The primary goal for Rookie is for these young athletes to have a positive experience playing with friends, to learn the basics of the game, and to want to return to play the next season.
Here are the skills to teach in each of the key areas of the game, along with recommended videos on fun drills to help:
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is in many ways the most important skill to teach! We want our Rookie players to know we expect them to:
- Have fun!
- Try hard - give best effort at every practice and every game
- It's okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn.
- Be a good sport - treat teammates, opponents, coaches, officials, and parents with respect
- Think as a team – play your position and let your teammates play theirs
- Cheer for teammates
Baseball and Softball IQ
The general concepts that a graduating Rookie player should have are:
- Names of the defensive positions
- Names of the bases
- Infield v. Outfield
- Proper direction to run the bases
- The team bats in a specific order
- Object on offense is to hit the ball, advance to each base safely, and to touch home plate to score a run.
- Object on defense is to get in front of a batted ball, tag a base runner with the ball, or touch a base before the runner on a force.
- How outs are made including ground outs, force outs, tag outs and fly outs.
- Tip: A fun and effective way to enhance Baseball/Softball IQ is to watch games! Kids love a "homework assignment" to watch a game on TV with a parent and talk through the plays together.
Fielding
Throwing
We want to start teaching at an early age solid throwing fundamentals. At the Rookie level, we should instruct the following while understanding that each player will develop at their own rate.
- Grip - 4 seam (2 or 3 fingers)
- Thumb under the ball
- Position entire body perpendicular to target (shoulders, hips, and feet)
- Look at target throughout the throw
- Point glove shoulder and elbow toward target
- Step directly toward target
- Arm moves in a circle
- Throw overhand - elbow above shoulder/hand above head
- Rotate and follow through with hips, legs, and arm
Catching
The fundamental catching skills we want to teach at Rookie are:
- Square/facing the person throwing the ball
- Both hands in front of the body, fingers up, thumbs together, arms relaxed and extended slightly toward the ball
- Keep eyes on the ball
- Step to/get in front of the ball
- Catch with two hands, using the glove to catch and throwing hand to clasp. (Use judgment, as some players will attempt to catch the ball like a basketball when using two hands.)
- Hold the glove up, don’t catch with the ball held horizontally
- Hold the glove up, with fingers up - don’t catch with the glove out horizontally. Glove hand should move in windshield wiper fashion to catch the ball depending where the ball.
- Watch the ball into the glove and squeeze it
- Players should not be discouraged if they don’t catch the ball; the goal is to get their hand on it with fingers in the proper position.
- It's common for new players to be afraid of the ball, and may instinctively duck or flinch when thrown to. It may be useful to start with rolling the ball to these players, and then start with catching foam balls or tennis balls.
Fielding Ground Balls
The vast majority of batted balls in Rookie games will be ground balls. Emphasize the fundamentals of fielding grounders:
- Get in front of the ball - body squarely facing the ball
- Feet shoulder width or wider
- Bend knees and drop butt to the ground (limit bending at the waist)
- Extend glove in front of body
- Keep throwing hand close to glove (alligator)
- Watch ball into the glove
- Grab the ball with throwing hand
- Throw the ball to the target
Fielder Roles
During games. all players are on the field in standard positions (unless creativity is needed when there are more than 9 defensive players).
- Baseball/softball ready every at bat - eyes on the ball, glove out front, athletic stance
- Stay on your side of the field, think as a team
- Infielders should field balls to the infield (not outfielders), and outfielders should field balls past the basepaths (not infielders)
- Catch ground balls and step on or throw to base
- Tag a runner with the ball (ball in glove or ball in throwing hand)
- Listen to the coach for where the play is
- Work on teaching infielders that the play is at first, and outfielders that the play is at second - but to listen to the coach so that all bases are part of the action.
Batting
Hitting a baseball or softball is the most difficult skill to master in perhaps all of sports! It will take lots of practice over the season to cover all of the mechanics. We want to break it down as follows:
Grip
- Grip the bat firmly (don’t squeeze or death grip)
- Hold hands together above the knob
- Hold bat with fingers (not deep in palms)
- Middle knuckles generally lined up
Stance
- Body perpendicular to pitcher
- Feet comfortably wider than shoulders
- Toes straight ahead toward the plate (or slightly pigeon-toed) and feet parallel with home plate
- Knees slightly bent with weight centered on the balls of the feet
- Upper body bent slightly at the waist
- Hands (not elbows) up
- Elbows out from the body and flexed, pointing toward the ground (we recommend not telling a player to put their elbows up)
Load
- Loading is one of the most difficult aspects of hitting that will take years to master. Although many Rookie players might not be ready to learn this skill, it is good to introduce the basics.
- Eyes on the ball
- Coil weight slightly to back hip
- Move hands up and back (in a backwards "C" motion)
Stride
- Eyes on the ball
- Take small step with front foot directly toward the pitcher
Swing
- Eyes on the ball
- Swing hard!
- Keep head down through swing (eye on tee after ball is hit)
Exiting the Box
- Do not watch the ball
- Set the bat down safely
- Look at and run through first base (don’t stop!) and turn to the right
- Listen to the base coach to continue to second base or stay put
Base Running
Base running in Rookie is simple, and fun! Here are the basics we want to teach:
- During at-bat, keep one foot on the base and lean forward toward the next base
- When the batter hits the ball, use the base to push off
- Look at the base you are running toward (not the ball)
- Touch every base
- Run fast!
- Listen to base coaches
Runners who are put out should leave the bases and return to the dugout. A goal at the Rookie level is to develop the understanding of how outs are made and to accept being out.