Posted by: John (john.reynolds@sciatl.com) on Tue Apr 16 08:50:13 2002

I coach 7 and 8 year-old boys. Our league uses 2 innings of machine pitch (35 MPH) and the remainder player pitch (mid 30's to mid 40's).

The biggest problem I have it teaching kids to track the ball to the bat. Does ayone have any drills they can recommend?

In practice, I'll have the players watch the first few pitches from the delivery point until they hit the catchers glove with emphasis on "keeping the nose on the ball". I won't let them swing until they successfully track the ball a few times. As soon as I turn them loose it's back to looking straight ahead.

I've tried having them tell me what letter of their bat logo the ball hits. That sometimes works.

I may try putting different color dots on some practice balls and have them tell me the color.

Any help would be appreciated.

John