PES 470

Service Learning

Recently I have had the opportunity to assist in the planning and instruction of private softball lessons to a grade school student. I have had little experience playing baseball and have only watched softball games in the past. When I was asked to help with this task, I was excited. My first day, I learned the basics behind planning individual softball lessons. Starting with a warm-up, we then worked on throwing technique, base running, and the fundamentals of swinging the bat. Each week the lessons have progressed. The grade school student is a third baseman, so we have devoted a large amount of time on fielding. During one session, the instructor (my wife), had the student practice fielding with a flat glove shaped piece of plywood. This taught the student to trap a ball with two hands. Although the task sounds simple, it really stressed the importance of the fundamentals. The planning of the practices were also just as inventive. Since the lessons involve one-on-one instruction, the instructor has to plan a large amount of activities to ensure that the entire hour is used. I have been helping for about four weeks now, and I really enjoy it. My coaching experience has been limited to assistant coaching and involves little planning other than everyday routines. Teaching the very basic fundamentals to the grade school student, has given me the opportunity to develop my coaching style and learn management skills in sports. I look forward to planning practices and managing my own camps/teams in the future.