Batting Practice Pitching Technique / Coach Pitch Pitching Technique - Youth Baseball & Softball

Pitch from 20-30 Feet

Aim for shoulder/chin height

4 Seam grip

Follow through (basketball)

Isaks favorite drills (@ the moment)

Hit-Catch- Throw to 1^st 

^{I will hit to him, he will field and throw to 1st base}


Football Drill
We will set up a "line of scrimmage" and a cone about 15-20 feet away.
I will line up right behind him, he will run to cone and break to the left of right and catch.

Distance Fly Ball
He will run about 20 yards and I will throw to him football style, he will track ball down and catch


Bounce Back-Record Breaker
We line up 1 in front of other about 10-15 feet away from pitch back (we use the Solo Hiter-pitch back) We try to catch as many in a row as possible, trying to break our previous record each time. When ball is dropped, we start over.

Hit Away 

20(Choke-up) 

20(Full Swing) 

20(Bunt)

** We follow Babe Ruths instruction

See here: 

Pitching (Isak likes fast balls)

Soft-toss:

Tips from the Pros: A.J. Pollock on outfield defense

A.J. Pollock didn’t simply hit his way to the big leagues. The Arizona Diamondbacks rookie came into the season rated by Baseball America as the best defensive outfielder in their system.

Drafted in 2009 out of the University of Notre Dame, the 25-year-old center fielder honed his skills at RHAM High School in Hebron, Conn.

In the latest installment of Tips from the Pros, Pollock talks about what goes into being a good defensive outfielder.

On the key to being a good outfielder: “I think what makes an outfielder above average is anticipation. It’s more of a mindset. If you’re thinking ‘This ball is going to be hit far away from me and as hard as possible,’ you’re going to have a better chance to get there; you’re going to have more range. And you need to be anticipating what the guy is trying to do at the plate. On a 2-0 count, or a 3-1 count, a lot of hitters are trying to pull the ball, especially 3- and 4-hole hitters. You need to think the game and be ready to move. Having the right mindset, and knowing what kind of adjustments to make pre-pitch, is going to give you the most range. That’s pretty much the whole deal in the outfield: range.

“Everyone can catch a ball. If you don’t know how to catch a ball … that’s tough to teach. It’s one of those skills most guys just have. What you need to do is get yourself in a position where you can catch balls that aren’t hit right at you.”

On reading hitters: “You make your adjustments just like infielders. You watch what the hitters are doing. With some guys, it’s more difficult. Maybe they like to hit the ball in the air the other way, and when they hit it on the ground, they pull it. That’s because of the way their swing is, so you have to try to understand what the hitter is trying to do. You’re making those adjustments before the pitch is even made. You want the mindset of expecting that every ball is going to be hit to you, and it’s not going to be a pop fly; it’s going be in a gap or behind you. That way your body is geared up to get a jump on the ball.”

On positioning yourself to get a good jump: “You don’t want to be too stiff in the outfield. You have to be relaxed, but it’s not like the infield, where you have to get real low. In the infield, you’re usually two steps hard. In the outfield, you might be running 10 or 15 steps. You have to be loose and athletic, kind of like a tennis player ready to return a serve. You need to be balanced and ready to go in either direction.

“I don’t worry too much about what my first step is, as long as it’s direct. Different people might teach that differently. For me, I just want to be accurate with that first step. I don’t want to take a step in the wrong direction, I want to be perfect with where my feet are going, because when the ball is hit, it shouldn’t take me three steps in order to get in a straight line. It should take one step. If I have to be a little slower in order to be accurate, so be it. I think it’s better to do it that way than risk being wrong.”

On tracking fly balls: “You have to be willing to take your eye off the ball in order to maximize your range. Basically, you have to run to where the ball is hit. You have to work on taking two steps, tracking the ball, and if it’s over your head, turning your numbers to home plate. You can’t be in full sprint if your head is turned toward home plate and your body is turned the other way.

“Practicing that in batting practice is helpful. You’re not going to be comfortable right away taking your eye off the ball, and if you’re going to fail, do it during BP. You do a lot of work before the game. You practice like you’re playing, because you play like you practice.”

On throwing with a purpose: “It’s important to be lined up right. You don’t want your body going one way and your arm going the other way. You want everything in line. The number one thing is, what are you looking at when you throw? Don’t be general; be pinpoint. If you’re not looking at the right thing — if you’re not throwing to the right place — your mechanics aren‘t going to matter. You also need to know where you’re likely to be throwing the ball, before every pitch. That’s part of thinking the game.

“It’s not about showing off your arm. It’s easy to take advantage of guys who are out of control with their throws, especially the higher up you go in levels. As soon as you miss the cutoff man, a runner is going to the next base. You mainly want to concentrate on throwing the ball accurately and hitting the cutoff man. Most of your outs will come that way. You’re still throwing the ball hard, and through the cutoff man, but you’re playing under control. Maybe in Little League, you can show it off and get every guy at the plate, but that doesn’t happen too often when you get to pro ball.

“You’re kind of throwing with pitching mechanics. Some guys do it differently, but I pretty much try to be over the top as much as I can. Outfielders do long toss, just like pitchers. I try to do long toss twice a week, trying to keep my arm in shape. Along with being able to get to the ball and catch it, you have to be strong and accurate with your throws. You need to be well-rounded defensively.”

Source: http://www.baseballjournal.com/news/players/tips/Tips_from_the_Pros_AJ_Pollock_on_outfield_defense

How to: Coach Pitch (Great video)

It is the Batting Practice pitcher's (& the 'Coach Pitch' pitcher) responsibility to consistently give the batter good pitches to hit. Youth baseball and softball players will improve their skills much faster when they are swinging at good pitches

How to coach-pitch to small children

I’ve spent many years coaching small children in baseball and softball, and the hardest skill to master is pitching. Not for the kids — for the grownups.

In the early years of kidball, after removing the tee but before teaching a 9-year-old an arm-busting curveball, the coaches are responsible for pitching to the batters, under the theory that the coaches will consistently give them good pitches to hit, thus helping them become better batters. That theory is often wrong. I’ve seen coaches who pitched too fast, too slow, too high, too low, and too parabolic. I did that myself, before I mastered the art of coach-pitching.

So in advance of my inevitable formation of the Your Kid’s Not Going Pro School of Coach-Pitching, and the scads of cash it’s sure to bring me, here is some advice for you kid baseball and softball coaches out there on how to make your coach-pitching is effective. Through my Tom Emanski-like techniques (though, sad to say, they are not endorsed by Fred McGriff), you won’t kill the confidence of the batter, but most of all you will not kill your own confidence by feeling like you have suddenly forgotten how to throw a ball.

First, how to stand. Or not stand. For baseball, it’s advisable to keep one knee on the ground and throw. One big problem in coach-pitching is the size difference between pitcher and hitter. You’re like Randy Johnson pitching to Eddie Gaedel. So getting closer to the ground gets you closer to the height of the batter, and thus gives you a better chance of throwing a straight ball across the middle. The risk is that if the ball is hit straight back at you, you’re at risk of getting hammered, so be ready to field your position! (Yes, as coach-pitcher, I actually caught a boy’s line drive as an instinctual move to protect my pretty face, even though technically the kids were supposed to be the fielders. I then collapsed in a shivering heap like the old man I am.)

In softball, kneeling is not necessary, because of the underhand pitching. So you can stand.

Next, delivering the ball. Most coaches already know not to fire it in like Aroldis Chapman. But you can’t throw a ball that’s too slow, either. Going too slow ends up giving a pitched ball that comes in on a parabola. What you want to do is make sure, whether it’s baseball or softball, that the ball comes in straight and flat. It’ll take some fiddling to get the right speed. But what you want is a ball that consistently comes in at the same speed, and can reach the catcher (or the coach standing behind the batter). Too many times, I see coaches pitch slow, rising-then-sinking balls that hit home plate, especially in softball. Just because it’s softball doesn’t mean the pitch has to touch a cloud on the way to the plate.

Another tip for delivering the ball: Watch where the batter is swinging. Often, small children new to baseball or softball aren’t adjusting their swing to where the ball is. They’re just hacking away at the same spot. That’s OK. What you can do as a coach-pitcher is not only get that flat, straight ball there for the taking, but also try to pitch the ball to where they’re swinging.

So, for example, say one girl keeps swinging at shoulder height. Don’t pitch the ball at her knees — pitch it where she’s swinging the bat. That way, she develops some confidence, and it will make it easier to teach her later how to adjust to the pitch. Now, adjusting your pitch to where the batter swings is a difficult skill, equal, in my mind, to being able to place your 3-2 slider in the right place every time against the Yankees. It’ll take a few times around the lineup before you figure out where the ball should go and how to time the player’s swing, before you figure out how to throw such a pitch and not aim it. But if you’re coach-pitching with any regularity, you’ll figure out the peculiarities of your batters, and you can adjust your pitches accordingly.

Remember: straight, flat pitch that isn’t too slow and can reach the catcher, located where the batter is likely to swing.

If you need to practice these coach-pitching skills, make sure to grab a small child (which you probably have if you’re coaching a team that needs a coach-pitcher) for practice. Your child might not feel like playing ball with you, but if you nag the child and make him or her feel guilty enough, you’ll get the practice you need!


Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2011/05/17/how-to-coach-pitch-to-small-children/

Hitting Drills - Soft Toss

Nice HOW TO video showing proper Soft Toss

Games & Practices for 5‐7 year olds:Tee Ball

This note summarizes how to run a game and a good practice for a lower division baseball team (5‐7 year olds), including drills, what to focus on in games, safety, and general advice from the collective experience of generations of LMLL coaches.

Contents:
I. Running a Game:  Things to Know
II. Running a Practice:  Things to Know
III. A Sample Practice Plan
IV. Five Useful Practice Drills
V. Teaching The Four Main Baseball Skills

Teaching the Four Main Baseball Skills:  Things to Know 

1. Batting:
Four steps:  Stance, Focus (eye on ball), Swing, Follow‐thru

Stance:
o Feet in straight line to pitcher, shoulder width apart
o Knees slightly bent o Front foot even with side point of plate (to connect with ball in front of the player).
o Front foot 3 steps (each the player’s shoe length) from plate.
o Check:  A level bat swung with arms fully extended should hit center of plate in widest part of bat.  Kids tend to stand too close to a tee, and too far from plate in coach pitch.
o Check foot placement after every swing.  If stance is wrong, the chance of a good hit is pretty much zilch.

o Recommendation:  Mark a perpendicular ‘toe line’ and a ‘midline’ in the batter box dirt (use a stick if on grass, or anything to mark it) that shows batter where to line up:  Body over ‘midline’, toes on ‘toe line’, so batter is in correct position to hit ball near end of bat with arms fully extended.

How to hold the bat:
o Front hand goes below back hand in grip (remind ‘em!)
o Hands together, no space between them. o Knuckles should be lined up (roughly is OK)
o Bat slightly off shoulder, mostly vertical.  Do not wrap bat around head or lay ‘flat’ – makes swing slow and inaccurate.
o Bat steady, no movement stance (‘wiggling’ the bat is for the pros, to distract a pitcher.  Not for little leaguers, ☺).

Focus.
o Tee Ball:  Place ball on T with same position every time – e.g., a red letter E on Easton balls – facing straight back.  Tell batter: eyes on the (e.g.) red E on ball.
o All levels:  Kids look away when batting, or blink as ball approaches plate.  Head stays down thru swing.  Correct every time if batter looks up early during swing.
o Teaching focus at coach pitch level: Put a black dime‐size dot on half of the baseballs.  After each pitch ask the batter if the ball had a dot on it.  When they report which do and which don’t consistently, they’ve got their focus down.  Kids like this. Do first without swings, then with swinging at the pitch.

Swing.
o Short step (the ‘stride’) with front foot.  Back foot stays planted.
o Swing down then level across.
o Arms fully extended (elbows almost locked) at point of ball contact
o Head down, chin moves from touching front to back shoulder
o Rotate hips ‘open’ to face pitcher
o Front leg locked (straight) at point of ball contact Follow‐thru. o Swing hard thru ball, not just ‘to’ ball
o ‘Squash the bug’ with full 90‐degree turn of back foot.  Back toes still in place firmly on ground.
o Head down on plate, not looking up at pitcher or hit ball.
o Finish with hands between shoulder and top of head
o Check swing with three things in follow thru: Balance, two hands on bat, head down facing plate.

2. Throwing:
The throwing habits/skills you teach a 5‐7 year old will stay with him/her, and affect their lifelong play, more than anything else you teach them.  

Here are the essentials of good throwing:

The grip:
o Teach kids to grip the ball with fingers, instead of grabbing the ball in the palm.
o Tee age:  three fingers on top, spread out, pinky tucked on side.  Thumb on bottom.
o Bigger handed kids thru adults use first two fingers on top, thumb on bottom. Proper mechanics of the throw:
o Body starts sideways to target o Arms fully extended out in a ‘T’:  front (gloved) hand points at target, back (ball) hand straight back, thumb pointing down o Circular motion above shoulder to throw
o Throwing elbow should go above shoulder, arm in L‐shape at apex of throw.
o Follow thru with whole body, arm comes across as body turns.    Back leg comes across front as weight shifts during release.
o Eyes on target entire time.

Watch for:
o Side‐arm throwers.  Intervene and correct this.  Rotator cuff injuries are ahead for a kid who releases to side of body (as he/she gets older).
o ‘Low elbow’ throwers.  Produces elbow injuries over time if not corrected.  Elbow goes above shoulder when throwing.

3.   Catching:
Focus of catching training at 5‐7 year old level:  Catch every ball with two hands on glove in the center of body.

Glove position:
o Throw to kids at (their) chest height o Teach players to catch with glove fingers pointing up or sideways, and other hand on back of glove (to help squeeze it).  This shifts to one‐handed as their hand strength develops age 8‐10, not before then.
o ‘Squeeze and freeze’:  After (if!) the ball enters the glove, squeeze with both hands and ‘freeze’ the hands (momentarily) in place.  Kids tend to ‘move’ hands when catching, which makes the ball pop out.   (Tell parents to show how Ryan Howard catches at 1st base on television.  His glove is motionless at the point when he catches the ball).

For very early catchers:
o Start with two handed catches without a glove.  If child can’t catch a soft underhand toss from 5’ with two bare hands most of the time, that eye‐hand coordination must be developed to that level before a baseball glove will be helpful.   
o Ask parents to work on this each week for 15 min (say, 2x week) with their child.  More is better.  Catching comes with (and only with) practice, practice, practice. For kids ‘scared of the ball’
o Kids may be ‘scared’ of incoming ball at any speed.  This is expected for balls at high speed.  It is a problem to overcome if exhibited for soft, easy tosses.
o Correct this early.  Teach player:  If scared, use glove to block ball.  The glove will stop the ball.  Don’t hide from it – then you can’t see where it is!
o Game to help overcome this:  “Block the ball.” Toss soft underhand throws to player’s chest from short distance (e.g., 5 feet).  Have the kid ‘whack’ (or ‘block’) the balls with his/her closed glove before they hit/get past him.  Turn it into a game (they usually like this exercise).  Repeat often, until the player’s eyes follow the ball every time without turning (averting) eyes or head.  When they do this consistently without exhibiting aversion to the incoming ball, then they are ready to catch it with a glove.  Then switch to ‘blocking with glove open’ – i.e., catching it—instead of ‘blocking the ball’.

About gloves:
o Should be rounded shape, not flat. o Players age 5‐6 should have 9‐inch size gloves, never more than a 10‐inch size.  7‐8 year olds will usually benefit from a 10‐inch glove.  Size is written on the glove.
o Keep a ball in glove when not in use (maintains shape).
o Keep gloves in a cool, dry place.

4. Fielding Grounders

Basic mechanics:
o Field ball in front of and between legs o Make a ‘triangle’ between two feet and glove o Funnel ball with two hands into mid‐section (‘catch and cover’)
o Come up ready to throw, feet in line with target.

General points:
o Teach kids to charge the ball if it is slow/rolling (but closest person gets it!)
o Hopping balls are difficult.  Teach by tossing one‐hoppers to kids from 10 feet out.  Requires a field not too uneven. (Parents can teach this in a parking lot or on pavement during the week, which helps and is easier to field)
o Fielding ground balls requires repetition.  Teach with rolled balls for long time before hitting to them kids.

Source & Full guide: http://www.myogrcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Running-Lower-Division-Games-and-Practices.pdf