| The sporting goods industry is a multi-billion dollar | | | | bubbles and have my son hit them with the big red bat. |
| business, and the cost of equipment can be ridiculously | | | | We would run up and down the backyard as he |
| expensive. Every family cannot afford the latest and | | | | chased the bubbles down and tried to break them. I |
| greatest products (and gimmicks). But the old saying | | | | encouraged him to keep both hands on the bat as he |
| that 'the best things in life are free' can also hold true in | | | | swung but if he didn't, so what--he was having fun. |
| sports. Before you go out and spend hundreds of | | | | Another game my kids loved when they got a little |
| dollars on a deluxe glove or equipment to help your | | | | older was called the 'dive game'. |
| kids learn a level swing, you should look around your | | | | I would throw ground balls to either their left or right |
| house and see what you can create, cheaply, that will | | | | side, and they would have to dive in front of the ball |
| help your kids improve their skills--and still have fun. | | | | and stop it. I tried teaching them that the goal was to |
| When I was a kid growing up, some of my best | | | | just stop the ball--like a hockey or soccer goalie--and |
| memories were throwing around the baseball with my | | | | not necessarily catch it. But it was amazing how much |
| older brother in our backyard. Using our imaginations, | | | | effort they put into trying to catch the ball. Aside from |
| we used almost every tree and rock in our yard to | | | | explaining the grass stains to their mother, this game |
| create fantasy sports and games. | | | | was a real hit with them and I even caught them |
| One of our favorite games was something we called | | | | playing it without me a few times which made me feel |
| 'error' One of us would throw a tennis ball on the roof | | | | great. |
| of our house--within an imaginary twenty foot | | | | Another favorite involved a few tennis balls, a tennis |
| boundary--and the other would have to catch the ball | | | | racquet and a cinder block. Laying the cinder block flat, |
| before it hit the ground. We spent endless hours | | | | we created a simple version of 'Home Run Derby' |
| playing this game. Other then some yelling from my | | | | Standing next to one of my kids as he held the tennis |
| parents (something about too many balls being stuck in | | | | racquet ready to swing it like a bat, I would bounce the |
| the gutter), this game still sticks in my mind as providing | | | | ball high off the cinder block. With the ball on the way |
| some of the most fun in my childhood. | | | | down, he would time it and hit it as far as he could. |
| Rushing forward about twenty five years, I found | | | | Both my kids could not get enough of this game. We |
| myself with my kids creating some similar games in | | | | were lucky that our backyard was fairly large but |
| our backyard (with my own gutter lurking nearby). | | | | some of the tennis balls did travel into our neighbor's |
| Most combined fun with affordability. We made use of | | | | yard. The real beauty of this game is that hitting a |
| almost every part of our property. | | | | tennis ball with a tennis racquet almost guarantees |
| Instead of spending over a hundred dollars on a hitting | | | | success for the fledgling ballplayer. |
| net, we put together a comparable apparatus using a | | | | Families who live in the inner city can also make use of |
| 10X14 plastic tarp along with some bicycle hooks, rope | | | | a lot of what's around them. I remember as a child |
| and two convenient trees. And we had fun putting it | | | | going to visit my grandparents in Brooklyn, New York. |
| up. The boys would hit balls into the tarp as I did my | | | | My uncle would take my brothers and me to the back |
| best impression of a big league hitting coach giving | | | | of the building and play numerous games off the huge |
| them tips. | | | | concrete wall. 'Toss ball home run derby' can be |
| Drills such as hitting off the batting tee and soft toss | | | | played off a wall, as well as a tarp, with the two |
| worked out great, too, with the tarp as backstop, but | | | | squares made out of chalk. |
| wacky games were also plentiful. We created a game | | | | Another game which we played, that was made |
| right on the tarp, putting two squares, one inside the | | | | popular just after World War 2, was called 'stoop ball'. |
| other made out of duct tape. This game we called | | | | In this game we would throw a ball off the stoop (or |
| 'toss ball home run derby'. Doing the soft toss drill | | | | concrete steps) and see if the other team would |
| against the tarp, a ball hit inside the small square would | | | | catch it before it bounced on the ground. One bounce |
| be a home run. A ball hit inside the large square would | | | | would be a single, two bounces a double and so on. |
| be a single. Everything else was an out. Three outs a | | | | Inner city kids who have limited room but love sports |
| team. This game combined skill building and having fun. | | | | can still find just enough to play for hours on end. |
| But I'd been inventing games for years. One of the first | | | | Baseball need not cost a fortune. And it doesn't have |
| things I did with both my sons as soon as they were | | | | to be all boring instruction, whether it is on a practice |
| old enough to hold a bat , was to get one of those | | | | field with twelve kids or in your own backyard with just |
| large red plastic 'whiffle ball' bats. I then bought a bottle | | | | you and your son or daughter. Keep it cheap, if you |
| of soap bubbles that all kids love. I would blow the | | | | can, and keep it fun. |