There are many things parents and children can focus on at the start of the spring baseball season. As a parent and coach who recently reengaged in the world of baseball, I thought maybe I could outline what your kid should understand as a true beginner.
This is for parents who don't know much about baseball, but want to help their kids get off on the right foot.
1. Right vs Left
Does you child throw lefty or rightly? Do they bat righty or lefty?
To determine your kid's dominant hand, put a ball on a table in front of them. The hand they instinctively use to pick up the ball is their dominant hand. That's the hand they should throw with.
Batting is a bit different. It's usually best that they bat with with their throwing hand. In other words, if they pick the ball up with their right hand, they're a righty and should also bat righty.
Let them practice batting with their throwing hand. Ask if they feel comfortable. If they feel awkward, try batting from the other side of home plate.
2. Throwing the Ball
It's very helpful for the coach when kids on their team have indeed played a little catch with their parents. Yes parents, not just dads. Moms can jump in and show off their arms as well.
Parents don't need pro technique to help their kids learn how to throw the ball - after all, that's what what coaches and t-ball are for. Simply throwing the ball back and forth is a great start.
3. How to Run the Bases from Home Plate to Home Plate
Every parent should know how to run from home base to first in the proper direction. We are talking Americas past time here.
You think I joke, but honestly in my last season of coaching, only half the parents knew the correct direction to run the bases.
If you don't know which direction is the right direction, just turn on a baseball game and you can figure this out pretty quickly.
4. How to hold a bat and where to stand when being pitched to
Once you figure if your kid bats left or right, spend 20-30 minutes with them on how to hold the bat, proper batting stance, and what side of the plate to line up on.
5. Crow Hop
The Crow Hop is the small hop a player takes prior to throwing the ball to their teammate. This simple coordination exercise is a new concept for most starters. It's helpful for parents take a bit of time to help their kid understand what it is and how to execute.
BONUS 6. Location of the the nearest ice cream stand
As a right of baseball, after every game the parents must take their baseball player to the nearest ice cream stand. I like black raspberry.
Follow these instructions to get your child on the fast track to fun and success on the baseball diamond this spring!
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