Best way to teach young ones how to catch....

Any secret tips, drills or ideas?

When I coached T-ball, we would start off with a tennis ball and no glove. Lots of repetition. Once they could catch the tennis ball with their hand consistently we introduced the glove and still used the tennis ball. After they got consistent with that, we played catch with the softball. There are no short cuts to learning how to catch a thrown ball. Lots and lots of reps. At the start of practice we always played catch for 10 mins or so.

A few other words of wisdom. Make sure the parents play catch with their kids at least once or twice a week (even if it's only for 15 mins). Secondly, make sure they have a glove that opens and closes easily. Little girls hands are so small that it is difficult for most of them to close the glove properly. Don't buy the cheap pink plastic glove that lights up. I made that mistake and couldn't figure out why my 6yo DD couldn't catch the friggin ball!

Most young ones initially catch from the glove side. For DD2 when she was 4, I would throw to glove side until she has pretty good at it. (2wks.) Then we would work on what I called "crossover" or backhand. Once she got good at that we would work on a ball thrown directly to her. This was the hardest. After a couple months I could throw a ball to her fairly hard and she would catch it. When they are young you have to remember to keep it fun.

I second Rocketech1's idea of starting with no glove. We used softball-sized wiffles to start and then moved to glove with wiffles and then glove with tennis balls. Also, don't be afraid to use baseballs with them. In all likelihood, their hands are too small to properly grip an 11 inch softball which can lead to all sorts of bad habits. Looking back, I wish we had used baseballs in our warm ups back then.

above are all good feedback. Also, if they are trying to back away from ball (common), stand them against a wall or fence. I basically followed bubrox approach, making certain at first with each type of throw (glove side, other side, direct at body), I started throwing it directly into their glove to build confidence (having them start with glove in position we are working on). then work slowly to moving it around, then to starting from ready position (still with same general location each time). eventually, you can move on to changing location at random.

face masks are also a great way to instill confidence! if girls is still showing fear of ball with face mask, I take a ball, go right up to her, and knock ball against her mask repeatedly (not super hard, little girls after all, but not super gentle either, like knocking on a heavy door), to show them the mask will protect them. I show them that if they turn away, then they have no protection.

I always liked using the velcro balls and disks when teaching really young players (4-5-6) who are absolute beginners. If you haven't seen these, it's a backyard/beach game you can find at Wal-Mart, Target, Dollar Store etc. Round disks go over the hand and velcro ball sticks to disc. Reason I liked it is that kids usually end up having to "catch" ball with fingers up and don't get into basket catching habit. If they slap at the ball it will bounce off instead of sticking...good way to teach soft hands simultaneously. Ball is basically a tennis ball, so it doesn't hurt if they get hit.

Tom said:

I always liked using the velcro balls and disks when teaching really young players (4-5-6) who are absolute beginners. If you haven't seen these, it's a backyard/beach game you can find at Wal-Mart, Target, Dollar Store etc. Round disks go over the hand and velcro ball sticks to disc. Reason I liked it is that kids usually end up having to "catch" ball with fingers up and don't get into basket catching habit. If they slap at the ball it will bounce off instead of sticking...good way to teach soft hands simultaneously. Ball is basically a tennis ball, so it doesn't hurt if they get hit.

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THIS....100% Inside outside. 20 minutes a day wiil go a long way.

Definitely a fan of the no glove and tennis ball. It works well, just give it time.


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Well, here is one way:

When my DD was in T-ball, we started by playing catch bare-handed with those baseball-sized soft pool toys. Especially when at the pool, she couldn't get enough of it. By the next year, she had no trouble catching a thrown softball with a glove, and naturally used two hands whenever possible. By the age of 10, I could throw pretty much at full-grown-man speed, but aimed those to fly over her shoulder in the event of a mistake. She's a teenager now, and we still play catch with those balls at the pool, but there's no limit to how hard I'll throw or hit a softball at her, and she's the best ball catcher on her team.