The Perfect Season: How to Practice and Play Youth Baseball

Head Coach Ron Polk, Mississippi State University, 15 July 2003
"Outstanding. Impressive. Will enable youth league coaches to do a much better job on the baseball field."


Coach Buddy Kisner, Pensacola Junior College, 6 July 2003
"An invaluable guide for youth baseball coaches."


Coach Richard "Itch" Jones, Head Baseball Coach, University of Illinois, March 2003
"Complete, well-organized. Keeps the players active throughout practice. A must for youth coaches."


Vince Fortanasce,M.D. - Author, Life Lessons from Little League, member of The Little League Coaches Hall of Fame.
"The Perfect Season is THE PERFECT BOOK for every coach and parent who loves their children. A truly great work."


Darrin Fletcher, Former Major League Catcher, Toronto Blue Jays, Current Youth League Coach.
The Perfect Season's approach mixes fun and fundamentals so well that any coach will "walk" easily through the season.


Robert
"This easy read guide offers so much in so little space it should be required reading for every youth coach.


Jake Gibbs, Former Catcher New York Yankees and Head Coach at Ole Miss.
"The Perfect Season gives coaches everything they need to coach youth baseball and puts the FUN back into the game!"


Ron Polk, Mississippi State Head Coach, author of The Baseball Playbook.
"Outstanding. Impressive. Will enable youth league coaches to do a much better job of working with their players."


Book Description
Designed to fit in any coach's back pocket, The Perfect Season guides little league/youth baseball coaches, parent, and players through a complete baseball season, from that first parents' meeting to a season-ending celebration, with its main focus on six preseason practices that are presented drill-by-drill and cover all aspects of the game. These fast-paced workouts emphasize skills development, good sportsmanship, and teamwork while allowing coaches to easily evaluate player's abilities and focus on areas for improvement. Sections on baseball strategy, scoring, parenting tips, and much more round out this comprehensive yet simple, start-to-finish approach to the season for anyone involved in youth baseball.


From the Publisher
Tired of the same old boring practices? Strapped for time? Want to make your players better and have more fun? The Perfect Season will not only have your team grinning and hustling through every practice, but will also help them improve their skills more quickly and win more games than you ever thought possible. Coach Bartlett has developed THE practice plan for any new coach who finds himself or herself suddenly in command of a youth baseball/little league team.


From the Author
The Perfect Season: How to Practice and Play Youth Baseball is a compilation of all the great drills and strategies I've seen in my decade of coaching youth baseball. Over the past several summers, I've organized, reorganized, and tweaked those drills and their associated practices into a logical, progressive order, each one building on the last to prepare your team for the season ahead while emphasizing team play and fun throughout.


From the Inside Flap
"A 'good heart' and 'good intentions' can go a long way for the parent/coach, who like Brett Bartlett, finds himself or herself being asked to coach a child's team. But, unforunately, that 'long way' may be a 'wrong way' that results in more harm than good. The Perfect Season can help turn those good intentions into good results by adding fun to the game while giving good sound instruction. This 'easy read' guide offers so much in so little space it should be required reading for every youth coach." -- Dr. Robert "Ish" Smith - Member of The American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, recipient of the Olympic Order Award, and Past President of the U.S. Baseball Federation, International Baseball Association, and NAIA Baseball Coaches Association.


About the Author
Brett Bartlett is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association. He coaches youth baseball and football in Charleston, Illinois.


Excerpted from The Perfect Season: How to Practice and Play Youth Baseball by Brett R. Bartlett. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"I first saw the need for this manual after struggling through my inaugural year of coaching nine and ten-year-olds in the Charleston Baseball Association's summer league. At that time I used my limited experience as a player and coach-pitch manager and any hints I could gather from the few books I found on the subject to guide our team's practices and game plans. The result was only a minor improvement over the typically boring and inefficient workouts conducted by most coaches - you know - those hour-and-a-half sessions made up primarily of taking infield and batting practice with most of the kids simply standing around in the field waiting their turn. Only after buying John T. Reed's book, Youth Baseball Coaching, and Marty Schupak's video, The 59 Minute Baseball Practice, did I see that others had successfully managed to make practicing baseball exciting, productive, and fun. I also realized that many of my fellow coaches and most of the men who coached me during my playing days each had actually devised at least one or two ways to make practice fun while improving their players' skills. It was just that no single coach had ever quite put together an entire practice, let alone an entire season of drills designed to consistently do both. This book then is a compilation of all the great drills I've seen and used in the years following that initial frustrating season. Over the past several summers I've organized, reorganized, and tweaked the drills and associated practices into a logical, progressive order, each one building on the last to prepare your team for the season ahead and then to help them further improve as that season continues. I've also included numerous observations, insights, practice and game strategies, and other tidbits I hope will help you and your team have the best baseball season ever!


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