Taking Youth Baseball to Greater Heights

While Shuttle Baseballs are great for developing intermediate to advanced skilled players, they are also well-suited for youth baseball players. Having coached youth baseball for many years, we realize that the more stations you have available, the more engaging the practices become for the kids. Depending on the number of volunteers and kids you have attending your practices, we recommend around 15-20 minutes working a particular skill with no more than 5 kids per station. This gives each coach an opportunity to establish his/her rapport with the kids and keep their attention as they focus on one to two key objectives. Remember the mantra, keep it simple! It’s always the most effective means of communication.

(NOTE: For the most comprehensive list of baseball coaching links, click here.)

Station #1. Swing Plane Training off a Tee

Many kids have a tendency to swing using an uppercut swing plane. In an effort to correct this, many coaches will tell the batter to “swing level”, or to “keep your hands inside”, or even to just “keep your eye on the ball”. Unfortunately, many young kids simply cannot comprehend our jock-jargon. What results is communication breakdown. And it’s a slipperly slope – we try rephrasing what we mean to the point of obsession – and the end result is usually a kid stuck in “paralysis by analysis” mode. Shuttle Baseballs solve this age-old dilemna and will swiftly get rid bad habits such as the uppercut swing and casting (i.e., slow bat speed combined with stiff, outstreched/barred arms).

In terms of proper swing plane mechanics, the batter needs to swing his bat on a plane that is parallel with the path of the incoming pitch. Having a “linear” or “level swing” guarantees the batter will have the greatest path of intersection with the ball, increasing his/her margin for error. This concept is known as “hitting in a big zone” (see video). The longer the bat is on plane with the pitch, the less perfect the batter’s timing needs to be. A proper swing plane compensates for imperfect timing, ensuring the batter has the greatest likelihood of making square contact, resulting in a quality “line-drive” hit. Given the margin of error for hitting any ball fair versus foul (i.e., being “early” or “late” on the pitch) is less than 1/10th of a second, it’s no wonder a recent ESPN expert poll ranked baseball as the #1 most difficult sport of all in terms of hand-eye coordination.

Station #2. Batting Practice from the Pitcher’s Mound

Players with well-developed visual mechanics at an earlier age are bound to have the greatest success when batting. Research has found that of all batting attributes (swing, stance, grip, tracking), visual mechanics is the most critical of all. Batters, especially the young, need to get in the habit of tracking the ball and developing proper gaze patterns needed to guess the pitches location as it approaches the contact zone. A player’s ability to actually see and track the movement of the pitch is a learned behavior that develops from lots of experience and repetition. The emphasis of this drill is to allow young batters to learn to track the movement of a pitch from the release point to the plate, using Shuttle Baseballs to facilitate this learning process.

Station #3. How to Avoid Being Hit by a Pitch

All too often, young batters are hit by pitches. They just don’t have the requisite experience to judge poorly thrown pitches. For many, the natural instinct is to turn toward the ball to keep their eye on it hoping that it won’t hit him. As a result, too many kids will suffer from being hit by a hardball ill-prepared. The pain and fear may cause them to rethink if they ever want to play the game again. Unfortunately, most coaches aren’t as focused on teaching the skill of dodging or taking pitches at practice. We suggest a more pro-active approach – one where Shuttle Baseballs will come in real handy.