Tee Ball Baseball - Beginners Tips for a Better Glove and a Stronger Arm

Good Morning. I hope that all is well with you and yours. Young baseball players love to throw and catch. The more they practice these baseball skills, the stronger their arm will become, the better their glove will become, and the more accurate their throws will be.

It is important that you teach your child the correct ways to throw and catch a baseball. When you are confident that your child knows the correct baseball fundamentals, the next important thing to do is to provide some means for your child to practice these skills alone. Many people ask me what is the best way for a parent to provide a way for their child to practice alone.

I always recommend two things to help young baseball players build skill and arm strength. There are two great objects for practicing alone; 1) A Wall and 2) A Toss Back Trainer. The absolute best thing you can have for young kids to use for skill development is a "solid wall". This wall may be of brick, cement block, or heavy duty wood construction. On this wall, you will need to draw a "strike zone" or target.

I happened onto this method by chance. When my oldest two sons were 4 and 6 years old we rented a house with a 2 1/2 high wall around the patio. The wall was fronted by a grassy area. Those two boys spent hours and hours playing with rubber or real baseballs being thrown against that wall. The walls low construction seemed to teach then to keep the ball low. They would throw the ball and field a ground ball. They soon learned to bounce it off the ground into the wall to return the ball in the air.

So, if you have a brick wall show your child how to use it. If you do not have one, you may want to build one. If you know your child will be a baseball player and you know that you are not going to move anytime soon, this is a great addtion to your backyard training area.

Of course there are toss back trainers on the market that do the same thing. Toss back trainers are device made of elastic netting and metal,
and they return the ball to the thrower when the net is hit. One such trainer is the Derek Jeter Strikeback, a toss back with interactive targets that kids love to throw at.

Good luck till next time, Nick

Recommended Guidelines for Tee Ball Parents To Consider

Hello,
I hope that you had a great weekend. Here are a couple recommended guidelines for Tee Ball Baseball Parents to consider:

• Exhibit exceptionally good behavior at practice sessions and games.
• See that your children – the players – have the proper equipment.
• See that your children arrive and are picked up at the stated times.

These came from The T•BALL USA Association Homepage.

For the complete list of 10 click here.

Have a super day! Nick

2008 Tee Ball AllStar Baseball Game at the Whitehouse

The USA could not have Major League Baseball All-Star Week without honoring the most valuable players in America,Tee Ballers!

This past Wednesday, July 16, President Bush welcomed children from all 50 states to the White House's South Lawn for an All-Star Tee Ball game. It was a great event. You can access the links below for video hightlights, slideshows, and news coverage.

• DugoutTheMascot's Video
• Little Baseball's Tee Ball Site with the 2008 Tee Ball AllStar Players names and hometowns.
• News video coverage of the event.
• The Official Hompage of the United States Whithouse also have some great coverage of this great event.

Have a great weekend, Nick

Teaching a Young Tee Ball Baseball Player to Throw Correctly

Good morning. Today I want to point out a couple of important things for you as a parent to remember when you are teaching your child to throw.

There is a right or correct way to do everything. If a child does not learn certain things early, then they make never have the arm strength, accurracy and wellness that they need later in their baseball career.

3 Important Points:

1. The young player must learn to turn the front shoulder or glove shoulder toward the target. This puts the body facing at a perpendicular angle to the direction of the throw.
2. The arm motion should be a smooth, long arching motion, that takes the arm down, back, and up to the proper position. The ball should be in the fingers with the ball facing away from the target when the ball get to his highest point.
3. Both elbows must be in the "T" position or shoulder high when the ball reaches it apex behind the body. The arm whould be fully extended.

Baseball2U has great books and videos for baseball coaches and parents.

The 6 Steps to A Perfect Swing For Tee Ball Baseball Players

Hello,

I hope that you had a great day! I know that you enjoyed the great Major League All-Star Game as much as I did last night. I thought that game was going to last all night. That alarm clock sure did seem to ring early this AM.

The "6 Steps to Perfect Baseball Swing" is a good reference sheet to refer to when you begin teaching your Tee Ball Baseball Player the mechanics of a great baseball swing. I hope you find this info helpful.

Also make sure to check out the books and DVDs for teaching beginners at Baseball2U.com.

Good Luck til next time. Nick

2008 Major League Allstar Game - Special Moment For All Baseball Fans

"The 59th MLB All-Star game was a classic"

Tonight I was deeply touched by the introductions at the 59th Major League Allstar Game. Seeing such a great collection of Major League Allstars on the field for the National Anthem will always be a memory that I will cherish. This is truly America's game. I am proud to have the priviledge to coach it. Thanks MLB for a special moment. It was great to Yogi Berra, one of my all time favorites Hall of Famers. The clips of him leaping high into the arms of Don Larson in the 1956 World Series were a special touch to the telecast. For more on the 1956 World Series visit the Baseball Almanac.

As I type this Derek Jeter is replaced by Michael Young at Short. He receives a great ovation from the crowd. National League Leads 2-0. Jeter is one of my favorite players in the game today!

I can't talk about Yogi without including three of his famous quotes that I consider to be "classic":

--"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
--"Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical."
--"You can observe a lot just by watching."



Thank you Yankees for hosting such as great event in the last year of Yankee stadiums use. Thanks Yogi for the memories! Thank you Major League Baseball!

My first official post

Hello and welcome to my blog for Teeball Baseball Parents. If playing baseball is an American Tradition, then being a "Baseball Parent" is an American Tradition. Being a Teeball parent can be one of the most fulfilling, fun, and rewarding times of your parenthood. But, having a child play TeeBall can also be a challenging and frustrating time. The experiences you have are determined by the sucess or lack of success that your child achieves. When you child is happy, you are happy! When your child is sad, you feel hurt also. There are certain things that Teeball Baseball Parents can do to help their child improve as a player.

I am the parent of 4 kids, 1 girl and 3 boys. All of my kids played TeeBall Baseball, youth baseball, high school baseball, and my oldest two sons played college baseball. My youngest, a son, is a senior in high school this year. He plays centerfield for our team. My daughter played 4 years of high school softball also. I hope that I can give you some insight, tips, and information that will be useful to you. I may not have all of the answers, but I will give you everything I can to help you as much as possible. Have agreat day. Nick