Teaching Kids T-Ball

T-Ball is the entry sport to baseball and softball for young players, generally four to eight years old. Members of two teams take turns hitting a ball off a batting tee set on home plate.

Batters try to get on base and advance to home; fielders try to prevent that from happening. The elimination of pitching allows children to participate without the fear of being hit by a pitched ball. Tee ball develops the primary baseball skills of hitting, running, fielding and throwing. The players gain an understanding of the fundamental rules, which allows minimally competitive league play at all age levels.

In some leagues there is a "coach pitch" option where the coach is allowed to pitch (underhanded) 3 to 5 pitches to the batter. If the batter does not hit the ball fair then they bat off the tee. There are no strikeouts in T-ball.