[Little League] Teaching kids to catch

i never got to play little league baseball, or football.



i feel deprived.

damn my mom.

 

When I played little league, theyused to call over each player individually and give us those Velcro circular glove things and practice with those. We would also sometomes use two flat wooden circular gloves and try to catch with those. I dont remember if they worked or not

 

Usually at five, the most comfortable thing for them is to catch the ball like a basket. Trying to teach them to turn their glove will probably prove to be pointless. If they're pretty developed though, you can try - just depends on the kid.

For that age, I try to focus on them following the ball with their eyes and moving their body to catch the ball, since most seem to just let the ball go right by them.

After they've developed those basics, then I'd try to teach them to turn their glove, which I usually do by applying the clock analogy. (your glove arm is a clock; now point it to 12 o'clock, how is the glove turned, now point it at 3, now 6, etc; and also start to teach them that having their glove turned like that will protect their face)

 

At five, most kids will not be able to catch anyway. Just teach them to protect themselves so they wont get hit with the ball

 

Agreed. Duing the 't-ball years' I got smacked in the face with a ball that bounced out of my glove, and for a while after that I would turn my head away right before catching the ball out of fear of getting poked in the eye again. Needless to say, being afraid of the baseball didn't exactly improve my ability to catch.

 

Throw a wrench at him. If he can catch a wrench, he can catch a ball...

 

Maybe start throwing tennis balls first, so if they get hit in the face it wouldn't scare them of the ball later on.

 

2 Words

1. American League

2. DH

 

Just practice a lot indoors with a harmless plastic/rag ball at very close distances and go from there.

 

Full face helmet.

 

use a wiffle ball or get one of those soft baseballs and then just toss it outside.

And I agree teaching him to look the ball in the mitt with his eyes. Think of it like catching a soft coming football, but instead with your hands, with the mitt. You might want a 2nd adult there so that person can be over there helping him follow the ball, etc at first.

Once they get that down then show them the way to hold the mitt and how to use their other hand to squeeze the ball in it.

 

Scream at them until they can do it. It'll prepare them for life and especially for the Little League parents.

 

I would say start at close range, then gradually get farther away. (jugdish reference )

Otherwise, go to some people who are experts: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+drills++baseball++Catching++"little+League"

 

I coached little league last year--6 and 7 year olds. Most of them couldn't really catch...but a few could.

One was catching when he was 5...he was the only one on the team that I could say that about. So definitely don't think your son is behind or anything.

But I wouldn't suggest the basket catch approach...just because he will just have to unlearn that later--and it's a pain. I'd try to teach him to catch properly...and like others have said, use a tennis ball or whiffle ball. When you do graduate to a baseball (use the incrediball cause it's slightly softer), I really would use a full-face helmet. Partially to protect, but even moreso to get them used to not being scared of the ball and looking away from it.

(It'll obviously take some time to switch from a light ball to the heavier baseball, so that protection will surely come in handy at some point)

Gotta look it into the glove... just keep reminding.


OH, and I think the biggest problem my kids had was that they'd put their glove out to receive the ball...but they'd basically be holding it like you would if you were giving a "high five"...if you can imagine it, that means the ball is gonna hit the glove and fall out the bottom of it.

So they need to learn to catch slightly angled or sideways..not straight up and down, cause that might make sense to them first.

 

The biggest problem with teaching kids that young to try and catch a ball with your glove turned is that they just don't have the hand strength to close the mitt. That's why you allow them to catch the ball in the manner that comes naturally to them at first, like a basket. And honestly, I think it's more important at this age for them to learn to follow the ball with their eyes and to move their body; those two things are the biggest problems I see in the 3-5 year olds, that and they're afraid to catch it. Once they feel comfortable catching it that way, then progress to the next level and teach them to turn their glove depending on the situation.

As for what balls to use, there's a couple different kinds of T-balls you can use that have similar weight to regular baseballs but with softer cores, and then you can progress up to Safe Soft Level 1 and then to regular balls.

Me personally, I wouldn't use a helmet with a face mask when throwing, or hell even batting. The best way for kids to not be afraid of the ball is to get hit with the ball (it's gonna happen sooner or later); it'll toughen 'em up. To me, one of the most annoying things is baseball helmets with the face mask; it always seemed to get in the way of my vision when batting, and just seemed relatively useless. I've seen T-ball kids and coach's pitch kids use those helmets and I'm thinking why because the ball simply isn't being thrown hard enough to really hurt them.

 

I seem to remember a Church League that I was in when I was about 10ish where we had 'try outs' where everybody went out and ran through various skill tests, nobody was getting cut or anything. The specific church had two teams in the league and the try outs were to let them divide the talent up evenly between the two teams.

Are you sure it isn't something like that? I've never heard of anybody cutting a 5 year old from a team and sending them home. I think the first real time I experienced anything like that was 6th Grade.

 

make them catch their dinner with their hands and if they miss...they can eat it off the floor...

 

if they're afraid of the ball hitting their faces, throw the ball in their faces until they get used to it.

it's all about learning from mistakes.