Posts by Marty Schupak

  I have made it no secret that I have a huge affinity toward catchers in youth baseball. A catcher who is11 or 12 years old is great to watch. Some really good ones play beyond their years. With that said, the third baseman in youth baseball may be the most important position on the…

                             I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.                               I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times                        …

It is amazing how youth baseball teams, as well as older and more competitive organized leagues, do not practice many of the basic fundamental aspects of the game. From my standpoint, the reason I practice certain things other coaches may not is because I’ve been burned by other teams and have lost games and championships…

                   Practicing When No Field Is Available    How many times do we as coaches call for a practice, meet the team at the field, only to find one team practicing and one or more other teams waiting to practice? When I first started coaching, this always…

 I have always been a big proponent of bunting, and feel it can be taught at a young age. When you think about it, a bunt single or a long line drive single hit to the outfield looks the exact same in the box score. Some parents ask me what age should coaches or parents…

  One thing I learned in my 25 years coaching youth baseball is that there is no perfect way to coach hitters.I never considered myself an expert at teaching young 7-12 year-old ball players the most refined hitting techniques. The most success I’ve had with improving hitters’ techniques is when I didn’t over coach them.…

“I got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get your emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said,‘Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm,’ to keep…

“We see these obsessive parents that are over scheduling, over managing and robbing kids of most of their childhood. Even the simplest act of playing that should be spontaneous and free is being taken away. Kids can’t even play with a stick in their backyard.”                  -George Carlin…

 In sports, many times coaches are more negatively affected by bad things that happen than being positively affected by good things that happen. I heard an interview with legendary pro football coach, Bill Parcells, who said that in many cases the tough losses he lived through overshadow the tough wins and championships. I’ve heard the same…

 I am an amateur historian who loves reading about the revolutionary war. I also love reading about sports history. I remember when I first heard that Hoboken, New Jersey claimed to have hosted the first ever baseball game. I referred to this historical fact in another article: Who Really Invented Baseball? I had read that…