There’s a famous line from New York Yankee great Joe Dimaggio to the effect of, “You never know when someone might see me play for the first time,” when asked why he played hard all the time. What a great philosophy and how important when a player is trying out for a baseball team.

With the abundance and competitiveness of traveling baseball teams today, trying to impress the coach and build a team requires more than just showing off baseball skills. Often the best players from a large area compete for the same spots on these travel teams as well as on the larger high school teams. When a coach sees a player for the first time, the player must do everything possible to excel, even beyond showing good baseball skills.

Of all sports, trying to impress the coach and make the team can be the hardest in baseball. The very nature of the game makes it difficult to be “on” all the time or at the right time. Poor hitting, pitching, and fielding streaks come and go, even for the best players. On the other hand, I can remember many cases of players who performed very well in baseball tryouts and still didn’t make the team. Sometimes coaches have their minds set on who will make the team before tryouts even start, and they don’t have an open mind for tryouts, but that’s a story for another day.

Of course, the first thing players need to do is prepare physically and mentally for the trials so they don’t regret not making the team. There are many things that baseball players can do, in addition to playing well, to perform well in baseball tryouts to impress the coach.

Players who do the following have a better chance of impressing the coach and making the team. Players must:

1. Show up on time, help with equipment or any necessary setup if necessary, and familiarize yourself with the surroundings. Players may even want to hit the course a day or two before tryouts to feel more comfortable with the course and surroundings.

2. Make and maintain eye contact with the trainers during introductions and opening instructions.

3. Show enthusiasm at all times during the tests.

4. Hurry up and try not to be the last player to reach each station or position. Run to positions, exhaust all hit balls and run after lost balls.

5. Take warm-ups seriously – The way a player plays catch, shoot and warm-up can impress the coach.

6. Try any suggestions the trainers offer and definitely don’t say they told you a different way to do something.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you get confused and it seems appropriate.

8. Be social and encourage your teammates and never laugh at or berate other players’ play. Coaches love to see players who may have leadership qualities and don’t want to deal with players who may be behavioral issues.

9. Help pick up after the stations and practice.

10. Don’t appear bored and try to be busy or look busy whenever possible.

11. Don’t get discouraged or appear discouraged when things don’t go your way. Coaches generally recognize talent and understand that players are nervous, but they don’t like dealing with players who get depressed too easily.

12. Show knowledge of game strategy, show an eye at the plate, volunteer or be willing to play different positions if asked.

Of course, players should be careful about currying favor with the coach by going overboard to the point where other players are put off by the player’s obvious actions. This is especially true when players reach high school age when other players are old enough to recognize such behavior. Finally, maintaining good grades in school is always important to school teams.