Getting Started with Baseball for Beginners: A Parent's Guide

Question
My son is 14 and wants to start playing baseball for the first time this fall. I want to know as a parent, where do I start, i.e. catching, hitting? I just don't know were to start?

Answer
Donna,

Playing catch, hitting off a tee and at a batting cage, fielding ground balls, that would be a good strating point.  Something I was taught a long time ago by Tony Lucadello (who many consider to be the best baseball scout of all-time) was to simply throw a baseball at a brick or cinderblock wall.  If the player throws the ball chest high it will bounce back as a ground ball for the player.  Seems juvenile but I had college kids do it as a core component of what we did.  Simple drill but it teaches throwing mechanics, accuracy, arm strength, proper footwork and fielding mechanics.  Not bad for a drill you can do by yourself.  Couple that with a batting tee and that's a pretty good pair of drills a player can do alone.

Send him to a camp or clinic at a local college so he can learn the proper approach to the game.  If you respond with your location I'll give you a recommendation or two.

Hope that helps,

Pat