What’s The Best Way To Teach Little League Children How To Catch A Fly Ball ?
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at
3:46 pm
I coach a Farm-6 Little league baseball team and I want my players to start learning on how to catch a fly ball. Some say the basket catch is the best method at first for youngsters, while others say glove over head should be taught as soon as possible using tennis balls.
I feel they lack the confidence to get under a fly ball with fears it may conk them on the head.
What do you think ???
Joe
Tagged with: Ball • Best • Catch • Children • League • Little • Teach • Whats
Filed under: Baseball
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Start with some soft toss to get them going, using a tennis ball of course but you need to teach them the over head technique as early as possible since that is the correct way to field a fly ball. If you are too worried about the kids getting donked in the head with the tennis ball you’ll never teach them what they need to know. Plus it makes them tougher and even though they might be scared at first about getting hit by the ball in the end they will get over their fears quicker. Don’t give them more then they can handle and try to make a fun game out of it awarding points or a prize for the most tennis balls caught or least drops etc… the losers runs sprints haha no I’m only kidding. Ease them into it but definitely use the over head tennis ball approach.
you should tell them to always stay on top of it and start with a softer ball
you have to teach them the right way or they will form bad habits. Which are very hard to break. Over the head is the right way. Besides they are more likely to hurt themselves with the basket catch if they misjudge. The other way is more effective and protects them as well. Every thing you teach them now matters in their game later. Fundamentals are the key!!! Good luck.
The key will be to teach them to use both hands and not to mimick some hot shot center fielder from the Braves…..I would do what Joe Macarthy of the Old Yankees did with a minor league team….when they committed a few too many errors….he took the gloves away and corrected the problem right away…….actually if you think about it by catching the ball (tennis) bare handed it will make them used to using both hands……with a big glove they may just want to do it with one hand……take the gloves away and lets see what happens!!
Glove up and tennis balls.
what i did was get softball’s the soft kind i would throw them up in the air.then i would start going with smaller balls until they got confident.with a harder baseball i would work on that first before any other thing.another thing would be let them toss a ball up in the air just a little distance at a time.
start by soft tossing them tennis balls to catch however they can, then try as hard as you can to correct what they do wrong in catching the ball. then throw it from higher or farther as they get better, then maybe move on to baseballs, but dont throw those too high or anything incase they do get hit on the head
Make a game out of it at first. Most kids learn to catch messing around playing games like 3 flies up (or any other name applied to it). Use a tennis ball if you need to. Line them up and toss the ball in the air. Competion for the ball will soon outweigh the fear of getting hit on the head. Once a player catches 3 tosses, let him be the one to toss the ball in the air. And keep rotating. Once they get the hang of catching the ball, work on tracking the ball by making them go side to side, or front to back. At that age it will take a lot of time, and they will drop more than they will catch. Eventually you will be able to switch to a baseball.
Keep up the good work with those kids.
Teach them to stay under the ball, and reinforce that the ball isn’t going to hurt them. Soft toss with a tennis ball will work, but you want to switch to a bat and hardball asap. Definitely glove over the head. If you have a jugs machine set it up for some low pop ups and gradually increase the height and depth. Hope this helps.
me being a softball player since i was young i believe that getting hurt teaches them. teach them the way it should be done. talk to them about the cardinal rule first step is always back. tell them to get underneath the ball . and tell them NEVER CATCH THE BALL IN A BASKET. catching that way is more of a risk of an injury to the face .