Stand at home plate with a bucket of balls. The player at the front of each line is playing, the others are waiting their turn. Each position should have a queue (if you have eight players, line two up at each position, for instance.) It’s fine if the lines aren’t equal, you’ll be mixing it up. Have all players line up at the four (non-catcher, non-pitcher) infield positions. A young player is developing confidence at this age and a body blow with a hard ball may be more of a set-back than a learning moment. Start out with safe-tee balls and work your way up to the real thing. Remind yourself and your players that mistakes are part of learning, and having fun is the number one goal. When looking at baseball drills for 6 and 7 year olds, we like to focus on just three things at first: learning how the field and positions work, catching and throwing the ball, and running the bases. The batter should not swing or push the bat forward. It’s important that you demonstrate proper bunting form. Remember for 6 or 7 year old all of these concepts are new. It’s important that the kids understand how and why they are bunting. Help the batter with adjustments as needed. Have the batter stand ready to bunt and “catch” each pitch with the bat head. Soft pitch from a short distance (around 15 feet). This is about seeing the ball from a pitch and controlling the bat head. OK, it’s important to preface that The Hitting Vault teaches a focus on hitting the ball hard unlocking a hitter’s power. If you wanted to see a similar drill that we teach older hitters you can check out how we teach various contact points. By swinging at different “pitches” they’ll learn to keep their balance and repeat their swing. They’ll be tempted to reach their arms out straight when it’s away, or step backward when it’s in. Remind them to step and swing in pretty much the same way no matter where the ball is. Pause and move the tee up and down, in and away, between each swing. Pause between each swing to help the batter with their stance, and always remind them to keep their eye on the ball and follow through with their swing. This is a pretty straightforward baseball drill for 6 and 7 year olds. In The Hitting Vault, you’ll find several video tutorials to help improve your kids’ hitting skills. Keep it fun! This isn’t the age to get serious, give them some instant success. Remind them to keep their eye on the ball as they swing.
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