If your child is new to playing baseball, the one thing any parent can help them with would be safety tips, especially when batting.
There are so many things that can go wrong, and getting hit with a flyball is not fun. Even a stray pitch can injure the batter, so it’s important to practice safety tips, especially if you are new to the game.
Always Wear an Approved Batter’s Helmet
Safety gear is of utmost importance in any sport, but in baseball, the most important piece of safety gear would be the batter’s helmet.
Not only can a stray pitch hit the batter in the head, but hitting the ball at the wrong angle can cause it to fly backwards into the batter’s head. Many a batter has been knocked unconscious in this way.
To protect the delicate brain, always wear an approved batter’s helmet.
Keep the Batter Behind High-Quality L-Screens
High-quality netted L-screens can keep an errant hit from injuring other players in the area.
Whether you are working at batting practice at home or on the field with the team, screens should be set up around the batter to prevent injuring bystanders or other players.
High-quality netted screens like these L screens can ensure a safe batting practice for all involved.
Keep Your Distance from the Batter
Actually, it isn’t only the batter who needs to follow safety tips at batting practice. Often the entire team is out on the field.
There are times when other players are not practicing, and they like to observe the batter practicing. As a rule of thumb, never stand too close to the batter during practice because a wayward ball could cause serious injuries.
Minimize People in the Batting Practice Area
This goes along with keeping your distance from the batter. Altogether too many players like to observe the batter in practice from too close a distance.
If you are at batting practice with the whole team, it’s important to maintain a safe distance from the batter at all times.
Keep Your Eyes on the Ball!
Another safety tip involves keeping your eyes on the ball at all times. You can never tell which direction the ball will be hit during batting practice, so always keep your eyes on the ball.
If it even appears to be headed in your direction, step aside or quickly move back away from its projected trajectory. If you are a player observing your teammate at batting practice, always pay attention to where that ball is located.
Learn to Drop the Bat
This is one of the hardest habits to break when batting. In batting practice, a good deal of time should be spent learning to drop the bat instead of flinging it off to the batter’s side.
Do you know just how many players are injured each year by a flying bat flung away from the batter upon striking the ball? Coaches will often bench players for a game if they’ve struck someone with a flying bat that wasn’t dropped upon getting that hit.
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As with any sport, safety rules in baseball are of prime importance even within the official rules of the league. It is all too easy to be seriously injured or to seriously injure another person if these rules are not observed.
From the moment a player makes the team, long before that first much-anticipated game, safety rules take up a considerable amount of time during training.
Whether learning batting safety rules or how to slide into home for that homer, there are rules in place for everyone’s welfare.
