could imagine in youth sports has already occurred. Because of these, many organizations and communities have recognized the horrors of youth sports and taken wonderful remedial steps toward offering programs that have helped to bring joy, wonder and FUN to their youthful participants. For the rest, what will it take before the realization dawns on them of the harm that is being visited on today’s youth and the repercussions that will be brought forward in the future as these kids mature?

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Mass Mentoring Partnership, the Massachusetts umbrella organization for youth mentoring, is working with Bank of America to launch a statewide (in MA) initiative to engage BOA employees in youth mentoring. Here, BOA Massachusetts President Bob Gallery introduces the initiative at a forum with BOA employees in Boston.

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About Author

Coach Ronn Wyckoff is an international spokesperson for youth sports being for the youth and the author/producer of 28 e-book and videos, including the 4-hr. instructional DVD, “Basketball On A Triangle: A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing”.
Coach Ronn’s more than fifty years of playing and coaching basketball, and being a coaching consultant, uniquely qualify him to teach coaches how to teach basketball and players to play better basketball. His programs have reached hundreds of coaches and players around the world with his simple yet highly detailed teaching methods. More can be learned about Coach Ronn and his programs at his website http://www.Top-Basketball-Coaching.com

Coaching youth softball requires talent, patience, understanding, and, above all, a commitment to those players entrusted to your care. Coaching youth softball is so much more than giving signs from the third base coaching box, or making decisions on personnel. 

Today, youth sports demand that the youth softball coach possess qualities that are essential to the position. It won’t guarantee a winning season, or even that all players and their parents will be grateful for your efforts on their behalf. However, if you don’t possess these qualities and fulfill certain roles, you will not succeed in your mission – to help the youngsters continue their development into mature and responsible adults. 

Coaching youth softball requires that your play these five key roles:

• Mentor – Coaching youth softball requires you to understand two things – the game and rules of youth softball as well as the goal of your job, which is to help the youngsters grow as individuals. You’ll never be able to be effective in your position if you are not clear yourself on these issues. If you’re not clear on your responsibilities to the team you will not convey the message that your players need to receive. 

• Manager – You must be able to manage a number of variables and multi-task, as well. Your team will have players with different personalities and different needs, and your task as a softball coach is to take the best elements and talents of each of your players and to mold them into one functioning unit for the benefit of the team. 

• Teacher – Coaching youth softball involves teaching your players a number of lessons – how to work together and perform as a team; how to sublimate personal goals for the team’s goals; how to improve their softball acumen, teach them age appropriate softball drills, and help them become better players. In this manner, your team will also improve. 

• Motivator – You can not overestimate the importance of the mental aspects of the game. Coaching youth softball is just not teaching hitting, fielding and throwing skills. It involves raising the level of your team’s play though inspiration and your personal example. Don’t hesitate to draw on examples that your players can relate to for support and inspiration, especially from pros they admire. 

• Role Model – Coaching youth softball means that you serve as a positive example for your players to emulate. This includes rendering fair and equitable treatment for all players, regardless of talent. 

If you hone these qualities, you will be able to fulfill your goal of coaching youth softball in a manner that both improves the lives of your athletes, parents and families, and also ultimately enriches your own coaching experience.

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Mass Mentoring Partnership, the umbrella organization for youth mentoring in Massachusetts, has partnered with the Boston Red Sox for the Red Sox Mentoring Challenge. Each year, MMP stages Mentoring Night at Fenway in which 700 mentors and mentees from across the state enjoy a Sox game. The mentors and mentees are also invited to participate in the pregame ceremonies. In this clip, the Raytheon/Stand & Deliver Octet from Lawrence sings the National Anthem; mentees from Childrens Friend …

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By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a youth softball community dedicated to providing parents, coaches and athletes the tools and information they need to celebrate the love of the game. Weplay has one of the most comprehensive softball drill libraries in its active softball community.

Since the early 60’s, our educational system for our children has been slowly eroding.  Our government has been notorious for promising better education, not one child left behind and yet in 2009 many college students and high school graduates are unable to pursue a higher education due to the horrific increase in cost. 

High school graduates are faced with several complex problems and at this time no relief is in sight.  Job availability this summer for this age group is a farce – the few jobs available are being snatched by the middle class who is in a survival mode trying just trying to exist.  

The  American dream of getting a college education for many is just a dream; colleges throughout the Nation have raised tuition fees once again and of course the economy is getting all of the blame. 

Possibly colleges have become strictly bottom line institutions and like many corporations those in charge can’t budget or utilize their monies in a responsible manner.   

High school drops appear to be increasing at a rapid rate, not because our children are stupid but these children are pretty logical in their decision.   College education for them would only come via a very expensive loan and even if they received a diploma that still wouldn’t  guarantee employment in their chosen field. 

After talking with several of these students, I realized they have analyzed the employment playing field for young people their age; regardless of education there’s a good chance that they’ll be flipping burgers and pancakes.  Our youth refuse to buy into the “what if” or “maybe” promises of what a college education will do for them.  

Our dropouts are aware that during the difficult economic times, there is a huge increase in the unskilled labor market.  Some of these jobs do pay well and our youth have decided to dominate the unskilled markets. 

So when and how did Americans allow their children’s education to be compromised?  There are more than a few factors that have contributed to the rapid decline or our educational system.  Here are but a few contributing factors.

The new child psychology started back in the good old days with Dr. Spock and friends – parents were criticized, made fun of and bashed for being the heads of the household. 

Over time the children became the dominant figures in the household and the parent/child relationship was weakened.  Discipline, guidelines and responsibility were relegated to the ancient history shelf. 

At the same time, “they” and I use this similar to Glenn Beck when referring to groups of people who worked 24/7 to change our educational standards.  Parents turned into their child’s best friends and along with that new role, discipline, respect and student responsibility evaporated little by little from the schools. 

Schools, teachers, superintendants were put in the line of fire via lawsuits and the media crap.  We stripped our school system down to nothing but a few pieces of scraps.  

Teachers are expected to raise our children, but lord forbid if they discipline Johnny or Susie!   Why did we decide it was the teacher’s job to mentor, counsel, comfort and raise our children?  Where is it written that our children should be in charge?

So we’re faced with an educational system where the children rule, make out on the campus, wear clothes that don’t cover bosom, crotches or butt cracks because parents have relinquished their “God” given rights. 

Morality is no longer dominant on our horizon.  The bottom line remains the same, “Our children need us – not the gifts and material junk we extend to them. 

Why are we allowing our school curriculum to slip below the norm of many other countries world-wide?  Frankly, I believe our curriculum has taken a beating in order to appease a very few – words removed, paragraphs eliminated and many books removed from the shelves just because of a small group of misinformed people.  “They” have peddled, meddled and taken control of our children’s education. 

Our Nation’s education should always be a priority for it is the backbone of our country!  America can’t raise their hands on educational excellence anymore –other countries are leaving us in the dust.  This isn’t acceptable and hopefully parents will return to a few basics.

Fathers and mothers can return to their homes as head of the household, mentors to their children.  Know where your child is, who she or he is hanging out with, restore order to your homes.  The child is a member of the household who needs guidelines, rules and structure.  

It’s unfair to ask teachers to take over parental tasks – you are the parents and if you can’t assume that awesome responsibility therein is the problem.  

Teaching should be one of the highest paying professions in our United States – along with higher pay; discipline should be restored to our educational structure.  Curriculum needs a heavy overhaul at the same time …

Over the years, we have seen a few bad teachers, just like bad cops or bad parents, but the majority remain good moral people so we can’t let the liberal news media turn our heads.  Quit babying your children; give them the tools needed to become young responsible adults with high self esteem and many beautiful dreams in their hip pocket. 

May God Bless America and help all citizens return our Nation to a strong foundation.  As Always, Annie

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www.MentoringAssociates.com Mentoring inner city at risk kids in Fallbrook (San Diego Co), or any community, volunteers make a difference & high school grad rates soar. Info on free videos.

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