Getting Your Child Ready to Play
A child can start preparing to play tee ball during winter and early
spring by doing simple exercise drills at home.
Getting Your Child Ready to Play
A child can start preparing to play tee ball during winter and early spring by doing simple exercise drills at home. Robynn Peterson, Program Coordinator of a local t-ball organization, recommends beginning with the soft sock ball method.
Roll up a sock into a soft ball and practice catching grounders. Have your child stand several feet away and roll the soft sock ball in a straight line toward the child. Have your child practice using the mitt by scooping up the sock ball in a clutch. Point out that the clutched mitt is like an alligator with a mouth that opens and closes. Practice of the alligator clutch will encourage the habit of squeezing the mitt whenever the ball is in it.Early spring is also a good time to practice the batting stance indoors. Put the tee without the ball in front of the child. Have your child hold the bat in the proper batting stance with elbows bent and clutch the batting grip with one hand above another. Practice swinging the bat with a gliding motion, following through the top of the tee where the ball will actually sit. This batting practice drill encourages the child to swing straighter without coming down on or under the ball.
You can use this video to teach the Squash the Bug batting method.
As the weather gets warmer, take your child outside to practice grounders, batting and running the bases. Oftentimes small children get confused about which way to run and which base is first, second, third and home plate. Peterson recommends having a child run the bases while yelling out which base they are on as they pass it. This helps small children develop a directional map so they can be confident about which way to run during an actual game.
When batting off the tee outside, use a soft baseball. A hard baseball could hit a child and have a negative impact on their enthusiasm for the game. Have your child practice batting using a real ball with a proper batting stance. Practice swinging the bat through the tee in a smooth, gliding motion.
Practice catching by positioning the arm in an L shape with the elbow bent and the mitt held upward. Encourage your child to squeeze the mitt with the alligator clutch every time they catch the ball. Practic outside drills throwing, catching and batting to be ready for future spring training.