Back to baseball this week! Note earlier start time...NOON. (This gets you off to the carnival a little early.)
This week's stations...hitting, T-ball, throwing. As always...parents please jump in and help.
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Week 5 - Drills and Skills
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Welcome & Warm-up (12:00PM)
* Location: Open area behind Field D backstop
* Equipment: None
* Drills: Arm circles, jumping jacks, pogo jumps, neck rolls, torso twists, etc.
Station 1 - Hitting (12 minutes)
* Location: Open area behind Field D backstop
* Equipment: 5 tees, 3 soft baseballs per tee, 5 bats, 10 helmets (all kids wear helmets)
* Drills: Hit balls off batting tee. Tees in a row…"firing squad" style
* Coaching Tips for Parents helpers: 1) Safety...only kids at tees can swing bats, all hitters wear helmets 2) Watch the ball, athletic position/knees slightly bent, bat off shoulder, swing hard (swinging hard encourages correct balance) 3) Don't have batters chase balls (safety)...older siblings or parents should retrieve balls.
Station 2 - T-ball game (12 minutes)
* Location: Field D infield
* Equipment: 1 bat, 1 ball, 1 batting tee, 4 helmets
* Drills: Play T-ball
* Coaching Tips: 3 to 4 batters, 3 to 4 fielders, hit and run to first, have fielders get ball and attempt throw to coach/parent at first. Some kids will
get it (the throw to 1st base thing) and others not so much...try not to slow game down too much with
explanations...keep it moving and fun."
Station 3 - Throwing (12 minutes)
* Location = Right Field Line
* Equipment: Bucket of tennis balls, 2 blue barrels
* Drills: 1) Throw-get-throw (one ball per player, throw ball, chase it, pick it up, throw it again, to the fence and back) 2) Throw into barrel (pile of balls, barrels on side, 15 feet away, players throw simultaneously, no lines, tons of balls, make a mess) 3) Throw at coach holding barrel above head and also moving around.
* Coaching Tips for Parent Helpers: 1) Explain mechanics (reach back, step toward target with opposite foot, throw hard) 2) We want players to throw hard (i.e. don't aim it...throw it)...distance better than accuracy at this age
Close (12:45PM)
* Location: Field D backstop
* Equipment: Snack
See you Saturday!
-Justin
justinnaa@gmail.com