Winter Baseball Tune-Up 2017

Our older son is interested in playing baseball this summer, so we signed him up for a winter tune-up class to sharpen his skills. The class is held at the gym of a nearby high school. The class was divided in half, so they could take turns practicing batting and fielding. My son's group started with fielding.

First, they practicing throwing back and forth. Then the students practiced fielding ground balls.

Keeping his glove low

Throwing back

They also practiced running backward side to side in order to catch a fly ball. At first, they did just the running part. After a few runs, the instructor started throwing fly balls. Occasionally they hit the ceiling or the raised basketball hoops, making the balls even harder to catch. 

In action (from a distance too, hence the blur)

 The switch to batting practice required abandoning the glove and getting a helmet and bat. The very first skill taught was the proper grip. The coach told them to align the knuckles of both hands. This grip gives the batter more range of motion. The other important trick to practice is aligning feet, using a bat on the ground.

First batting skill--with the bat on the floor!

They practiced batting on tees, emphasizing keeping the eye on the ball and the "load and step" to add power to the swing.

Getting ready

Loading to swing

We had another short round of fielding which was the most fun according to my son. The kids practiced crow-stepping into a throw to get more distance after catching fly balls. He looked impressive.

Throwing

My son can't wait for the next class!