T-Ball Training Drills for Kids
T-ball training drills should focus on teaching kids the very basics of baseball and help them develop fundamental skills. It is important to realize the limitations of younger kids and realize that their attention spans may not allow them to stay on one drill for any more than 15 minutes. To keep things fresh add these drills to your t-ball training.
Gallon Catch
For many kids just beginning to play sports hand-eye coordination may be lacking and they may have a difficult time catching a ball with a glove. Instead of discouraging them by simply throwing balls to them until they figure it out, try cutting out the bottom of a gallon of milk and giving it to them to use as a glove. Have them hold the handle and catch tennis balls. The larger opening and upward orientation will make it much easier that a regular glove. After they get used to it, try using half-gallons or even go to real gloves.
Position Find
As silly as it may sound, one of the important aspects of T-ball is learning the positions. This isn’t always an easy things for kids to learn. For example, the first and third baseman play next to the bag rather than on it and the second baseman play between second and first base, and what the heck is a shortstop anyway? Right and left field also pose problems because left and right are determined from home plate rather than the direction the players are facing. To help them learn these positions place cones or markers at each position and then call out a position and have the kids run there. You can do this is groups or pairs, just not one kid at a time so that if they aren’t sure they won’t feel embarrassed by being singled out.
Hitting drills
Kids learning to hit for the first time may have tendencies to chop down on the ball or hit under it. To help fix these problems spend time with each kid watching how they swing. Teach them how to understand their own mistakes as well. Tell them that line drives are what they should try to hit and explain what might be causing them to hit grounders or pop ups, such as chopping down or hitting the tee. It is often best to have a kid hit by themselves while another coach does something else with the other kids.
Seeing the Ball
Even though a T-baller won’t be facing real pitchers, it is a good idea to teach them to keep their eye on the ball. This can be accomplished a couple of ways. One popular way is to have player hit a ball that has a dot painted on it. Have them concentrate on the dot while the hit. You can also try drilling a whole into a ball and securing it to a string so that it can rotate without swinging. Paint four different color dots on the ball and hang it. As each ball swings down, the children will swing. Have them call out the color dot they saw right before they hit the ball.
