Sport Canada

Hitting a moving round object with a cylinder is one of the most difficult tasks in all of sports.

There are a lot of theories and strategies on how to best teach a young child the fundamental skills which are required to master this particular athletic challenge.

Here are a few simple tips and a simple method to help young hitters, their parents and their coaches:

Sport psychologists, coaches and learning experts like to break athletic tasks down into steps. While there are some kids who can learn simply by imitating what they see on television and their video games, many children will better learn the basics of hitting if it is taught to them in small steps.

Age four is a good time to start this kind of instruction. The first thing to determine is if your child is more comfortable batting right handed or left handed. You can sort this out by watching which hand they throw with, eat with and write with. You can also have them hold a bat both ways and ask them which is more comfortable.

My son and I are ambidextrous, so this was a little confusing at first, since he initially felt equally comfortable on both sides of the plate. He is now a switch hitter, but seems to hit the ball harder as lefty, even though he throws right handed.

Second, hand your kid a whiffle ball bat and a few whiffle balls and simply let them smack the balls around on the ground at a park or in your back yard. Don’t give them any instruction yet. Just watch them and see if they are at all interested. If they are, you can move on to the next step.

Third, teach your child to bunt the ball from a waist high tee. This will help your youngster to learn to watch the bat making contact with the ball. It will also start to build his or her confidence as most kids can do this.

If your child can not do this after some practice, you may need to have a consultation with his or her pediatrician. Don’t panic, however, kids learn many things at different paces and different ages.

Next, teach your child how to hold the bat and how to hit the ball with a short swing of about six inches in length. Emphasize contact not distance or power.

Gradually lengthen his or her swing. Encourage your child to keep his or head still. The head is the heaviest part of the body. If it moves, a lot kids will lose their balance and also lose sight of the ball.

Also, start to teach them the idea of stepping toward the ball in the strike zone.

Help your child to master the proper grip and not hold the bat too tightly. If the bat is held tightly the hitter can not learn to generate the centrifugal force he needs to hit through the ball. Also, he or she is apt to tense up at the plate when they begin to face pitching. (By the way, if the youngster likes it, choking up on the bat is fine at this age.)

Once your child has mastered the abbreviated swing described above, you can teach them to use the full swing off the tee. Emphasize balance, weight transfer and what a ball in their strike zone feels like. You can move the tee around so your child gets a feeling for what he can reach and what he can not reach comfortably.

Once your youngster can hit ten balls off the tee in a row, it is time to start pitching to him underhanded from a short distance. Begin with the bunting exercise described above and progress in steps the same way you did when teaching your kid to hit off the tee. Don’t go to the longer swing until they can bunt the ball comfortably and consistently.

Keep the instruction to no more than ten or fifteen minutes at this young age. If you proceed in small steps and provide lots of support, encouragement and enthusiasm, your child will may discover that your he or she loves baseball. Also, many of these skills will be useful in tennis, golf, lacrosse and other sports.

Who knows? Maybe the next Derek Jeter or Mickey Mantle is running around your yard right now.

When your child gets older, the two of you might enjoy two program available at stayinthezone.com – Bedtime Stories For Young Athletes and 101 Ways To Break Out Of A Hitting Slump.

Jay P. Granat, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and the founder of http://www.stayinthezone.com

He has written several books and developed several programs to help people perform to their fullest potential at sports, at work and at school. Dr. Granat, a former university professor, has appeared in The New York Times, Good Morning America, AP, ESPN, Golf Digest, The BBC and The CBC. He can be reached at info@stayinthezone.com. His books include Zone Tennis and Get Into The Zone In Just One Minute.

Heis also the author of How To Get Into The Zone With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, How To Lower Your Golf Score With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, 101 Ways To Break Out Of A Hitting Slump and Bed Time Stories For Young Athletes. Golf Digest named Dr. Granat one of America’s Top Ten Mental Gurus. He was recently featured in a documentary film on long distance running. Dr. Granat writes a weekly column for three newspapers.

9-11-2010 High School Volleyball @ LaCrosse & Otis, Kansas

People From Phillips County, Kansas $9.05 Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Lieutenant Colonel Harold William Bauer (November 20, 1908 November 14, 1942) was a United States Marine Corps aviator who shot down 11 Japanese planes during World War II and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a fighter squadron commander during the crucial struggle for the control of the Solomons at the Battle of Guadalcanal. Harold William Bauer was born in Woodruff, Kansas on November 20, 1908 and grew up in North Platte, Nebraska. He was the son of Volga German immigrants and had two brothers and two sisters. In high school he played football, track and baseball. He entered the Naval Academy in 1926 and was appointed a Marine Second Lieutenant upon graduation in 1930. Bauer’s two younger brothers also followed him into the Academy. Following his commissioning, 2ndLt Bauer attended the Officers Basic School at Quantico, Virginia. He was then assigned as a company officer with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines at Quantico. In 1932 he became assistant basketball and lacrosse coach at the Naval Academy and an instructor in marksmanship, until his assignment to the San Diego Naval Base were he was the Assistant Range Officer. He was promoted to first lieutenant on May 29, 1934. He was then assigned to the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, in December 1934 where he earned his wings as a Marine aviator in February 1936. He was promoted to captain on June 30, 1937 and served with several squadrons at Quantico including Marine Scouting Squadron 1 (VMS-1) and Marine Fighting Squadron 1 (VMF-1). Bauer was transferred to the Naval Air Station San Diego, California, in June 1940 where he served as executive officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221). While stationed at San Diego, he participated i… More:

Todd Sauerbrun $83.99 Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Todd Scott Sauerbrun (born January 4, 1973 in Setauket, New York) is an American football punter for the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. He was originally drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft. He played college football at West Virginia. Sauerbrun has also been a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.Sauerbrun grew up in Setauket on Long Island. He attended Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York, and was a letterman in football and lacrosse. In football, as a senior, he averaged 45.1 yards per punt and kicked a field goal of 62 yards on October 27, 1990 (still the New York State High School record). The kick was held by Jason Sanders. In lacrosse, he was a high school U.S. Lacrosse All-America selection. He is the leading midfield scorer in Ward Melville history with 109 goals and 24 assists for 133 points.