Marty Schupak's Blog (125)

From: www.tballamerica.com

The best drills that have the most meaning and create the best bonding with parents and their own kids are drills that take some time to prepare. Take a milk carton, any size. Cut a hole in the bottom. Run a rope through it about 20‒25 feet long from a fence, a…

From: www.tballamerica.com

The best drills that have the most meaning and create the best bonding with parents and their own kids are drills that take some time to prepare. Take a milk carton, any size. Cut a hold in the bottom. Run a rope through it about 20‒25 feet long from a fence, a…

By T-Ball America

A challenging exercise for young kids is for the coach or parent to tie a rope at the end of a bat or pole. The rope is then hung over the batting tee with room for a bat to pass between the tee and the end of the rope. The player must swing the bat…

 By T-Ball America  

Giving young t‒ballers a target to focus on is a good idea. Just as it was important to keep their eyes on the ball when fielding, it is equally important to do so when hitting. Getting young players to keep their head and eyes on the ball is a…

By T-Ball America

Young players will progress with their baseball skills differently. This is a drill that some players may get and others may not. Run either a rope or a strip of blue painters tape across a fence.…

From T-Ball America

From: www.TBallAmerica.com

Just as catching ground balls barehanded will force players to use both hands, the Paddle Catch drill will also do the same thing. Take a round piece of plywood or a Ping‒Pong racquet without the handle. Attach a…

#BaseballCoaching #Little League

Contrary to the way MLB is evolving I am a big proponent of bunting especially in youth baseball or softball (ages 8-12). Think about it. A nicely placed bunt toward 3rd base that slows or “dies” near the foul line is a tough play for experienced players. On the youth level it is especially tough for the 3rd baseman, pitcher or even the…

 When a batter swings and misses on the first pitch, how many of us have seen all the batting coaches in the dugout and even the bleachers yelling out instructions? You’ll hear shouts of “elbow up,” or “elbow down.” Or you might hear “Billy, get closer to the plate” or “Billy, step back from the plate.” We all hear this one, usually with two strikes: “Billy, choke up on the bat.” How about a coach or parent having the batter call time out after two strikes so…

Most baseball coaches run batting practice wrong.

Some Tips for an efficient batting practice that is guaranteed to increase repetitions.

1. Always have plenty of baseballs.

2. Batting practice is not fielding practice or base running practice. No running last one out.

3. Balls hit to fielders…

This is a drill from T-Ball America and Marty Schupak's newest t-ball book due out in 2019.

This t-ball drill is a sneak preview of Marty Schupak and T-Ball America's new book, 

Youth Baseball Drills: T-Ball, Ages 4-7 Years Old

due out in 2019.…

I maintain Little League and Tee Ball experiment with their players not using gloves. Before you decide to commit me and throw away the key, take a deep breath, relax and I’ll explain why using playing baseball without gloves for say the first two or three games of the season may lead to better ballplayers in the long run. I’m not looking to put Rawlings or Wilson out of business. In fact if my theory holds true then the…

  My lifelong love affair with baseball statistics goes way back to the early 1960’s when my father would be attacked by me when he came home from work with the old defunct newspaper the New York World-Telegram. I would almost tackle his right arm as he walked through our front door to get the sports section to look at yesterday’s box score. It was a love most baseball fans have had ever since they could remember. I would…

  I've seen it happen in almost all sports even at the professional level. In hockey I've seen players holding the puck too long when they should either shoot at the net or pass the puck to another teammate. This happens a lot on power plays especially if the team has that rare two-man advantage. In basketball we see some point guards holding the ball too long when they should be trying to either penetrate the key or pass it off. Of course…

Cinder-Block Drill

Usually I save this drill for kids older than t-ball. But this drill is a great backyard drill if you have the space. Take a 4" cinder block and lay it flat on the ground. Give your player one of those thick red plastic bats. Take a tennis ball and after you set up your player in a batter's stance, bounce the ball off the cinder block and move away quickly so you don't get hit with the…

  I have been fortunate to have known a lot of coaches in all sports. I was attending a high school playoff basketball game that was going down to the wire. The coach I knew team was down by one point at the end of the game. With a few seconds left, one of the guards got some space and drove all the way down the left side of the basket and put in a lay-up with his right hand just out of the reach of two defenders. The team won the game.…