Spring Training
Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its
failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game
every day, and that’s the way baseball is.
—Bob Feller
Santa Monica Little League Spring Prep
Santa Monica Little League. Baseball Academy’s winter/spring baseball camp and clinics is proud to announce its new pre-season baseball training program hosted locally by professional baseball coach, Mitch Miller and some of the best professional baseball coaches in the area.
These pre-season sessions are available for beginning to intermediate players, ages 7 to12 with various ability levels. Get ready for the season with the confidence and training from our elite staff!! Early registration discounts are available now. Our clinics are tailored for the little league players throughout the Santa Monica area. Instruction is available in hitting, pitching, fielding and base running.
This brand new program is an opportunity for youth baseball players from Santa Monica to shake the rust off, tune up and get ready to play ball!
The four-week instruction program is operated by Santa Monica Little League and is affiliate with, the nation’s top baseball coach, Mitch Miller who operates the highly acclaimed Westside Baseball Camps. Get a jump on the season, learn the fundamentals like you have never have and prepare for the upcoming season and tournaments. Whether you are on a little league team, travel team or just want to get better playing baseball, this is the camp for you!
Expert coaches can get your mind and your body prepared for the season. Space is limited by a low player-coach ratio.
Pre-registration is required. Register now!
DATES: January 20, 27, February 3, 10 (Sundays)
Hitting Sessions – Stewart Park
Beginners/Intermediate – 11am
Beginners/Intermediate – 12:30p
Advance – 1:45pm
Pitching Session – Stewart Park
Beginners/Intermediate – 11am
Beginners/Intermediate – 1pm
Advance – 3pm
Fielding/Base running – Stewart Park
Beginners/Intermediate – 11am
Beginners/Intermediate – 1pm
Advance – 3pm
One skill session, five weeks $105
Two skill sessions, $185 (Save $20)
Three skill sessions, $275 (Save $40)
SMLL Divisions
The T-Ball league is designed to reinforce and/or introduce the basic fundamental concepts of youth baseball in a friendly environment. By design, players hit off the “T” to teach the basic mechanics of hitting and introduce the game to beginning players. All team members will play the field and hit.
The CP league is designed to reinforce and/or introduce the basic fundamental concepts of youth baseball in a friendly environment. By design, coaches pitch to the batters to teach the basic mechanics of hitting. All team members will play the field and hit.
The MP league is designed to reinforce and/or introduce the basic fundamental concepts of youth baseball in a friendly environment while beginning to introduce the concept of competition. Players hit off a machine with no designated pitcher. Catchers are introduced to the game with the aid of the pitching machine.
The Rookie league is designed to reinforce and/or introduce the basic fundamental concepts of youth baseball in a friendly environment while beginning to introduce the concept of competition. Even though winning / losing is secondary to skill development and fun at this level, scores can be kept for each game. Team records and standings will not be kept or published but there will be a post season tournament. The emphasis here is to develop our pitchers, catchers and batting along with the basic fundamentals.
The Minor league is designed to reinforce fundamental and advanced concepts of youth baseball in a friendly yet competitive environment with a strong emphasis on instruction and skill development. A winner / loser is determined during each game, standings are posted throughout the season, and the post season includes a playoff tournament concluding with a league champion. In this division pitchers are honing their skills, working on accuracy. Catchers are learning the game along with strategies. Both the infield and outfield are working on responsibilities and driving home the fundamentals.
The Major league is designed to reinforce fundamental and advanced concepts of youth baseball in a friendly yet competitive environment with a strong emphasis on instruction and skill development. A winner / loser is determined during each game, standings are posted throughout the season, and the post season includes a playoff tournament concluding with a league champion. The pitching is more skilled, player development is more advanced and position players are being taught advance techniques to further their skills.
Details about the start of Santa Monica Little League Spring Prep
Players and Parents:
CAMP DATES
DATES: January 20, 27, February 3, 10 – (Sunday’s)
If you can’t locate your registration confirmation or confirmation e-mail, and there is any confusion over what time your session is, you can see your registration by visiting our website, www.SMLL.com.
Click the “Login or Pay” tab and use your player’s last name and the email address used at the time of registration to view your registration.
This camp will be held outdoors so please dress appropriately. If the weather is questionable on the day of camp, you MUST check our website for any changes or updates to the venue, or potential postponements.
On our web site, www.SMLL.com , there are updates at the top of the page where we will post all news and updates regarding clinics. Any sessions postponed due to weather will be made up. If weather turns bad during the day, parents or emergency contacts should be available to pick players up if necessary.
A limited number of spots remain in several sessions. If you have friends or teammates who may be interested, please tell them they can still register by Paypal on our website with a credit card. They must be registered and paid in advance of the first week.
Sessions will last for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Each session will begin promptly, so please arrive a few minutes before your sessions begin. Players may stretch in an out-of-the-way place while the previous session ends, but must stay clear of interfering with other sessions. Players will NOT be permitted to swing bats without supervision from staff.
Please bring your cleats, glove, bats, cup, and hat each week.
Hitting: Every player in the hitting camp must bring a bat. Because some players may be taking more swings in a shorter period of time than they are accustomed to, it would be wise to wear batting gloves if you have them.
Pitching: Participants in the pitching camp should bring a glove. It is not necessary to bring a baseball.
Remember, participants in the pitching camp must supply their own catchers. Because our coaches are working with the pitchers in a hands-on manner and all pitchers are participating in throwing drills simultaneously, each player needs to have someone catching for him. The catcher can be a parent, older sibling or friend. If the catcher is a friend or teammate, a mask is required. We do not want two players in the same session catching for each other, because each will only receive half as much instruction.
Catchers: Participants in the catcher’s session should bring their own gear: shin guards, chest protector, mask and a protective cup. If you do not own your own catcher’s gear, you should be able to borrow it from your coach or league.
Fielding/Base Running: Participants in the fielding/base running should bring their own glove.
It is important that players not swing the bat unless they are at a station being instructed by a coach. If a player would step out of a station and swing the bat, or if players walking onto the floor to start the day swing their bats, there is a good chance someone could get hit. DO NOT SWING BATS unless you are in a station being instructed, and it is your turn to hit.
All participants must fill out a SMLL medical release form. ( click here for pdf document) This form must be turned in on the first day of your child’s training session. No child will be allowed to participate, unless they have a signed medical release on file.
This is a progressive program over a four-week period. Each week the drills will be different, becoming more advanced each session. Hitters will work with different stations and drills during the program, and pitchers will work on mechanics. The first week 1 is all about providing a good foundation for each consecutive week. We start with the basics, and for some it may be repetitive, but we need to ensure everyone has a proper foundation for the rest of the program.
Parents are welcome to watch from the sidelines during the hitting program and to listen along as the Site Directors explain each station at the beginning of the session. Once the rotations begin, we ask that parents watch from a distance so as not to make the hitting area more crowded and louder than it already is.
If you miss a session because of illness, vacation, or a schedule conflict, there can be no make-ups. We pride ourselves on maintaining the player-coach ratio and limiting enrollment in each session. If we allowed extra players in a hitting session because they missed the week before, it would be unfair to others and would compromise the instruction for everyone.
The Site Director for your local program is Mitch Miller.
Site Address:
Stewart Park
1836 Stewart Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Directions
I hope you’re looking forward to camp with as much enthusiasm as we are. Call us or e-mail info@SMLL.com if you have any questions.
Important Program Note for Parents
SMLL Baseball Spring Prep is a progressive program that works through each of the building blocks for successful hitting, pitching and catching. For hitters, that includes grip, athletic stance, stride, balance, proper alignment, weight transfer, hand position, bat angle, path of swing, power position, contact points, bat lag, extension, pitch recognition, mental aspects, and many others. For pitchers, it includes various grips, stance, arm slot, arm action, balance point, hand and wrist position, release point, proper alignment, power position, follow-through, mental aspects, and more. For catchers, players work through stance, receiving, blocking, throwing, fielding drills, the mental side of catching and dealing with pitchers and umpires.
Because a flaw in any of the above areas will cause a player to be unsuccessful, each drill in our program is designed with an important instructional aspect in mind. Many stations will include a “player-assistant” in addition to the station coach. While the player-assistant is not technically coaching and is not factored into our coaching ratio, he is there to increase the repetitions each camper gets at that station. Each participant works with the adult coach at that station for instruction, and the player-assistant for repetition and reinforcement. If these player-assistants were included, our player-coach ratio would be about 3 to 1.
This is a teaching camp. We are not focused on home run derby’s and pitchers will not throw off mounds. Our goal is to teach. Make use of drills that will break down mechanics and build muscle memory so players understand how to pitch and have success when they get on the field. Batters will step into the batter’s box with awareness and a fundamentally sound approach to hitting the ball. The goal is not to get hitters out in the middle of winter nor focus on the “homerun” mentality.
As is the case at colleges and even Major League spring training, many of the drills will use hitting Ts, soft toss, and similar techniques. At each station, the coaches are working on a specific “fundamental technique.” Feel free to ask the coaches to explain the specific purpose of any drill you don’t understand. Consider these stations as an example…
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Two Ts the same height, one directly in front of the other, with the player trying to swing through both balls. If the player hits the back ball and misses the front, his swing path is off in one or more directions (up, down, around), and we can work to fix it.
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Two Ts, one on the inside corner and one on the outside corner, with a coach commanding which ball to hit. This drill works on pitch recognition and different contact points depending on where the ball is pitched.
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Chest-high Ts focus on a top-hand dominant swing at the top of the strike zone.
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Knee-high Ts focus on a bottom-hand dominant swing low in the strike zone.
Play Ball!
| Wes Terry SMLL Spring Prep Chair |
Jay Morgan SMLL President |
Field Conditions
