First time LL Manager (T-ball) - Help Me!

kanga12

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I'll be managing a t-ball (ages 4-6) team for the first time this season. At this point I don't how many players will be on our team or what's the range of skill level for the players.  I've started looking online for different practice/drills that might be suitable for this age/level.  I'm probably stressing about this more than I should, but I just want to make it an enjoyable experience for the kids as well as help them develop as players -- and help them to love baseball as much as I do. 
 
Any advice, drills, recommendations on resources or things I should keep in mind?  My boys will be on the team as well -- so any advice on balancing the father/manager role would be helpful too.
 
Thanks in advance. 
 
 

Hendu for Kutch

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I coached tball for the first time last summer. First, just accept that keeping them interested while in the field is damn near impossible.

How many coaches do you have? If you can wrangle up at least 2 other coaches, you can break all practices into small groups across multiple stations. I found this to be essential. Kids that age will stay engaged if they get a chance to do something every 4th time or so, but make them wait through 12 kids between turns and they check out.

I'm on my phone so I can't write much now, but I'll try and post some fun drills and game advice later.
 

Heinie Wagner

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This is pretty good - http://www.amazon.com/FUNBE-T-Ball-Introducing-Child-Baseball/dp/1434314812
 
Get as many coaches as you can you'll need them
 
never let a kid hold a bat unless he's got a helmet on and is about to hit 
 
Keep it very simple and fun, the most important thing is that they have so much fun they want to keep playing
 
Great book on sports parenting/coaching - http://www.amazon.com/Positive-Sports-Parenting-Second-Goal-Parents/dp/0982131712/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423423089&sr=1-2&keywords=sports+parenting
 

Fred not Lynn

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Where are you located? If your league or a league near you is hosting a Big Al Baseball clinic, go to it.

http://www.bigalbaseball.com/clinics

If kids leave your charge knowing the fundamental rudiments of throwing and swinging properly, you will have done your job.

Don't bother having kids try to play catch. Let them learn each side of that equation seperately.

Wear a protective cup.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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Small groups is key if you have enough coaches. We still try to do that with 10 year olds.

Tennis racket and tennis balls for pop ups if you want to venture into that task.

Safety with bats is also important, as mentioned before.

I've told my kids don't throw a ball to somebody unless you make eye contact with that person.
 

JimBoSox9

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At that age, there are really only 3 important concepts:
 
1) How to throw by pointing your body in the right direction first
 
2) How to catch by rotating your arm to the ball
 
3) How to not ever swing a bat without a coach watching you
 
 
Your job is to figure out how to beat those first two concepts in to them in as many different ways as possible.  You're building the fundamental muscle memories of handling a baseball; the key is obviously massive repetition.  If you have 6 reliable sets of adult hands, this is a three-station setup that can take a chunk of practice and keeps things moving quick:
 
Station 1: Throwing
-Put the kids in 2 lines, with the front kid in each line throwing to an adult 'catcher' (like double-barreled action in the bullpen)  Place a ball bucket in between the lines.
--Each kid throws 3-5 balls to their catcher, being coached on how to turn their body and point with the glove/elbow before throwing, then goes to the back of the line.
--Adults should roll balls back towards the bucket/lines.
--Always reinforce clear 10ft separation between the 'active' kid and the rest of their line
 
Station 2: Catching
-Reverse of station 1; put the kids in two lines with the front kid being thrown to by adult 'pitchers'.
--Adults throw 3-5 soft-tossed balls to each kid for catching, who roll back the balls to pitchers
--Ideally, throw softly from knees and from 15-20 feet away
--Focus first on catching balls directly at their upper body, and then force them to move glove around the clock)
 
Go 15min-15min with half groups, then split off the 1/3 most advanced kids into a new station
 
Station 3: Playing Catch
-Line up in pairs with  one row of kids on foul line facing a row of kids in OF grass
--Do NOT just let them go back and forth on their own
--Start with all the balls on one side
--Call out "Ready..Aim..Throw" for each round of throwing, with Aim being the cue to get their bodies pointed in the right position
--Keep on going back and forth with the call-outs, letting everyone 're-set' each time
 
Do this for another 15 min, giving the slower kids another round with the individual throwing and catching, and the more advanced kids a chance to put them both together.  After a few practices, you can mix in stations for Grounders and Pop-Ups, which are identical to the Catching station except with coaches hand-throwing soft grounders or tennis ball pop-ups (don't use a racket, you don't want too much loft at this level).  
 
The key to all these drills, and the key to the age, is we're isolating one single body action (throwing, catching, fielding) to minimize the moving parts they need to focus on learning at any one moment, and maximizing the number of repetitions we can generate in an hour.  Don't focus on over-coaching any one kid; keep the line moving while reinforcing the key points.
 

RIFan

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First thing is to communicate with the parents. Try to get as many asst coaches as possible. You should stress that they do not need to know anything about baseball to help. 90% of T-ball is herding cats. Parents can guard the bats, chase loose balls, or just give encouragement.

You also need to stress that your job is to allow the kids to have fun and hopefully lay the seeds of falling in love with the game. No kid ever developed a skill in T-ball that led them to the major leagues. Many a kid developed a hatred for the sport due to the tedium and level of failure that can be part of the sport.

On the field:
As others have said, focus on small groups. Try to avoid having any idle time. The more they are actively doing something the more fun they'll have. You'll have kids that have never seen a baseball game and need to learn where 1st base is. You could literally have a 1st practice where all they do is run the bases and have fun doing it. Try to put kids in position to have success. If that means you put a beach ball on a tee and let them hit it, so be it. Trust me that there will be kids that never come close to hitting a baseball off a tee even with 100 swings. Gradually reduce the size as they progress. Put a small pool out and have them toss balls into it. Reduce to a bucket as they get better. Just see what is fun for them and go with it.
 

Cumberland Blues

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Heinie Wagner said:
never let a kid hold a bat unless he's got a helmet on and is about to hit 
 
This is rule 1 for this age group.  And when you're helping a kid get into the proper stance - hold onto to the top of their bat so they don't swing it and hit you with it.
 
Lots of good stuff already posted - the other point I'll repeat is that wrangling up assistant coaches is key so you can do small group stuff...it's usually not that hard at this level to find people - nobody wants to be in charge, but most parents are willing to help us poor misguided souls who sign up for manager duty.
 
Games at this level are trainwrecks...pray for rain on gameday - practices are a blast tho.
 

Was (Not Wasdin)

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It's been said many times above, but get as many assistant coaches as you can.  During the practices, you want to keep each kid engaged as much as possible at all time.  Drills that have one kid working at something while everyone else watches do no good at all-you lose the attention of 80% of the kids before it is their turn.  As Beerabelli said, small group is key.  with enough help from parents, you can run several stations that keep the kids active and moving.  
 
Even at this age, have a written practice plan for each practice, make notes on what works and what doesnt, and adjust accordingly.  No need to keep trying the same drills over and over if the kids dont like it/dont focus on it, try something new.  Keep a few minutes in between each drill for a quick break and something not aimed specifically at skill development, like a relay race around the bases.  At the end of each practice, gather the kids up and recognize good work with little awards, and keep track, so that everyone gets recognized at some point (which I believe is perfectly appropriate at this age).  
 
Do not hesitate to point out problem children to their parents, and ask for help with them.  At this age, there is a limit to what you can do.  You need them to step in, and if necessary practice side by side with them, in order to keep them from spoiling it for everyone else.  
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Lots of good advice, much of what I was going to add has been covered, so I'll just add a few drills the kids enjoyed.
 
Throwing:
 
Grab a tee and place a bucket upside down on top of it and place it just in front of the backstop.  This is your target, Mr. Bucket.  Line up your small group of kids (4, max 5) side by side with a little space between them.  Go through each part of the throwing motion with them and then count them down to try and hit Mr. Bucket.  After they've each thrown they get their ball and line back up.  For whatever reason, hitting Mr. Bucket is more fun than just trying to hit a glove.  For extra fun, play Knockout to end the station.
 
Fielding:
 
Take your group of 4 and just practice their form fielding grounders you roll towards them.  I find that grounders are a good starting spot before actual catching, because it's less threatening and lets them get comfortable getting the ball in their glove.  Start right at them and when they get comfortable with that teach shuffling to the side and start moving them horizontally.
 
Baserunning:
 
In our tball league, kids just moved up one base at a time except for the walkoff home run each inning.  So we'd practice running station to station as a full team.  Running through first and home, stopping at 2nd and 3rd, and running home-to-home.  The kids loved relay races, so we'd end each practice with half the team at home and half at home and relay.
 
General knowledge:
 
Once per practice, we'd go over the positions and then I'd take the team out to the pitcher's mound and start yelling out the positions, and the team would all run to that position together.  It's a great way for the ones that catch on quickly to help the ones that don't without singling anyone out.
 
The games are fun on offense and mostly a shitshow on defense, but that's OK.  If you're having trouble with the kids chasing the ball all over the field, you can draw lines in the infield dirt and remind the kids to stay on their side.  Good luck!
 

kanga12

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This is super-helpful.  Thanks everyone for the input and suggestions -- as well as specific drills I can use. 
 
I just found out from the coordinator that I'll have 9 players on my team which seems like a nice manageable number. I get the list of parents and their emails soon and will definitely be asking for assistance (coaches). 
 
Cumberland, I'm located out in Silicon Valley so chances of rain outs are slim to nil.  
 

Just a bit outside

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There is a lot of great advice in this thread. 
 
I think the hardest part is teaching the kids how to catch.  They all want to try and use the glove like a basket.  I brought tennis balls and had the kids catch with the glove hand without a glove.  Teach them to keep their fingers pointed to the sky and catch with one hand.  I then moved to catching with the glove when they showed they would stop trying to basket catch every throw.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Cumberland Blues said:
 
Games at this level are trainwrecks...pray for rain on gameday - practices are a blast tho.
 
Actual T-Ball game play is a complete unmitigated waste of time. Skill specific games would be more useful at this point, but I don't think parents and administrators can get their head around that concept.
 
kanga12 said:
Cumberland, I'm located out in Silicon Valley so chances of rain outs are slim to nil.  
 
Looks like there's a Big Al clinic in Palo Alto for District 52...
 

Heinie Wagner

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"Actual T-Ball game play is a complete unmitigated waste of time. Skill specific games would be more useful at this point, but I don't think parents and administrators can get their head around that concept."
 
I totally agree, I'd go farther and say hitting off a tee is a complete waste of time.
 
If you have to have games at that age, make teams of 5-6 kids. no outfield, our LL has everyone take the field in T-ball, with 12 kids on a team, so 5-6 kids stand around in the outfield. It's no wonder Lacrosse is booming. Parents like games.
 
Soccer is great at this. The younger kids play on tiny fields 3v3 no goalie, tons of touches, tons of goals, tons of skill development.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Another thing...find a good, age appropriate baseball video game and suggest they play it. They can learn the X's and O's without having to worry about executing a skill at the same time. My son still has awesome fond memories of playing hours on end of Backyard Baseball, and he learned from it.
 

Heinie Wagner

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As much as I hate to tell kids to play video games, I agree - my 7 year old knows the rules of baseball mostly from playing or watching his older brothers play baseball video games. He's also watched them play a ton of live baseball too which doesn't hurt, but he knows which base to throw to, when to tag up, when it's a force vs a tag play - from video games.
 

Cumberland Blues

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Agreed - the backyard baseball was a hit w/ my kid when he was t-ball age too.  Some of these kids will have zero frame of reference for how baseball is supposed to work - so anything that helps start building some baseball IQ is a great help.  I've also encouraged parents to watch an inning or two of a game on TV with their kids and explain exactly what's happening. 
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Some great suggestions in this thread. I am reiterating the need for a practice plan here, especially with this age group. Four and five year olds are really tough - our local league wont take kids until six and after coaching that age, it might be too young as well.

With this age range, you are going to need to allow them some time to take a mental or water break during practice so be sure to build that in.

Also, make sure you communicate often and clearly with parents. They need to know that with kids this age, you simply dont know what sort of player their child will become but you can be sure they have high expectations and a skewed view. Our local LL tells the coaches every year that you really don't know whether a kid can play until they they get to the big (regulation-sized) field. And they are referring to nine and ten year olds who know a bit about the sport.

Regarding specific drills, I would use HFK's Mr Bucket drill but you can also put stuffed animals on top of buckets and have the kids aim for them after demonstrating throwing technique.

For hitting, I completely agree with HW that hitting off a tee is a waste. Our league did coach pitch instead and we found that kids picked up over-hand throws better than under-hand. That said, since you are forced to use tees, the most important thing (aside from the aforementioned bat safety) is to have the kids keep their heads still. We used the Mike to Ike shoulder technique where their shoulders rotate but their chins start on their front shoulder and finish on their back one. This will force them to see what they hit (we cite Coco Crisp for the older kids).

Finally just be patient. This isn't baseball at this level but if you are successful, by the end you will have quite a few kids who will want to play again next spring.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Another thing - Let the parents know that the most important coach these kids will ever have is the one who plays catch with them in the backyard between practices and games. It's the parents who will have the most profound impact on whether these kids really learn the skills correctly. You have them what, 2 to 4 hours a week? That's nothing. If that's all the baseball activity they're having, they'll never learn...they need to play away from formal practice too, and if they're doing things wrong every day at home, you'll have a hard time correcting that in your limited time at practice.
 
Do what you can to engage each parent to the point where when they play with their kids, they understand the fundamentals too, and create a foundation for what you're teaching.
 

kanga12

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Fred not Lynn said:
 
Actual T-Ball game play is a complete unmitigated waste of time. Skill specific games would be more useful at this point, but I don't think parents and administrators can get their head around that concept.
 
 
Looks like there's a Big Al clinic in Palo Alto for District 52...
 
Thanks -- I am planning on checking it out!
 
Also found out my league is putting on a workshop for managers/coaches in the coming week so hopefully that'll be helpful and I can also commiserate and learn with other rookies.
 
This has been very helpful.  I'm getting less anxious and more excited about this! 
 

Heinie Wagner

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The last LL coach's clinic I went to was put on by a college coach and included college players on a LL field showing 10-12 year olds how to make the backhanded toss from 2B to the SS covering second to start the double play. I hope your is more age appropriate than that. 
 
My t-ball story from youngest son's team last season. I was working the dugout while our team was hitting. Head coach at home plate, we also had a first base coach and 3b coach, I worked the dugout, because it's the most difficult and I don't want anyone getting hit with a bat. 12 kids on the team, so there could be 1 hitting and 11 in the dugout, it is hectic, most of the kids are pretty good, but there are always 2-3 that are a challenge.
 
Somehow a mother bird had managed to build a nest in the dugout, lay an egg and have the egg hatch. The mother bird flew out of the dugout when we first went into it. Nobody really noticed and we did our usual warmups. As soon as we started hitting, the baby started squawking for the mom. This was much more interesting for the kids on the bench than the t-ball game.
 
Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep things moving along, getting kids into helmets and sending them to the plate to keep the game moving along. One of our players (who seemed like he'd never heard the word "no" in his life before) chucked his glove at the nest. Knocking it down. Now we have a screeching baby bird, looked like it just hatched, eyes closed, no feathers yet, on the floor in the dugout and 10 kids jumping around and screaming. What a nightmare.
 
I cleared the kids out of the dugout, made them stand along the fence just outside it, they're still going nuts. Chucked the unfortunate baby bird and nest into the woods behind the dugout, got the kids back into the dugout where their major concern was finding out what happened to the baby bird. "Don't worry about the bird". Started the game back up and had an uneventful rest of the game. 
 
If you see a bird's nest in the dugout, make sure you go coach third base.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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One other piece of advice...do the batting order in games by uniform number and if possible get them to sit in that order.  It makes it very easy for any random parent to come in and help if you're short on coaches that day.
 

BigJimEd

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Yes do the uniform order. You can switch it up staying with different numbers but it makes it much easier.

Great advice on here. At this age, all about fun and fundamentals.
I'll repeat more coaches the better. Other than short water breaks, keep them moving.

I've done the bucket head. Kids enjoy it.

Relay races are good. We've also had coaches "trying" to throw them out as they run the bases.
I've used the low compression tennis balls. Both for catch and rolling ground balls.

Games are generally a waste of time but kids enjoy them.

As for tee vs pitch, most kids can hit pitching better at this age.
But there are some that struggle and could use the tee.

I also think you can work on their fundamentals better with the tee.
For those reasons, I lean towards the tee.

That and this story from another coach my first year where one kid refused to bat. Team had a lot of kids who had older brothers and played a lot in their backyard so they decided to coach pitch from the beginning.
This one kid was athletic but had little experience batting. He struggled and had to use the tee. He got frustrated and embarrassed and after two games just refused to bat.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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I did a batting order system where I moved the kids up one slot in he order every game, and dropped the top kid to the bottom each game. Evened out ABs for season, eliminated who bats when politicking, and parents couldn't complain. I posted order in two spots in bench area too, and referred kids to list when they asked me. Worked well once they got the hang of it.
 

kanga12

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Good stuff -- keep 'em coming, fellas.
 
So in our league for t-ball, games last 3 innings where each team gets to have the full lineup bat.  And they recommended the "Beerabelli" batting order system.
 
In practices, how much do you actually use regulation t-balls vs. tennis balls vs. plastic balls -- and for which drills/games?  
 

JimBoSox9

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I'm of the opinion that a bucket of nice safety balls serves you all the way around, but then again I've never gotten too wound up about practices generating the occasional and accidental black eye.  Tennis balls are great for when kids can't figure out how to see around the glove when catching, or can't hang in the batter's box during coach pitch.
 

Hendu for Kutch

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I only used t-balls, but a big part of my thinking was getting the kids unafraid of the ball.  In fact, when I'd see a kid who was clearly cowering at the ball during practice, I'd go over to him and throw it into my own chest just to show that it wouldn't hurt.  Of course, it did kinda hurt, but they didn't know that.
 

Just a bit outside

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In coach pitch I would start my first batting practice by teaching kids how to get hit by a pitch.  I started with wiffle balls and taught the kids to turn in to the pitch and get hit in the back.  Once they learned with wiffle balls I moved to tennis balls and then to the t-balls.  I didn't throw the balls hard but I think it is important for kids to learn how to get hit with the ball.
 

kanga12

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Thanks Beerabelli for the link. This is helpful.

Also thanks Fred not Lynn for the Big Al training recommendation. I went to it last night and feel 100x more ready to plan and run a practice.

We have our first practice next week!
 

Fred not Lynn

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The three greatest gifts to the baseball world from the province of Alberta are the words of W.P. Kinsella, the SPITZ sunflower seeds and the basic instruction provided over the years around the Americas by Al & Al Baseball (now just Big Al, Little Al retired a few years ago).
 

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Just a bit outside said:
There is a lot of great advice in this thread. 
 
I think the hardest part is teaching the kids how to catch.  They all want to try and use the glove like a basket.  I brought tennis balls and had the kids catch with the glove hand without a glove.  Teach them to keep their fingers pointed to the sky and catch with one hand.  I then moved to catching with the glove when they showed they would stop trying to basket catch every throw.
Great advice in this thread. I've been coaching little league for 8 years now (oldest in majors and youngest starting kid pitch this year). The quoted is terrific advice for teaching them how to catch. At this age the glove really gets in the way. Learning to catch with bare hands first gets them to keep their hands down low a lot better than yelling "get your glove dirty" 10,000 times.
 
Most of all have fun. The kids will notice you having fun and react accordingly. I actually loathe the T-Ball years (herding cats is a very apt description) but the next step up will be some of the most fun you will ever have on a baseball diamond.
 

Fred not Lynn

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Skiponzo said:
The quoted is terrific advice for teaching them how to catch. At this age the glove really gets in the way. Learning to catch with bare hands first gets them to keep their hands down low a lot better than yelling "get your glove dirty" 10,000 times.
 
Oven mitts can also be useful tool for this, but you already know that if you went to the Big Al clinic, don't you...
 

kanga12

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So we had our first practice this week. Many of the parents thought I was a veteran coach -- much thanks to Big Al and all your advice!
 
Overall I couldn't be happier with our first practice -- all the kids were engaged throughout the different blocks (warmup/stretching, throwing, catching, fielding, hitting). We kept things moving so the kids weren't bored.  And no broken bones, bloody noses, lightsaber duels with the bats or anything else.  And to top it all of, we got even more parents who were willing to help out next time around.
 
We have our first "game" this Saturday. Any game day advice? I've already got our rotating lineups and fielding positions setup.
 

kanga12

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So we have about 4 more weeks left of the season.  Can't believe how fast it's been!
 
We started coach-pitching about 3 weeks ago and about half of our players are able to hit coach-pitching consistently while the other half are able to but not as consistently -- but it's been exciting to see the players make such progress.  
 
Some of our young(er) players (ages 4-5) still aren't able to throw consistently. Their mechanics are generally okay but they tend to release the ball a bit late and throw the ball into the ground -- any suggestions?  
 
Also, any ideas on how to wrap up the season -- like last practice, last game, etc.?  For all our players this was their first time playing.
 

leftfieldlegacy

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Some T ball teams were practicing last weekend on a field near our local post office and I saw a throwing drill that might help your team.
 
A coach would stand to the side of the thrower and about 5' in front of him/her. The coach held a plastic hoop as a target in front of the kid. He held it high enough so it encouraged the kid to release the ball on an upward trajectory and with enough velocity to pass through the hoop. There was another coach opposite the kid to catch each throw and toss or roll it back.
 
The hoop was about 2 or 3 feet in diameter. It's size and the proximity of the target resulted in a very high rate of correct throws and gave the kids some positive reinforcement. It was very cool to see how quickly many of the players just naturally assumed a proper throwing position and release point without much verbal instruction. 
 
For the kids who are having difficulty hitting a pitched ball, instead of pitching from in front of them, try standing closer to the batter's box and off to the side and use an underhand soft toss. It is easier for the batter to develop the necessary timing to track and hit the ball without the fear of getting hit by the pitch. 
 

Hendu for Kutch

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leftfieldlegacy said:
Some T ball teams were practicing last weekend on a field near our local post office and I saw a throwing drill that might help your team.
 
A coach would stand to the side of the thrower and about 5' in front of him/her. The coach held a plastic hoop as a target in front of the kid. He held it high enough so it encouraged the kid to release the ball on an upward trajectory and with enough velocity to pass through the hoop. There was another coach opposite the kid to catch each throw and toss or roll it back.
 
The hoop was about 2 or 3 feet in diameter. It's size and the proximity of the target resulted in a very high rate of correct throws and gave the kids some positive reinforcement. It was very cool to see how quickly many of the players just naturally assumed a proper throwing position and release point without much verbal instruction. 
 
For the kids who are having difficulty hitting a pitched ball, instead of pitching from in front of them, try standing closer to the batter's box and off to the side and use an underhand soft toss. It is easier for the batter to develop the necessary timing to track and hit the ball without the fear of getting hit by the pitch. 
 
To speed this up and get more swings in, you can take a couple of kids with a couple of coaches and do this into the backstop.  Have the kid stand about 5 or 6 feet away from the backstop and drive the ball directly into it.  It speeds up the process because you're not chasing balls down, and it gives the kids extra encouragment because it really rewards line drives with a big fence rattle.  The improvement after only one or two times doing this drill is really remarkable at that age.
 

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I used to do a variation of the hoop drill by putting a garbage can on first then hitting grounders to the kids and having them try to hit the can. Fun for them and still teaches them good throwing techniques, plus it gives them extra practice at fielding. If they can't field then roll the balls and have them use just their hands (no gloves).
 
For end of the season practice you should make it a fun game. That's what they will remember and hopefully will want to come back next season. I used to organize a parents vs kids whiffle ball game for the last practice. In fact our team party this year for my 8-9 y/o team will include this game as I've had 3 of the kids previously and they requested we play.