Coaching Baseball Successfully (Coaching Youth) [Paperback]

Andy Lopez (Author), John Kirkgard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996 | Series: Coaching Youth

This text explains both offensive and defensive techniques and tactics. Readers will learn how to communicate effectively both on and off the field, motivate players, create a programme atmosphere where individuals can grow and thrive, develop coaching plans throughout the year, coach in game situations and perform coaching evaluation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andy Lopez has been a head baseball coach since 1978, putting together an impressive string of winning ball clubs at three different levels. He began his career at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California, where his team was a frequent participant in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs. In 1982 his squad was runner up in the CIF finals played at Dodger Stadium.

Andy moved up to the NCAA Division II level the following year, becoming head coach at California State University at Dominguez Hills, in Carson. His teams clinched three conference championships and finished third place in the 1987 College World Series. In 1988 Andy stepped up to the NCAA Division I level when he was named head baseball coach at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Under his leadership, Pepperdine teams won four conference championships and captured the 1992 NCAA National Championship. Today, he is head baseball coach at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he’s built a powerhouse and taken them all the way to the College World Series.

Andy has received numerous honors as coach of the year, including the 1992 NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year Award. He was inducted into the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. A graduate of UCLA, Andy is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In his leisure time, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and jogging.

John Kirkgard’s unique perspective as both a longtime friend of Andy Lopez and a colleague in the coaching ranks brought special insights to this book. He helped Andy put his thoughts on paper and added his own expertise. A successful coach in his own right, John is an assistant baseball coach at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Previously, he managed the baseball team at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, where his teams won three Golden State Athletic Conference championships and one NAIA District 3 championship.

John is baseball chairman of the NAIA’s Far West Region. He was named NAIA Far West Region Coach of the Year in 1994 and NAIA District 3 Coach of the Year in 1988, 1989, and 1994. In 1986 he received an MBA from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California. A member of the American Baseball Coaches Association and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, John resides in Santa Barbara, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics Publishers (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873226097
• ISBN-13: 978-0873226097
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,020,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coaches, get this book!, October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Coaching Baseball Successfully (Coaching Youth) (Paperback)

I have been a coach on the college and high school level for 6 years now. I have also been a college player and had many pro tryouts. This book has given me a different outlook on how to go about my business in a more structured and professional manner. After reading it, you will see why Andy's teams have always been top notch.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book covers fully the building of a baseball program, March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Coaching Baseball Successfully (Coaching Youth) (Paperback)

Lopez, an extremely successful highschool and college coach, touches all the bases on how to build a successful upper calibre baseball program. Though basic enough for the laymen coach to benifit from, Lopez shares with the reader his personal insight on how he created a winning program at both the high school and college levels.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get it and learn how to manage "a coach's life", September 4, 2000

By 

Marc MELLET (Antibes, FRANCE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coaching Baseball Successfully (Coaching Youth) (Paperback)

Coaching is like creating its own jigsaw : a lot of books will only show you how to shape a certain kind of pieces. This book will help you to define the entire picture and then refine it in many different pieces. It will provide you with datas that should be applied and confronted in real life, not only read and understood. Other coaching books usually give skills and drills. This fields are fast-covered here. Even if Andy Lopez has chosen to emphasize the development of a good pitching staff, his chapter gives insufficient direction, poor skills advices, no tools to evaluate pitchers progression... I don't recommend this book to players who are searching for new drills and new techniques. I recommend it to young coaches who doesn't know where they should be headed, and where they should bring their players.