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Make baseball easier so kids stay with it.

John Harr The kind of coach we'd all like to be, John Harr brings a high energy level to everything he does, from developing a baseball program, to scouting new talent, to demo'ing techniques on the field with players. He first came to WebBall's attention with the National Baseball Institute, a then unique opportunity for college-age students in western Canada. More recently John has been serving as head coach for a high-school-based baseball academy and as a coach with the respected Premier Baseball League in British Columbia, a breeding ground for many of the 16-18 year old Canadian prospects who have since become MLB players. John himself played in the Yankees and Giants organizations and was twice inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (yes, there is one.) (Click to close.)

- John Harr

"Never does a year go by when the questions is not asked: why do so many kids drop out of the game of baseball? Maybe, the real question should be: are the kids having fun at what they're doing?"

[Editore Note; When John Harr posed the question, WebBall was intrigued. The answer is often no because the rules and skills make it a tough sport to enjoy at an early age. So his suggestion: alter the playing conditions. It's a program he calls 'cooking the game'. See side note from WebBall.]

Change the rules of play...

If young kids are having trouble mastering all the skills of baseball at once, it becomes no fun and they quit. What to do: change the rules so that the game matches the growing skill level. Here are some ways to make it more fun for the youngest players. Try some of these rule changes in your league or association.

Out and Hit

It's hard to catch flyballs. So call it an out as long as the glove touches the ball. But let the runner still earn the hit and get on base, too.

In and Stop

As soon as a ball hit to the outfield is thrown back into the infield (anywhere in the infield), play stops, runners can't advance.

Every Out a Force

No tag plays, just throw the ball to the next base before the runner gets there and he's out. You can decide if the ball must be caught or not (see next).

Out and Safe

As long as the infielder throws inside a chalk circle around a base that's close enough to count as an out. But because the ball wasn't actually caught at the base the runner is still safe. (see previous)

Doubles Limit

The longest hit is a double - to keep kids from chasing the ball around forever while runners circle the bases. No runner can go more than two bases at a time.

Toss or Tee?

Each batter decides if he wants to hit off a toss or the tee. Or make it 3 tosses then the tee comes in. A variation on this is to ask the batter if he wants to hit with a round bat or a flat-sided bat. (Remember it's all about helping them master each skill gradually and get some reward for effort along the way.)

No Strike Outs

Another batting rule change. If the batter doesn't make contact in 5 swings (say) it counts as an out but he still gets to go to first base.

There are also non-rule changes... attitude changes...

Close Play Advantage

With a big gap in the scoring, close plays are always given to the team behind.

Mini-Games

Another way to keep scores from getting out of hand, play 2 three-inning games instead of one longer one. It's a fresh start. Other ways to shorten things - start every inning with a runner already on.

Bad Memory

The final score-evener depends on opposing coaches cooperating, basically by having a bad memory. "What's the score coach?" "8 to 5" "No way they got 5 runs on us!" "You're right, the score's 6 to 4."

Blind Draft

Finally, other ways to apply the fairness doctrine begin even before the season starts - with a blind draft, for instance. Coaches first pick teams then draw straws to see which team they get. (The only swapping after that is to move a son or daughter to the team their dad is coaching.)

Reader Commentary: 2 responses | WebBall members are invited to comment.

Ray Brown says:
Feb 16, 2008 at 11:36 AM

John comes up with some good ways to keep the youth players involved and more interested when playing the game but I think that even at the youth age, 8 to 12 we should be involving the rules, such things as striking out I believe should be introduced but I think the key is to not make it a big deal, keep it low key and let the player know he will get another chance to bat. In T-Ball I use this philosophy and have had no problems. Now you are asking yourself how do you strike out in T-Ball, the batter swings and misses the ball 3 times he is out. When I first introduced this some parents were caught off guard because the batter was always allowed to stay at the plate until he hit the ball. Another strategy I use is when I introduce pitching. I like to start with 8 year olds. I use the flexi-ball, have a floating pitching�rubber and end the inning after 20 pitches. I have found that this strategy moves the game, lets players get an opportuntiy to learn how to pitch and by having a floating pitching rubber allows them the best possible opportunity to throw strikes. Using the flexi-ball also allows each player to experience both pitching and catching as even the player with the worse hand eye cordination will not get hurt catching or getting hit by the flexi-ball, this also assists in eliminating the fear of getting hit by the ball which maybe one of the biggest reasons many youth aged players decide baseball is not for them. The 20 pitch rule does a couple of things, first it doesn't prolong the inning when the pitcher is struggling to throw strikes and the second thing it does is not make the pitcher pay for his teams lack of fielding expertise and as we both know both of these are killers at the youth ages and�are probably other reasons why kids quit the game. The rule also allows all players to get a chance to pitch, keeps down the pitch count and gives the player who struggled in the first inning a chance to redeem himself in the second.

Johnson Chen says:
Nov 15, 2008 at 5:47 AM

Practices should always be fun for the kids. While practicing and performing repetition of fundamentals drills is a necessary evil, coaches should always try to use a variety of drills, making the drills progressive and competitive. Making drills competitive challenges the kids. All practices should always involve a few minutes of some type of competition where the kids are challenged. It is a game and its suppose to be fun all the time.