Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

runner on first, one out. the batter hits a swinging bunt down the third base line. our baseline 'cutouts' were pretty high. the ball rolls into foul territory and both the runner and batter stop. knowing how the baseline was cut, we let the ball hit the lip of the cut, bounce back into fair territory and complete a 5-4-3 double play. how's that for home field advantage?

 

oooooooooo Nasty...I like.

 

I believe the earlier that kids start playing around with a baseball the better. I mean getting used to thrown and batted balls whether they catch them or not, and throwing the ball. The important thing is for them to know about the ball and what it does.

For my money, learning how to hold the ball and throw it are the most important things at a young age (<8). Catching and hitting will pick up as they move along. Tee ball gives them an idea of the hand/eye coordination necessary to be successful in all facets of the game. I know older kids who absolutely have the worst throwing mechanics I have ever seen and it's because they didn't learn to throw at an early age.

As they get a little older and their coordination starts developing a little better (8-10?), then catching the ball correctly and starting to develop hitting skills with pitched balls become important. I have found that the kids who learned to catch early and learned to catch hard thrown balls are light years ahead of some of their peers. A case in point is my own son, he'd go in the house crying because I was "throwing too hard." As it turns out now, he is fearless with hard hit balls and I attribute that to throwing those zingers at him at an early age. I increased the velocity as he was able to adjust, but he even admits it helped him.

At 11-13 or so they can start fine tuning their game and by the time they get to high school, hopefully they are fairly accomplished for their age. You never stop learning though and if you stop honing your game, you're done.

But for me, it all starts with getting a feel for the ball as early as possible by throwing. Catching and all the rest will fall into place with decent coaching.

Does this make any sense?

 

I think your on the right track, allrightnow. Allow me to share a story with you.

On his 2nd birthday, my father gave my son a big red plastic bat and ball. The handle on the bat was so big that he could hardly get his fingers around it. I took him out in the yard to play with his new ball and bat that he was so proud of. It was June and I didn't have a shirt on. I gave him the bat and after showing him how to hold it and how to stand I stepped back about 5 or 6 feet and pitched him the ball. Well, that was a mistake, he hit the ball so hard that it hit me in the chest before I could move. It was at that point that with a little coaching I knew that he would be a baseball player.

 

yeah, although it had never happened in a game, we saw it several times in practice and knew that it could happen. just a lesson in baserunning to go all out until you hear the umpire yell 'FOUL BALL'.

this one is not so much a bonehead play...but an interesting way to get out of a jam.

Game 3 of the 1988 NC 4A finals. Harding is leading the heavily favored Rose High School late in the game (5th inning i think). Runners on first and second and no outs. batter hits a sharp one hopper to third. the runner baits the the third basemen into getting him into a rundown. realizing this, the second basemen calls for the ball. the thow just beats the runner from first for the force out. the second baseman then chases down the runner from second and tags him for the double play. two out, pitcher is out of the jam and Harding goes on to win the game and the title.

we practiced run downs every day in practice...and because we executed it to perfection, we were able to turn a tough situation into a major turning point in the game. One throw, two outs...you can't ask for much more than that.

 

Wasn't Chet Greason the coach at that time?

 

Sometimes the youngun's will surprise you. I remember a game that I was coaching when my kid was 9. We were in a 9-10 year old league. Remember back to those days? It was just one step above herd ball (you hit the ball and the whole team ran to it).

Well, anyway, we were trailing by 3 runs but had the bases loaded with walks from the preceeding pitcher. The other team had called time-out and had gone to the bull-pen (i.e. first base) to bring in their big gun (he was 10 ).

Our on-deck hitter seemed to be just staring out at the clouds while the guy was warming up so I went out to him to try to get his head back in the game. Instead, he said to me "see the right fielder?"

The right fielder had his glove on the ground, was playing with dandelions and picking his nose. I did the appropriate coach thing in this situation.....I kept my mouth shut and left.

First pitch, our hitter steps in towards the plate and hits a rocket shot to right field.... The ball is by the RF before he moves. While he is still picking up his glove, the 2B races past him trying to get the ball headed towards the corner. The bases are being drained in a hurry. When the 2B gets the ball, he throws a rainbow towards the IF but, since he went out, there is no one there for the cut-off. The 1B starts trudging towards where the ball landed....kids still trucking around the bases.....

Sure enough, inside the parker... typical home run in those days.

 

I'm new to the board, and a female to boot but in my opinion I think the most important age for development is the 8-10 yr age range.

I have a 13 yr old son that has played baseball, beginning with t-ball at the age of 4 to playing on an AAU team as well as his middle school team. He has played AAU since he was 9. We were fortunate that he had coaches that believed in teaching fundamentals from the beginning. I think it's so much more advantageous for a player to learn the basics correctly, and build from that point, rather than have to attempt to correct poor habits later. The coaches he has had have worked the kids hard, but kept it a 'game'. My son has had the pleasure of playing in three different national tournaments, as well as playing at the Cooperstown Field of Dreams twice. We've met many wonderful people, from all walks of life, with different baseball philosophies.

 

Welcome aboard AAUMom

It's sure nice to have a voice of reason in this testosterone filed environment.
:flipgrin: :flipgrin: :flipgrin: :flipgrin: :flipgrin:

 

WELCOME ABOARD AAUMOM

We love to have the ladies here. We are always better informed after their posts.

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