Backyard Baseball HQ | Drills and Coaching Tips to Keep the Fun Going All Year

When my youngest son started developing some poor habits with his swing, I began searching for baseball hitting drills for 8-year-olds to find some corrective measures. But I knew the drills had to be equal parts instructional, easy to do at home, and fun. Luckily, I found plenty and wanted to share some of my favorites. Maybe one of these will be just the thing to help take your little slugger's hitting to the next level! Bash the boulder How to do the drill: Have your player get in a batting stance with a tee. Place a large, heavy ball on the tee – this could be a soccer ball, volleyball, basketball, etc. The player goes through their natural swing making sure to follow through. What it helps: Swinging at a heavier target helps hitters focus on their follow-through and finishing their swing. Make it fun: Challenge your player to see how far they can hit the “boulder” off the tee. Kneeling good How to do the drill: Have your player get in their batting stance. The player drops t...

Fielding is an important part of baseball, and it's a skill that your young player can practice and improve in your own backyard. In this post, we'll provide a variety of baseball fielding drills and games that you can do in your backyard to improve your little one's skills. Infield Alligator Traps How to do the drill: Stand about 10 feet away from your player.  Have them get in a baseball-ready fielding stance. Roll a slow ground ball to your player. As the ball approaches the player's glove, they use a two-handed scooping motion to "trap" the ball in the glove, simulating the motion of an alligator snapping its jaws shut. What it helps: Technique and hand-eye coordination. Make it fun:  Give your child a point every time they "trap" a ground ball in their glove. Keep track and challenge them to break their score the next time. Or make it a game between the two of you! Make it challenging:  Gradually increase the speed of the ground balls. Or ro...

When my oldest son jumped to 12U baseball, we both noticed one glaring difference about the new field he'd be playing on -- the pitching mound was farther away from home plate. At first, he seemed a little intimidated by the extra feet from the 10U pitching distance. But it only took a couple of throws from the new mound distance to calm his fears. It's great to know the pitching distances by age if your young player loves pitching and plays long enough. I'll cover them in this article, along with how to measure them so your backyard sessions are as realistic as possible. What is the pitching distance for MLB? Today, the pitching rubber in all 30 MLB ballparks is the same distance from home plate that it has been since 1893:  60 feet 6 inches.  But getting to that distance took some tinkering . First, the earliest mounds weren't actually raised or round but flat boxes 45 feet away from home plate, a distance officially established in 1857. As pitchers dominated more and...

Now that the fall baseball season has arrived, I've been scouring the internet for fun baseball drills for my 7-year-old. Sure, he's going to get excellent instruction from his coaches, but he loves the game enough to want to do baseball drills in the backyard on days he doesn't have practice or a game. Luckily, I came across five youth baseball drills that will develop his fundamentals and love for the game at the same time. Hope you enjoy them! Two Ball How to do the drill: Stand in front of your child with two balls. Underhand toss both balls to your child at the same time. Your child tries to catch both balls in the air. Your child underhand tosses the balls back to you. Repeat! What it helps: A few things, but particularly hand-eye coordination for catching. Make it fun: Give your child a point every time they catch both balls. Keep track and challenge them to break their score the next time. Or make it a game between the two of you! Make it challenging: Use two differ...

As I watched my son participate in infield drills at practice one day, I saw his throws going left and right, high and in the dirt, but rarely on target. Honestly, I wasn't too worried; I never want to be the "drill sergeant" parent. Baseball should be fun! But I also wanted to do my part to help his throwing mechanics improve so he could experience more success. So later that night, I went to one of THE best sources for information and tips on youth baseball: YouTube. Since that night, I've watched a lot of youth baseball instructional videos on YouTube that have helped me coach my son at home and in turn helped him become a better player. So if you want to work with your child on a specific aspect of the game, here are my favorite youth baseball YouTube channels to help you become a backyard baseball coach. Youth Baseball YouTube Channels Ultimate Baseball Training If you start searching for baseball training videos on YouTube, chances are you're going to run in...