- Check the space and the kit.
- Get your child's attention first.
- Show it from two sides.
- Say one thing only.
- End on one that works.
Put the phone down where you can see it. Tap Next with your thumb, or use the arrow keys.
Is the space marked?
- The throwing line
- A wall or fence target (a hoop or a chalk box)
- The home spot
- First base (a cone or flat shoe)
A tee (or a cone with a ball on it), a plastic or light bat or a tennis racket, a helmet, open ground in front, cones as targets. No tee? A cone with a rolled newspaper stuck in it.
Three minutes to get warm.
Easy jogging on the spot, then arms and legs. How to warm up well is explained at workonfitness.com.
- Helmet on. Stand side-on to the field, feet a shoulder-width apart, knees soft, the tee in front of you.
- Hands together at the end of the bat, bat up over the back shoulder.
- Swing smoothly and level, head over the ball, eyes on it.
- Follow through toward the target, then drop the bat beside you.
Show it once from the front and once from the side, slowly. Then let your child try.
- 5 slow practice swings with no ball.
- Side-on, hands together, knees soft.
- Hit the ball off the tee, eyes on the ball.
- Follow through, then drop the bat.
- 5 hits a round.
How much: 5 practice swings, then 4 rounds of 5 hits
Level swing, hit the middle
Target tee
The rules
Cones in the field, and points for every ball that stops near a cone.
- Put 3 cones in the open ground at about 5, 10 and 15 m
- The batter has 5 hits off the tee; everyone else stands well to the side
- After the 5 hits, walk out together to see where the balls stopped
- Two turns each
Fair play: A younger batter uses a bigger ball, a lower tee or a racket.
- Points
- 1 point for each ball that rolls into the open ground; 2 points if it stops within one big step of the near or middle cone; 3 points near the far cone.
- Fouls
- No points for that hit: the bat is thrown; hitting before everyone is clear to the side; a swing and a miss uses up that hit
- Win
- The highest total after two turns of 5 hits.
- 8
- 14
- 20
4 of 5 balls hit and rolling into the open ground.
End on one that works. If it was hard today, finish with the easier version.
Well played.
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