How to Teach Your Child to Play Baseball

If you want to find out whether your child might be the next baseball superstar, you'll have to begin by teaching him the fundamentals of baseball. The best way to teach your child to play baseball is to emphasize the fun of the sport while introducing the fundamentals of sound play. Read on to learn how to teach your child to play baseball.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tee
• Softball, hardball and/or tennis ball
• Baseball bat
• Baseball glove
• Batting helmet

1. Select a bat that's of the appropriate weight and size for your child. An associate in a sporting goods store can help you choose a bat that's the right length and heaviness.

2. Get a glove that fits your child, and pick up a variety of different balls to practice with. Get a softball and some tennis balls in addition to a regular hardball.

3. Teach your child to throw. Most children learn to throw during their infancy or early childhood, but correct throwing techniques as used in baseball are different. Get your child in the habit of squaring up to his target and following through on his release.

4. Work on basic fielding skills after your child can throw well. Start by tossing easy grounders to your child using a tennis ball, encouraging your child to get his body in front of the ball when fielding it. Practice fly balls by floating easy lobs to your child using a tennis ball, encouraging your child to keep his eye on the ball and get underneath it.

5. Use a tee to teach your child the hand-eye coordination needed to hit. Once your child can hit a softball off a tee with ease, play the role of the pitcher and lob underhanded pitches to your child using a large softball. The speed at which you will then move to using a hardball (and pitching overhand) will depend on the age and skill level of your child, so just play it by ear.

6. Be patient, and teach only one skill at a time. You might inadvertently discourage your child by introducing new concepts before the child has a chance to master old ones.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a softball when you first start to teach your child how to hit, and a tennis ball when you begin to teach your child how to field. Softballs are larger and easier to hit, and tennis balls are softer and won't hurt to catch.
• Some kids have it, some kids don't. Pushing your child too hard can have exactly the opposite effect, and might even lead to a strained parent-child relationship down the road.
• Always have your child wear a batting helmet when at the plate, even if you're just lobbing soft underhand pitches. Children often use oversize bats, which can swing back to hit them in the head when they follow through with too much zeal.

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