2017 T-Ball Session 2. April 28, 2018

Transcription

1 2017 T-Ball Session 2 April 28, 2018

2 Overview Teams will practice as a unit with Head Coaches (see locations on next page) Five minutes to work on team cheer, pep talk, and get organized Teams in the infields start with BlastBall Teams in the outfields start with Skills/Drills Three skills/drills focuses: catching, throwing, ground balls. If you have lots of parent help, you can have three sets going on If not, do one skills/drills focus every 5-6 minutes then switch to next focus At 9:30AM we switch teams from IF to OF We ll end abut 9:55AM and you can do an outro fun activity Race to the fence Longest throw from 1B line (not in the direction of another team) Base races (everyone runs all the away around the bases) 2

3 Field Setup Road Parking Lot Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 A s Nats Yanks Cubs Orioles Giants Little League Field 3

4 Infield Teams BlastBall! and T Hitting 4

5 BlastBall! Game Stations BlastBall! is an introductory game that uses: Light foam bat Soft / larger balls First base that squeaks For the first week, we only want to do hitting, one fielder, and just running to 1B to get the base to squeak. 5

6 BlastBall! Setup One coach takes 1/3 of the team and sits them in number order along the road side baseline, helmets on Another coach takes 1/3 of the team and puts them behind a cone somewhere out around SS (no mitts) The other 1/3 go to the batting Tees and kids hit into nets (helmets on) Play Player hits and runs to first When they jump on 1 st base, it lets out a squeak/horn the kids love. Only one player fields. Try to keep them from falling on the ground when they pick up the ball. Batter/runner is sent to the back of the batter line Fielder takes ball and runs it to parent at first then runs to back of fielding line Next batter up. Go through order twice. Rotate so hitter group becomes fielders, fielders go to Batting Tees, Batting Tees become Hitters Coach Coach Parent Short line if ball doesn t go past this line, re-tee the ball 6

7 Tips on Hitting from the Tee BAT SAFETY FIRST First and foremost, no swinging bats ever unless the coach says it is okay. When we are not swinging (walking, watching, etc.) we always hold the bat by the barrel (see picture at right) Never throw the bat after hitting. Anyone swinging when near other players, coaches, etc. has to sit down and loses their bat. 7

8 Tips on Hitting from the Tee Coach Review We want this very simple to start, we will confuse and frustrate kids with too much technique. A major step is standing in the right place so they can be confident in a game lining up. FRONT FOOT FAT PART OF BAT TICKLE YOUR EAR FRONT FOOT Line up their front foot with the tee. They can point their foot in a line at the tee from the side. FAT PART OF THE BAT Then show them Backup where you back up from the tee, extending the bat until the fat part of the bat is touching the top of the tee with arms extended. Make beeping noises like a truck, walk like a robot, whatever you can to get their attention that you back straight up from the tee. TICKLE YOUR EAR The elbow up mantra of batting is generally not taught anymore, we just want kids to have their hands up when they start the swing. Elbow Up ends up contorting kids in all weird positions, when all we want them to do is put their hands high. Tickle Your Ear is fun and easy to remember. 8

9 Outfield Teams Catching Throwing Grounders 9

10 Skills/Drills 1: Catching Coach Review We fanatically want to avoid basket catching. If the kids are taught this way in T-ball they can take a long time to unlearn it. This is the best video I ve ever seen, it s how I taught my kids and it works very fast. It gets going good about 2 minutes in. Please watch it: I can not emphasize how important this is. Nearly every parent will be teaching their kid incorrectly. This get exacerbated when throws get longer and the kid always receives the ball low and in front the only ball they can catch when they only know basket catches. 10

11 Skills/Drills 1: Catching Drill Start with no mitts. Line the kids up, hands in front, palms out. Coach/parent very close (a few feet) at the start. The more parents and coaches the better. If you can get every parent throwing to their kid that is the best, more reps. Soft toss and the kids simply knock it out of the air, with palms up. Wiffle or tennis balls are best. Soft overhand throw or underhand throw that is rising (not arcing/falling which forces them to basket catch) from you is best. NO OVERHAND THROWBACKS. Just have them roll or hand it back to you. More reps, less chasing balls. If they get good at this, catch with glove hand (still NO MITT) We are going to stress Two Handed Catch, Thumbs to Thumbs (for above the waist catches). For this session we just want them catching the ball PALMS UP. We don t want them turning their hands over under the ball. Tell them where the throw is going and make the throws very short and accurate. This is about repetitive motion and them getting used to the feel of a good catch, not testing their hand-eye coordination. 11

12 Skill/Drills #2 Throwing [Review Technique] Coach Review (Part 1) From one knee, demonstrate having throwing arm elbow at 90 degree angle with non-throwing hand supporting (kneeling takes away all of the noise from the rest of the body that kids introduce when they throw). Flick wrist at end and point fingers to the target. Walk up and down the line high fiving players to get them into the proper motion. Remind them that where the point their fingers is where the ball will go. Drill #1 Bucket Shot Put cones in semi-circle around an empty bucket (don t do full circle in case of overthrows) Players on one knee, NO MITTS. Put as many balls as available per kid in front of them (hopefully at least 3 per kid) On coach s call, all at once have them toss to the bucket. Count how many got in the bucket. Cheer them on for a hit bucket, etc. Throw all balls and then recollect and repeat. Tips/reminders: Stress accuracy, not speed in throwing. Correct pop-up throws. Game: Make it a game by having multiple buckets and have teams of three go at once. 1 point for hitting bucket three for in the bucket. If only one bucket try to get the count in the bucket up every time. If they are doing great make a big deal of moving the bucket back a few times, but keep it close enough that 12 they can make the throw with just the flick. Final game can be putting a helmet on top of the batting tee and trying to hit that.

13 Skills/Drills #2 Throwing [Review Technique] Coach Review (Part 2) If the kids do well in Part 1 you can move to this. Ball starts on the ground, player in kneeling position. They sweep the hand back, pick up the ball, make a bird stretch, and end throw with wrist flick (see Figure 1). Take a pause on the SHOW in demonstrating. Most kids will get this wrong their fingers should be facing in (they should be able to see their fingers see Figure 2). Stress showing the ball to the person behind them. Drill #2 Hit the Target Put cones in line along a fence with tape targets on fence. Three balls at kids feet. Players have MITTS ON. The pick ball l up with sweeping motion, swing arm overhead and throw at target. After three balls collect all balls and come back to cone. Tips/reminders: Stress accuracy, not speed in throwing. Remind them to bend and flick the wrist at the end, like in Drill #1. Don t worry too much yet about pointing to target with front elbow or mitt just work on basic information first. Ball should be facing out. NO PUT THE BALL BY YOUR EAR, ETC 13

14 Skills/Drills #3 Ground Balls [Review Technique] Main coach will tell kids how to get in proper position. Start them like they are sitting in a chair (tell them like you re sitting on a toilet they ll all laugh), then add the hands in front with throwing hand on top. Repeat these words loud (have them repeat them out loud I still use this in every level!) FEET WIDE BUTT DOWN HANDS IN FRONT 14

15 Skills/Drills #3: Ground Balls [Drill #1] Kids on the infield, groups of three or four at each base Send them to the base by saying the name (need to learn the bases) Coach rolls to player, player runs ball to bucket behind coach (no throwbacks, wastes time) Player then runs and touches home base coach/parent there tells them what base to go to next (return mix it up so they learn the bases) With more coaches/parents, can use three lines Repeat FEET WIDE BUTT DOWN HAND IN FRONT every time. After a few rounds, line them up and make it a race (have them run back to their base and sit after returning to bucket) Coach Coach/Parent 15