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Must Have Items for T Ball Coaches
At Tanner Tees, our mission is to help players, coaches, and parents grow their love (and skill) for the sports of baseball and softball. Wherever you are in your journey - we're here to provide the tools and guidance you need to succeed.
Tee ball is where the journey starts for most future hitters. Here's a checklist for a t ball coach to have everything they need to run a successful t ball practice.
Tee Ball Coach Checklist
Tee Ball is a great way for a t ball coach to teach kids the fundamentals of baseball before they advance to more complex games like softball or Little League. However, just because it's the beginning the journey doesn't mean there aren't an abundance of things that need to be considered when coaching a Tee Ball team.
Whether you are a first-time tee-ball coach or a seasoned veteran, having the right equipment when your players arrive at the field for practice will ensure you get the most out of your time together. Let's cover some basic equipment every tee ball coach should have.
Tanner Jr. Tee Ball Batting Tee
This tee is a great one for young t-ball players as it is made specifically for children ages 3-8.
The Jr. is adjustable from 18-25 inches to adapt to the range of child heights found on most t ball teams.
Typically, every child on the team will get 3 or 4 at-bats during a game. A tee like the Tanner Jr helps expedite the game and gives the most opportunity for players to hit. The Jr features a rugged metal stem that is over-molded with soft rubber and a sturdy flexible rubber base that makes it very stable - hard to knock over or move - in the event the tee is hit as opposed to the ball - an inevitability! The ball rest is a flexible cone that encourages hitters to swing hard through contact instead of the rigid cone found on other youth tees.
At the end of the day low quality batting tees simply don't hold up to regular heavy use or the enthusiasm of hard missed hits, leaving you as the t ball coach replacing tees every season. Not so with the Tanner Jr. which comes with a one year manufacturers warranty and is backed by the Tanner Guarantee.
Tanner Pro - Youth/Short Stem Batting Tee
One of the newer hitting tees to join the Tanner Tees lineup, the Tanner Pro is the ideal mix of durability and portability - featuring a weighted base with a thick rubber coating and a "T" cut-out for easy transporting. Stable, weighted, and it can sit on top of home plate. Just remember the t ball coach will have to fit this tee more to the hitter than with the Tanner Jr. batting tee. The Tanner Pro stem is available in 3 heights to accommodate youth, adults and low ball advanced drills. For most T ball players, we recommend selecting the Youth Height Stem which extends from 20" to 32". (You can also order an additional Adult/Standard height stem if desired.)
2 Dozen Tanner Practice Baseballs
Available on TannerTees.com, we sell one dozen packs of cork-center, dual rubber protected, 20% wool, premium leather practice baseballs. Our guys say these sound great when they're hit and keep their shape and pop - even after hundreds of practices.
2 Dozen Tanner Tee Ball Safety Balls
Available on TannerTees.com, safety tee balls look and play just like regular baseballs but are made of much softer foam core, allowing young players to stay safe while learning the fundamentals of hitting, catching and throwing. Unlike a regular baseball which has a hard core, a safety ball has a foam center which helps reduce risk of potential injury if a child is hit with a ball during play or practice. In addition, the dense foam makes learning to catch easier as a safety tee ball is less likely to sting the hands when kids catch the ball with their bare hands.
2 Dozen Tanner Soft Rubber Training Balls
A regulation tee-ball baseball is designed to be a softer version of a cowhide leather baseball, but they can still be intimidating to a young tee baller learning how to catch, throw and hit. If a beginner is hit with an errant throw, a glove-hand miss during throw and catch, or some other accident, there could be an injury. One way to help avoid that is by practicing with a softer rubber baseball product before moving to a heavier ball.
Also, as a t ball coach you know confidence is huge at this age. Players who get tagged early in their young careers sometimes carry that fear with them as they transition from t-ball to coach pitch, which is evident in hitters who bail out of the box during coach pitch and/or snatch at the baseball during throw and catch.
3 or 4 5-Gallon Buckets
No t ball coach equipment list would be complete without 5-gallon buckets. They are a staple on any ball field and for every t ball coach. They're are easy to find at your local Lowes or Home Depot, and if you can deal with them not having a lid - they are only around $4 or $5 each - as opposed to ones with a lid to sit on that can be as much as $30.
Tanner Hitting Deck Coaching Aid
The Tanner Hitting Deck is a great t ball coaching tool to ensure hitters reproduce the same stance on every repetition regardless of pitch location. The suggested points of contact teach hitters that the bat path, contact point, and where on the diamond the baseball or softball should travel after contact will change based on the pitch, but their stance does not.
Coaches can deploy the Hitting Deck as a force multiplier. Pop up a batting net, put some balls in a bucket and place the tee on each of the contact points. Then each hitter take 5 reps at each contact point for total of 15 reps. Any parent can run a tee hitting station that is reliably teaching goods habits.
Throw Down Home Plate & Field Bases
Throw down home plates & portable field bases are for establishing mock-up baseball diamonds in a grassy area where you may not have a real baseball diamond for practice such as a church, school, or local park. In quick time, you'll see that practicing on a diamond with in-ground "real" bases and even clay is a luxury. Most practices occur wherever they can occur. Having some plates to define your space is a must to organize practice.
Check on Shared Equipment from the League
Before you invest in the entire t ball coach equipment list yourself, be sure to check with the league on team-issued baseball equipment/materials or access to the shared equipment like tee-ball bats, batting helmets, and catchers gear. As the volunteer coach, expect that you may have both sweat equity and even some dollars invested into the team, but your affiliated league is going to do its best to support you too.
Pro-Tips for First-Time Coaches
Be sure to communicate with your team parents regularly, get a group text going - combined with an email chain, sharing your season schedule as early as possible.
Explain when and where specifically practice will be, how and where to park, what equipment players need to bring, what items are provided, and what is the bad weather plan. Overcommunicate and don't overlook any details. Can they drop their child/children off and leave, or do they need to to stay for the duration of the practice? What's the best ways to reach you - text, email, voice, FB, Instagram, team web page? What are the league and/or team policies relating to playing time?
The best t ball coaches say good communication up front will save you time and make you look like a rock star, ensuring that both the players and parents feel like they are getting the most out of the tee-ball experience.
Relax & HAVE FUN, It's Just a Game
Remember, the goal at this stage is to have fun, learn the game, and discover how to work together with a group of peers to achieve a common goal. Call it the building blocks of healthy competition. It's not about the W right now.
There are a lot of challenging skills in baseball. Tee ballers won't do much perfectly right, and that's ok. If a child is picking flowers in the outfield, or not paying attention, or throws awkwardly, or can't catch, or runs to third base from home, it's ok. It really is. The more they enjoy these first seasons of play, the more they will want to grow and continue to play as they get older into coach pitch and then into kid pitch.
We Are Here to Help!
The staff at Tanner Tees is always here to answer any questions you might have. Give us a call (800-230-6219) or visit our Facebook and Instagram pages to connect with other members of our community!
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