The Ultimate Prep Checklist: Skills Every Player Needs for High School Baseball

Bunting – I don’t care what you say or what type of hitter – if you want to play high school baseball, you 1000% need to be a capable bunter. I particularly like the safety squeeze at this level.

What is “baseball talk” – Teach them how to check in every pitch. What they should say and cannot say. In general, anything directed at the other team is not okay. Anything about “our guys” is kosher.

Proper attire – Kids were wearing sweatshirts under their jerseys, which weren’t tucked in. Bad look. Some players forgot belts. No bueno. Can’t do that in HS. Don’t do it now!

Warming up teammates between innings – One player must warm up the corner outfielder. Work together to get your teammates warm!

National anthem as a mental tool – The national anthem was one of my favorite parts of the game. Weird, I know. But I used it as meditation or visualization time. I teach all my teams to do the same. You can hear deep belly breathes from my youth teams during my national anthems.

Pre-pitch communication – With a lefty up, the catcher reminds the pitcher to get over on GB right side. With bases loaded, the catcher reminds the pitcher, “you and me on a comebacker.” With a runner on 2nd and less than 2 outs, the SS reminds the pitcher, “you and me on a comebacker.” This should be automatic.

Umpire etiquette – My catcher tossed balls to the umpire, didn’t introduce themselves, and didn’t walk to the pitcher after a foul ball to the mask. Take care of our umpires! We need them! Protect, build a relationship and treat them with nothing but respect!

Tags – I just don’t think we spend enough time teaching kids how to throw down proper tags.

Head-First Sliding – Most aren’t taught how to head-first slide because most don’t know how to teach it. It must be practiced intentionally if we want to reduce fear.

Picking up signs while on offense – They must develop the habit of picking up signs and the capacity to learn complex sign systems.

On-Deck Circles – A player was in the dugout while on deck. I asked them whats going on and they said the hitter is using my bat. If the player truly knew the importance of the on deck circle they’d be there with another bat. Teach them the importance and how to get their timing down.

Reading/shutting down steals on slide steps vs. leg kicks – Players must learn how to get a good jump and how to “shut it down” after a bad jump or if the pitcher slide steps.

Secondary leads at 3rd base – Timing this move correctly can get your offense a lot of extra runs.

Ball in dirt reads at 1st/2nd – Practice this constantly. Read the down angle out of the hand and go!

Advancing from 2nd to 3rd base – Ground ball in front, hold. Right side ground ball, advance. Must be practiced.

PFPs with pitcher getting over – PFPs of all types are imperative. Kids don’t naturally cover first after the ball is hit right side.

Throwing the ball around after a K – My team wasn’t doing it. It’s what they do in HS, so they should do it now.

QUAB’s – I always have a pen hooked to the clipboard in the dugout the players have fun writing down Q’s every time a player has a QUAB. Most Q’s on the day is the champ.

Picking each other up in the dugout – If a teammate scores a run, moves a guy over, or has a quality at-bat, the entire team must dab them up when they enter the dugout. This should happen 100% of the time.

1st and 3rd plays – Cannot tell you how important it is to practice this defensively and offensively. This situation comes up constantly at the HS level and is often tough to defend. Especially the leave early steal at 1st. Please dont let other teams just take 2nd base on you without attempting to get an out.

Breathing – A kid was just freaking out. I had to remind him to find his breathe and go through his reset strategy. The breathe is always there for you!

Delayed steal – IMO the #1 most underutilized weapon at the high school level and below. Have a sign for it.