by Doug Wilkinson

Created on: June 28, 2009   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

The most effective way to teach the sport of baseball to children is to have them grow up around the sport, just having the kids hang out at the ballpark watching and asking questions, and trying to figure out the rules and enjoying the game is the best way to teach the sport of baseball. But of course that can't always be possible, so an effective way of teaching it would be to first of all know the game yourself - do some research. However, kids definitely do not want to sit there and listen to you speak, they want to play, they want you to hit grounders to them, they want to chase down fly balls, which is not only fun for them, which makes them interested! It is a great way to teach them to be good baseball players. Also try to have the children set personal goals such as improving on one certain thing, this will make it easy for you to help them improve and it will help theur confidence by noticing their improvements step by step. Most importantly, you have to get them out there in real games and/or scrimmages. You just have to make sure that when a player doesn't know what to do or has done something wrong that you tell him the right thing Remember to stay positive! This could be the real key to teaching anybody anything. A positive attitude will go a very long way with children especially at the younger ages who are really there to just have fun.

Another good tip when teaching kids to play baseball or any sport is to get to know the child personally, get to know how he/she is going to react to certain criticisms, and play off of that. If a child gets upset easily make sure to always tell them they are doing a good job, try to keep their confidence up. If a player is always trying to do better then tell him or her the things they are doing wrong and what they could improve on. By knowing the player you will know this will help that player, where otherwise it could really upset them and make them not want to learn or play. So when it comes down to teaching children the game of baseball, it's a few simple things, expose them to the great game early and often, let the practice, play, scrimmage, whatever. Just don't waste time talking about the good old days, playing shortstop. Get to know your players and play off their reactions, use them to your advantage. Be positive, and always make sure everyone is having fun. ( But remember, winning truly is the best way to have fun.)

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