KID COACH'S CLIPBOARD: Sports Secrets to Teaching Young Children/Kids Hitting

Hi Coach,

My four year-old plays baseball and I'm able to teach him a lot because his brain is like a sponge and he likes the game. The only area he's been slow in developing in is hitting pitched balls. Even when he does hit the ball, I'm not sure if it's by luck or because he has good control of his bat. His hitting is 50/50 so I'm really not sure. What exercises can I go over to improve his hitting?

Reader -K

Hi K,

First and foremost K, it is great you are spending time one-on-one with your child. This is a difficult thing to do in the busy adult lives we lead. Bravo!

You mentioned your child's ability to retain information and you were right on. Through the age of five, children's brains are developing at an amazing rate every day.

Let's get to the heart of your e-mail...

You wrote: "The only area he's been slow in developing in is hitting pitched balls. Even when he does hit the ball, I'm not sure if it's by luck or because he has good control of his bat. His hitting is 50/50 so I'm really not sure."

K, I want to preface what I am about to say with a thought that resinates within the lessons I design and work I do with children every week. I am a big believer in combining the many small wins young children exhibit and making them into one big win. If it does anything for you, I'd hope it would take the luck out of the equation in determining your son's talents.

Focus on the small wins

Why do I think in small wins? What it does is really allows me to see, as an adult, the long path children have to travel to do the simple things you and I find so easy to do. In that thinking, the fruitful part about working with beginner athletes is the next small win is always just around the corner. However, it takes patience, plenty of parent encouragement and mostly our abilities to discount adult "big-win" mentality. We, as adults, have been program to seek out the sensational-Grand slams, No-hitters, Hall of Fame, and on the negative side, scandal.

Don't compare

K, let me tell you what is pretty sensational that you have going on. Your lil' slugger hitting 50% is pretty darn sensational. I get the sense it is a "small win" to you but it is a "big win" for him. I don't want to lead you down the wrong path comparing your child against other children his age. This is a serious pitfall that many sports parents fall into and something that takes the fun out of the game for kids. A parents reasons for playing in the backyard become skewed. K, you already said, he likes the game. If he is standing still and letting you pitch him the ball, this exhibits a lot more patience for fun than many four year olds have.

Consider my other recommendations below. Thanks for your e-mail question.

Recommendations:

• Practice as long as he wants. There will be enough time in future spent in formal practices. The more control he has over your backyard practice, the more he will want to come back for more. And, you know what more practice means.
• Make learning fun. Challenge them. Use noodles, their hand, their elbow, their head to hit the ball off the tee. All of this is improving hand-eye or body-eye coordination in this case. See the pictures I have included. here.
• Remember the basics. It is alright to pitch him baseballs. Always have the tee out as you do. The tee, although shamefully forgotten by many youth coaches, is still used at the college and pro levels to practice maintaining solid hitting form. Keep a tee on-hand at all-times.
• Repetition. One or two baseballs never gets the flow going enough to engage children in hitting. I always have a ball bag full of tennis balls. Go to your local tennis club and ask them for a bag of old tennis balls. They typically are giving them away anyway. After you get them be sure to follow the next step.
• Numbering and Coloring. Although tedious, always, always, always number and color the baseballs or tennis balls you use. A major league hitting technique I picked up along the way and have great success teaching beginner hitters with. What it does is causes kids to focus on the ball better and allows you to monitor how focused they are by asking what color (for the younger ages) or what number (for the older ages) as you pitch or they hit off the tee.