Youth Baseball Coaching Clinic Official Blog

Welcome to the official blog of the Youth Baseball Coaching Clinic. Our blog features free youth baseball articles and daily posts on every aspect of coaching youth baseball including youth baseball practice organization, youth baseball practice drills for youth baseball, youth baseball coaching tips and baseball strategy for coaching kids. Make sure to save this site to your favorites. You will want to visit our site regularly because we update daily. Good Luck to You and Your Team!



Monday, August 22, 2011

Baseball Coaching Product Spotlight: Glove Radar Baseball Pitch Speed Velocity Radar


The Glove Radar™ is a small inexpensive Doppler radar velocity sensor which attaches to a baseball or softball glove to measure the speed of the ball just before it is caught. It is easily attached to, and removed from virtually any ball glove. Clever design results in a small, versatile, low-cost device affordable for youth and senior level teams and individual players.

The purpose of Glove Radar™ is to assist in developing players' throwing capabilities by providing a measure of velocity improvement which results from using proper throwing techniques. By learning the proper way to condition, train, warm-up, and throw, players can achieve their best accuracy and velocity performance, while reducing the risks of injury to their arm and body.

The Glove Radar™ can aid any player - infielders and outfielders, as well as pitchers and catchers, throwing from any distance. Professional and amateur players can use the Glove Radar™ when warming-up. Young ballplayers will benefit from velocity information when tossing or training, and will have fun using it.

The Glove radar can be purchased for just $69.95 at Baseball2u.com.
For more information visit
http://store.baseball2u.com/gloveradar.html

Friday, August 19, 2011

Fundamentals of Throwing a Baseball

Fundamentals of Throwing a Baseball
By guest author: Lou Schneider

I know you are busy. Life is hectic. However, you want to make the most of teaching youth baseball skills to your team, child or youth organization. This article is designed to reduce the amount of time you must invest, to be a more effective coach, teacher, parent or administrator of youth baseball players. The following instruction will provide easy to use methods to teach youth baseball players the proper fundamentals when throwing a baseball.

These baseball throwing fundamentals are designed for parents, managers and coaches to instruct players on properly throwing the baseball to:

1. Improve your throwing accuracy
2. Maximize your throwing speed
3. Improve the speed of the glove to hand exchange
4. Reduce the risk of arm injuries

Holding the baseball

It all starts here! The key to baseball throwing fundamentals starts with holding the ball correctly. The correct way to hold a baseball is using what's called a 4-seam grip. Please note - Pitchers grips can and will vary, as ball movement may be desired to deceive hitters. This grip should be used by all other positions.

I'll take you through the proper way to hold and throw a baseball. I'm constantly amazed at how few players properly hold and throw a baseball. This technique will make your son throw with more velocity, more accurately, and reduced injury risk. You should only use your index and middle fingers and your thumb. Your index and middle fingers should be on top of the ball crossing the widest seams. Your thumb will support the weight of the ball on the bottom of the grip. Don't squeeze the ball, but hold it tight enough so you won't drop it. Leave a little space between the ball and your hand.

Advantages of using this grip:

1. Better accuracy, as the ball is less likely to tail away from your target.
2. Ball will travel further with less effort, as it takes a more direct route to the target.
3. Ball will get to the target faster, as it takes a more direct route.

Releasing the Baseball

The last motion before you release the baseball should be a wrist flicking motion toward your target that creates a backspin on the baseball. Even though it's the last motion in the process, it should be taught and practiced before the rest of the motion as it should be reinforced as the others parts are learned. This motion, combined with the 4-seam grip, will ensure you maximize the above referenced advantages of this technique.

Bringing it all Together with the Proper Upper/Lower Body Movements We'll cover 4 steps in this section to complete the baseball throwing fundamentals technique:

1. Ready Position

Begin by holding the ball in your throwing hand using the 4-seam grip to begin.

Your glove side shoulder and arm should face your target. At this time, your feet should be shoulder width apart and square with your body.

2. Weight Transfer

Your weight should shift to your rear leg (throwing arm side leg). Once your weight has shifted to your back foot, your throwing arm will extend away from your target (4-seam hold, fingers on top, thumb on bottom) while your glove arm extends toward the target. Take a small step toward your target as your arms extend. This will begin the transition of your weight from back to front. Proper weight transition will give you better leverage, thus more power behind your throw. This increases the velocity of your throw.

3. The Throw

Simultaneously:

-Pivot your waist/hips to square with your target
-Pull your glove away from the target
-Move your arm toward the target (elbow will be above the shoulder).

4. Follow Through

Simultaneously release the ball to its target, continue your throwing arm down (towards the ground) and across your body and follow with your throwing arm leg moving forward toward the target.

Lou Schneider
http://youth-baseball-made-easy.com/
Dedicated to providing coaches and parents the tools to teach baseball fundamentals and drills to youth players. Please visit the website for more detailed instruction including illustrations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lou_Schneider

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Attention Youth Baseball Coaches & Parents - Receive Free Baseball Drills & Tips


You are invited to join the Baseball Coaching Digest community and begin receiving the Baseball Coaching Digest free every month. This emailed newsletter contains free baseball drills, free baseball coaching tips, articles on how to teach hitting, articles on how to teach pitching mechanics, and baseball practice planning tips and templates.

BaseballCoachingDigest.org

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

How To Properly Grip A Baseball Bat

How to Avoid Bat Drag - How The Best Hitters in Baseball Use Their Hands
In order to swing the bat effectively and produce bat speed you need to learn to torque the handle of the bat. This video explains the hand mechanics which 95% of the best hitters in MLB use.



How To Properly Grip A Baseball Bat


UNC Assistant Baseball Coach Chad Holbrook demonstrates how to get the maximum power from your grip

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Monday, August 8, 2011

Youth Baseball Catching Clinic



Youth Baseball Catching Clinic
Uploaded by ClubHouseGas On http://ClubHouseGAS.com , noted baseball instructor Russ Dickerson talks about catching. Also check-out http://YouthSportTravel.com.

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Youth Baseball - Solving Youth Baseball Hitting Problems




Youth Baseball Training - Solving Hitting Problems
By Jake Wyatt

In youth baseball training, hitting the baseball is often the most practiced skill. Every kid lives for the "crack" sound when the bat meets the baseball perfectly and sends the ball flying over the fence!

But many kids have yet to experience this thrill. With proper coaching and training, you can give your players the best possible chance of hitting a home run. Here are some hitting problems and potential ways to correct them:

Striking Out Too Much

Every team has a player that almost never hits the ball. The coach needs to play him, but doesn't know where to put him in the batting line up. With some special coaching, this player just might become a top hitter.

Here are some things to consider with a strike-out player:

1. Have his eyesight checked.

2. Make sure he isn't swinging too hard - if he is losing his balance after each swing, he is swinging too hard.

3. Tell him to adjust his goal from an over-the-fence home run to a nice even line drive.

4. Make sure the bat isn't too heavy for the player.

5. Have him develop a two-strike approach to guard against a strikeout (change his stance, change his grip on the bat, something different than the prior two strikes).

6. Encourage extra "hitting off the tee" practice.

Trouble With Inside Pitch

Some kids are scared of the inside pitch - with good reason. In youth baseball, pitcher inexperience causes many more players to be hit by pitched baseballs.

1. The most common cause of having a hard time hitting inside pitches is standing too close to the plate. Have the player move away from the plate a bit.

2. Have the player overcome his fear of being hit by tossing balls at him (slowly) and having him dodge them, so he can get his confidence up that he can avoid a direct body hit from an inside fast ball.

3. Again, additional practice off the tee setup inside the base can help improve this problem.

Hitting Too Many Pop-Ups.

All players love to hit the ball, but the pop-up is almost always an out. Preventing pop-ups is important in youth baseball.

1. Pop-ups are caused by hitting under the ball. Have the player practice hitting high pitches, to help them stay on top of the ball and learn how to hit it down.

2. Locking hips can cause pop-ups as well. Have the player practice a smooth stride and weight transfer.

These are some of the biggest hitting problems seen in youth baseball. With a little extra work, the coach can mitigate these problems and help lead the team to victory!

In order to be the best possible baseball player, training should happen year-round and be a joint effort between the coach, the player and the parents. Get more free tips to improve baseball performance, reviews of e-products related to baseball, and links to training resources at http://youth-baseball-training.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5754397