Now that summer is here, parents and kids will be heading outside to do everything from ride
bikes to play catch. But if your child is tackling one of these sports for the first time, how do you ensure you’re teaching them the right skills while also having a good time? We asked experts for advice on how to teach children the basics of baseball, tennis, bike riding, golf and swimming.
Baseball
The only gear you need to teach a beginner how to play ball? A ball and a glove, according to Coach Raymond De La Cruz, co-founder and head coach of On Deck.
The best thing for parents to do at first is simply play catch. There’s no need for grounders or fly balls—just a direct throw to the chest.
“Teach your child to be the tree and not the tree branch,” suggests De La Cruz. In other words, a player should catch the ball in front of their body, not with an arm sticking out to the side like a branch.
Parents should also keep in mind that it is important to pick one skill to work on and focus on that. “If you are working with your child on keeping your head down while hitting the ball, don’t worry if he misses every time as long as he keeps his head down,” explains De La Cruz.
And while batting cages are good to use during the winter months, they should not be used throughout baseball season. It is more beneficial to go out and throw the ball to your child to hit, as a batting cage cannot simulate a live pitch.
—Brittany McNamara
Tennis
“If a child is going to pick up the game and do well, they have to learn proper tehcnique so they don’t pick up bad habits,” says Michael Filipek, head pro and junior development director at Sutton East Tennis Club.
Before your child begins practicing their ground strokes, they should learn the ready position: facing forward with shoulders parallel to the net and knees bent as both hands are gripping the racquet.
Next, teach your child the main types of tennis shots: forehand, backhand, and volley. Filipek recommends getting a basket of balls and tossing them to your child one at a time “so they can hit one after the other at their own pace.”
Once your child has gotten the hang of hitting the ball, toss the ball to your child with your racquet at a slow speed and practice hitting the ball back and forth. Remember, there’s no need to play as if you and your child are competing at Wimbledon. Instead, avoid all the rules and regulations of tennis, such as scoring, and just focus on the basics, like making sure your child is using the right form, practicing hand-eye coordination, and running back and forth, even if they aren’t able to hit the ball back to you when you serve it.
If your child likes competition, simple point-by-point scoring will do, but it’s best to avoid games centered around winning and losing, says Michael Sarro, a program coordinator and tennis instructor at BumbleBee Tennis. “The important thing is that your child is having fun. The goal is to get them to develop a love for the game.”
—Tanisia Morris
Bike Riding
Ready to teach your kid to ride a bike? First, take notice of your child’s developmental level, suggests Rich Conroy, a cycling instructor and manager of the education program at Bike New York. If your child has a decent sense of balance, they’re probably ready. (Most kids learn between the ages of 5 and 9.)
First, you need to
choose the right bike; a child should be able to stand over the bike’s
frame.
Next, your
child should practice balancing on the bike.
Conroy suggests removing the training wheels
and pedals, and lowering the seat so the child’s feet rest flat on the
ground. While sitting on the seat, your child should walk the bike
forward with his feet. Eventually, he will start to lift his feet and
glide.
Then, put
the pedals back on and have your child do the same thing. But this time
he should take his feet off the ground, put them on the pedals and begin
riding!
Once your
child can pedal, he should learn to turn and stop using the pedals and
brakes—don’t let him get into the habit of using shoes to stop.
Finally, teach your child
the safety rules of the road.
Explain to your child how stop signs operate and how
to look for traffic. Your child will learn a lot from example, so go on a
ride together and reiterate the rules, commending him for his smart
bicycling behavior.
—Shani
R. Friedman
Golf
One of the most
important aspects of teaching your kids to play golf is making sure they
have the right club. “What I always see parents do wrong is cut down
their clubs for their kids,” says Allan Renz, a teaching professional at
the Golf Academy at Chelsea Piers. For little ones, Renz suggests
purchasing equipment from Snag Golf, which offers clubs
light enough for children to use comfortably.
The first step in
teaching your child the art of the swing is showing her how to hold the
club correctly. There are several options, but the easiest for children
is the 10-finger grip. If you’re not familiar with it, go online and
looking up some how-to videos before heading out—most are just a few
minutes long and will give you enough background information to teach
your child.
Kids
also tend to move around a lot, so when they’re practicing their swing,
make sure there is not a lot of movement when they are hitting the ball.
A great way to make
golf fun and teach aiming skills at the same time is by playing
mini-golf. “The kid won’t really even know that they are practicing
aiming,” says Renz.
He
also says that kids don’t worry if they miss the ball, so parents
shouldn’t either. There’s no need to correct your child on every swing.
Renz explains, “It’s all about positive reinforcement. You don’t want to
be hard on the kids.”
—Brittany McNamara
“The important thing is
that your child is having fun. The goal is
to get them to develop a love for the game.”
Swimming
Think your tot is ready to
take her splish-splash from the bath tub to the pool?
Although it’s
tempting to go it alone, experts recommend you first enroll your child
in swimming lessons with a certified swim instructor. Here’s one reason
why: Most children have a fear of water, and if the lessons are not
facilitated by a professional who knows how to introduce kids to the
pool, they can easily be traumatized by the experience. “Open bodies of
water such as the ocean and even the pool are not controlled
environments, so there’s always a danger of drowning,” says Paul Weiss,
the senior program director at Manhattan’s Asphalt Green.
When you are ready to hit
the water with your child one-on-one, keep safety precautions in mind.
Supervision is key and rescue equipment should always be close by,
including first aid kits and life jackets.
Parents should begin by reviewing some of the
basic swimming skills that their child is already learning such as
breathing, balancing, kicking, floating and treading water. Locomotive
skills such as strokes and glides and underwater activities should come
after.
—Tanisia
Morris
