Analysis and development of a baseball program for beginning high school coaches

76 Pages·03.016 MB·English

by  Clemmer, Leslie C

ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT OF A BASEBALL PROGRAM FOR
BEGINNING HIGH SCHOOL COACHES
A P ro ject
P resented to
the F aculty of the School of E ducation
The U n iv ersity of Southern C alifo rn ia
In P a rtia l F u lfillm en t
of -the Requirem ents fo r the Degree
M aster of Science in E ducation
by
L eslie C. Clemmer
August 1950
UMI Number: EP46238
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This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
Date .AC ...........................
user
Dean
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER ~ PAGE
’ --I'. THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS- OP TERMS USED . . . . 1
The problem - . . . ; . . . . . ; . . . . . . . • . 1
Statem ent o f the problem .............................. 1
' ’ - ^ 1 * • ■ - J 1
Im portance of th e-stu d y .. . * . . . . . 2
L im itatio n s of the p r o b le m ......................... 2
Method of procedure • . . . . . • • • . • • • . 3
O rganization of rem aining ch ap ters . . . . . . 4
D e fin itio n s of term s used ......................... 4
I I . THE QUESTIONNAIRE ......................................................... 8
I I I . THE TRAINING PROGRAM OP BASEBALL PLAYERS...........................19
T raining suggestions 19
P re-season p ra c tic e . 21
R egular Spring p ra c tic e . . . . . . 23
G eneral c o n s id e ra tio n s ............................................. 23
Day*s program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Weekly program .............................. 25
Ten-week cam paign ......................... 26
G eneral 26
IV. BASEBALL FUNDAMENTAL . 30
. C atcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
P itch e r ......................... 33
F irs t baseman ......................... 36
Second baseman . . . . . . . . . . 38
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
Third baseman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
S hortstop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
* ,» I.
O u tfield ers . . ..................................... . . ? . . .* .. . 1 46
V. TEAMWORK AND OFFENSIVE PLAYS . . . . . . . . . . 50
H ittin g 50
B unting 52
Base running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Coaching the bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Teamwork and the b a ttin g order .............................. 56
V I. TEAMWORK AND DEFENSIVE PLAYS ......................................... 60
Methods of prom oting su ccessfu l teamwork . . . 60
How to play a bunt 60
How to play the h itte r ........................................... 6l
How to c a ll out fly b a lls . . . . . . . . . . 62
How to play the c u t-o ff play 63
How to tra p a runner betw een bases . . . . . 63
How to back up each o th er . . . . . . . . . . 64
V II. SUMMARYjAND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 66
BIBLIOGRAPHY . V ;. * v \. . . . . ♦. . ' .....................
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ILLUSTRATION PAGE
I. T raining . . • . • . . . « • .. 18
II,'. P itch in g , • .. . .‘ .. . * ■... .' . . .. •, •. . 29
I I I . H ittin g .......................... 49
IV. D efensive Play . . .* . . . . . . . . • . , 59
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED
B aseb all, Am erica’s m ost popular leisu re^tim e game,'-
has not receiv ed co lleg e and u n iv e rsity reco g n itio n as much
as some of the o th er sp o rts, such as fo o tb a ll and b ask et­
b a ll. B aseb all, a re la tiv e ly unem phasized sp o rt in univer­
s itie s and high schools, is the top American p ro fessio n al
sp o rt in both attendance and salary earn in g s. W hile i t is
one of the b e st paid p ro fessio n s in the w orld of sp o rts, i t
receiv es le ss coaching em phasis in m o st u n iv e rs itie s and
high schools, A coach is u su ally employed because he is a
good fo o tb a ll coach, and then fin d s him self w ith the task of
coaching b a se b a ll, which he knows l i t t l e about. I t is
hoped th a t the inform ation contained in th is p ro je c t w ill
help solve h is problem .
I. THE PROBLEM
Statem ent of the problem . I t was the purpose of th is
! study to develop a b aseb all program fo r beginning high school
coaches, in clu d in g : (l) tra in in g of b a seb a ll p lay ers; (2)
b aseb all fundam entals to be tau g h t, stre ssin g team and in d i­
v id u al d efensive p o sitio n s; (3) fundam entals, stre ssin g
in d iv id u al and teamwork on o ffen siv e p lay s; and (4) de­
fen siv e team work.
2
Im portance of the stu d y . In. the p a st score of y ears
high school b aseb all has been d eclin in g fo r v ario u s reaso n s.
In the m ajo rity of high schools throughout the country, base­
b a ll is playing second fid d le to fo o tb a ll and b a sk e tb a ll.
T his may be because b a se b a ll is not a paying sp o rt, as is
fo o tb a ll. Coaches are employed fo r th e ir a b ility to coach
fo o tb a ll, ra th e r than b a se b a ll. I f a coach can coach both
fo o tb a ll and b aseb all the school is fo rtu n a te . C arson J .
Thompson sta te d h is opinion on sc h o la stic b a seb a ll:
A m ajor league b aseb all scout has sa id , “High school
b aseb all is not taken se rio u sly enough by many who are
in charge." Many high school coaches p ick a team .and
supervise the playing b u t do not teach the fin e r p o in ts
of the game such as base s te a lin g , bunting, squeeze
p lay s, and the h it and ru n . T heir enthusiasm never
c a rrie s any fu rth e r than the mere su p erv isio n of the
boys, and accordingly, the boys, and perhaps, the
school su ffe r.^
The high school a th le te has not always been given a
f a ir chance to le a rn b a seb a ll c o rre c tly , or to g et the funda­
m entals of the game th a t w ill give him a b e tte r chance to
make a co lleg e or p ro fe ssio n a l team .
[Ami ta t ions of the problem . This • study was made, fo r
the beginning high school b a seb a ll coach and the m ateria l
is adapted fo r high school boys. An attem pt was made to
b rin g out the p o in ts of th e game th a t should be stre sse d in
1 G arson J . Thompson, "B aseball as a High School
A c tiv ity ," A th letic J o u r n a l 28:46. May, 1948.
.3
a high school program b u t no attem pt vas made to d iscu ss
a ll the fin e p o in ts of advanced p lay .
' *5a*--
The q u estio n n aire and lib ra ry research methods were
used to determ ine the fundam entals bein g -tau g h t. ,high school
p lay ers today. Some of the answers receiv ed were not con-
. elu siv e b at a ll th a t appeared sig n ific a n t were included.
I I . METHOD OP PROCEDURE
The inform ation and d ata used in developing th is
p ro je c t came from sev eral sources. A q u estio n n aire was
prepared covering the various phases of high school b a se b a ll.
T his q u estio n n aire was presented to 33 high school coaches
and 40 young men now playing sem i-p ro fessio n al b a seb a ll, a ll
of whom had played b aseb all in high school. T heir responses
were used in preparing the o u tlin ed program .
O ther inform ation was obtained through personal
experiences, books on b aseb all w ritte n by form er and p resen t
m ajor league b aseb all p lay e rs, from p e rio d ic a ls, the
S ch o lastic Coach and the A th le tic Jo u rn a l, and from books
and pam phlets, w ritte n by w ell known b aseb all coaches.
The inform ation and d ata obtained have been com piled
in an attem pt to give a v a lid p ic tu re of b a seb a ll funda­
m entals adapted to th e high school le v e l, accompanied by a
* sound and p ra c tic a l working program fo r coaching b a seb a ll.
4
I I I . ORGANIZATION OP REMAINING CHAPTERS '
C hapter I I p resen ts th e questionnaire> and. th e re+
. sponses obtained* ; . • , • • . . - . ’
C hapter I I I d escrib es the tra in in g program fo r base­
b a ll p la y e rs. . ■
C hapter IV d eals w ith in d iv id u a l defensive p o sitio n s.
The fundam entals of catch in g , p itc h in g , playing f i r s t base,
second base, sh o rtsto p , th ird , and fie ld in g are d iscu ssed .
C hapter V d iscu sses teamwork and o ffen siv e p lay s.
C hapter VI d iscu sses b asic situ a tio n s of d efensive
teamwork and p lay s.
C hapter V II summarizes the study and p resen ts the
recom m endations fo r i t s use.
L^jV DEFINITIONS OP TERMS USED
B alk. T his is a v io la tio n o f a p itch in g ru le by the
p itc h e r. The um pire advances the runners one base.
C overing up the b a ll. The pitcher* s e ffo rt to keep
the b a ll covered up w ith h is m it w hile w inding up in the box.
Cut o ff p lay . This re fe rs to throw s th a t are In te r­
cepted by o th er p lay ers before they reach th e ir d e stin a tio n ,
such as the p itc h e r, second basem an, or sh o rtsto p catching
a b a ll throw n by the catch er to second base before i t