Tee Ball is a great and exciting way to introduce young athletes to team sports. The practices should be structured in a way that is fun for the kids that are on the team.

Teaching Tee Ball Batting Techniques

This technique will teach young players to step up to the box and think about what they are going to do. It also helps them to learn how to judge the correct distance away from the tee and too swing level.

Put the ball on the Tee, place the height of the ball level with the player's belly button or just slightly below. At This point the batter should be in a batters stance with hands at ear level and the back elbow up. Have the player extend their arms fully without making ball contact. Use a code word with the kids like "line up", "practice swing", "measure up" or "batters position". Once the player has done this tell them to bring the bat back, keep your eye on the ball and swing away.

Teaching Proper Swing

Tee ball players that learn the proper swinging motion will become better hitters. Having the mechanics of a proper swing is important for building a foundation for hitting.

Keeping tee ball practice alive and fun for the players is sometimes a challenge. Try this drill will get there imagination involved. It is called the Invisible Bat Drill. Have the players asume the batters stance without a bat. Tell them to swing as though they were hitting a real ball. You can joke and tease them by asking who hit a homerun.

Teaching Tee Ball Players to Watch The Ball as They Swing

Place the ball on the tee, place a mark on the ball. Tell the batter to swing level and watch the mark as they swing and to try and watch the bat hit the ball.

Teaching young Tee Ballplayers to Stop Grounders

The most important aspect when teaching young players about fielding and catching is having them use both hands. A simple drill that will enforce this skill is to have the players practice ground balls without using a baseball glove. Have the players stand at their positions and roll them the ball. This almost forces them to use both hands.

Show Me the Ball

Teaching how to grip and hold the ball is the first step to learning how to throw.

Have each team member get a ball and a glove. Teach them the proper grip by having the thumb on the underside of the ball and the two top fingers slightly spread apart on the top of the ball. The should have the pinky and ring finger on the side of the ball.

Start this drill off by saying to the players "show me the ball." When the players heres show me the ball they should grip the ball as they were taught, and get into the proper stance for throwing. They should have legs shoulder width apart with one foot in front of the other. The players should have the throwing arm up raised to shoulder height with the elbow at 90 degree.

At this point the coaches can look at the mechanics of the stance and make adjustments.