Where to start?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Jan 6, 2009
6,589
113
Chehalis, Wa
I'm going to be coaching a 5, 7 and two 9 yr olds. I tried to keep it simple, and I think I did. But keeping it simple didn't address everything.

Of course they have issues with using the body, but here is my current thinking. I think I need to address the upperbody first and continue to use the cue of allowing the hips/lowerbody to work. Although I want the hips/lowerbody to work, I'm thinking the focus needs to be on the upperbody.

What are your thoughts on working with young kids?

All the stuff talked about here means absolutely nothing to young kids. How Pujols swings means absolutely nothing when compared to working with 9 and under kids. They will never achieve Pujols swing, more then likely, as there is only 700 in the entire world to play with Pujols or have a ML swing. I do have elite swings on my phone and they liked looking at them, but the reality is very few have a ML swing and little kids for sure don't have a ML swing.
 
Last edited:
Jan 28, 2017
1,661
83
20 years ago, I worked with mostly college bound HS baseball players. It's a different animal working with younger kids. Try to get them in a solid stance. Then it's according to the kid. Some just getting into a stance is a success. My son, if you correct anything, he over does it big time. We have a tall kid that pushes ground balls the to first base (RH). After working on him gathering and making a Nike swoop with his swing, crushing after one practice. I didn't think he would ever understand. My son is to smart or at least that's what I'm telling everyone.

My DD picked things up really quick but can't feel it.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
In my experience lots of verbal instruction is difficult at that age. Get them into a decent stance and then start pitching to them. If they want to experiment with their stance that is fine as long as it doesn't
go too far outside of what you think is good. Get them to a point where they can get good wood on the ball constantly. You can move on from there.

If I were a paid hitting instructor, if possible, I would change my business model for the young ones. If you charge 50 dollars for an hour session once a week with an older kid, I would see if the parents of the younger ones were willing to hit 3 times a week for a 30 minutes a session and charge them 50 dollars for the week.
 

ian

Jun 11, 2015
1,175
48
Show them what a good swing looks like. Have them swing in front of a mirror. Lots of front toss with encouragement and a little correction. Back to the mirror for another look.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,661
83
Show them what a good swing looks like. Have them swing in front of a mirror. Lots of front toss with encouragement and a little correction. Back to the mirror for another look.

Mirrors are the most underused tool in hitting!
 
May 16, 2016
946
93
Something I've used with 10u and 8u teams with good results is something the girls began calling the "Skinny Bat" drill.

I have a SKLZ Quick Stick training bat. This is a 30" training bat, that is about 1" in diameter, and weighs only 12oz. I use plastic baseballs (wiffle balls would work but solid balls do not catch the air as much) and i toss them from 8 to 10 feet away. For new players who have never done the drill, before we start, I always say.... "The bat is narrower, and the ball is smaller.... will this be harder or easier than hitting a softball, with your regular bat?" Most respond "Harder". "Ok, let's find out."

In almost every example, after a few balls, they begin making contact, and usually hit a couple really hard. Usually, I start off with a couple dozen using the skinny bat, then switch to their normal bat for another dozen or two.

This accomplishes several things.

1. Hand Eye coordination. The lightweight bat, is easier to control.
2. Bat Speed. The lightweight also promotes a quicker swing.
3. Confidence, when they start pounding the plastic balls, you can see their confidence grow right before your eyes.

I don't get too bogged down with swing mechanics in the first couple of sessions, aside from a good stance and starting bat position. Most girls really enjoy this drill, so we usually have 1 line for regular BP, and in a 2nd cage we'll be doing the skinny bat drill. I believe the bat comes with plastic golf balls, but I would save those for more advanced players. The plastic baseballs seem to be perfect for this age.
 
Last edited:

Spero Koulouras

Coach in Training
Aug 15, 2014
27
3
More than anything else - MAKE THIS FUN FOR THEM SO THEY KEEP COMING BACK

The focus at this age for me is eye-hand coordination and learning how to use your body. Kids hate standing around and waiting for anything so I turn everything into a contest:

- ball bounce: hold a bat in one hand and take an athletic stance. hold a bat out in front in one hand and see how many times you can bounce a ball up off of it. Done right this teaches balance, concentration and movement. Everyone on the team can do it at once (VERY spread out) and you will see huge improvement over 2-3 weeks. Contest: Who can get the most bounces, keep track of personal bests. Variations: Height of bounce

NOTE: This only works if it teaches something - if they stand straight-legged and unfocused it is a loser. They must get athletic, keep the ball centered in front of their body and learn good bat control.

- Contact Point T game: Simulate player at plate with T positioned for a pitch down the middle. Contact point should be 3-6" in front of lead foot. Setup a bownet at 2nd base. 5 pts for a line drive over the bownet, 4 pos for line drive in the net, 3 pos for 1 bouncer, 1 pt for ground ball. No points for pop-ups or balls that miss target. 3 Swings max, then next player.

NOTE: This is a focus on RESULTS but will teach players where the contact point is and force them to stay inside the ball naturally. You can't roll over or around and still hit the bownet. Make sure players are on balance at contact.
VARIATIONS: Move T position and targets as players improve. T Up/In, Target Left Center power alley. T Low/Away, Target right center power alley. NEVER PULL - it will promote rollover.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,589
113
Chehalis, Wa
Show them what a good swing looks like. Have them swing in front of a mirror. Lots of front toss with encouragement and a little correction. Back to the mirror for another look.

Yes I have elite swings on my phone. They thought Pujols was cool. We have a new batting cage and pitching machine, even though I think front toss is better. Just have to set it up in the garage/shop.

It had been awhile since I worked with kids so young. You literally have to help them with positioning. So a mirror would be a cool tool.
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
IMHO, I think Pujols is a good example to use for younger kids. In my limited experience, (90% of which has been with 5-9 YO's), I've found that a Pujols-like wide/no-stride stance introduces a level of simplicity that is beneficial to most beginners.

If the kids looks "athletic", I'd probably not try to change whether they step or not. But for a beginner (5,6,7), I've found that a stride is often one too many moving parts to keep track of during a swing. I read somewhere that a wide stance inhibits hip movement, but my experience (again, limited sample size) has been the opposite. A kid that starts with a narrow stance will usually only take a small step. The more likely scenario is that they'll just pick their foot up, and put it back down in the same spot - in their mind, they're taking a step/stride, b/c that's probably how they've seen it done - but they aren't understanding the why it's done. They're oblivious at this point to any sort of "feel". A stride is just some movement to check off as they swing (do this, then do that). Again, I'm just talking beginners here, the ones who are more likely to name a favorite Pokémon than name a favorite baseball player.

To try and finish the Pujols thought within two paragraphs or less, for the hitters I've worked with (youth, rec-ball level), the narrow stance/small step approach ends up with an "armsy" swing - minimal hip rotation. When I move them to a wider stance (feet well outside their shoulders), instead of a restricted hip movement, I see a more pronounced hip rotation. Maybe (and this theory is all of 30-seconds old at this point), a wider stance isn't restricting the hips, so much as the entire torso, and therefore in order to get the arms and hands involved (when using a wide stance), the hips are engaged (become more active?) as a way to get everything else turning. Teaching a slight pre-swing weight-shift/coil is also easier with a Pujols-like stance. Trying the same with a narrow stance quickly leads to an over-exaggeration / twisting of the upper body.

To finish addressing you're initial question of "What are your thoughts on working with young kids?", I try to focus on effort, the knees, and the hands. I used to also address hip usage (whether they were turning them or not), but as I read (and hopefully understand) more about rear-leg usage, I think the hips may be a "non-teach", so going forward, I'll probably focus on the hips less. And to be honest, none of the mental cues I use during my own swing have anything to do with my hips - I may be too much of an "internal" cue to be useful.

Effort is just what it sounds like - "Swing hard". I'm always surprised at the amount of kids that need to hear this reminder. Even if I don't have to use this cue before a swing, I'll often use it after a swing and miss, as an easy positive to point out: "That was a nice hard swing, now let me see you do that on a pitch that doesn't bounce twice before it reaches you...".

How do I focus on the knees? Another somewhat easy one - keep them bent. Sounds obvious, but again, we're at the beginner stage. Don't mean to go back to the wider stance thing again, but I think a wide stance naturally encourages a slight bend (flexion?) in the knees - straight legs with a wide stance would probably make them off-balance (so maybe it's a "feel" thing w/o them realizing it?). Bent knees lets your hips turn more. Easy demonstration is have them stand with straight legs, and then twist, and next stand with bent knees, twist again, and have them compare the results (e.g. "where does your belly button end up?"). There should be a noticeably wider range of motion with the knees bent than with them straight.

As I enter my 8th season of coach-pitch softball, hand position is, by far, my #1 indicator as to whether a batter will make successful contact. Again - we're talking beginners - it's not a style vs. absolute at this point (i.e. it doesn't matter where they start, it's where they are at [x]). If I could bet against the chances of successful contact being made every time I see a batter start with their hands below their armpit, and/or in the middle of their body, I'd be much closer to retirement. (I'd also feel horrible, funding my nest-egg on the backs of 6YO swings and misses. Well, maybe only for the first million of so. :eek: )

Hand position is one of those things I picture my old-man-self yelling about from the stands (or the nursing home bed), if I'm not already dragging my walker through the dugout and onto the field while muttering "guess I have to fix it my damn' self...". No, it's not the holy grail of hitting, but as a youth coach, I've found it to be the simplest, and most productive, cue to use - start with the hands high and back (high = armpit to ear area, back = shoulder area), and I truly believe you will greatly increase the chance of contact on the next swing.

Now, all that being said, it's highly likely, based on your contributions to topics much more in-depth than this one, that you're already well past this basic starting point with them. But you asked for thoughts on working with kids, so, there you go. May add more later. I probably don't need to add the reminder to enjoy the journey!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,475
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top