Tiny Tikes T-Ball

Our youngest son took a "Tiny Tikes T-ball" class from the local parks and rec association. He enjoyed the time but has a lot to learn about baseball.

The class included all sorts of drills and practices. He learned to field a ground by putting his glove down and scooping up the ball. We are still working on that at home.

About to catch

A wide angle view

The other skill we worked on was throwing overhand rather than underhand. He does get a better throw when he puts the ball by his ear and tosses. Getting him to remember to do that is more of a challenge.

An overhand throw

A big challenge was hitting and base running. Hitting off a t wasn't so hard. My son's main problem was his natural instinct to follow the ball--not with just his eyes, either. He often chased his own hit rather than heading to first base.

A good hit

Getting back to the baseline

Coming in to home

He's not the only kid with these challenges. As a group, they face some other tough challenges, like standing in line or standing in a circle around the coach.

Sometimes the whole group does base running, which inevitably results in some kids passing others. Still, they have fun and hardly notice each other.

Doing a lap around the bases

The next week, my son made it to first but needed some help locating second. Thank goodness for the invention of base coaches!

Where to go next

Coming in for the run

Remembering to step on home plate is also a challenge at this age. The kids got better and better each week.

To make things extra-fun, the coaches had some kids bat and others field the ball that was batted. Then the two players would have a mad race to first base.

Not keeping his eye on the ball!

Occasionally the rain forced us into a local elementary school gym, which was also a fun place to practice.

Batting

Sliding into home

Who's on first?

Toward the end, cold weather set it but that didn't stop us from practicing.