Keep Your Elbow Back, Timmy! ... and other little kid tips

Day One Tip: "I know it's tough to do, but the straw goes into the hole at the top of the juice box."

quote:

but the straw goes into the hole at the top of the juice box and DON'T squeeze the box."

Woody ... just thought I would clarify your instructions there ... no offense, right?

Ha! Letting them squeeze the box and then watching a sticky, wet geyser rain all over themselves is all the fun...unless they're sitting in the back seat...then it is no fun at all.

These are the worst offenders:

I have difficulty opening the straw.


Back on topic,"Keep your feet apart", "Make a Lazy L when you swing", "Squish the bug".

Back on topic indeed...how about it folks? Instructions for the littlest tykes.

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
Back on topic indeed...how about it folks? Instructions for the littlest tykes.

HAVE FUN!!!!

Most appropriate bluesky...applicable to the older players as well!

"Rock and Fire!"

There's a whole legion of guys that believe in that Trombley...in fact they have their own fraternity...

See ball, catch ball; see ball, hit ball.
Above the waist, thumby thumby;below the waist, pinky pinky.
The three L's: look, listen, amd learn.

Flintoide...so basic, but so true!

Will you outfielders please stop messing with that gofer?!? The game is over here…

.

IMHO...

The most important lesson a child can learn when this young is...

...That the baseball diamond is REALLY FUN place to be. A place where they have friends, where they PLAY, where they feel good about their efforts, where they are valued and praised...And as a result...A place they BEG to come back to.

This means parents/coaches need to supply endless Praise..."nice fffort"..."good try"..."great swing"...and tons of laughter.

Skill development? Technique? At this age it is all about learning to track the ball, and hand eye, which comes through repetitions...NOT thinking about "how to", but doing, and in the process teaching themselves...Trying to get young children to intellectually manage their bodies at this age is more for the benefit of the parents than for the kids.


I agree....This is about as far as I'd go...

quote:

See ball, catch ball; see ball, hit ball.
Above the waist, thumby thumby;below the waist, pinky pinky.

Give me a player who has developed an enjoyable ability to track the ball, developed some hand eye co-ordination, and enough maturity to focus (some at 6, others NOT at 26)...and technique is easy...like ducks to water...or perhaps more aptly for this thread...like gophers to dirt....

44
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quote:

Above the waist, thumby thumby;below the waist, pinky pinky.

What the heck does that mean?

Mnemonic device to encourage catching with two hands, above waist thumbs together and below waist pinky fingers together.

quote:

catching with two hands

That's another bit of old advice that's largely ignored today, at least for older kids.

Yesterday I was with some shirttail relatives, one of whom had a five year old boy. We had a bat and some balls (heavy foam) and I pitched some to him.

Great natural swing. He loved hitting the ball, and he hit it great. I hope he avoids coaching for a few years.

It really brought back memories of when my son was that age and younger, when I first put the bat in his hands. The extent of my coaching was to teach him that the baseball is properly hit from the left side.

I must have tossed him hundreds of thousands of objects to hit with bat-like implements before he was the age of 5. It's all about eye-hand coordination and repetition at that age. You don't need a bat and a ball. Heck, we would sit inside in the winter and I'd throw him marshmallows for hit to hit with a small stick.

We'd watch TV and toss a ball back and forth in the living room. Or a football. Or anything that can be caught. We' play games to see how many times we could go without dropping it.

Just having fun with a ball and a bat. Isn't that what baseball is, in the final analysis?

Is this your lefty, Rob K?

That's him, Infidel!

OK, now, please, I would like some feedback on his technique. Is his swing plane OK? How is his stance? Is he generating enough torque? Is he linear or rotational?

And most of all: do you like his socks?

He's Lotationally Rinearoscerous. His scapilerosis is discombobulated and he's fortitudily dementionalized. His spinalactis is misnomered and, Hey, get that kid a Uni.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:

It really brought back memories of when my son was that age and younger, when I first put the bat in his hands.

I must have tossed him hundreds of thousands of objects to hit with bat-like implements before he was the age of 5.

Yeah...yeah Rob...we know your type...

quote:

Originally posted by Coachric:
He's Lotationally Rinearoscerous. His scapilerosis is discombobulated and he's fortitudily dementionalized. His spinalactis is misnomered and, Hey, get that kid a Uni.

quote:

Originally posted by Coachric:
He's Lotationally Rinearoscerous. His scapilerosis is discombobulated and he's fortitudily dementionalized. His spinalactis is misnomered and, Hey, get that kid a Uni.

You're placing way too much emphasis on the discombobulation of the scapilerosis. One must only look at MLB pattern to see that discomboblution occurs in varying degrees in every high level swing. Way off here in my opinion. Still, hard to say from this still. Must see video to give further analysis.

Kids these days and their thigh high socks. What's this world coming too. Probably wears his cap sideways too. Pretty soon he'll be sporting a "This is why I'm hot" t-shirt.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. We incorporated all of it into his workout today, and now he wants to focus on s****r.

RK.....

Are you sure about that?

I don't believe No. 5's right foot is getting enough sunshine!

Wood, we'll consider that a foot note.

A footnote all right...precisely placed and buried!

Is that Helium you've been syphoning or was that you I just saw out on the S****r Pitch.