The Perfect Season: How to Practice and Play Youth Baseball

Rating:
Summary: Manual for Baseball Coaches: Build your All-Star Team!
Review: "If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders ARE clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers." from Sun Tzu, _The Art of War_

Circa 500 b.c. The Chinese general, Sun Tzu wrote a very famous book called _The Art of War_ that describes the intricate details of effectively and successfully waging war. It is said that Sun Tzu was able to defeat an army of 200,000 men with his small army of only 30,000.

_The Perfect Season: How to Practice and Play Youth Baseball_
By Brett R. Bartlett is to baseball what Sun Tzu's book is to warfare, and much, much more. It is a manual intended to train the trainers.

This book provides training and theory to the Coach (es), a how to manual for everyday of the season. Both the newby coach and the gristled old veteran coach will benefit from a read through this masterpiece. I honestly considered sending a copy of this book to Dusty Baker, the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Perhaps then they could win the World Series!

Starting with the first team meeting, and running up to the end of the season (and beyond). This concise & enjoyable book will change the way you and your players approach the game of baseball. It's loaded with drills, techniques, theory, diagrams, suggestions and so much more.

From the moment you begin reading the introduction, you will realize the tremendous value of such a systematic, well-planned manual. This book will be near and dear to your heart (and sanity) on and off the field.

Turn player weaknesses into skills, and skills into mastery. Following the formulae in this book will revolutionize not only the way your team plays the game, but also, how they feel while doing it. Because in baseball, if you're not enjoying it, you may be doing it wrong, and this book will set you on the path to true American Baseball Fun!

As meaty and rich as apple pie, this is The Ultimate Baseball Bible!

Check it out:

Table of Contents

Intro: What You'll Learn inside

Chapter 1: The Team Meeting (Why have a team meeting? Considerations. Sample Agenda. Player Survey)

Chapter 2: Equipment (a list of what you'll need & how to get more)

Chapter 3: Practice One-Throwing (Drills: five and dime, hot shot, relay/cut throws, knee to first, pick and throw, diamond drill, around the horn, target practice, bucket throw, running the bases

Chapter 4: Practice Two-Fielding (Drills: egg rolls, goalie drill, short-hop drill, cone drill, receiver catch, double jeopardy, short to first, mine mine mine!, coming off the field, running the bases)

Chapter 5: Practice Three-Bunting/Hitting (Drills: okay, you get the point, every chapter has numerous highly effective conditioning drills)

Chapter 6: Practice 4-Pitching, Fielding Refreshers, Baserunning, and Hitting
Chapter 7: Practice 5-Rules Refresher, Special Plays, Strategy
Chapter 8: Practice 6-The Six-on-Six Scrimmage or Practice Game
Chapter 9: The First Game
Chapter 10: Practice 7- Adjustments
Chapter 11: "Play Ball"
Chapter 12: Season's End: All-Stars, Tournament Play, Party, Pics, and Awards

Appendices: scoring, keeping statistics, backstop plans, tee plans, field diagrams, baseball parenting, line-up sheet, resources & bib.

Buy it now, and maximize the potential of everyone involved with your team!

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Handbook
Review: Coaching youth sports sounds so simple - just roll the ball out and watch them play. But for anyone who's actually given it a try, it becomes all-too-obvious in a hurry there's much, much more - especially if you want the kids to actually learn something.

Now there's help - Brett Bartlett has written a practical guide that will transform any Mom or Dad into a veritable Joe Torre. From running practice to managing the game, his insights are incisive, his advice spot-on.

This book should be on the shelf of every youth baseball coach in the country - and probably also of every parent of a youth player.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Handbook
Review: Coaching youth sports sounds so simple - just roll the ball out and watch them play. But for anyone who's actually given it a try, it becomes all-too-obvious in a hurry there's much, much more - especially if you want the kids to actually learn something.

Now there's help - Brett Bartlett has written a practical guide that will transform any Mom or Dad into a veritable Joe Torre. From running practice to managing the game, his insights are incisive, his advice spot-on.

This book should be on the shelf of every youth baseball coach in the country - and probably also of every parent of a youth player.

Rating:
Summary: Buy copies of this book for your coaching friends!
Review: I own more than a dozen books on how to coach youth baseball, so when a fellow coach dropped "The Perfect Season" on my lap, I wasn't exactly excited about reading it. I figured that I already knew it all. I was wrong. I was so impressed with this book that I am writing this review as I place an order for four more copies, which I plan to pass out to my baseball-coaching friends. Any baseball coach who deals with pre-teens -- from T-ball teams to U-12 travel teams -- would be neglecting his duty to his players and their parents if "The Perfect Season" weren't in his library. This book covers the needed basics for both new coaches and veteran youth coaches, from dealing with parents who fly into rages to dealing with the infield fly rule. I especially liked the detailed descriptions of fun drills that I had never even heard of. The book's main emphasis is to teach youth how to play baseball by improving their individual techniques and their game strategies. The author recognizes that creating better baseball players is a more important coaching goal than finishing a T-ball season undefeated. More power to him!

Rating:
Summary: Simple and Effective
Review: There are numerous books out there for coaches that have the same goal as The Perfect Season: to arm the coach with tons of drills at his disposal to get the most out of his players. Unlike other books, these drills aren't needlessly complicated, don't require all kinds of pricey equipment that isn't standard in your bag (you probably want to purchase a tee and some simple cones, but that's all I needed), and won't confuse your children as they try to execute them.

Also, Bartlett provides solid estimates for the time to complete every drill, allowing you to mix and match to meet the needs of your team and your timeframe. I've found myself falling in love with many of the drills, and the players do enjoy them. This book doesn't eliminate time spent standing around, but it reduces it exponentially.

The drills are good for all ages, as even high school players would benefit from some. However, it's perfect for coaches in 9- and 10-year old leagues, where kids are first able to bunt and steal and coaches struggle to teach and strategize these new tools. If you coach in a league for 9- and/or 10-year olds, I would recommend you order this immediately. Everyone will benefit from it, but that demographic needs it.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book for New Coaches I've Seen
Review: This book is everything I needed when they asked me to coach my son's team a few years ago. I wish I could have stuffed it in my back pocket then. Luckily, I've got one more son coming up and I plan to use each and every one of the practices and drills in here this spring to make our youth league practices fun and productive again.

Rating:
Summary: It's Okay for Young Kids, but There Are Other Books Too
Review: This is a fine, middle-of-the road book on coaching kids. It's especially aimed at coaches of 8 to 10 year-old teams. After reading all the 5-star reviews, I was expecting a tour-d-force and this book, while valuable, simply is not that special.

It has some interesting drills for young players, but is devoid of any real baseball skills descriptions. The book focuses on the basic throwing, catching, and hitting skills. It all flows together if you're a post-Tball and pre-skilled-play coach. It does have some handy cut-out diagrams and a very good bibliography.

This book also has some good tips for dealing with parents. However Dr.Fortanasce's "Life Lessons from Little League" is a much better book on a coach's relationships with his players and their parents. Similarly, Ripkin, Bouroughs, Cluck, Kendall, Voorheis and others all have more in-depth books on baseball skills.

Check out Amazon and look at the wide range of coaching books available.