365 Days to better Baseball - Coaching Batting Trick

Tuesday Tips to Tattoo the Ball Hit and Run Play for 8 Year olds?

Of course, the hit and run play may be, and often is, too sophisticated a play for young ball players, but it is not a bad idea to teach at those ages. The hit and run play is when the base runner runs as the pitcher delivers and the batter is required to swing no matter where the ball is, with the intention of putting the ball in play on the ground. Many youth baseball players have one of the following problems:

They are very hesitant to swing the bat and wait either for a walk or until they have two strikes to swing. No matter how much people try to convince them that that is not a good hitting philosophy, they will not swing.

Continually pop the ball up or swing under the ball and miss.

Because the hit and run involves batters having to swing and the goal is hitting a groundball, this play can help both hitting dilemmas. Therefore, even coaches of youth ball players should incorporate the hit-and-run sign for youth and use it for the above situations. The sign can even be used without base runners, as it is for the batter. Convincing the hesitant youth that signs must be followed is another issue, of course.