The TeeBall Coaching Clinic provides t-ball coaches and parents with free t-ball tips, teeball drills, and tee ball articles for teaching youngsters how to play baseball. You will find simple and easy explanations on how to hit a baseball, how to throw a baseball, and how to teach baseball skills to a child. Use our search feature to type in your desired topic to find articles covering it in our archive.
Showing posts with label baseball batting drills for little league. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball batting drills for little league. Show all posts
The Rules of T Ball - Get Ready to Play! By guest author: Adam Niebs
This game is the entry sport to baseball and the rules of t ball are easy! The age range is generally four to eight years old. Players of two teams take turns hitting a ball off a batting tee set on home plate. Batters try to get on base and run to home while fielders try to stop that from happening. The elimination of pitching gives kids a chance to participate without the fear of being hit by a pitched ball. Tee ball develops the basic baseball skills of hitting, running, fielding and throwing. The players gain an understanding of the fundamental rules of t ball.
In T ball there is no pitcher and he is used somewhere else on the field. The ball looks just like a regular baseball, but is made from a soft, foam like material. It is placed on top of an adjustable tee at a height that is perfect for the batter. The tee is at home plate with coach nearby.
In most leagues, score is not kept and the rules of t ball are made to allow participation from all children. An inning is finished when each kid has had a turn hitting the ball of the tee. In some leagues and depending on the skill level, you can use the traditional three out baseball rule. The game is played on a smaller field and your outfield will usually see some action.
Umpires are not used and many parents assist during the game. Parents play a key role and are seen in the dugout, on the bases and at the plate. They also help with the practice sessions.
When it comes to equipment, the rules of t ball are generally the same too. Kids wear regular baseball uniforms, hats and rubber cleats. The bats are lightweight, aluminum and are typically 25 to 26 inches long.
T ball is a great way to get kids introduced to the game of baseball. It's America's pastime and dates back to the 1940's!
A great way for your child to learn the rules of t ball is by using the Little Tikes T Ball Set. This all in one kit is the best tool for your little slugger to begin learning. This set is an awesome skill builder and a great introductory to the game of T Ball! Learn and practice at the local park or in the comfort of your own back yard.
One Drill That Guarantees the Correct Baseball Swing By Jack Perconte
There are very few coaches of young baseball players who can look at a baseball swing and know it is a good fundamental swing. Even many high school coaches are not experienced enough to do this. There are some fine technical ingredients that are hard to notice by an untrained eye. The good news is that anyone can help a player with their swing with one drill.
One common saying that I tell hitters is, "It takes perfect fundamentals to hit an outside pitch solidly to the opposite field." For example, a right handed batter would be able to solidly hit a pitch on the outer half of the plate into right field. Hitters' hands and bat barrel position, as well as their timing must be perfect to continually drive this ball the other way. Many hitters hit pitches to the opposite field because of swinging late or because of incorrect fundamentals. However, in order to consistently hit a pitch "the other way" on a ball that is on the outside half of the plate, it takes a perfect fundamental swing. This is very important because the odds of hitting the outer half pitch solidly when it is pulled are not good. Pulling a ball is hitting a ball to the same side of the field as the side a hitter stands in the batter's box. Believe it or not, a ball that is fouled off to the opposite side of the field or straight back is often a better sign of a good fundamental swing than when this pitch is put in play to the pull side of the field. A foul ball is a positive on a tough pitch.
Coaches can get an indication of a good fundamental swing by noticing which direction players hit balls depending on the location of pitches. Players should work on the correct baseball swing by working on driving outside pitches to the opposite field with the following drill.
Drill
Very simply, set a batting tee on the outer half of home plate making sure the batter stands in their normal position at the plate, as in a game. Have hitters work on hitting line drives the opposite way until they can do it repeatedly and until it becomes very natural. A continuation of this drill would be to do the same thing with balls flipped by a coach to this part of the plate and following that with batting practice on outer half pitches.
As mentioned, it takes great fundamentals to consistently do this on this pitch. Hitters will find that as they become more consistent with this pitch, their swing will be correct on all pitch locations.
This drill is also another way of analyzing a player's swing to see if it is a good fundamental swing, especially for people who don't have a trained hitting instructors "eye." Players, who cannot consistently drive this pitch to the opposite field (8 or 9 out of 10 times), need improved baseball swing fundamentals. Additionally, because of the use of aluminum bats and their fear of hitting batters, pitchers throw more pitches "away" from hitters so becoming better at hitting outside pitches can only help hitters' batting averages.
Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball hitting lessons advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his parenting blog can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com
Hitting a baseball is perhaps the most difficult aspect of any sport. This can be an especially daunting task for the inexperienced little leaguer. Like all things in life, hitting a baseball requires dedication and a lot of practice. Additionally, successful batting requires sound mechanics and body control. That being said let's discuss some of the mechanics of hitting and a few little league baseball drills that will have your child well on their way to becoming a more consistent hitter.
The first and most important thing for your child to remember when attempting to bat a ball is to keep their eye on the ball. I know this sound like common sense but you would be amazed how many kids spin completely around when swinging. If your child can not see the ball, they most assuredly will not hit it.
There is a simple drill used in little league baseball designed to help keep your child's eye on the ball. Have your child stand in the batter's box with their chin on their front shoulder (the shoulder facing the pitcher). Have them practice keeping their head down as they swing through the ball. As their swing reaches completion their chin should end up on their back shoulder (or the shoulder facing the catcher). A batting tee is quite helpful when performing this drill. If you do not have a batting tee, soft toss drills are also quite effective in teaching this skill. This is also a good habit to get into as it teaches the child to keep their head still as well, further increasing chances of contact with a pitch.
Balance is the second piece to hitting successfully, once again, common sense right? Revisit the spinning child mentioned above. Your child must be balanced to successfully hit a baseball. A good rule of thumb to follow to achieve optimum balance is to keep the feet about shoulder width apart. This is not a must, there are a lot of successful ball players out there with unorthodox stances; it all boils down to what feels comfortable to the individual. Try to encourage an orthodox batting stance in your little leaguer, they will benefit in the long run.
In addition to eye-hand coordination and balance, the upper body muscles play an important role in achieving a successful swing. There seems to be a bit of a misconception concerning the importance of the upper body, namely the wrists, when swinging. It is true that a lot of power is generated from the lower body, but bat speed also plays a pivotal role in hitting for power, and bat speed is primarily attributed to, you guessed it, the wrists. There is a delicate balance in the wrists that needs to be achieved to be a consistent hitter. As a hitter the trick is to not necessarily swing hard, but quick. The trick is to shorten the swing, just a bit, and roll the wrists over as the bat strikes the ball.
The other component of the upper body in batting is the hands. Most batters keep their hands somewhere in the mid chest level with the bat held slightly out in front. There are, however, plenty of players that implement unorthodox batting stances and styles that have yielded great results. The most important thing is that your child feels comfortable in the batter's box.
Another important aspect of batting is to remember to never drop the hands prior to a swing. A lot of young players like to drop their hands, meaning they ever so slightly dip the hands from the chest area to the stomach area. Consider that when you have tenths of a second to see the ball, decide if you will swing, and then execute your swing, dropping the hands can speed a pitch up for a batter, meaning the time the batter spent dropping his hands should have been spent moving the hands forward in preparation of striking the ball. Just a tenth of a second shaved off a swing can be the difference between the game winning line drive and foul ball down the first baseline. Often batters that swing late do so because they drop their hands. Soft toss is an excellent little league baseball drill for developing quick wrists and strong hands. Other simple but effective little league baseball drills are squeezing a tennis ball which builds strength in the hands.
The lower body is the last component of hitting. As previously mentioned, first and foremost, good balance is needed to achieve a proper swing. The biggest mistake that young hitters commit that affects their balance when batting is over striding, resulting in an off balance swing. Instead of taking a giant step, the batter should simply lift the front foot, or the foot nearest the pitcher, off of the ground, this is a mechanism used to time ones swing. Instead of taking a giant clumsy step have your little leaguer practice lifting their foot and simply placing it back on the ground almost where they got it from. This helps them to keep their weight back, a crucial element to hitting well.
The other key ingredient involving the lower body is to twist the hips, ideally as the bat contacts the ball, and simultaneously rolling the wrists over. Commonly used little league baseball drills such as a method called "squashing the bug" is fine tools to teach this hip twisting. In this particular drill the batter holds out their left hand (for a right handed batter) and strikes the left hand with the right simulating a baseball swing. The emphasis of the drill should be placed on the feet and hips as the batter should focus on sharply turning the right, or back, ankle as if to squash a bug with the toes.
Well there you have it, a few simple little league baseball drills that work to improve the key components of hitting, eye on the ball, balance, and a delicate timing of the upper and lower body muscle groups. Hitting is no easy task; even for the guys you get paid the big bucks. The only way to get better is to practice good habits and abandon bad ones as soon as they arise, and they will. Hitting is an exercise in muscle memory, the key is consistency.
I am Joseph Harrison, a baseball coach since 20 years ago. I love baseball since I am young, especially the feeling when you know you will absolutely crush the ball. Training your kid to gain interest in baseball will benefit him from both mentally and physically. In with he will gain team spirit, learn how to cope with teammates, and at the same time train up his physical, and concentration (to have good eye and hand coordination and the ability to use both at once). Go through my article and you will know all the benefits of baseball.
