Skills Progressions
The game of baseball/softball is complex, many skills and situations need to be learned and mastered.
Depending on the age level and skills of your current players you need to establish one, or more, progressions (sequence or order) in which you will teach your players the many skills of the game. These progressions will serve as an overall framework for your practice plans and provide you a road map of what you should teach, and when. The progressions outlined below are general and will be modified to fit your particular situation, but should serve as a good starting point. You may well be working on several progressions at once. For example, with younger players, teaching how to hit off a tee, how the field is laid out and how to field a ground ball.
Swing a bat
Hit a ball off a tee
Hit a moving ballPitching machine
Bunt
Running
Running the bases
Leading off a base
Throwing
Fielding a ground ball
Making a tagof a base
Learn the layout of the field and the bases
Learn the defensive positions
Learn defensive plays/situations (relays, cutoffs, bunt, etc.)
Learn to pitch
In establishing your skills progressions there are several things to consider:
The rules your league uses. (These should be taught to all players.) For example, if your league does not allow bunting, that skill would be a low priority to teach. However, as an aside, once your players start to hit a moving ball showing them how to bunt can be useful as it gives them a good tool to improve their hand/eye coordination when they are hitting.
Teach skills from easy to difficult. This allows your players to gain confidence in an easy skill before introducing a harder skill. For example, hitting off a tee is easier than hitting live pitching.
Use skills already learned as a foundation, or base, for each new skill introduced. For example, catching a thrown ball provides a good base for learning to catch a fly ball.
There is nothing magic in skills progressions, it is simply taking an organized, thoughtful approach to determining what to teach, and when, as you try to impart many different skills and situations to your players. Trying to teach too much, too fast can be frustrating to your players. You need to be confident that you have a plan which will accomplish all of what you believe needs to be done all in a logical sequence. Believe in your plan and stick to it even if you wish that your players had more skills, faster. It takes time and patience to develop a player, so make your plan and stick with it and you will be successful at the end.
