Coaching Resource

Day 1 - the kids have no clue; Coaching Mindset is you are simply exposing them to the material. Many will not show much of a grasp of what is being taught.

Day 2 - the kids are thinking, "Oh I remember doing this".  They will begin to grasp, to some extent, because they recall having done the activity before.

Day 3 - kids are thinking, "I know this stuff".  We remind them, if necessary, that 'knowing in their brain' does not mean they can DO the action.

Their muscles need to 'know'.  Muscles are Dumb; muscles need a lot of repetitions to get it right, and to be able to Do It naturally/instinctively (Muscle Memory).

Day 4 and beyond they are reinforcing their Muscle Memory. (dumb muscles forget; they need constant 'Reminding').

AVOID lobbying the ball (in an effort to help them catch). Don’t ‘baby’ them; challenge them. They will develop their skills much faster.  …hold on, I get it, we desperately want to see them succeed, and feel awesome, because of an accomplishment.  But we aren’t helping them by making it easy (and unrealistic).   They can catch a firm level throw, just not immediately.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The human brain does not develop the coordination of the two eyes together (binocular vision), on average, until age 7 or 8. (Some develop this aspect at 4 or 5; some not til 9 or 10.)

Childhood Motor Skill Development

(from Joseph Lao, Ph.D.)   

…Catching balls takes a little longer, (typically an additional 3-4 years), i.e., until 5-7 years of age.  During infancy children can only catch large balls rolled directly at them.  If a smaller ball is thrown directly at them they tend to close their eyes, turn their heads, and stiffly extend arms and legs.  It is not until seven years of age that children develop the capacity to track flying objects, make appropriate leg and body adjustments, and prepare their arms, hands and fingers quickly enough to catch a three inch ball. 

Note:  This is just a sample excerpt of one article.  There are many written by child development researchers that state that seven or eight is the age that kids become better able to judge and catch.  (Keep in mind that in this research they are likely not testing kids in a park with other kids and additional distractions.  The Tee-Ball practice environment, very likely, makes catching a thrown baseball more challenging than in a research atmosphere.)

Record more outs in games by teaching the Underhand Toss

In Tee-Ball we often have multiple players on base. Given this circumstance, the best play is making a short throw the to the nearest base, not throw across the diamond to First Base.

The throwing technique for short distance throws is the Underhand Toss.

This isn’t ‘Kids Stuff’. The Underhand Toss is used by Major League players 8-10+ times each game.

The ball is on the ground a lot in Tee-Ball. Picking the ball up off the ground can turn into an adventure.

‘How To’ Pick-up The Ball:

1. “Pick up Both Sides of the Ball”. Glove hand comes in from one side. Throwing hand comes in from the other side.  Both hands are used to pick-up the ball.