Basics of Baseball Begin With These
Youth coaches do not have to be experts to coach young players, but they should know some basics of baseball. I am often amazed with how many youth baseball coaches either do not know, or cannot see, the basics of baseball, even at some of the higher levels of baseball. I often tell coaches, “It is not what you know necessarily, it is what you see.” It is important that coaches notice the little things players do, so they can help players make the correct adjustments. Some basics are necessary to know, be noticed, and taught youth ball players, otherwise, they have no chance at really improving at the game, and the beginning of other bad habits are set in motion.
When I say basics of baseball, I am talking about the fundamentals of hitting, throwing, and fielding. Once again, when I see that a coach fails to address these baseball skill issues, I assume they do not know the game, cannot “see the game,” or are just lazy about coaching it. With any of those scenarios, they are doing a poor job of youth baseball coaching.
These following basics of baseball are “must know” knowledge, and simply teaching these basics help players immensely. As implied, even though they may seem like obvious baseball coaching tips to some, failing to make sure players do them, sets the stage for bad habits, which are very tough to break in the future.
Key to Basics of Baseball Throwing
- The players throwing arm foot must turn 90 degrees or very close to that before throwing. This basic move sets the thrower’s front shoulder at the target, which sets the stage for the entire throwing action.
Key to Basics of Baseball Hitting
- When the front foot lands on the stride, the knob of the bat is down. Most, if not all, hitting problems develop with the incorrect setup of the hands, elbows and bat angle at launch position. As the knob is down the bat barrel should ideally angle through the batter’s ear, not in front of their head or much behind their head.
Key Basics of Baseball Fielding Ground Balls
- The meaning of “stay down” is crucial to ground ball fielding success. Stay down has two aspects:
- Approaching ground balls low by keeping the head lowered slightly, which has them on the balls of their feet, making it easier for the next move.
- The glove always should begin out front and lower than the height of the lowest hop of the ball, when ready to field the ball.
Obviously, there is so much more to the fundamentals, but failure to coach these three basics of baseball is inexcusable.