Outfielder ADD - How to Keep Young Players' Heads in the Game

By Geoff James

I was never a very valuable member of my little league team. I could throw, catch, and even hit a baseball. I was a team player, and my mom always brought great snacks. The outfield, however, turned me into a liability. Put a kid in a classroom and ask him to pay attention to the person ten feet away for half an hour, you have yourself an uphill battle. Put that kid in a field and ask him to pay attention to a person forty yards away, and you may as well be asking him to bat .520.

In trying to hone your players' focus, it is important to remember how they think. Children resent authority but admire role models, operate on an incentives-and-aversions-based motivation system, and tend to be selfish (but influenced by desire to impress peers). Based on this rudimentary understanding of child psychology, you can capitalize on effective methods of improving outfield focus.

First, keep the suggestions positive. This is not to say that you should avoid being mean-spirited-that goes without saying. Instead, keeping suggestions positive means avoiding mention of the behavior you wish to avoid. Asking young players not to cloud gaze during baseball games just puts the idea in their heads. Instead, ask them to try to pay attention, do their best, etcetera.

Second, make the game interesting for them. This can be done without unfairly heaping pressure on their shoulders simply by showing a movie in which an outfielder makes an important play (almost every baseball movie) or perhaps setting up your own version of a golden glove incentive system.

Third, keep your players hydrated and well-fed. There is no better way to ensure distraction than to put thirsty, hungry kids in the outfield. Water and fruit are good choices because the natural sugar will give a cleaner, more sustainable source of energy to the players.

When you put these techniques into practice, you'll be looking at championships in no time. Come to us for all your baseball trophy needs.

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