When to begin hitting instruction?

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Dec 12, 2020
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Is it player dependent? I know some players have a particular passion or some develop better mental and body awareness sooner than others.

Sons, daughters, or clients...what is the youngest age of player you have officially instructed?
 
Jun 8, 2016
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Is it player dependent? I know some players have a particular passion or some develop better mental and body awareness sooner than others.

Sons, daughters, or clients...what is the youngest age of player you have officially instructed?
I have seen 5 YO get lessons..
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
A quick Google search turned up a Baseball Rebellion five year old that did well.

My seven year old as gotten extremely passionate and I was considering offering a "little" help
I personally think that is too young. With my 6 YO we play a lot of games with wiffle balls at home ( I pitch with a windup from maybe 20 feet away) and then I take him to hit baseballs in the cages or at the field when I bring Marcela to hit. We hit when he tells me he wants to..which is probably like 6 days a week :LOL:

That said I haven't put Marcela in lessons yet (ok she took about 4 lessons last Fall before we bailed) so I am probably not the best person to judge this ;)
 
Dec 12, 2020
285
63
I personally think that is too young. With my 6 YO we play a lot of games with wiffle balls at home ( I pitch with a windup from maybe 20 feet away) and then I take him to hit baseballs in the cages or at the field when I bring Marcela to hit. We hit when he tells me he wants to..which is probably like 6 days a week

That said I haven't put Marcela in lessons yet (ok she took about 4 lessons last Fall before we bailed) so I am probably not the best person to judge this ;)
That is great! My kiddo has been playing wiffle ball 7 days a week. When his neighbor buddy or I can't, he self tosses. Last week he drug out dd's tee.
It's funny because in the beginning of his season he told me baseball is boring (he preferred to fish..) I left him alone, not a word outside of games, and some real passion just developed.
He fell in love with the Blue Jays and had been mimicking Bo and Vladdy until last evening, we went to the Cards v Cubs game and Arenado is now his favorite.
 
Last edited:

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Good comparison ☝ for the cost of a bat you could get your kid 10 hitting lessons and the start of a pretty darn good foundation.
~instruction wise 9 years old and up.

*Remember lessons are like going to a class in school.
The real work is put in on your own time!
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
This seperate element should be a consideration

For some internal dna reason ;) there are times the parent/child relationship gets strong armed by coachy/instructor parents
who they themselves do not know a healthy boundary between instructing vs cheering.
And this gem of a topic
CAN/DOES impact youth.

Its okay to be a parent instructor, of course parents should be the best life coach they can be!!!!
However think ahead, plan ahead, and pay attention big time that in this situation generally the parent instructing is on their own learning curve
(how to teach sports)
much the same as the child is
learning how to play them.
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
I didn't pay for ANY outside instruction until DD was in 7th grade and in 8th grade started working with a catching/hitting coach. Much of what @pattar says is how the kids develop at the younger ages. Just reps brah! Wiffle ball will develop eye hand coordination and body self awareness. When the kid blasts a ball over the neighbors roof they will try to remember that feeling and replicate it. They will try to do it over and over until muscle memory kicks in. When the kid starts having success and see improvement they will want to feed the beast. It's just like today's video games. Beat the Boss and level up! Just like hitting a ball of a tee to the back of the cage. Once you master that, let's see if you hit a ball off of cone at the back of the cage.

Too much mechanical instruction and they will get bored. Gotta be games within the games to stimulate growth.

@RADcatcher is the instructional expert here.
 

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