So I took the bait and volunteered to coach…now what?!?
I do understand the super low stakes nature of t-ball with the primary goal being to get kids to have fun and a secondary goal of getting them interested in the sport. Anyone have any experience or tips or do’s/don’t?
Thinking maybe tag around the bases to get them accustomed to following that path after their at bat. Maybe trying to work on catching with a beachball, as I think a glove and ball is a tall ask for 5/6 year olds.
Good stuff. Tennis balls make complete sense and are WAY more comparable in size to a typical ball. Beach balls may have been a hangover from watching that new Mighty Ducks tv show on Disney +.
Thanks Windy! This is why enlisted the pros…and kids playing ball is much more lighthearted than the usual convo in the LR!
Totally with you on the fundamentals and noted…going to have these knuckleheads turning two in no time.
You’ll be lucky to get them to field the ball and make a throw.
The practice time is much more important than the games. Teaching how to throw and catch will put them light years ahead. It’s an exaggerated kabuki dance but after a five days it starts to be muscle memory.
Thanks Windy! This is why enlisted the pros…and kids playing ball is much more lighthearted than the usual convo in the LR!
Totally with you on the fundamentals and noted…going to have these knuckleheads turning two in no time.
You’ll be lucky to get them to field the ball and make a throw.
The practice time is much more important than the games. Teaching how to throw and catch will put them light years ahead. It’s an exaggerated kabuki dance but after a five days it starts to be muscle memory.
Best piece of advice youve given in thousands of posts. (Where’d you read that?
Make sure you play your kids for the entire game. If you have some nieces and nephews who don’t show up for practice, make sure that they play the whole time too. If you have kids who show up for every practice, let them split game time with other kids who show up for all practice so that your nieces and nephews who didn’t show up can play the whole game.
I used to love playing baseball and was a pretty good infielder. When I was finally able to sign up for little league, the coach let his nephews play even though they never showed up for a single practice. After playing for a couple of innings over two games, my parents and I decided that we weren’t going to put the effort to show up if the coach was going to favor his nephews.
Tennis balls, then the soft baseballs, then real baseballs if that is what they are using
Get multiple tees and bats if possible and have the kids positioned down the line to hit. You can get 4 to 5 kids hitting at once this way
Teach the fundimentals, staying down on balls, TWO HANDS to get a grounder and catch.
Throw back and forth a bunch, catch with TWO hands.
Have fun
So I took the bait and volunteered to coach…now what?!?
I do understand the super low stakes nature of t-ball with the primary goal being to get kids to have fun and a secondary goal of getting them interested in the sport. Anyone have any experience or tips or do’s/don’t?
Thinking maybe tag around the bases to get them accustomed to following that path after their at bat. Maybe trying to work on catching with a beachball, as I think a glove and ball is a tall ask for 5/6 year olds.
Thanks in advance for any tips!
Figure out a way to keep all the kids busy all the time else their minds and attention wander. Lots of fun games but do not be one of those “old school” coaches who has them all line up to take a turn at bat. There will plenty of time for that during the games. My guy got so bored he quit. One practice he didn’t touch a ball the entire time. These were a couple of old school dads (bless them for signing up).
Congrats on being selected for the coaching position
Seriously though, my approach to coaching youth sports is just keep the children safe and teach them about following the rules and respecting the officials/coaches/teammates/opponents/parents. Other than that just follow the drills/practices that the league provides. You really are not going to make or break anyone’s athletic future in that regard.
Oh…and good luck with the parents. That is typically the most difficult aspect of coaching youth sports.
Thanks Windy! This is why enlisted the pros…and kids playing ball is much more lighthearted than the usual convo in the LR!
Totally with you on the fundamentals and noted…going to have these knuckleheads turning two in no time.
As much as we practiced that it never happened. Is there anyone here who on a team of 10 and under ever turned a 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 dp? I know we caught guys running on line drives and flies they thought would drop, and I assume some time some SS got lucky fielding a ball while headed towards 2nd and made the throw himself. But did you ever succeed in actually turning 2?
Already lots of good advice on the thread… I agree with tennis balls, this is a great way to start. As people have said just start with the fundamentals… How to field a ground ball, throw, etc. Using an oven mitt on the glove hand can help make kids begin to field the ball the right way. Spend time at practice teaching and practicing baserunning basics - run thru first, do NOT run through the other bases, listen to your base coaches, etc… That is one thing that doesn’t take much skill but that can help your team out a lot. Be patient and have fun. Don’t take shit from parents! Good luck!
Thanks Windy! This is why enlisted the pros…and kids playing ball is much more lighthearted than the usual convo in the LR!
Totally with you on the fundamentals and noted…going to have these knuckleheads turning two in no time.
As much as we practiced that it never happened. Is there anyone here who on a team of 10 and under ever turned a 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 dp? I know we caught guys running on line drives and flies they thought would drop, and I assume some time some SS got lucky fielding a ball while headed towards 2nd and made the throw himself. But did you ever succeed in actually turning 2?
Yeah it happens on occasion usually 4 6 3 especially in travel ball
As much as we practiced that it never happened. Is there anyone here who on a team of 10 and under ever turned a 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 dp? I know we caught guys running on line drives and flies they thought would drop, and I assume some time some SS got lucky fielding a ball while headed towards 2nd and made the throw himself. But did you ever succeed in actually turning 2?
When my older son played coach pitch (7 and 8 year olds) our team turned quite a few 6-4-3 and 4-6-3 (and I think even a 5-4-3) DPs. Definitely weren’t doing that in teeball though… Once you get to 9 years old and older, it’s kid pitch with lead offs and steals, so DPs still happen, but not as often… He’s 11 now and they turn one occasionally.
My daughter’s 12U rec softball coach this year played in the NFL :-). He has been giving them some pretty badass footwork drills. (He’s the dad of one of the girls.)
Here are some ideas that worked well when my daughter was young in softball.
Enlist a few parents as assistant coaches (and catchers/ ball chasers) so you can split them in groups - one person with a tee - one person catching - one person teaching them to catch grounders and maybe even base running. At that age boredom is your enemy.
Relay races work really good too to keep the kids engaged and having fun. If you have 12 kids split them into two groups of 6 and time them relay racing the bases. Or put 6 balls at first and 6 at 3rd and have them each run out and grab one and come back - first team done wins. Have the kids in 3 groups of pairs of two and each pair has to throw and catch the ball 4 times then the next team can go. First 6 done win.
