Youth Baseball Batting Lineup Strategies // Maximize Your Lineup
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- Опубліковано 12 гру 2021
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There are many baseball coaches out there who don't really give much thought into their batting lineup. Most of them just list the lineup from their best hitter to their worst hitter and that's it. Even though this seems like a good strategy, what they don't realize is they're missing out on so much more production from their best hitters.
Each position in the lineup has a specific job to do and coaches need to think about where they want each of their hitters to be based on their specific skill set. Are they fast? Do they hit for power or average? How often do they strike out? Do they get on base often?
All of these questions need to be asked when you create your lineup, and today's bullpen bulletin is all about lineup strategy for youth baseball coaches in order to maximize your lineup for success.
In this video, you'll learn:
1) The 6 basic offensive skills to look for in your hitters
2) What skills each position in the lineup should have in order to maximize your lineup for success.
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Do you have a strategy in mind when you create your lineup? Did you learn anything new in this video that you're going to use for your next lineup? I'd love to hear from you!
At the level I coach, 8u, the disparity between our best hitters and worst, is MASSIVE and every player is in the batting lineup, 12-14 kids. If the approach is taken where you build your lineup like a traditional lineup you will get crushed most games. The other teams top pitcher faces the skilled part of your lineup, then they can bring in a lesser pitcher to mow down the back half of your lineup and eat up 2-3 innings with no threat to score.
I like to put my player in groups threes. A leadoff kid who can hit/get on base, one of the less talented kids in the middle to hopefully move the first guy over, and then a slugger.
by spreading your best hitters out in the lineup you are a threat to score every inning and your better hitters will get to face the other teams lesser pitchers.
@@DerekTC Hey Derek, this is awesome! I know exactly the situation you're talking about and I think this is a great solution. This is especially great when, like you said, you have the whole lineup hitting. Hopefully coaches read your comment so they can implement this if they're in the same situation. Thanks for the different perspective!
@@DerekTC thank you for this idea. I'm coaching top 9u team, but your approach will work with our players. Coach Hart's maybe down the road, but for now yours I like. we'll see how that works.
This video is very good insight into batting order strategy. However, don't miss the opportunity that exists with a #9, which with older kids is far from being just another #7 or #8 hitter. Your #9 should be used to set up the top of the order for those later innings. It is the perfect spot for perhaps that speedy and aggressive younger player you expect could be your #1 next year. In school ball (baseball or softball) where you lose experienced players every year, this is an important strategy. And don't forget to discuss the strategy with the player (and parents) so they understand the advantages that a decent #9 hitter can bring to the team. In older age groups, #9 is certainly NOT a place to bury a weaker hitter. 🤔
@@dogpatch75 totally agree! No hitter should ever be “buried” like they’re not there to contribute something to the team. This is another strategy that I hope coaches see if they’re looking for other options. Thanks for the comment and insight!
I've always broken them down to 3 categories. Speed-average-power then assessed them 1-3.
So my lineups will look like this...
1-Speed1
2-Average1
3-Power1
4-Power2
5-Average2
6-Speed2
7-Power3
8-Average3
9-Speed3
On occasion I might swap 2s and 3s but 1s never move.
I found it to be successful, and speed is never locked down by slower runners.
In youth baseball, I find that not enough time is spent on baserunning.
You can reek havoc on a def with AGGRESSIVE running.
Not just stealing but actually pushing the Def to rush a play or focus on a runner. Hustle opens the whole game up!
I like it...Thanks for the video!
You’re right on the mark with this comment! I like your strategy and how you break up the three skill categories, it sounds like it would work great. And couldn’t agree more with you about the baserunning, youth baseball all around doesn’t spend enough time teaching / learning / executing great baserunning and it’s such a weapon if you can do it right! Thanks for the comment 👍
I use a very similar lineup. Great job coach.
For some of the younger teams (like 10U or 12U), I like to take speed into consideration for the last couple of batters as well. The worst is when you end your order with the slowest players on the team, and then the lead-off hitter gets up, and is strangled on the bases because of the speed of the players in front of him. It's been working for us to include someone quicker at the bottom who is smart on the bases - at least enough to not hurt the speed coming up after them!
Just found your channel. Love how you get straight to the point. Lots of info packed into a short amount of time!
Thanks Shannon, I'm glad you've found it helpful! That's why I do it, I want to help as much as I can 👍 if you need anything else I'm just an email or message away!
Found your channel a couple of weeks ago. Excellent stuff and straight to the point. As an educator and youth coach I can resonate with the handling of these topics. I began applying some of pointers in several videos and I'm seeing instant results! Thank you and keep up the good work!
Thank you Shiloh! I’m grateful you and other coaches / parents are finding the content helpful, much more content to come!
13u coach. I often used this exact strategy. But as a secondary or sometimes primary line up, I will go with the described 1-4 then try and mimic that 5-8 and then 9-12. We roster bat, with 12 this is usually my go to.
If I was running 9 I use the line up described here.
Awesome content! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Evan, thank you for the kind words, it means a lot to hear that it's helping people - I'm glad you found it helpful! If there's anything else you need just let me know 👍
Randomized batting orders on lineup sheets before the season starts. Less work later on. Our job as "COACHES" is to coach. If you leave that true #9 hitter in the 9 hole all season, that says more about YOU than the kid. Do your job, coach him up! Hold your head high at the end of the day.
I agree 100%! Thanks Ken
I disagree. I had a coach try that, and it never worked out. Kids never knew when they were up next, always scrambling. Kids like stability, and random orders are chaotic. You can work with that #9 hitter all you want, but why punish the top players even though they probably put in extra work? You can motivate the bottom order to work hard and move up. It’s accountability.
@@eddiemonter7150 line-up hangs there in the dugout. They know where to look. I may have a different out look as a paid coach. But treating kids different and special makes the good ones lazy or complacent.
Our league has a 90 min time limit. So many times we only get 4 innings played. Many games are won when 9th and 10th place hitters get on base and 1st and 2nd hitters have to get the game winning hits.
Really glad I found this channel..very good information..I've been a coach for 3 years I've always been a assistant coach and now this year I'm the head coach for my son's 50/70 intermediate team..my first practice is tomorrow..thank you for the information keep them up..one thing I would like to see is you using some players to demonstrate some of the drills and examples you have for drill etc.
How's the season going?
Last rec-ball season, my team was 8-9-10 kid-pitch (the "lower half" of the 8-9-10-11 year old kids -- My team was AA, the higher ranked kids being AAA). I ran through a few different ways on paper to try and make the best lineup, but there's such a sharp drop-off between the higher-skilled players to the lower-skilled and first-year players. Some kids want to hit, (and do hit), while other kids will literally stand up there and never swing, looking for the BB, or taking the K. Pitching of course is all over the place as well. What I ended up doing was loosely structuring the batting lineup based on OBP. I wanted the kids with the better chance of getting on base to have more plate appearances...I figured this roughly translates into more runners on base, with the potential for more RBIs whether it's a hit or another walk. This method worked out very well in both regular season, and through some tournaments.
Kids would be "rewarded" with a higher spot in the order if they had a great game or a good week of practice etc. I'd make sure to let them know "Hey, you did really great at XYZ, I'm going to have you bat 7th today" or something to that effect. Typically the three lowest-skilled batters were pretty equal, so I'd rotate them around so the same kid isn't last all the time. We'll see what works best this year! I haven't met my team yet.
I like this approach and I think it will work well! I especially like the reward system of rewarding positive play in both practices and games. I think that’s great incentive for kids to continue doing what worked, gives them a bit more motivation, and also it makes the game more fun because they know there’s something to strive for. I’d love to hear how it works this season. Thanks David!
typically, in youth, there’s a time limit. Specially, in our 10u league. So with that in mind, I always put my best hitter in the one slot. I want to get him as many bats as possible. He’s usually the fastest best baseball IQ can get on Base anytime he wants and is the all around best player.
I like the strategy however when roster batting, if you leave all your least productive hitters for the bottom, you can easily end up with a rough 2 innings. With more than 10 hitters I like to drop a few bigger bats lower in the order.
Great idea Brian, thanks for the insight!
What if you have 11 kids and they all have to be in the lineup?
Thanks
Hey Tom, I would say that the tenth and eleventh batters are similar to the 9th batter. You could even rotate the 8th - 11th batter so they get more at bats!
In our league the order has to stay the same the whole game, thanks
Just won our game
Going to the regionals!!!!😃
@@Tom-gq4mw sorry for the miscommunication, I meant switching them every game so they all experience more at bats, not within the same game 😂 sorry about that! We have a 5 week old son at home - must be the lack of sleep 🤣
@@Tom-gq4mw that's awesome! Congratulations 🎉🎉👏👏
For 7/8/9 yr olds, it’s basically backwards.
The weakest hitters are going to be afraid to even be up to bat. They won’t swing much BUT since pitchers have trouble throwing strikes at this age those weak hitters will get on base a lot. And since catchers at this age also can’t catch well these weak hitters who got imon base are going to steal steal steal all the way home.
This is how games are won in AA and AAA LL
Meanwhile the strong hitters, aren’t very disciplined, they just want to hit, so they’re gonna swing at a lot of those balls and strike out.
Irony at its finest