How to Hit a Baseball

How to Hit a Baseball demonstrates the key elements of the proper swing. This is proper instruction for a baseball player, based on how hitting is actually done, not on folk wisdom.

Bob Caswell has worked as a hitting instructor for professional teams, college teams and leagues, and has coached amateurs at all levels. He's providing some great baseball hitting tips to help you succeed.

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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Seven Tips on How to Hit a Baseball

Seven Tips on How to Hit a Baseball
By Daniel J Cogan

Trying to hit a baseball is one of the toughest things to do in sports. Not many people can go out with a bat and hit a baseball that is moving all different directions while coming in at a high speed. It takes a lot of determination and focus to hit a baseball and most do not succeed because they are not willing to put the time and practice in. I am going to tell you seven steps that will teach you how to hit a baseball if you are willing to put the time in.

1. Find the bat you would like to use. It should not be too heavy or too light, you want a bat that you can get around to strike the ball with the most power.

2. Find a comfortable grip around the base of the bat. Most people grip the bat as tight as they can, but that is incorrect. You want to hold the bat loosely right around the base of your fingertips, but not the palm of your hand.

3. Get into a comfortable stance. Spread your feet about shoulder length apart, bend your knees and crouch over a little bit. Then bring the bat up to a comfortable spot to where you can bring it down to hit the ball at a direct angle. Most people have their own individual stance. As long as it feels comfortable to the hitter, it can be worked with.

4. Being in the batter's box can be very stressful. It is important for the hitter to stay focused. As long at the hitter can stay relaxed and go through the proper motions the hits will start to come. But if the hitter gets up to the plate very tense it is going to be tough to get a hit.

5. The hitter should know his strike zone. The ideal pitch is right down the middle of the plate, but that isn't going to happen very often. So the hitter should find a zone usually from his chest to the knees, where he has the ability to hit the ball.

6. While in the box there is a process to go though, when the pitcher is in his wind up, the hitter should get in his stance and bring the bat back. Then he should load his weight onto his back foot. This allows the batter to use his whole body to hit the ball instead of just hit arms. Once the hitter has loaded up, and the pitch is on its way, the hitter should step then swing. The hitter should keep his eyes on the ball so he should watch the ball connect off the bat.

7. The last step is to practice. When trying to hit a baseball you can never have enough practice it is all about muscle memory. The more you practice the more you will become comfortable with seeing the baseball come in and you will be able to hit the pitch in your strike zone.

Just remember hitting a baseball can be very frustrating most of the time the pitcher has the upper hand and the batter will fail, but as long as you follow these seven steps and continue to practice, hitting a baseball will become a lot easier than it once was.

Dan Cogan

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

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Baseball Hitting Instructional Videos - Hit To Middle Drill

This video is from ShapeFit.com's baseball training video series. The video provides basic tips on proper baseball hitting fundamentals. Whether you are a parent who is excited about getting your youngster or youngsters started out in t-ball, a teenager trying to improve your skills or even a college or professional player, these hitting basics hold true regardless of what skill level you are at.

Teaching Young Hitters to Hit Like Major League Players

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Article Title: Teaching Young Hitters to Hit Like Major League Players

By Jack Perconte

Just as when I played in the major leagues, there are many great major league hitters playing now. Of course, there are a few that stand out and I never turn the channel when they are up to bat. When I talk to young hitters, these are the current players I often bring up, admire and advise young players to try to emulate:

1. Derek

2. Youk

3. Ichiro

4. Albert

5. Joe (Mauer - You probably knew that but Joe is so plain I figured I would make sure)

All household names for baseball fans of course. My favorite major league hitters are probably not much different than many fan favorites. I enjoy watching these guys for all the same reasons.

First, they all have their individual style.

Second, they are all fundamentally sound.

Third, they are tough to strike out but aggressive at the same time - rarely going out of the strike zone for a pitch.

Fourth, they make adjustments from at-bat to at-bat.

Fifth, they know the game situation and hit accordingly.

Good hitters like these know what is needed depending on the game situation. When they just need to get on base, they take the walk. When an RBI is needed, they will take the single and when a long ball is needed they will look for a pitch they can drive out of the park. The result of all this is that they have quality at-bats every time.

Of course, not many youth ball players will develop the great hitting skills of these major league players but that does not mean coaches should not teach the attributes of these great stars. Good coaches should allow hitters to have their own style as long as it allows for and includes good hitting fundamentals. They should teach hitters to be aggressive and patient at the same time and they can teach them the strategies of the game so they will know what is needed at a particular time in a game. Additionally, good coaches can teach players how to analyze the opposing team pitcher so they learn what adjustments may be necessary as the game goes on. Here are a few further points that follow up on these points:

1. Good coaches know the difference between style and fundamentals. Style is unique to the individual and involves the players' initial set-up.

2. Fundamentals begin with hitter's stride which must bring them to the correct launch position and the hitter's first move of the swing.

3. Teaching kids to learn and adhere to the strike zone is a never ending process that coaches should constantly be preaching to their players.

4. Having players study the opposing teams' pitcher's tendencies is another job of the coach and one that will pay off with quality at-bats and more wins.

5. Helping kids understand game strategy and game situations is another teaching aspect of good coaches. Players will begin to anticipate game situation behavior which makes them more mentally prepared.

Finally, each ball player learns at a different pace but with constant coaching reinforcement, all players have the opportunity to become great students of the game. After all, there is more to the game than just being able to run, hit and throw.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball playing lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his positive parenting advice and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com

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

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The Five Elements of the Major League Little League Baseball Swing

By Nick Dixon

There is nothing more beautiful in sports than when a "major league" swing whether it be at the tee ball, little league, high school, college or Major League Baseball level of play. A "major league" swing is what I consider to be a perfectly executed swing. There is nothing more beautiful in sports than when you see a baseball batter, at any level, executes the perfect swing, and drive a line drive into one of the outfield gaps.

What makes a little league baseball swing become a "major league" swing? What are the 5 elements of the perfect baseball swing? The answer to that question is simple. The batter must have batting skill, good bat speed, a good eye for the baseball, perfect timing and a proper approach to hitting. Here I discuss all five of these basic elements and how each is improved:

The five basic elements of the "Major League" Little League Swing are:

1. Batting Skill - There is only one way to improve batting skill. That is making sure that the batter takes a high number of practice swings daily or at least 3 times a week year round. The younger the batter begins this practice routine, the batter. It is crucial to batting skill development that the batter receives proper instruction as to proper hitting mechanics.

2. Bat Speed - The grip must be perfect with the fingers aligned and the bat handle gripped in the fingers and not deep in the palm. The batter must have adequate strength to get the bat speed generated. The absolute best way to improve hand and arm strength is do finger pushups, weight roll ups with the arms extended and wrist curls with the arms on a bench.

3. Good Eye for the Ball - There are two things involved in having a good batting eye at the plate. First the batter must learn the strike zone and be able to determine quickly whether a pitch is a in the strike zone or out of it. The other thing that makes the eyes of the batter an asset at the plate, is when the batter has the ability to pitch the ball up very quickly as it is released from the hand of the pitcher. The batter must learn to identify pitches, the spin on the ball, the pitchers arm slot, and the pitchers release point. There are many drills that can help a better have a better eye. One such drill is a "tracking" drill in which the batter stands in while a pitcher throws his bull pen. The batter verbally calls out the type of pitch and its location. The batter will call the pitch in this order...strike, fastball, in or ball, curve ball, off the plate away.

4. Proper Timing - Good timing is something that all great hitters possess. They know when to load and when to launch. They are never late on the fastball. They are never early on the off speed pitch. They know exactly when to attack the pitch based on where the pitch is located. The always attack the inside fastball early. They always attack the fastball down the middle when it gets over the plate. And most important of all, they attack the off-speed pitch late when it gets just inside the back foot. One of the best drills to develop timing is the do a front long toss drill. The pitcher should vary locations, speed and pitch types.

5. Proper Approach - Having a good approach at the plate is a process that involves two aspects of mental concentration.

One part of having an approach is to know what your team needs from your at bat.This is known before the batter walks up to the plate. For example, if the team needs a deep fly ball, the batter looks for a pitch up. If the team needs a ball hit behind a runner, the batter will look for a pitch to hit the other way.

The other part of having an approach is the batter executing the perfect timed swing for the pitch thrown. The batter turns on the fastball in or the batter stays back and hits the curve ball to the opposite field.

The best way to develop a good approach at the plate is to have situational batting practice sessions. The batter takes batting practice swings under simulated situations specified by the coach. The batter practices hitting with the coach calling different numbers of out, different base runner locations or different offensive plays be run.

I hope that you found this article to be interesting and informative. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. Have a great day. Nick

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

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

Three Baseball Batting Drills - Streak Drill, Switch Hitting Drill and Step-In and Hit Drill

Video shows three great baseball hitting drills being done on the Bat Action Hitting Machine. The BatAction baseball batting trainer's high speed ball movement and large ball path closely simulates real pitching conditions. The BatAction is often called the "Backyard Basketball Goal" for baseball players because it makes home batting practice easy, fun, challenging, and convenient. The BatAction Hitting Machine has height and speed adjustments for all ages and skill levels.

Youth Baseball Coaching - 8 Elements of a Super Baseball Swing

BatAction.com

By Nick Dixon

The perfect baseball swing is a thing of beauty. There are few movements and actions in sports that are practice more often than the baseball swing. Players take thousands and thousands of practice swing during a season. The key to game swing quality is practice swing quality. There are certain basic rules that every batter should remember when taking a swing in practice and games.

Those rules are:


Make your stance wide to keep a short stride. A shorter stride is desirable because it allows the batter to execute the swing with little or no striding action. This allows the batter to keep the weight and hands back longer thus eliminating the possibility of being fooled on off-speed pitches.
Keep your hands close and stay inside the ball. The batter must learn to execute a swing that keeps the hands, wrist, and bat inside the ball.
Keep the head in and the front shoulder down. This body position will prevent the batter from pulling of the ball or popping up.
Move the lead foot...keep the back foot still. The lead leg should be planted and kept stiff. The back leg and hip will turn and rotate during the swing. The proper swing action is a "turning of the hips" and not a lunging action toward the ball.
Pivot of the back leg. The back toe should finish "on the toe-shoe laces to the pitcher". The turning in of the back toe and knee serves to free the hips allowing a smooth powerful swing with the hips generating power.
See the ball go flat. The concept is that the batter should see the bat distort one side of the ball upon impact. The barrel of the bat will "flatten" one of the ball when the ball is hit. The batter should keep the eyes and head on the ball so well that he can see the ball go flat.
Get extension through the ball. The batter should drive the hands through the ball using a quick wrist action to get maximum bat speed generation. The path of the bat should be similar to the path of a "landing plane". The path should be downward and through the ball to maintain bat to ball contact for as long as possible.
Finish long and smooth. The hands, wrist and arms should be driven through the ball in a long smooth path. The finishing position of the hands and bat should be one that has allowed the bat to go long through a long arch. A quick or abrupt stopping of the swing will alter the path and timing of the bat.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of BASEBALL HITTING, COACHING and TRAINING DVDs. Check out the Bat Action Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

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

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