T-Ball / Softball / Baseball Adaptations

Forms of T-ball, softball and baseball are commonly played in both the primary and high school setting. While sport can be a great way to get students active and involved in a team game it can be quite difficult for a student or athlete with vision impairment to be an active participant.

Like all information on this website it is important to understand that these are just possible adaptations and for further information please contact your advisory teacher or Andrew Whisson (PE teacher at the SA School for Vision Impaired).

It is important that before starting a unit on T-ball/baseball/softball that a teacher first considers what skills, techniques or tactics they want to observe and what are conducive to the students or athletes in this setting. Is it important for the students to hit the ball out of the air? Is it important to see how a student or athlete can pitch the ball against an opponent?

While beep baseball is a growing sport in the United States of America (USA) there are some major rule changes and the pitcher and catcher play very different roles to mainstream baseball or softball. In this sport the pitcher and catcher are sighted players from the batting team and are there to place the pitch where the batter can swing and hit the ball not to strike the batter out.

Like all sports communication is the foundation for success, and this is no different in T-Ball/baseball/softball. There are some important rules that can be enforced for each of these sports as shown below.

T-Ball:

As the batter approaches the tee they should be allowed to ask the fielders to sound off one at a time so they are aware of field positions. This could be as simple as the players voicing one at a time "here".

Before the batter hits the ball they should call "Ready?" to which a designated fielder responds "Yes". This should be followed by "Play" immediately before hitting the ball into the field. If a batter does not complete these steps, then a strike is given against them for each occasion and the ball is placed back onto the tee.

Softball/Baseball:

As the batter approaches the tee they should be allowed to ask the fielders to sound off one at a time so they are aware of field positions. This could be as simple as the players voicing one at a time "here".

Before the pitcher throws the ball they should call "Ready?" to which the batter responds "Yes". This should be followed by "Play" immediately before pitching the ball to the batter. If the pitcher does not complete these steps, then the batter gets a free walk to first base.

In this scenario the batter is having to hit against a pitcher that is trying to get a strike or catch in the field. While this is somewhat inclusive, even with a warning of the pitch this still very much favours the pitcher over the batter. By ensuring that the pitcher is from the batting team we can give the batter a much greater chance of hitting the ball as the pitch becomes far more predictable. By integrating the pesäpallo (Finnish Baseball) rule of making sure the ball bounces within the field of play, we reduce the possibility of continuous home runs or sighted players taking advantage of these rule changes.

Spotters:

By having a spotter available for all athletes or students with vision impairment it is possible to avoid collisions, dangerous ball contact or poor tactical choices. The spotter may call "High ball coming to you" to avoid the athlete getting hit by the ball. The spotter may call "runner on first still moving to second" to allow the athlete to throw to the correct base.

Depending on the individual students the equipment will differ greatly. For all students, however, the choice of ball is an important first step to ensure an inclusive unit or lesson. Depending on the vision of the individual student it may be important to include an audible ball, or a ball of high contrast to the environment being played in (see PE adaptations pages). Wiffles balls are cheap and easily adapted to ensure they are audible by simply pressing bells into them. The holes and lighter weight also reduce the velocity and possible damage caused by the ball. Younger students or athletes may need the ball size increased and the use of a small chime bell can allow for greater success with the skills being taught, not only for the student with vision impairment but for other students with less prior experience or lower spatial awareness.

It is possible to purchase beep baseballs, however, they are only available from the USA so are quite expensive in comparison to wiffle balls or chime balls.

While the increased surface area of the ball may be enough to support students with a vision impairment, younger or inexperienced students may require further support and increasing the surface area of the bat can further support this. The use of equipment such as soft foam polo sticks (shown below) increases the bat surface size considerably and allows for greater success for athletes or students with vision impairment.

For more information contact your advisory teacher or Andrew Whisson (PE Teacher at the SA School for Vision Impaired) for more information.