It’s a race!

Much of baseball is a race. You’re racing towards a line drive to catch it before it falls. You’re racing toward a base to get there before the throw. You’re racing to throw the ball to beat out the runner. It’s a race, it’s a race, it’s a race. So a coach should focus on how quickly a player can run, throw, and swing without them feeling hurried.

Focus on the hard throw

This will help the new player with their body mechanics and give them a sense of their own strength on the field. There are several ways to do this, but I’ll list a way that would be easy for any new player to adapt.

1. With a tennis ball or racketball, find a good wall to throw the ball at.
2. Stand sideways with your glove hand facing the wall and the ball in your throwing hand.
3. With a large glove-leg stride, throw that ball as hard as you can towards the wall.
4. Get the ball as it bounces back to you.
5. Make 20 throws

The limit allows you to get enough throws in without overthrowing your arm. Bonus: follow the exercise with another 20 throws, not as hard, but with a friend or adult. Do this as much as every other day, not more.

Focus on the hard swing

There is so much to a swing that it becomes almost harder to teach it than it is to pick it up naturally. A lot of new players become too focused on all the parts of the swing, especially hitting the ball, and forget that in order to hit hard, you need to swing hard. The idea is to focus on swinging fast.

Get a good sized broomstick. Have an adult cut it down to size if it’s too long. If you don’t have anything else, then you can use your bat.

1. Get into your batting stance.
2. When you’re ready, swing that bat as fast as you can.
3. Get back into your stance to get ready.
4. Swing that bat as fast as you can.
5. Repeat this for 20 swings.

Always get into your batting stance first. Do not hurry this exercise. You can practice this everyday.

Focus on sprinting

Running the bases needs to be a sprint if you want a chance to be safe. Sprinting is one of the easiest things to do, and it takes no talent. But you need to focus on where you’re going. Too many times, I see a player watching their ball the whole way to the base. You lose a few steps by doing that.

So to practice sprinting, find a long flat area. Place a glove or cone at both ends. Give yourself some space to slowdown after the glove (or cone).

1. Pretend you have a bat in your hand and take a good swing.
2. Run as fast as you can towards the glove at the other end. Do not look anywhere but at the glove.
3. At your top speed, run past the glove then slow down.
4. Then start from that side and repeat the process.
5. Do this 10 times.

You can do this everyday.

When learning something new, it’s hard to see other people because the player is so focused on themselves. But with practice comes confidence and eventually the ability to just play. When your player practices these drills, not only will they start to understand their own strength and speed, but they will understand that other players have the same, if not more, potential. That brings me to the counterpart of being quick themselves.

When a player starts to throw, run and swing hard, then they should expect that others will do the same. So now your player should focus on catching fast throws and fielding hard hit balls.

Catching fast throws

Get a tennis ball or racketball and play catch with your player. Pick up the speed of your throw. Focus on 2 things:

1. Is your player positioning their glove in the right way? New players tend to catch the ball with their mitt underhand. This causes the ball to roll along the mitt and use the palm as a ramp launching the ball right up into their face. Not fun! If they are catching like that, then focus solely on catching until they get the glove positioning down. Take a look at this video to give you a good clear way to direct your young player.
2. Are they moving away or towards the ball? Make sure that they move towards the ball. A fast ball is not one to be afraid of. If they are moving away, stay slow and throw the ball just so that they have to step towards it. Talk to them about catching the ball in the center of their body. This will just get them moving towards the ball instead of away from it.
3. Is the ball touching their glove? Light balls, like the tennis ball, are hard to catch. If the ball goes into their glove, but bounces out, then that’s a catch. It’s about how they use their glove while moving towards the ball. If they can’t close their glove, then break it in!

Fielding hard hit balls

I place more emphasis on the direct grounders because young players tend to shy away from those. Throw the balls faster and faster as you progress. They should get used to moving towards and staying square with the ball. They can have fun having it bounce off their chest.

1. Use a tennis ball to throw grounders. Start slow.
2. Throw 20 grounders directly to them.
3. Throw 10 grounders just to the right. They should shuffle their feet without crossing them to make sure the ball is square under them.
4. Throw 10 grounders just to the left of them. Again, make sure they shuffle their feet to get the ball square under them.
5. Repeat as many times are your arm will allow.

Conclusion

If we focus on speed your player will be fast and have a better understanding of their body mechanics:

• The only way to throw hard is to throw hard
• The only way to swing fast is to swing fast
• The only way to catch a fast ball is to have one thrown at you
• The only way to to field a hard hit ball is to have to hit to you.

Players around the same age, roughly 7-9, should start becoming accustomed to throwing hard without hurting their arms, swinging with strength while keeping their eye on the ball, and running as if their life depends on it while understanding what to do in that particular situation. Coaches are finding that going hard at these tasks will improve technique because the players will learn to use their bodies in an efficient way. It won’t happen automatically, but in time it will and in time the coaches will notice the improvement more quickly than if not going full force.

A note on empathy. We always want our players to be as safe as possible. A young player will regulate what works for them and will let us know what they’re comfortable with. Listen to the player and don’t push them towards your own expectations. Us older folk don’t remember what it’s like to be their age. I’ve written here that they should play hard, but if there’s a player who you know has a hard time catching, then work with them a different way until they can catch. Don’t put them in harm’s way. Accidents will happen with the greatest 7-9 year olds, but they will definitely happen with the most novice of 7-9 year olds.