Teaching Sons Baseball - Suggestions?

[ikarcuaso]

My sons are 5 and 7 years old. In past springs/summers, we've usually done stuff like water sports and "outdoor" activities (not that baseball is played indoors).

This year, I want to get them more involved with ball sports. The younger one is in tee ball, and I've started pitching to them and playing catch on our own time, as well as trying to teach them rules and fundamentals. To this point, I've just been throwing them a plastic practice ball, and they've been using a plastic bat.

I did buy a 26", 15 oz. aluminum Easton that we plan to use this weekend. Too small, or big? Should I get something else at their ages?

Also, my 7 year old doesn't play baseball/softball with other kids his age at his school (they play at his after school daycare, and during summer camp that he attends two day per week). He seems reluctant because he just started playing and isn't as good as some of the other kids. When I throw balls to him, he does show excitement when he improves, like at hitting, and I'm hoping to help build his confidence along with his skills. I mentioned to him that he should try playing with the other kids. He will do it if I really encourage him, but I don't want him to think I'm forcing him. I'm just hoping that practicing with him will help him feel more comfortable to play with others.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I know others here have sons and have likely gone through something similar.

[the]

Bat seems the right size. 15 oz is on the light side, which is fine. Ditch the plastic bat, even the 5 year old is too old for that now.

For kids that age, they need a "real" glove. Not a Walmart $5 plastic one. I'd recommend a Wilson "EZ Catch" model. It has a nice deep pocket, is soft and closes easy.

The biggest thing for learning: Have fun! Kids love baseball because it has all the things kids (boys esp.) love. Being outside with dad, catching, throwing, running and hitting. Baseball is a natural for most boys.

Go at his pace, start easy, not too much on the instruction/rules at first (that can spoil the fun), just have fun with it, basic throwing and fielding, lots of praise.

For batting at that age, I like wiffle balls. Kneel around 15-20 feet in front of them, and pitch at a speed they can hit. They love it!

Your older one is right at the cusp of when kids start playing "real" baseball. Usually up to 7 years old is a combination of T-ball, coach pitch, machine pitch and kid pitch, no stealing, coaches still can be on the field to instruct, i.e., "instructional play."

By 8-9, it usually goes to "real" rules, with minor tweaks (usually no lead offs, no stealing home, but otherwise regular baseball rules). From 7 to 8, they make HUGE improvements. The difference between a good 7 year old and a good 9 year old is almost unbeliveable.

I think baseball is a great learning experience for kids. It's a good combination of individual skills, and team dynamics. Finesse and toughness.

Bottom line, again: Keep it fun!

[Dave Nordhoff]

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. I worked with my 7 year old daughter last year and helped coach her team. Playing catch, scooping up grounders and hitting are the fundamentals. We used a soft baseball and I was always worried about her getting hit in the face while catching. Have fun and enjoy, you will have lots of proud dad moments.
Dave

[speeder]

Definitely keep it fun, it sounds like you are on the right track. 5 and 7 is still real young, a kid could start @ 10 and be the best one on his team @ 12 if he had the natural ability and proper instruction and practice. Baseball is a lot of fun for kids.

We watched a little league game in NYC a couple weeks ago with 5/6/7th graders, some of them were really good for their age. Everyone was having a blast and fortunately there were no psycho parents screaming. The worst thing about little league is the adults, usually.

Have fun and let us know how it goes!

[BertBeagle]

I started playing catch with one grandson at 3 using any kind of ball at hand.

Now 7 he plays machine pitch.

When he was 5 I got 75 tennis balls on ebay and pitched to him. He used an aluminum bat. He loves to hit and with that many balls you don't have to stop and pick them up.

At 6 we got a bucket full of the soft T balls and did the same thing.

We are lucky in Davidson to have, a couple of miles away, an indoor teaching facility called Fungo. The owner is a young guy with miner league and coaching background and loves kids. His instruction was invaluable in teaching how to hit and throw. We started with him at 3 years old.

Look in your area for a teaching facility. Also if you are serious about him learning the game don't be afraid to switch teams in t ball to get the best coach.

Make it fun.

[gchappel]

I coached this age group for a couple of years- asst coach at county allstars, etc. I agree with the above posters.
Keep it fun. You need to be their dad playing with them, not their coach. All kids love to hit, hit after catching. Pretend to run the bases. Remember we use the words play and game- keep it at that level for now. Unfortunately at this age, some kids have it and some don't. You really can't tell a childs skill in this game- at least in my opinion until they are 11 or 12. I have seen some pretty bad 7yr olds turn into great high school players. I have also seen some decent 8-10 yr old players never get any better- they get frustrated as other kids advance- and they leave the game demoralized. Again, keep it light and fun. If they want to play with others fine- no pressure from dad. If there is an organized league you may want to look into it. All kids are different. My son never did turn out to be a great ball player- but was a nationally ranked skater,- who would have thunk it.
Gary

[the]

As an aside and a personal observation, tt's really interesting how boys can relate to baseball. All boys, I think, observe older kids on cues on how to behave. I think that's part of their learning process.

My youngest son (9) loves to watch baseball on TV, and we go to pro and college games during the season. I think it's priceless when he goes up to bat and knocks the imaginary dirt off his cleats with the bat before stepping into the box, like he saw the college or pro players do!

He also likes the "toughness" aspects. Like when a player gets hit by a pitch. "No rubbing it, drop the bat quickly and sprint to first! Maybe laugh a bit, show no sign of pain." He loves that and does that whenever he gets beaned. Or showing no emotion after striking out, or striking a batter out. All self-learned from simply observing the culture and tradition of the game.

It sounds cliche, but simply throwing the ball with my sons and talking are some of the best memories.

[lendaddy]

Go right to injectable steroids, the pills are just a waste of time...not nearly as effective.

[madmmac]

Congrats on your being there for your kids, trust me there are so many that are not.

The bat is fine.

I have played and coached for many years and the most critical thing as far as starting right is learning the correct throwing action.

When somebody says, "You throw like a girl." I can tell you that they have never seen my 16 year old daughter get radared at 75+ mph. It's not that a girl throws like a girl, she was just never taught the correct way to throw. Throwing is huge, and it becomes so much more important as they get older in the upper leagues.

+ 10x on making it fun. I always coach, Fun--we are going to make it fun, Duh--once you have learned it, you don't have to think about it, you just react, Mental--the higher you go in age/league play, the mental part of the game becomes so much more important. Everyone pretty much has the talent, but the smart ones rise to the top.

Tennis balls are great for no glove fielding or catching tossed fly balls. It enforces the use of both hands to make the catch. Set goals, like how many can you catch in a row and then try to improve.

Make it FUN and keep things moving...Enjoy it while you can, I sure do.

[Seahawk]

I would also council matching your expectations to your childs: I played baseball in college and was understandably hoping my son would want to play.

I did all the right things, kept it fun, etc. He was very good right up to the day, he was 10, when he decided he really didn't want to play baseball anymore...he thinks it is, "boring".

He prefers martial arts, music and outdoor activities (fishing, shooting, camping), all of which we support completely.

It was hard not to push for, "one more year", etc., but I didn't and I think it was the right thing.

[ikarcuaso]

Thanks for the input. All very helpful.

I went with a lighter bat as I was concerned about my 5 year old. And he's still adjusting to it. My 7 year old seemed to handle it OK. I did get a bunch of wiffle balls, and I even mixed in the indoor/outdoor ball once in awhile. I also bought a set of rubber bases which has added to the fun and learning. And yeah, throwing definitely needs improvement, but we'll get there.

Yes, thanks for the reminders about keeping if fun and my expectations. A good reality check. The goal here isn't to breed major leaguers, but to expose them to the game (as I've done with other activities), do some bonding, and have a good time.

[the]

The fun part is key, but I do agree with madmmac on the proper throwing action. That was the one thing I did insist on, and involved some "pushing" that wasn't always fun. By the time they are 7 or 8 or so, they need to develop proper mechanics.

[JavaBrewer]

Agreed on the mechanics. I never played the game and as my son progressed through T-ball he was throwing side arm (like me). It took us a full season to break him of that style and now he's got a great arm. Save him the frustration and get him started with the right techniques. Fun is very important but if he stays in the game to 9+ you'll find that the pressure to win is unbelievable. Those utube videos and various movies about insane parents are actually spot on. We just completed a Memorial tournament and need more than two hands to count kids who were reduced to tears due to stress of failure - all of them pitchers. I hate it that my son can pitch...

Edit - if your son wants to pitch keep a strict count of his throws and pull him when he hits the limit regardless of what the team *needs*. Also forbid anything other than the fast ball and change up (off-speed) until he hits 12+ years.

Baseball is a great sport and my son loves it. There is a definite *bad* aspect to the sport but I guess that exists anywhere there is competition. Protect your son of bad people and never push him where he doesn't want to go. I've seen a ton of GREAT little players that will someday hate the sport and/or their parents because they we're pressured too hard.

[wilke3169]

One more for the keep it fun part. Nothing worse for kids than an organized practice that leaves the majority standing around while one kid takes batting practice.
This year our league has begun counting pitches limiting the number according to age. 75 for 9-10, 85 for 11-12. I spend my time in the scorers box at most games my son participates in. One of my duties is counting pitches. A few weeks ago the best pitcher in the league pitched against our team and struck out 15 batters in a 6 inning game. This was fun to watch but I was amazed to see that he threw 84 pitches. It pains me to think of how many pitches these kids threw in the past when they were limited by innings not pitches.
Fundamentals, catching, throwing, and a good swing. There are those with obvious talent and instinct but there are also those who overcome this with fundamentals. The best at young ages are often caught and passed by those that have to try harder.

[JeremyD]

We just finished our season in sunny old florida (before it gets too hot) just went through this with my son (7 years old) he went from being the best player on his soccer team - to being in the top half of his baseball team -

Went through the same - boring - not really into it.

I found I could increase his participation by taking him to a game - or even just watching a game on TV - I worked with him on the mechanics of throwing - he even pitched a few innings of a few games - and liked it -

In all honesty - I am glad the season is over - I felt like I was working more at getting him engaged as he was in playing. He did hit the wining run that put them in the championship game but was much more excited about catching a big fish this weekend.

[Rot 911]

Not much more that I can add. My 6 year old daughter plays softball and this year is coach pitch. We too got the bucket of soft rubber softballs and a good glove. She loves to swing the bat and catch knowing the ball can't really hurt her. Getting rid of the fear factor went a long ways towards improving her skills.

As for pitching, I would not recommend it for ANY kid. I pitched baseball in the old Babe Ruth league and hated the stress and the pain in my arm and shoulder after every game. Took most of the fun out of playing. The coaches are even worse now, trying to play their best pitcher game after game. They have changed the rules around here limiting the number of pitches a pitcher can throw in any one game before the pitcher has to be removed from the game.

[Burnin' oil]

7-8 years old is a good age to teach chin music and charging the mound. I also taught my boys to glare at the ump after every called strike.

[the]

All Little League is now very strictly pitch count regulated.

There are reasonable pitch limits and days rest requirements. For ex., for 8-9 year olds, it is 75 pitches maximum, then something like 4 days rest is required before he can pitch again.

The good thing is the pitch rules are self-enforcing! You have to count your own pitches, but for a pitcher that is any good, the other team will be closely counting, too.

(In addition, in our 8-9 league, during the regular season, no pitcher can throw more than 2 innings, so they generally don't throw very many pitches).

[widebody911]

Originally posted by lendaddy
Go right to injectable steroids, the pills are just a waste of time...not nearly as effective.

Good point. And get them set up with a discreet bookie ASAP.

[madmmac]

Originally posted by Kurt V
As for pitching, I would not recommend it for ANY kid. I pitched baseball in the old Babe Ruth league and hated the stress and the pain in my arm and shoulder after every game. Took most of the fun out of playing. The coaches are even worse now, trying to play their best pitcher game after game. They have changed the rules around here limiting the number of pitches a pitcher can throw in any one game before the pitcher has to be removed from the game.

The sore arm/shoulder is why I emphasize the learning of proper mechanics right from the start. One of my rules is, "Any pain must be reported immediately".

It takes a special kid to be a pitcher. They have to be able to take the stress of being in the spotlight and performing. They have to be able to take defeat and come back strong the next game...or even the next batter. Every pitch is a battle against the batter...you win or lose. They have to have a bit of swagger and a strong mindset.

Yes, I have coached against coaches as you have mentioned about the burnt out pitchers. I put in place pitch counts for my pitchers years ago. I always used one of the other pitchers or whomever was left on the bench to keep the stats and make the observations. It kept them more involved and helped them learn the game even better. Every year is the same, no one wants to do it to start with, then after a while they all want to do it.

I have made up a couple of Word docs on pitching thoughts for 12 and under kids and a ball/strike pitch count and comments Word doc also. You can send me an email to mitch_mcl@yahoo.com if you want me to forward the attachments.

P.S....no breaking balls until 14+ years old. Learn to throw a well located strike and a change up and you can always pitch.