Announcements 

• The next TAGS board meeting is Sunday, November 13th at the Delta Center, Front St., at 7 p.m. 
• TAGS Rainout Hotline:  922-6090.  Call after 5 p.m. on the day of the game for rainout info.

Things to Know for the 2011 Season

Welcome to the page designed especially for coaches and parents of TAGS players.  We will try our best to keep this page updated with tips, drills, league notes and the items you need to have a successful season.  Check back regularly for updates!

TAGS Day at Wuerfel Park:

• TAGS and the Traverse City Beach Bums are teaming up for a fun evening of ball at Wuerful Park on Sunday, June 19th, at 5:05 p.m. when the Beach Bums take on the Washington Wild Things.  Disounted tickets are available ($8), and TAGS gets to keep a portion ($5) of each ticket sold.  Visit our home page to order tickets online, or download an order form here and turn in a check to your league's Player Agent.

Tips and Drills:

• Here are two videos that are very useful in teaching fastpitch softball pitching.  The first covers the basics, and the second is a follow up with advanced drills and tips.
• Batting Drills - getting your hands inside the ball and driving through the ball.  View these short YouTube videos for ideas about how to make your players better hitters.
• Practice drills, coaching tips, more - there are dozens of drills that are appropriate for a wide range of ages.  Some of the areas where you can pick up some great practice nuggets include drills for Baserunning, Catching, Pitching, Fielding, Hitting, Running Practices, and more.
• Here is an interesting drill (video) that is simple and fun and will improve your players' ability to field a ball while moving.
• 1-2-3 Scrimmage - this is a fun and useful way to break up the monotony of a practice.  The players love it, and it creates as close to a "live" situation as possible in practice.  To speed things up, try sending the batters to the plate with a 1-and-1 count.  Sometimes we offer "fabulous prizes" to the winning team (i.e. Gatorades, etc.), which creates competition and usually elevates the level of play (sent in by Jeff Brunner).
• Develop your catchers - visit this website to get ideas about drills that will help your catchers develop into better players.
• Team cheers

More drills, practice plans, etc.:

• Ohio Fastpitch Connection
• Baserunning - this series of tips reviews baserunning strategies that are useful for all ages.  They can be incorporated into any practice (sent in by Dave Cvengros).

E-mail us with your favorite links with coaching ideas, practice drills, etc.  We'll share them with other coaches on this site.