Install
Skills & drills
A coaching cue you can take to the park today, and video demonstrations from across the web.
Throwing
Four seams across the laces, glove side leads, and the throw finishes with your chest over your front knee. Accuracy comes from your feet, not your arm.
Fielding ground balls
Get your feet to the ball rather than reaching for it. Wide base, glove out in front where you can see it, and funnel the ball to the middle of your body.
Catching fly balls
First step back, not in — it is far easier to come forward on a ball than to retreat. Catch it above your throwing shoulder so you are already loaded.
Hitting off a tee
The tee is not a beginner's toy; big leaguers use it daily. Set it at the front edge of the plate, at belt height, and hit line drives back up the middle.
Hitting a pitched ball
See it early, load as the pitcher's arm comes forward, and let the ball travel. Most rec-league swings are too early, not too slow.
Pitching
Balance first, then direction, then arm speed — in that order. Repeat the same delivery every pitch; command beats velocity at every level below professional.
Pitch grips
Start with a four-seam fastball and a changeup you hold deep in your hand. Those two get you a long way before anything that spins.
Slow-pitch hitting
Different game from baseball: the ball arrives on a descending arc, so swing slightly up through it and stay back. Trying to pull everything is the classic mistake.
Catching (behind the plate)
Give the pitcher a target and hold it. Receive with a relaxed wrist so a strike looks like a strike, and block with your body rather than stabbing with the mitt.
Base running
Know the number of outs before every pitch — it decides everything. Round the bag in an arc rather than a right angle, and pick up the coach early.
Sliding
Learn feet-first on grass before dirt. Decide early and commit: a change of mind halfway down is how ankles get hurt.
Keeping score
The position numbers are the whole trick: once 6-4-3 means shortstop to second to first, the rest of the notation follows.
These are general fundamentals, not a substitute for a qualified coach. If you coach children, get certified through your league's governing body — most require it — and treat arm care as part of coaching, not an afterthought. Pitch counts and arm care →
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