KID COACH'S CLIPBOARD: How to Teach Young Children/Kids to Hit a Baseball--Bat Control

Needs of the Beginner Athlete

Before teaching your son or daughter or your tot-aged team any sports skill, it is very important to understand their needs if you expect to have success helping them learn sports. As the top Youth Sports Instructor in the country, besides playing collegiate sports and coaching young children, I taken the time to do the research and create a world-class instructional formula designed to keep beginner athletes needs in mind. This formula I refer to as Sports Made Simple and Learning Made Fun(sm). It is the way beginner athletes learn best. Why is this important to remember as you teach your young child sports? The answer may surprise you.

Beginner athletes possess certain innate qualities, they are:

• Inquisitive
• Trusting of coaches
• Willing to change
• Teachable
• Open

Of course these qualities must be unlocked to be recognizeable and this is often where adults have the most difficulty because they don't understand children. If you are looking for a better way to coach young children follow the proven advice I give on my Coach's Clipboard and watch your children's competency for sports improve. Use my simple techniques and a young child will begin responding to you in the ways you most want them to. These are win-win instructional techniques.  

Beginner vs. Elite Athletes

The list above is important to sports success. How do we know? Each, coincidentally, are the same "coachable" qualities top sports coaches have identified within elite (adult) athletes. The difference between beginner athletes and elite athletes are obvious. What is important to remember is beginner athletes play for fun; elite athletes play to compete. How they are similar is when you begin to make learning fun for beginner athletes. This creates a similar inner drive, desire, and passion for the game that elite athletes possess. If sports is made simple and learning made fun, you will watch your little "elite" athlete's talents thrive and shine.

Use the following Sports Made Simple, Learning Made Fun Instruction is designed to keep beginner athletes needs in mind. Enjoy!

Teaching Bat Control

Children or adults, we all do better when there is a story behind what it is we are learning. The best stories are ones that relate to the experiences we have. Since young children have limited experiences between birth and their current age, we must be a bit creative in our storytelling especially when we are relating sports.

Problem: Common problems exist for many young and inexperienced baseball players. One is poor bat control.

Solution: Here is a creative story you can tell young children to help teach them the proper hitting position and bat control. The story is part of the Sports Made Simple, Learning Made Fun (sm) method that is great because it provides you with verbal cues young players remember and allow them to independently know how-to self-correct. Stop feeling frustrated and begin learning how to constructively coach, as a parent, your young all-star from the stands.

Teaching Time: 5 Minutes

Level of Instructional Difficulty: Easy

Ages Appropriate for: 3 years +

Bat High to the Sky

A problem young hitters have is they physically are not strong enough to effectively control or manage the weight of a baseball bat for long periods of time. Bats are dragged on the ground, carried with two hands and placed upon their shoulder only to never leave it as they hit. As the bat becomes an extension of their little bodies, it can be noticeably awkward to watch. Practice holding a bat is necessary until they get more comfortable with it. Without practice, the potential for poor hand placement on the bat, difficulty with bat control, and a dropped elbow increase the chances he or she will development poor hitting habits. This instruction, if followed, can quickly overcome these bad habits and help your lil' slugger gain bat control.

Follow this script

Parent Coach: Where does the rain from? Answer: clouds. Where are the clouds, high in the sky or low to the snow? Answer: high to the sky.

Parent Coach: When we hit a baseball, what do we use? Answer: a baseball bat.

Parent Coach: Where is the top of the bat? Let child locate it. You can point and say, "Is it here (bottom of bat) or here (top of bat)?

Patience Mom and Dad--The more you allow a child to do, the more they will own the process and in the end the more you will be satisfied by the results of this lesson.

Parent Coach:That's right. And where do we hold a baseball bat? Again, let the child locate it. They will often point. Answer: handle of the baseball bat.

Parent Coach: Hold the baseball bat like I am. (Point to the top of the baseball bat you are holding) Is the top of the bat high-to-the-sky or low-to-the-snow? Answer: High-to-the-sky.

Parent Coach: This is where we point our baseball bat when we hit.

Test: Bat down. Ready, Bat high-to-the-sky. Repeat 5x's.

Parent Coach:So where does our baseball bat point when we hit? Answer: High-to-the-sky.

Instructional Reminders

• Have patience. Introduce new baseball lessons a few steps at a time when teaching young children. Remember children learn best by doing.
• Have fun. Try to teach without using the word "no." Great coaches are birdies on the shoulders guiding players, not bulldozers.
• Use verbal cues. Try to use a hands off approach when coaching. Easy phrases like "high-to-the-sky" children understand, they can remember and they will be empowered by to make simple self-adjustments in their technique. Good verbal cues are qualities of great coaching.
• Inspire children through praise. Enable a child's own ability to find value in self-improvement by praising their efforts. Ask more questions they can answer and praise them when they answer correctly.
• Focus on the small wins. The perfect swing does not exist. Young children get better when they have fun.

Good luck and enjoy yourself.

~Coach Brad "Pickles" Kayden