1. Getting to Know Baseball
T-ball is the introductory sport that kids from five to eight years old play to get the hang of the game. While the players follow many of the same rules of baseball and assume the field positions, the playing filed is much smaller to accommodate their skills. A ball is placed on a post stuck in the ground. The batter hits the ball from this pedestal instead of being thrown the ball from the pitcher. Parents typically have as much fun at t-ball games as the children do.
2. Skill Practice
T-ball drills teach the players the various skills needed to play the game. Throwing drills earn them points, which are added up to name a winner. To prevent accidents and to help them overcome their fears, some of the drills take out the odds of being hit by a thrown ball. A bucket is set up on the bases for bucket drills. An outfielder tries to get a ball in the bucket by throwing it in or bouncing it in. The thrower gets 10 points for getting the ball in the bucket; five points for hitting the bucket and one point for getting near the bucket.
3. Catching Drills
Points are kept as two players throw the ball to each other in a game of catch. Kids learn to catch by throwing the ball back and forth in pairs or by going after fly balls hit by the coach. The little ballplayers learn how to tag runners by trying to catch the coach as he runs the bases or by running away from the coach who is trying to catch them.
4. Just Stop the Darn Thing
With these drills, kids learn how to stop a ball and not be afraid of it. By gently sending ground balls to the fielders, they are taught to use a crab walk or a body block to stop the ball and then pick up to throw it in. Sometimes they kneel and try to stop the ball in a drill called the pick-up.
5. Fair Play
In t-ball, children are taught about sportsmanlike behavior and how to treat competitors. In addition to the hitting, catching and running skills they may develop, this art of getting along and playing well with others is probably the most important aspect of t-ball. Coaches must remind the parents, who often get very involved and caught up in the game, that fair play is the primary goal on the field, second only to having fun.
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