A Coaches Check List

The check list of articles below will help you prepare to coach your team. You will notice that I haven't even listed any drills, strategies or game situations yet. There is a lot more to being a coach. You will find tips for dealing with parents, players, injuries, safety and much more. The new coach will wish that someone had told them about these things, before they had agreed to coach. Now that you have committed to coaching, this information will help you better prepare for what lies ahead.


Dealing with Parentshas to be on your coaches check list. Parents can be your biggest source of help or your biggest headache. Learn how to work with them and you will have their support. The roles a parent plays in supporting their young athlete can make such a big difference in their development. This article will help you and get them on your side right up front.

Dealing with PlayersThis can be the most rewarding part of coaching. Seeing them develop as players and genuine nice people is great. Our goal as coaches is to teach the game and its elements to our players while building their confidence and self esteem. You can add building teamwork and respect for team mates, coaches, opponents and parents/fans and safety into the list of your goals.

Sportsmanshipis an item on your coaches check list. No matter how competitive we can get, this is just a game. Nobodies’ life or livelihood is riding on what happens in a game or at practice. Our job as youth coaches is to teach the game and its elements to our players while building their confidence and self esteem. The most valuable life lesson that our players should get out of the game is sportsmanship.


You should always have a practice plan written down and laid out including the timing of each segment of practice. A good practice plan takes a little effort, but will keep your practices focused and productive. This topic will be discussed in more detail later, but here is a Practice Plans Preview.

Coaching-Fastpitch Newsletter

Signing up for the Coaching Fastpitch Newsletter. On occasion, I will be sending out the newsletter with interesting fastpitch stories and my thoughts. As a BONUS just for signing up for the newsletter, you will receive a password for the practice drills page.

I was coaching a young 12U team in the summer of 2010. We practiced twice a week until the season started, then we only practice once per week. We play games two nights per week and we also played weekend tournaments. I wrote a practice plan for each week and sent my plan to those who had signed up for the Coaching-Fastpitch Newsletter. The practice plan that I used is good for 10U and 12U teams. Click here to see past issues of this newsletter.You will also have access to the Fastpitch Drills page which details the drills that are in the Coaching-Fastpitch newsletter. You can follow my plan if you like, you can modify it as you like or you can create your own plan.

Dealing with Softball Injuriesneeds to be on your coaches checklist. Softball injuries are a fact of life. I have seen everything from jammed fingers to broken legs and concussions over the years. We do our best to teach the mechanics that will reduce the likelihood of injury, but there is no way around it, stuff happens. Injuries can happen off the field of play. Some one gets hit by a foul ball or someone steps on a ball by accident and roles an ankle.

Safetycan not be left of your coaches check list How to reduce the number of injuries you will see by doing our best to control what we can. I will mention them here and again as they apply in other sections of this site. Read this article and you will be better prepared to eliminate or at least cut down some of the needless injuries.


Knowledge of the Game will take time to aquire. I would encourage everyone to get out to coaching clinics. Your local association will pay for them in most cases. Coaches clinics are also a great place to meet other coaches and get to know them on a different level. There are a lot of great people all with the goal of helping the athletes become better. Read this page to find out more about the game of fastpitch.

Visit Liberty Mutual's Responsible Sports website.
Mike Candrea on Liberty Mutual's Responsible Sports program.

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