NY Nationals
Teaching Young
Players
Hitting
Shaaa-Bang - This gets a young player into the launch position, helps them with
timing and promotes a fast swing.
Have the player start in their stance, have them say “shaaaa” as they move their hands back and
lift their front heel off the ground, this puts them in the launch position, from here they explode on
the ball saying “BANG” at contact.
Swing and freeze - This gets a young player to control their body throughout the swing all
the way to the finish and check their body for broken mechanics at the end.
Have the player take a full swing (using shaa-bang), then have them “freeze into and ice statue”
when the swings finished. From here you can check their back foot to see if the hips turned,
check if hands above shoulders, etc…
Don’t look, listen - This gets a player to actually see the ball hit the bat, finish the swing
with their head at contact point and swing through the ball aggressively.
Have the player take a full swing but don't allow them to look up after the ball to see where it went.
Have them just listen to see how loud the noise is when they hit it, this helps in a million ways.
Throwing
Spread your wings - This gets a player to spread apart their arms apart, working together to
create the stretch in the upper body we need to get a good arm whip.
Have the players start with their feet wide apart facing to the side, and pretend their
“feet are in cement”. From here have them “spread their wings”, point their glove
at the target, then pull from the front side and throw”.
Shuffle, Shuffle Throw - This gets young players to understand how to use momentum of their body
to throw the ball further.
Have the players start in the same position as spread your wings, then have them take two hard
shuffles towards their partner and spread the wings and throw after the second shuffle.
Defense
Gimmie, Gimmie - This gets a player into the correct fielding position for a ground ball, placing
the throwing had safely off to the side ready to take out the ball and throw it.
Instead of using the analogy “Alligator Mouth” or “Clam Shell” use the term “Gimmie Gimmie” to
get the players hands out in front of them with both palms pointing towards the approaching
ground ball. Have them give the gimmie gimmie motion with their hands before each ground ball.
Catching Windows - This gets the player to move their glove correctly into the right position for
each ball they may have to catch in the air.
Have the players stand facing each other with feet in cement. Start with both hands up, fingertips
to the sky. Have them each throw the ball to the other players glove side working on keeping
the fingertips of the glove up. Then have them throw the ball across to the players throwing
arm side, now the catching player has to turn the glove horizontal and slide across to the other side.
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