Baseball Coaching Tips - Swing, Drive, Stroke

Baseball Coaching Tips - Swing, Drive, Stroke
By guest author: Joe Brockoff

Swing, one of the most common phrases heard on baseball fields around the world. And we hear it in both negative and positive ways. Coaches, dismayed by a batter who takes a swing at every pitched ball, shout "Swing at the good ones" to players frustrated by their lack of ability to make contact with the ball. What do they hear in response? "I don't know when to swing."

Here's how coaches can help young baseball players improve contact with the ball. Visualize a bat swinging. The club head is moving and arching as it approaches the ball for contact. This is what most people visualize when they think about "swinging." However, swinging is just not a good idea. It doesn't allow for the hitter to have the best chance for maximum contact. Even the word swing, gives the impression that the bat makes a long arc as it goes to the ball.

Introducing the Drive. First, eliminate all references to a swing from batting practices. Instead, teach youth or older baseball players to drive the bat in a straight line to make contact.

In other words, we don't swing the bat to hit the ball-we DRIVE the bat to the ball in a straight line to get contact. We make contact, and then the bat swings! The bat should not arc until after contact. So a batter doesn't swing the bat, he STROKES it.

The hitter who uses this stroke sends the bat in a straight line to connect with the ball, which produces better contact and distance. This is what we call the "pro stroke.".

Hi. I'm Coach Joe Brockoff, a Division I Head Baseball Coach for Tulane University for more than 19 years, and former minor league player for the New York Yankees. Over the years, I've taught thousands of baseball players how to increase batting speed and improve their overall performance on the field. In fact, my proven training system has sent 45 baseball players to the pros. I hope you'll visit my web site, the Super 8 Baseball Hitting System at http://www.learnbaseballhitting.com to watch some of my free instructional videos.

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