A very informative and useful drill to teach younger players how to catch the ball.
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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22 users responded in this post
Great job…
I am starting a new LL team in Northern Cal and I would really love to see more of these, coach!
Coach…..you sould be teaching the kids to use TWO hands when catching a ball. One handed catching is a poor habit, and one that is hard to break as the children get older.
its all about soft hands.
This is great – I’m a brand new T-ball coach and I need all the help I can get! Love to see a hitting off a tee video when you get the chance.
thx coach..great vid..
I totally agree i used to catch the ball with my glove upside down until i was about 5
Great drill…thanks for taking the time to do this video. Very helpful…my son struggles catching because of the underhand catching…I will use the barehand drill to correct.
About how far away from your son are you?
I stand about 15 to 20 feet away so that he has time to track the ball to his hand/glove
Actually, at Tee-ball age, it is better to teach the kid to catch with their glove hand only. That is the quickest way to teach the player to squeeze the ball in the glove and to not try and literally catch the ball with two hands. The non-glove hand is never used to catch the ball but rather to secure the ball and quickly take it out of the glove. That is not necessary for tee-ball age players. It is better for them to master the proper use of the glove. (I am talking balls in the air)
Also putting the kids on their knees will help them in framing the catch. Kids will learn naturally the proper way to turn their hands. This will work for ground balls also. They will learn to reach out and get their eyes behind the ball.
Thanks coach.. these really help
awesome tips..
Rolled up socks make great ’soft balls’. They work indoors and out. They can be used for catching and hitting.
Bare handed drills are a great step to help kids over come the natural fear of getting hit with a ball.
Finally, teaching one handed catching is preferred at an early age. We don’t want the bare hand to get hit with the ball.
Great drill thanks
great video man! thanks for the tips.
Good job, coach.
Great job on the video. I think I will try this method with my 7 year old.
Excellent video. Thanks for the good advice.
No. Kids should be taught, ESPECIALLY at an early age, to use both hands when catching a ball. Glove or no glove, it is the proper way to catch a ball. As I stated previously, breaking the habit of one handed catching is difficult as they get older. They should be attacking the ball…..stepping towards it….and reaching for it with both hands.
Great points