By Dr. Tommy John

There is a wide-range of misunderstandings when it comes to physical health and youth sports, but here are two big ones that stand out:

• Practices aren’t providing enough activity for my child
• Our coaches aren’t developing our children properly

Read More ....

All Little League® managers and coaches are volunteers, who by definition, are considered amateurs. Yet, whether coaching for the first time, or a veteran of many seasons there is always room to improve.

A local league can take the initiative to provide its players and parents with a quality on-field experience by appointing or electing a Coaching Coordinator to the Board of Directors. 

Read More .... 

With another exciting Little League® season behind us, the off-season can provide time for coaches to reflect, evaluate, and plan for the upcoming season. While players look to hone their skills during the off-season, coaches should also look for ways they can improve their craft.

When evaluating yourself as a coach, it should start with your coaching philosophy. Do you have a clear philosophy, did you share it with your players and team parents, and did you hold yourself accountable to your philosophy? Read More ...

In the off-season, your mind may frequently wander back to last season.

You may think of tactics -- the time you left your top pitcher in too long, or the way a batting order experiment worked out so that a player's confidence rose, and he became a middle-of-the line-up fixture.

You might remember losing your temper with an umpire, or the occasion that you and "blue" worked together to explain a fine point of the rules to your team. Read More ...

Teaching and nurturing - physically, mentally, and emotionally - is your most important leadership role. Your players are vulnerable in all three of those areas and also have nearly unlimited room for growth in all three.

The etymology of the word "coach" stems from the word that used to mean "a vehicle for moving very important people from place to place." Any positive way you can do that will show leadership.

Read More....

When your focus turns to the regular season, managing effective, engaging practices for your Little League team between games can become a challenge.

By the time the season is under way, your team has settled into the skills and drills routine and a fun alternative to the typical infield-outfield-batting practice workout is the idea of an intrasquad scrimmage.

Read More ...

Once tryouts are completed, the player draft is completed, and rosters take shape, it's important to remember many parents and other volunteers are also their taking their first steps into coaching.

Dan Spring, a 2003 draftee of the Detroit Tigers, is also youth baseball instructor with more than 10 years of experience. He offered his list of 10 things that both rookie and veteran coaches should remember when working with youth athletes.

Read More...