Coaching Youth Baseball Catching Drills & Skills Pt 1

Coaching Youth Baseball Catching Drills & Skills Pt 1
Uploaded by youthbaseball How to teach a young player how to catch through safe, repetitive drills that build player confidence. The video shows the development of a 5 yr old player catching pretty well and learning a little bit about baseball.

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Youth Baseball Drills - Developing Catchers' Skills

Youth Baseball Drills - Developing Catchers' Skills
By guest author: Kenny Buford

Catching is one of the most important positions in baseball defense. However, it is often the least coached. Because there is more to being a catcher than being able to catch the ball, these youth baseball drills were designed to help catchers develop the skills they need to succeed.

Crouching Drill

Catchers need to maintain a crouch position for at least nine innings, so it is important for their legs to be in shape. This drill will help catchers both stay in the crouch and move out of the crouch quickly.

Players should start by playing catch in while crouching. Next, have them walk around in the crouch position. Finally, have catchers work on their quickness and spring by jumping over home plate in the crouch position.

Framing Drill

This catchers' drill helps players work on framing the pitch and developing their glove work. Framing is essential in the catching position because it can determine whether or not a pitch is called a strike.

Start the drill using tennis or safety balls so that the catcher can work without a glove. Pitch the balls all over the strike zone and have the catcher practice catching using a bent elbow, holding the ball so the umpire can see where it was caught. The catcher should follow the ball from the pitcher's hand, catching it so that his thumb is pointed toward the pitcher. Eventually have the catcher run the drill with his glove, using a regular baseball.

Blocking Drill

This drill is designed to help catchers block pitches using their chest protectors. The Blocking Drill is great for young players who need to work on not being afraid of the ball and getting used to what their equipment can do.

Start the drill by bouncing balls off the catcher, having him keep his hands behind his back to get comfortable using the chest protector. Next, have the catcher work on blocking pitches in the dirt by using his glove positioned down between his legs. The catcher should practice performing the block, quickly getting to his feet, and scooping up the ball.

Pop-Up Drill

For this youth baseball drill, catchers will work on proper technique for catching pop-ups while wearing their full gear.

Hit pop-ups for the player to catch using a fungo bat. The catcher should follow these steps when catching a pop-up:


Quickly get up from the crouch
Locate the ball in the air and determine where it will land, keeping in mind that it will probably drift toward the infield
Throw the mask away, making sure it won't be underfoot
Move toward the ball and make the catch

And if you'd like to see more free baseball drills and coaching tips, go here to watch a free video:

http://www.baseball-tutorials.com/vid/
Kenny Buford is a youth baseball coach, and the owner and publisher of Baseball-Tutorials.com, the web's #1 resource for baseball drills, tips, and practice ideas for youth and high school coaches.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kenny_Buford

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Discover Top Baseball Training Fundamentals

Discover Top Baseball Training Fundamentals
By guest author: Matt Dimock

Baseball is one of America's favorite sports. Millions of men have been interested in playing it either as a weekend pastime or semi-professionally. It is understandable that only a handful would go to the pro leagues but nevertheless, baseball has won the hearts of many. You are probably one of them that's why you are interested in this article. Baseball is more than just picking up a bat and hitting the ball or the other way around, picking up a ball and throwing it. So if you want to get better in this sports, there are some fundamentals you should learn first.

It is important for any person who wants to play baseball to first undergo baseball training to help prepare his mind and body for the game. We can't ignore the fact that there will always be people who have natural talent for this sport and that understanding how the game is played and how it should be played will be very easy for them. Nevertheless knowing the basics is still essential as it is the first stepping stone toward being a great baseball athlete.

So here are some baseball training tips that you should follow to help you improve your game. Remember to keep everything in moderation and to never rush your training as it can lead to serious injury.

Just like with any other sports, warming up is the key to avoiding any injury. Stretching is a vital part of this. While some professional trainers will provide you with specific warm up and stretching instructions, in my opinion, any of the typical warm ups will do. Especially those that involve the arms and the legs as you will be doing a lot of swinging and throwing the ball during the game. Just jog in place or for a few meters and you will be good to go.

Most people forget to have a good posture when they are playing the game when in fact standing correctly has a great impact in utilizing your skills. Always stand straight and always make sure that your whole body weight is distributed equally to both of your feet. Your feet should align to the length of your shoulders. As a batter this normal position will give you the stability you need to make that powerful swing.

How should you be gripping a baseball bat? Quite naturally, you should pick up the bat using your strongest hand. Your other hand will be there just to support it. And do not strangle the bat. When you hold a bat very tightly you are releasing unneeded tension which will result to a weaker hitting power. Just let your grip loosen up a bit, allowing for your fingers to move easily. With less tension on your part, you will have greater power to hit that ball.

There are other fundamentals that you probably need to know but for starters the ones listed here will be good enough. Always remember to not overwork yourself and to simply enjoy baseball. That's why it's called a game in the first place.

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How to Throw Strikes - Great Drill For Youth Baseball Pitchers

How to Throw Strikes - Great Drill For Youth Baseball Pitchers
By Guest Author Jack Perconte

If anyone could discover a guaranteed method of teaching youth baseball pitchers how to throw strikes, they would strike it rich. Obviously, youth baseball games would go a lot smoother if kids threw more strikes. More innings could be played in the allotted time span and umpires would be able to keep some semblance of the strike zone. Often at the under 10 year old kid pitch leagues, umpires have to call any balls caught by the catcher "strikes" just to keep the games moving. Obviously, this umpire practice does not allow hitters to learn the strike zone and coaches have to tell hitters to swing at almost everything so they won't get called out on strikes. This result of calling a huge strike zone doesn't serve the development of pitchers or hitters, and causes much frustration in youth baseball leagues.

One thing I have noticed over the years, which is not earthshaking news, is that kids are accurate and display good throwing mechanics from a close range. Once they reach a certain distance away from their target, their throwing mechanics change and any consistent throwing accuracy is lost. The usual result of throwing a further distance is that kids step away from their target and open up their front side way too soon. Overtime, these incorrect throwing habits become a habit and may lead to arm injury.

Of course, even with the following practice drill, kids still have to be taught the correct throwing mechanics and they should work on perfecting them. With this in mind, following is one of my favorite drills where youth baseball pitchers can learn a consistent release point and have some fun at the same time.

Advance and Retreat Drill for Pitching

Once pitchers have warmed up, I start them at the midway mark between home and pitchers mound, where they begin pitching. For every "strike" they throw, pitchers back up a step towards the pitcher's mound and for every "ball" they move a step closer to home. I then count the number of pitches it takes them to get back to the pitchers mound (less the better, of course). The next time they work on pitching, the pitcher tries to beat their previous number of pitches. This drill is a great way for baseball pitchers to focus, try to keep the same mechanics and release point as they eventually get to the correct distance from home plate.

Of course, this same type drill can be used for kids who are just throwing, as opposed to pitching, and works with throwing off a wall or into a target as well. Additionally, different throwing contests can be designed and competition among players used with this baseball throwing drill.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball playing lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball
Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his positive parenting advice and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Perconte



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