Only reason I'm asking is because I'm getting frustrated.

My kid is only 6 but I want him to be decent by age 7 when they can start rec ball in our town. Now he's just NOT getting the hang of using the glove. I had been telling him to trap the ball in the glove with his open hand but his coordination and timing is off...the free hand gets in the way of catching the ball and/or turns the glove sideways.

At a very young age, anyone take the approach of telling a kid not to use the free hand at all and maybe tie it to his side so that he develops coordination with the glove hand ? Sort of like learning to dribble a basketball with your off hand by wearing a sling on your other.

I try to be patient...but damn...maybe I should get him piano lessons and forget about baseball.

 

My Dad threw the ball as hard as he could at me and if I didn't block it or catch it with my mitt it would of killed me.
I'm not kidding either, same deal tossing brick two at time up scaffolding , aim for the other guy's face and he always catches them.
It takes a while to get used to the mitt not feeling like it's on the wrong hand but once they start learning it's a lot more convenient when they have to throw the ball back they figure it out, give it time, he's only six.

I have two girls and they learned playing softball during gym at school, I never taught them.
Don't let him play Soccer whatever you do, they learn not to touch the ball with their hands and the things become useless.
You throw a baseball at them and they bonk it off their heads or jump in the air and kick it with their feet like a hacky-sack.
That's how they weeded out the German spies wearing American uniforms during WWII.

 

I wouldn't tie his arm back for 2 reasons. One, it could scare him as the ball is flying at him rather than dribbling in which you already have possession of the ball. Second, actually, the proper way to catch a fly ball and field a grounder is to use your secondary hand to secure the ball so it doesn't pop out. Now, many players don't do this, but this is after years and years of most likely having to use both hands.

I don't mean to sound insensitive, and there's clearly nothing wrong with this, but maybe your son just doesn't have the coordination at this point in time to play the sport. Some kids are late bloomers when it comes to hand/eye coordination. Some kids never get or have it. I think the key is if, despite not really getting the hang of it, does he still like playing catch/baseball? If that's the case, he'll continue to work at it, with you or with friends and will probably get it. If he's super frustrated, doesn't look like he's having a good time, continuing to make him play more and more catch probably isn't going to help him.

I played baseball my whole youth, and loved the game. However, by the time I quit (I shouldn't have as I was quite good), I was sick of it. Part of it was me, the other part was my father constantly pushing me. It just became no fun anymore.

 

Tom....of course I hear where you're coming from....I was just asking if there might be a better way at this point, and then once he's on a team next year we can go back to using his free hand to secure the ball.

And I meant only when I toss him grounders....I wouldn't throw a ball at him with his free hand tied. Only grounders for several weeks and it ain't working.

 

I have 7yr old now and he is on his 3rd year of playing I tell you it is frustrating but one day it stars to come together and more and more each time. One thing I done was aimed at his glove if I could get the ball in the glove for him all he had to do was squeeze and it sure made him feel good just to be close to catching it and then he got his squeeze timing down and now he catches about 60-70 percent. At six he is to young to expect to move to the ball with authority because he is still scared of it as is my son but it is better than last year. Your patience is more important than his ability. Good luck and enjoy!!

 

I played 4 years of high school ball and didnt start playing until I was 9. He is way too young to give up on. And the more you pressure him the more he will not want to play.

I started tossing a rubber ball to my son as soon as he could pick it up and toss it back. He is now 6 and has a cannon, third to first on a rope. Can hit the **** out of the ball, but is just now getting the glove thing down.

Just play catch and he will start to learn. Also get him a good sized mitt, most kids use a glove thats too small. Make it fun so he wants to play and not dread it.

 

Wow, I remember my boys at that age playing ball. They were both ok at it. From what I remember of my youngest son's team some kids just stopped the ball. The kids that could stop the ball and throw it where it needed to go played the most. Maybe concentrate on him stopping & throwing the ball back as quick as possible for a while. The coordination will come in time.

Both my boys developed a bad case of "Couldn't hit the ball" during a game for about half of one season. Spent a lot of Sundays at the ball feild with a freind's spring style pitching machine. Got to where I hated that thing. It didn't help. Anyway, they did start hitting again.

 

Ah, ok. Gotcha.

Well, as a couple of others have pointed out, he still is really young. I didn't start playing until I was 8. Back then, t-ball, I think had just started up. There was nothing for me to do.

I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just keep at it. I think the biggest thing for him right now would be to make sure he isn't afraid of the ball, especially on grounders. Want to make sure he gets his body in front of it. I'm guessing he'll eventually get it. Keep on tryin'!

And keep us posted on progress.

 

I was a nerd in school but had next-door neighbors that treated baseball as a religion. They swore by a "fundamentals" video series and seemed pretty good.

I just hit up Amazon and saw they're now on DVD:

http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Coach...1007966&sr=1-6

Netflix has several baseball training/coaching titles for kids listed, too, if you want to "try-before-you-buy" (local libraries might have them as well).

Like I said, sports weren't really my thing (as evidenced by the fact I have NO idea who "Marty Schupak" is), but if it WERE, these are where I'd start.

[And what's wrong with piano? I took lessons and... oh, that's right. Nerd. ]

 

.
.
.
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...WAY off in left field!

I was never good with baseball back when I was 9, perhaps not much interest.
I was good with casual catch, but not when the ball was hit with a bat. It was too PO'ed for me to want to try to catch. When I saw the teeth of that ball coming at me at full speed, I jumped out of its way. I eventually got to the point where I could at least bounce a speeding ball off the glove. Later on after getting nailed on the hand with a flyball, I abandoned the sport.

Keep practicing catch with him and as he gets better, throw it faster to gradually build up his coordination and maybe less fear of that speeding ball. Practice make perfect for sure!

 

Like most of the guys said just dont dont get frustrated. It is good that he uses two hands to catch, a lot of kids his age dont. I have three boys who all play baseball 10-17 the youngest will most likley be the best of all, mostly because he watched so many games of his older brothers. Start by taking the ball in your hand and just placing it in his glove as if you tossed it to him, do this several times untill he gets the hang of using his two hands to trap the ball in his glove.eventually you can start to toss it to him and get further and further away. Make sure he keeps his eyes on the ball all the way from your hand into his glove. Most kids dont do this. You can't catch what you dont see. Teaching good mechanics is essentual, corordination is somthing that comes on its own.My boys all complained when they were younger that I threw the ball to hard, I always told them that if they could catch whatever I threw then they could catch anything that another kid their age could throw.That stoped at about age 12 when kids on there traval teams could out throw my tired old hose of an arm.
Good luck and dont give up on him untill he starts using his baseball cleats to practice tap dancing when your not looking
Gary

 

Have you asked him if he's interested in playing baseball? He may prefer another sport or something else like a musical instrument. I never was into sports as a kid and I'm still not.

I wouldn't force him to play if he's not interested.

 

Take him to a golf driving range so he can stay frustrated continually on up into old age.

Seriously, Age changes alot.

My boy used to cry on the monkey vine when he was a young Boy Scout. And we'd have to let him down to the ground on his safety rope. Now he's an Airborne Ranger.

HOOAH

 

Coordination is learned over time and children mature at their own pace. Practice and patience is what he needs. Sharing your love of the game itself will enthuse him more. My dad loved golf and demanded that I learn. He made me play in his old guy league every Sunday and twice a week on my own. I took lessons and became damn good by the time I was 16. Haven't touched a golf club since.

 

My son played flag football this year for a hardcore coach. I hated this guy and what made it worse was his twins were on the team, one boy one girl. This guy coachs the tackle 10-11 group and brought that mentality to 6 year old flag team. Anyway his daughter is really good and really likes playing, his son could give a crap. He was always harping on his son to be better, and the more he did it the more the son tuned out. The coach really wanted all this for himself, and not for the kids. Basically making his son play.

Bottom line, let the kid grow and if he wants to play let him and if not try something else. We tried flag football, my sons friend played, and wont do it again. Too much drama and pressure from the arm chair QB dads.

 

put him wrestling after he see's how tuff that is he will want to go back to playing baseball .

 

Hang in there, Viking...

My son is turning 7 and is starting his 3rd season of LLBB...& I'm now an ***'t coach. Hitting & throwing were easy to teach. It took a looonnngg time to get him to catch...and we're still working on it.

Here, the tyke method is two hands. Ball goes into glove and other hand follows it..trapping it...like you described. Called it the 'alligator'. We started with grounders....nice & slow...with a pretty soft ball (normal size/weight, but mushy). Ball rolls into glove, other hand 'chomps' down on it.

Catching thrown ***** is taught the same way with the 'chomp' method. We started with us very close together....like 5 feet. At first, I'd gently lob it directly into his glove....and at first, he wouldn't move. If it didn't land directly in the glove with him motionless, it was missed. He also would flinch if it came near his head. I had him throw it (the mushy ball) directly at my head to show him it wouldn't hurt him and would occasionally let one of his throws hit me (with much drama on my part, of course !). This seemed to help.

After a few months and 80 bazillion tosses, he started to get the hang of it. We slowly moved farther apart as he got better. I gotta admit there were times when I got a bit frustrated, thinking he was not trying, but we just kept at it with me saying encouraging things to, and joking around with, him. (I found if he's laughing about something else, he does really well at BB...maybe its that's he's relaxed and not 'over thinking' or worrying about the game)

He can throw & hit excellent...but we're still working on catching...

Another thing to remember...At this age their attention span is measured in minutes. When he was 5yo, 15-20 mins was the max time we would do anything productive. After that, he'd just kinda give up. Now we can play/practice for an hour or so and he's still in it.....

 

That is the slippery slope you have to watch with kids. My dad was determined I was going to be a basketball star and I just flat out did not like the game. Had many battles over it and I still don't like it.

Best advice for any parent steering a kid toward sports- let the kid figure out if he likes the game. If he/she does, push them and support them, but do not live out your own fantasies or inadequacies thru your kid. It will make them hate the sport and you.

Here's something that sounds weird at first, but for certain sports it works, esp sports that require good foot and leg work. Enroll them in a dance class if you can get 'em interested in it. Younger boys will probably balk at "sissy stuff", but high-school boys will usually figure out that 1) it builds up endurance, strength, and coordination and 2) there's a lot of cute high-school girls in dance classes.

 

thanks guys...all good advice...I'll give it more time...I don't want to force him to stick with any particular thing but I do want to force him to want to do something...anything.

when I was in HS they had us infielders use a wooden paddle with a strap in the back for your hand instead of a glove to develop better coordination and a quicker release ...so I thought I'd try something unusual with him too to help with coordination.

Also, Auto...nothing wrong with piano and at ths point in my life I wish I knew how to play one. Have piano-envy.

 

Once my son started using my old little league mitt, that was broke in and too big for him, he started catching it. A bigger glove has a bigger pocket and web, so they dont have to get as close to the ball to catch it. Once they catch a few they dont fear the ball as much.

 

A friend of a friend has his son into hockey. He is 7 years old and plays on two travel teams, has practice 5 nights a week, sometimes twice a day until 9-10 at night, has a skating coach, and has a machine at home that he can practice skating on. He also plays games out of state, during the week. So no school for him when that happens. He has a behavior problem at school, is physical with other kids and has been kicked out of three summer camp programs. His dad doesnt punish him because he "doesnt want him to lose his edge in Hockey" Remember the kid is 7 years old. Is the kid really this into hockey or is his dad a hockey version of Earl Woods.

Funny thing happened recently, he wants to play T ball like his friends at school and not play hockey this summer.

 

lots of good advice, just use patience, I coached all my kids in baseball and softball, lots of good methods out there but the key is to have themenjoy it. Of course at times it becaomes work so they need to stick with it. I worked with some of the more difficult kids by throwing the ball a bit away from them so if they caught with their left hand I threw it to their lef, they always feel safer reach out for the ball instead of crossing their body or trying to prevent it from hitting their face

Its tough, the hardest day for me was when my son quit baseball in 6th grade - he was good at it too, not great but good. But I can't tell you how many compliments I got from other parents for letting him quit. My next child is a complete natural athlete and is very good at all the sports she does - gymnastics, softball, bad-mitten, soccer and volleyball. Now she plays soccer and Volleyball all year around and although I'd like to believe she would be a star, HS grades are more important. The two little ones only play soccer - they are all different.

 

That's what helped my girls become such good athletes, they were all gymnasts right from the start.

 

In HS they used a wooden paddle to beat us - no really, Catholic school!

 

I can see an ongoing war starting in that house, and the kid is going to grow up scarred and hating his dad for forcing him to play hockey, because I can about guarantee the dad is not going to hear of t-ball over hockey.

A 7-year-old is not mature enough to differentiate between acceptable behavior on ice and acceptable behavior off it, and the dumbass dad is not helping the situation. But, the DA dad has some bragging rights, and from experience working with a bunch of guys like that, bragging rights are important.

'Course the dad is probably seeing full-ride scholarships down the road, which is what my dad had planned for me. I ended up paying for my own college because he claimed I thwarted him in his endeavours to make sure I was the first in the family to get a college degree.

Yeah, I was one of those kids who could never do anything right according to my dad. By the time I was 17 I'd given up trying to please him.