How to Coach a Coach-Pitch Baseball Team for Five- to Six-Year-Olds

Baseball is a sport that children start learning from a young age. Younger children start with tee-ball, where they hit the ball off a tee rather than hit a ball pitched by another player or a coach. When the children get a little older, the next step is often a coach-pitch baseball team. The age where children move from tee ball to coach-pitch baseball is around 5 or 6 years old, or when they are in first grade. Coaches start to teach these children to hit the ball when it is pitched and the coach pitches the ball so that younger children can hit it.

Instructions

    • 1

      Teach the children the basics of hitting. Five- and 6-year-olds are just reaching the stage where they hit from a pitched ball rather than a tee. You must show them the basic batting skills--such as how to hold the bat and how to swing the bat--before allowing them a chance to try hitting the ball. This will increase the chances that the child can hit the ball.

    • 2

      Throw the ball at a medium speed and in a straight line. A pitch that's too slow is hard to hit because it has less momentum, while one that's too fast will be impossible for young children to hit. The purpose of coach-pitch baseball is teaching the children to hit a thrown baseball and helping them gain confidence. A ball is pitched at a medium speed and in a straight line is the easiest for a child to hit.

    • 3

      Work with each child during every practice. Coach-pitch baseball requires that every child is given a chance to hit the ball and try batting. During a game, the entire roster gets to bat and play the field. so practice requires spending time with each child.

    • 4

      Give each batter seven pitches during a game. This gives a greater likelihood that the child will hit the ball while assuring that the game will keep moving. If the batter hits a foul ball on seventh pitch, he gets one more pitch; if that one is fouled off, the batter is out.

      Your league can also mandate that each team be permitted to score only a certain amount of runs in each inning.