catching the ball

Question
QUESTION: Do you have any drills that I can use to help my son to catch the ball? He is pretty good, but not consistent.  I know it is a matter of just throwing balls and having him figure it out, but any little tricks would be appreciate it.  This has been the most difficult part of the game for him.
ANSWER: Cristina,
May I ask how old your son is?  Also can you give me some detail in regards to what seems to be his problem when catching the ball (ie. Is he scared of the ball....not using two hands.....missing the ball completely, etc.).  I wasn't sure what you meant by not consistent.

If you're not sure, his age is the most important thing.  Let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Donovan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: He is six years old.  He isn't scared of the ball and seems to swat at it instead of catch it.  I would also say that he forgets at times to use both his hands.  It is just kind of frustrating because every other aspect of the game has been so natural and easy for him. He seems to get upset with himself because he isn't catching 100% yet.  I would really like to help him improve that this year because it is the one aspect of his game that is lacking.  
Thank you for clarifying the question.


Answer
OK.  Good info.  First of all, six years old is almost too soon to be worried about any of this, but we'll give it a shot.  He is still developing his motor skills and will continue to do so, through his late teens.  Six years old is also way too young for him to be getting upset about anything regarding baseball.  He'll have his entire life to be hard on himself, but for now, you must make sure he is having fun.

Now, as far as his catching the ball, there are several things we can try...

If he's swatting at the ball, he needs to be taught how to have "soft hands".  Initially, put his glove to the side as this is probably more of an encumberance more than anything else.  We need to train the body first and then we'll add the equipment.  Try the following drills...

Stand about five yards apart and with a tennis ball or any ball with very little weight (wiffle balls are perfect) play under hand toss back and forth.  If he swats at these lighter balls with one hand, they will bounce off and he will have very little success.  Remind him to always use two hands.  This is very important.  Make sure that he is providing some "give" in his hands, wrists and arms, so that he catches the ball as if it is an egg.  His feet are also very important.  A thrown ball is never going to end up in the same place everytime, so he needs to get his body in position as well as his hands.  Swatting at the ball is often a symptom of "lazy feet".  In order to fix this, he must anticipate the throw with "active feet", very similiar to a tennis player getting ready to return a serve.  If any type of athlete is flat-footed, they will have slow reaction time.  

Once he starts to catch a few, switch to an actual egg (you can start with a hard boiled egg and graduate to a regular uncooked egg as a challenge as he improves).  If you've ever taken part in an egg-toss, this is the exact same concept, so make it fun.  If he doesn't get his feet into position, he will undoubtedly swat or lunge at the egg.  If he swats or lunges at the egg, it will break.  Move back a couple of steps after he gets the feel for it.  After you've extended your egg toss to about ten yards (he's only 6), toss him a tennis ball reminding him to continue using two hands and move his feet in anticipation of the throw.  Then and only then should you give him his glove and play catch with a baseball.  Don't move to the glove until he masters the first few steps without the glove.  This process may take a while, so don't get frustrated if he doesn't get it right away and repeat the initial steps until he improves or gets bored.  You don't want to force this kind of hard motor-skill instruction on a six year old if he doesn't show interest.

I hope this helps, Cristina.  If you have any further questions or if this doesn't make sense, don't hesitate to ask a follow up or two.  I wouldn't worry too much at this age regardless, but please let me know how it goes.  

Donovan