Baseball Hitting - Learning to Work the Pitch Count
By Guest Author: Fred Bonds
Undisciplined hitting has two major pitfalls. First, the batter is not swinging at pitches that are located where he hits most effectively, resulting in weak grounders or fly balls and easy outs. Second, a team of undisciplined hitters will never (and I mean NEVER!) press the opposing pitcher to the point of breakdown. Bottom line is that the pitcher will always maintain control of the ballgame as long as he can count on hitters swinging at his pitch and not theirs.
There are many ways to have a good at bat (let's call it a QAB or quality at bat) from this point on. QAB's come from good clean hits. The pitcher throws the all, you hit it hard, it finds a hole and you're on base. That's the most obvious QAB. The less obvious ones come from forcing the pitcher to throw you your pitch or taking him deep into the count before getting a walk or making an out. Both should be rewarded by teammates for reasons I will explain later.
Let's start by defining a QAB. This is a concept you must learn, understand, and apply every at bat from this point on. A quality at bat is any at bat you have that results in either you getting on base via a hit or walk, or you forcing the pitcher to throw more than four pitchers. Why four? Because if I, as a pitcher, can get you out in 4 pitches and I can do it again for each of your teammates, then my pitch count is 12 pitches per inning, 108 for the game. That's not too bad for a pitcher. Also, it means that you, as a hitter, are only getting 12-16 pitches (if that) per game to hit. Later in the game, you'll not have seen enough pitches to get your timing down and get comfortable. Have you ever wondered why a pitcher, who is cruising along in a game with no real problems but is going to full count with nearly every batter, suddenly gets rocked even though he is doing well? The batters got comfortable with him. They saw enough pitches to figure out how to hit him effectively. That's why closers are so effective even if they throw only one type of pitch.
By forcing the pitcher to throw more pitches, you get to see him longer, and see all of his pitches. Also, you wear him down. So instead of 4 pitches, it now takes 7 pitches to get you and the rest of your team out. Assuming no one gets on base, the pitcher ends up throwing 21 pitches per inning or 147 per game. That is a very high pitch count for anyone, especially high school or collegiate pitchers.
Let's assume that most pitchers have an effectiveness ceiling of 80 pitches. You face a pitcher and get on base in 5 pitches. The next hitter flies out in 6. The number 3 hitter hits a ground ball through in 4 pitches. The cleanup hitter is out in 7. The last batter of the inning fights back from 1-2 only to ground out in 7 pitches. No runs score, but your team has made the pitcher throw 29 pitches in one inning. At that pace, the pitcher should lose his effectiveness in the third inning. If your team continues to wear him down, you will have created a window of opportunity to break the game wide open somewhere in the third or fourth inning.
How do you have a QAB? The answer depends on the situation present when you enter the batters box. For now, let's discuss your first at bat, no runners on, and no outs. You should have a good idea of where your "happy spot" is in the strike zone. A "happy spot" is your power zone. Normally, it is mid-thigh to belt high on the inner half of the plate. Where ever it is, this is the spot that you want to hit the ball for power and solid contact. When you are at the plate, you are looking for a fastball in that specific location. You will not swing at any pitch outside that zone even if it is a strike. Also, you will not swing at any off speed pitch. You will keep looking for a pitch in this zone until you have one strike on you.
With one strike, the zone you are hitting in expands slightly. Now you are looking fastball (or hanging off-speed) across the heart of the plate. Height-wise look just above knees to hip high. You must make a mental note to stay closed as you expand your zone. The odds of getting pitched outside increase dramatically when you have one or more strikes on you. Also, your mind-set should be to hit the ball up the middle. You should not swing at pitches outside of the zone or at off-speed pitches that are not mistakes. You will hit this zone until you have two strikes.
With two strikes, the zone is wide open, extending at least 2 in. on the corners and a ball width up and down the zone. Make note of what the ump is calling and adjust your zone accordingly. Your swing shortens slightly as you look to put the ball in play or foul it off. You are now looking for the ball away and will keep your front hip closed as you approach the ball. You are looking to hit opposite field as a majority of pitches will be thrown to the outer half of the plate with two strikes. You will react to the inside pitch.
Now with this mind-set, the pitcher must throw a minimum of 3 pitches to get you out or get a walk. So, a minimum of 3 pitches to get you out or 4 to walk you. You have that many pitches to find one that is in your hitting zone to hit for power. Expect to go at least 5 pitches as we can expect the pitcher to waste a pitch or miss the zone. It is very likely one of those five pitches will be the money pitch for you. Be ready. The big difference between amateur and professional hitters is that pros can hit the pitch when they get it a majority of the time.
With runners on, your zone will change depending upon where you want to hit the ball, but for the most part, those three zone situations will suffice. Also, should you face a pitcher who is throwing strikes and a lot of them; you will need to match his aggressiveness. Still looking for your pitch, your zone should expand larger after the 1st strike to incorporate the zone the pitcher is hitting. If he's not missing much, you have to step it up a notch and match him. Sure, you are not going to drive up the pitch count (unless you hit him a lot and keep him out there) but you will see pitches you can hit so go get them.
Working the count is extremely important when hitting against a pitcher you haven't seen before. A team effort is required to gain info on what the pitcher has in way of velocity, location, and pitch types. Done properly, batters can swing the advantage to their side of the plate while possibly increasing their batting averages. Will this work every time? Probably not, but it will make you a better hitter and increase the odds of your team winning.
Variations of this approach can be made by moving your initial zone to wherever you want to hit the ball. If I know I can hit the outside pitch away with power, I may want to go after the first fastball I see on the outer half of the plate (very likely the first pitch). It's up to you. The important part of all of this is to learn discipline at the plate and not go up there hacking at anything that moves. Have a plan and stick to it unless the conditions make you change.
Ultimately, QAB's will help raise your batting average, RBI count, and on-base percentage. In order to be effective, however, you must learn to recognize pitches as well as developing a short quick stroke to the ball. Putting it all together is what it's all about!
Fred Bonds is the Director of Research for Area51Sports, an innovative new wood baseball bat company, http://www.area51bats.com. He was director of the Central Michigan Sports Center, director of the BPR Nationals Baseball HS Prospect team, and a former associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds and Global Scouting Bureau. Be sure to visit the Area51Sports website and get on the email list for the latest advances in hitting, coaching, and great discounts on the hottest baseball bats in the game. For more info on wood baseball bats or to contact Fred, go to http://www.area51bats.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fred_Bonds
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3734168
----------------
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Welcome to the YOUTH BASEBALL COACHING CLINIC. Our site features free articles, tips, and drills related to the successful coaching of youth baseball teams. Our information is useful to Little League, Dixie Youth, Babe Ruth, and Cal Ripkin baseball coaches.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Coaching Little League: Setting Expectations for Players and Parents
By Guest Author: Rob Merlino
Obviously, as a coach, I can't play the game. My job is to put each kid in a position to succeed so the team will have success. The following is a handout I give to each kid and parent at the beginning of each season:
Little league is a competitive league. We have umpires, we keep stats, we keep score, publish scores and standings on the web and hand out trophies to the winner of the World Series. The goal of the Team is to win. The goal of each boy is to do his very best to help the Team win. Remember these three things:
Safety: Nobody swings a bat or throws a ball without checking to be sure that everyone around them will be safe;
Fun: We are here to have FUN. If anyone is not having fun, let the Coach know and he will work to remedy that;
Winning: "Winning" is an Attitude. If you are Safe, having Fun, and have a Winning Attitude, the Score will take care of itself!"
We will be putting an emphasis on pitching and would like to get as many kids on the mound as possible. You must demonstrate the ability to throw from the mound to the plate with consistency to get into a game. For the first few games kids will pitch one inning. Then they'll pitch one and "earn" the next inning. Over the course of the season, pitching ability will become evident and the kids who can really shut the other team down will get 3 or possibly more innings in an outing- it will depend on the game situation. We will throw in a few "pitching potpourri" nights where we'll revert to the one inning philosophy for all or part of the game. This becomes necessary when we have games that are bunched close together. We will use the walk rule: walk 3 in a row and you come out, walk 4 in an inning and you come out. This doesn't mean you won't get another chance-it just means you can't help the team that particular day with your pitching. Getting the boys to understand the importance of the team will be an underlying theme in everything we try to do.
We'd like to do as much scrimmaging at practice as possible and I am working on a pre- season scrimmage or two. We'll also devote time to all the skills through a variety of drills and exercises. Infield and outfield defense can only be improved upon by getting a lot of reps and we will get as many as humanly possible. The boys will have baseball homework: they must play catch for 10 to 15 minutes every day until the start of the season. Good arms come from thousands of hours of throwing, SO GET STARTED. On game days, at least one of us will be at the field an hour prior to game time. I do infield before every game. Come early for extra practice.
Base-running and Batting:
Base-running: Little League allows you to steal a base once the pitched ball crosses the plate. You can continue to steal bases as long as the ball is live. The ball remains live until the pitcher has the ball in his glove AND his feet are on the mound. Team base-runners will EXPLODE off the base as EACH pitch crosses the plate and will decide to continue to the next base or return to the starting base from about two strides out. The runner will SLIDE into any base where there is the possibility of a play. AAA rules state that if you do not slide into a base where there is a play, the umpire will call you OUT for creating an unsafe condition - (possibly colliding with the defensive baseman). The Team will become expert at sliding and stealing bases! Therefore, you must always wear long pants. Sliding pants (worn under your long pants) are a very good idea. Your outer long pants will get dirty and torn. Expect to get dirty at every practice and game.
Batting: We will emphasize Pitch Selection, Batting Discipline, Bunting, and drawing Walks. The purpose of an At-Bat is to get On-Base. You cannot score from the Dugout!
Pitch Selection and Batting Discipline: We will learn the difference between a Pitcher's Pitch and Batter's Pitch. A Pitcher's Pitch is outside of or along the edges of the Strike-Zone. A pitcher is trying to strike you out. A pitcher will try to get you to swing at a (lousy) pitch that is either too high (pop-up into an out), too low (ground out into an out), or too far inside or outside (foul off for a Strike). We will not swing at Pitcher's Pitches unless you already have two strikes. If you have two strikes, you will learn to Foul-off Pitcher's Pitches until a Batter's Pitch comes along. A Batter's Pitch is a pitch pretty much down the middle that you can readily put into play to get on base and/or advance a runner.
Bunting and drawing Walks: Hitting a Home-Run is glamorous and exciting. You may think that bunting or drawing a Walk is not so glamorous and exciting. However, the 2005 AAA Giants got into the playoffs because the smallest kid on the team drew a walk to get on base, and then ended up stealing home to win the final regular season game with two outs at the bottom of the 6th inning. The AAA Giants then went on to win the 2005 AAA World Series.You will often hear Coach say: "If you bunt or draw a Walk to First, you can Steal Home on the NEXT Pitch, and you better be Home on the Third Pitch!"
Team Rules and Expectations
1. All league rules will be followed, NO EXCEPTIONS. We will go over the League rules in person.
2. All kids will play each game, sometimes they'll play 3 innings, sometimes more. Kids who are at games and practices consistently, do their homework and work on their skills will have the best opportunity to play more.
3. If your kid can't be at a game or practice, please let the coaches know ahead of time. Please review the practice and game schedules and alert us of conflicts as far in advance as possible. If something comes up last minute, please call
4. Uniforms are for games only. Wear comfortable baseball clothes to practice. NO SHORTS! You will not be allowed to practice in your uniform, you will not be allowed to play in a game without one. Uniforms will require a $25 deposit this year. You can keep the hat and socks.
5. Players are expected to remain in the dugout during games unless enlisted to shag fly balls or coach a base. If a player must leave the dugout, they must ask the coach first.
6. Parents and siblings are not to be in the dugout. NO EXCEPTIONS.
7. All trash must be cleared from the dugout. You bring it in, you carry it out. Spectators please keep the field clean.
8. No batting or bats in hand unless you are at bat or on deck. Safety is important!
a. We will not swing a bat near any other people;
b. We will not throw the ball if there are any people behind either player in case of a missed catch.
9. ¾ walk rule in effect at all times-3 walks in a row or 4 walks in an inning and the pitcher will be replaced.
10. ALWAYS be respectful of teammates, opposing players, coaches and officials. Disrespectful behavior by players or parents will not be tolerated. Umpires are Human. If there is ever a disputed call:
-Players will talk to the Coach;
-Coach will talk to the Umpire.
11. Wear a cup!
12. Show up at the field ready to play ball!
13. PARENTS PLEASE keep the on field commentary to the "attaboy" variety. Conflicting instructions from a coach and parent in a game situation undermines the team. Say it with me "ATTABOY_______"
14. WE ARE A TEAM, I EXPECT EACH KID TO BE PERFECT. ("Perfect" means you always try your hardest-if you can look your teammates in the eye and know in your heart you did the best you could, then you're PERFECT)
That handout has evolved over the years and will most likely be revised for this year's team. I believe setting the expectations from day 1 of practice so everyone knows exactly how the season will progress. In the past, I have handed this out at the parent's meeting before the first practice. This year I am posting it on a team Blog before the parent's meeting and telling everyone that nobody plays or practices until I get a reply comment stating they read it with their kid!
When we practice, we have 6-8 stations that cover different skill areas. We have 2 kids at each station for about 5 minutes and we rotate until each pair of kids has run through each station. I always keep my kids moving so they don't have time to get bored. I like to have as many pitchers as possible so each kid feels he's contributing to the success of the team. Bunting is also huge on my teams and the kids who aren't the best hitters will bunt a lot. This gives them the opportunity to get on base and be involved in the games.
Another Hot Dog Truck [http://thehotdogtruck.blogspot.com/] special article. Stop by sometime....
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Merlino
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/463615
-------------------------
Thanks to our sponsors:
Basebal2u.com - Hit2win.com - AdvancedSkillsTee.com
Obviously, as a coach, I can't play the game. My job is to put each kid in a position to succeed so the team will have success. The following is a handout I give to each kid and parent at the beginning of each season:
Little league is a competitive league. We have umpires, we keep stats, we keep score, publish scores and standings on the web and hand out trophies to the winner of the World Series. The goal of the Team is to win. The goal of each boy is to do his very best to help the Team win. Remember these three things:
Safety: Nobody swings a bat or throws a ball without checking to be sure that everyone around them will be safe;
Fun: We are here to have FUN. If anyone is not having fun, let the Coach know and he will work to remedy that;
Winning: "Winning" is an Attitude. If you are Safe, having Fun, and have a Winning Attitude, the Score will take care of itself!"
We will be putting an emphasis on pitching and would like to get as many kids on the mound as possible. You must demonstrate the ability to throw from the mound to the plate with consistency to get into a game. For the first few games kids will pitch one inning. Then they'll pitch one and "earn" the next inning. Over the course of the season, pitching ability will become evident and the kids who can really shut the other team down will get 3 or possibly more innings in an outing- it will depend on the game situation. We will throw in a few "pitching potpourri" nights where we'll revert to the one inning philosophy for all or part of the game. This becomes necessary when we have games that are bunched close together. We will use the walk rule: walk 3 in a row and you come out, walk 4 in an inning and you come out. This doesn't mean you won't get another chance-it just means you can't help the team that particular day with your pitching. Getting the boys to understand the importance of the team will be an underlying theme in everything we try to do.
We'd like to do as much scrimmaging at practice as possible and I am working on a pre- season scrimmage or two. We'll also devote time to all the skills through a variety of drills and exercises. Infield and outfield defense can only be improved upon by getting a lot of reps and we will get as many as humanly possible. The boys will have baseball homework: they must play catch for 10 to 15 minutes every day until the start of the season. Good arms come from thousands of hours of throwing, SO GET STARTED. On game days, at least one of us will be at the field an hour prior to game time. I do infield before every game. Come early for extra practice.
Base-running and Batting:
Base-running: Little League allows you to steal a base once the pitched ball crosses the plate. You can continue to steal bases as long as the ball is live. The ball remains live until the pitcher has the ball in his glove AND his feet are on the mound. Team base-runners will EXPLODE off the base as EACH pitch crosses the plate and will decide to continue to the next base or return to the starting base from about two strides out. The runner will SLIDE into any base where there is the possibility of a play. AAA rules state that if you do not slide into a base where there is a play, the umpire will call you OUT for creating an unsafe condition - (possibly colliding with the defensive baseman). The Team will become expert at sliding and stealing bases! Therefore, you must always wear long pants. Sliding pants (worn under your long pants) are a very good idea. Your outer long pants will get dirty and torn. Expect to get dirty at every practice and game.
Batting: We will emphasize Pitch Selection, Batting Discipline, Bunting, and drawing Walks. The purpose of an At-Bat is to get On-Base. You cannot score from the Dugout!
Pitch Selection and Batting Discipline: We will learn the difference between a Pitcher's Pitch and Batter's Pitch. A Pitcher's Pitch is outside of or along the edges of the Strike-Zone. A pitcher is trying to strike you out. A pitcher will try to get you to swing at a (lousy) pitch that is either too high (pop-up into an out), too low (ground out into an out), or too far inside or outside (foul off for a Strike). We will not swing at Pitcher's Pitches unless you already have two strikes. If you have two strikes, you will learn to Foul-off Pitcher's Pitches until a Batter's Pitch comes along. A Batter's Pitch is a pitch pretty much down the middle that you can readily put into play to get on base and/or advance a runner.
Bunting and drawing Walks: Hitting a Home-Run is glamorous and exciting. You may think that bunting or drawing a Walk is not so glamorous and exciting. However, the 2005 AAA Giants got into the playoffs because the smallest kid on the team drew a walk to get on base, and then ended up stealing home to win the final regular season game with two outs at the bottom of the 6th inning. The AAA Giants then went on to win the 2005 AAA World Series.You will often hear Coach say: "If you bunt or draw a Walk to First, you can Steal Home on the NEXT Pitch, and you better be Home on the Third Pitch!"
Team Rules and Expectations
1. All league rules will be followed, NO EXCEPTIONS. We will go over the League rules in person.
2. All kids will play each game, sometimes they'll play 3 innings, sometimes more. Kids who are at games and practices consistently, do their homework and work on their skills will have the best opportunity to play more.
3. If your kid can't be at a game or practice, please let the coaches know ahead of time. Please review the practice and game schedules and alert us of conflicts as far in advance as possible. If something comes up last minute, please call
4. Uniforms are for games only. Wear comfortable baseball clothes to practice. NO SHORTS! You will not be allowed to practice in your uniform, you will not be allowed to play in a game without one. Uniforms will require a $25 deposit this year. You can keep the hat and socks.
5. Players are expected to remain in the dugout during games unless enlisted to shag fly balls or coach a base. If a player must leave the dugout, they must ask the coach first.
6. Parents and siblings are not to be in the dugout. NO EXCEPTIONS.
7. All trash must be cleared from the dugout. You bring it in, you carry it out. Spectators please keep the field clean.
8. No batting or bats in hand unless you are at bat or on deck. Safety is important!
a. We will not swing a bat near any other people;
b. We will not throw the ball if there are any people behind either player in case of a missed catch.
9. ¾ walk rule in effect at all times-3 walks in a row or 4 walks in an inning and the pitcher will be replaced.
10. ALWAYS be respectful of teammates, opposing players, coaches and officials. Disrespectful behavior by players or parents will not be tolerated. Umpires are Human. If there is ever a disputed call:
-Players will talk to the Coach;
-Coach will talk to the Umpire.
11. Wear a cup!
12. Show up at the field ready to play ball!
13. PARENTS PLEASE keep the on field commentary to the "attaboy" variety. Conflicting instructions from a coach and parent in a game situation undermines the team. Say it with me "ATTABOY_______"
14. WE ARE A TEAM, I EXPECT EACH KID TO BE PERFECT. ("Perfect" means you always try your hardest-if you can look your teammates in the eye and know in your heart you did the best you could, then you're PERFECT)
That handout has evolved over the years and will most likely be revised for this year's team. I believe setting the expectations from day 1 of practice so everyone knows exactly how the season will progress. In the past, I have handed this out at the parent's meeting before the first practice. This year I am posting it on a team Blog before the parent's meeting and telling everyone that nobody plays or practices until I get a reply comment stating they read it with their kid!
When we practice, we have 6-8 stations that cover different skill areas. We have 2 kids at each station for about 5 minutes and we rotate until each pair of kids has run through each station. I always keep my kids moving so they don't have time to get bored. I like to have as many pitchers as possible so each kid feels he's contributing to the success of the team. Bunting is also huge on my teams and the kids who aren't the best hitters will bunt a lot. This gives them the opportunity to get on base and be involved in the games.
Another Hot Dog Truck [http://thehotdogtruck.blogspot.com/] special article. Stop by sometime....
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Merlino
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/463615
-------------------------
Thanks to our sponsors:
Basebal2u.com - Hit2win.com - AdvancedSkillsTee.com
Monday, August 5, 2013
This video shows some great drills for catchers. There are drills for developing good hands, good feet, throwing power and efficiency. Overall I think these are great drills. There are a couple of points that I could see improved, but I liked this collection and drills and wanted to share it with you and the thousands of other readers I have. Thanks for dropping it and visiting my blog. Have a great day! Nick
================
Baseball2u.com has a huge collection of baseball coaching books
and DVDs. Baseball2u is the ultimate baseball training store.
================
Baseball2u.com has a huge collection of baseball coaching books
and DVDs. Baseball2u is the ultimate baseball training store.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Baseball Instruction - The Not So Secret Bunt Defense
Thanks to our sponsor: Baseball2u.com
Coaching Youth Baseball - Setting Your Bunt Defense
By Guest Author: Nate Barnett
Sacrifice bunts are not supposed to be a secret. But somewhere in the entanglement of some (not all) baseball instruction, the sacrifice bunt became as top secret as the development of the Atomic Bomb. Well... not quite, but you get the idea. What evidence do I have for this you say?
1. Batters that square around to bunt as the pitcher releases the ball.
2. Runners who get picked off first because they are trying to get a good jump.
3. Improper butting location on the field because of panic to get the bat in the zone.
There is a good start.
I'm saying sacrifice bunting is no secret. In fact, I used to coach a team who had a tough time picking up signs from our third base coach. So we changed the sign to an audible. It was, "Hey, Johnny, bunt the ball!" We got a few strange looks here and there but it got the job done. Some great high level baseball instruction, huh.
So if the offense knows it is bunting and the defense knows the offense is bunting, where does the offensive bunt the ball?
Scenario #1: Runner on first base only. No outs (don't bunt with one out please)
The batter squares around to bunt as the pitcher gets into the set position. Now everyone in the park knows. Ah, time to relax, the rabbit is out of the hat! The batter bunts (strikes only please!) the ball to the first base side of the diamond.
Why?
Because the first baseman will be holding the runner and will not charge unless it's bunted hard. If he does charge this means that the second baseman needs to be moving quickly to get to first base. The third baseman will be coming in when the hitter squares around. Bunting the ball to the third base side is not recommended.
Scenario #2: Runners on first and second base. No outs (don't bunt with one out please)
The batter squares around to bunt again as the pitcher gets into the set position. The batter bunts (strikes only) the ball to the third base side of the diamond.
Why?
Because the third baseman will be staying close to the bag in the event there is a play there. The first baseman will be charging as soon as the batter squares to bunt. Bunting the ball down the first base side is not recommended.
And that's it. No top secret baseball instruction, baseball drills, or decoy signs. It's straight up. If the bunter executes a proper bunt, the sacrifice will be a success.
Nate Barnett helps improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Learn how to help your game by improving your pitching mechanics
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1204160
===========================
Thanks to our Sponsors:
Baseball2u.com - The Ultimate Baseball Training Store
Hit2win.com - Free Tips, Drils, and Articles for Teaching Baseball
AdvancedSkillsTee.com - The Best Batting Tee in Baseball!
By Guest Author: Nate Barnett
Sacrifice bunts are not supposed to be a secret. But somewhere in the entanglement of some (not all) baseball instruction, the sacrifice bunt became as top secret as the development of the Atomic Bomb. Well... not quite, but you get the idea. What evidence do I have for this you say?
1. Batters that square around to bunt as the pitcher releases the ball.
2. Runners who get picked off first because they are trying to get a good jump.
3. Improper butting location on the field because of panic to get the bat in the zone.
There is a good start.
I'm saying sacrifice bunting is no secret. In fact, I used to coach a team who had a tough time picking up signs from our third base coach. So we changed the sign to an audible. It was, "Hey, Johnny, bunt the ball!" We got a few strange looks here and there but it got the job done. Some great high level baseball instruction, huh.
So if the offense knows it is bunting and the defense knows the offense is bunting, where does the offensive bunt the ball?
Scenario #1: Runner on first base only. No outs (don't bunt with one out please)
The batter squares around to bunt as the pitcher gets into the set position. Now everyone in the park knows. Ah, time to relax, the rabbit is out of the hat! The batter bunts (strikes only please!) the ball to the first base side of the diamond.
Why?
Because the first baseman will be holding the runner and will not charge unless it's bunted hard. If he does charge this means that the second baseman needs to be moving quickly to get to first base. The third baseman will be coming in when the hitter squares around. Bunting the ball to the third base side is not recommended.
Scenario #2: Runners on first and second base. No outs (don't bunt with one out please)
The batter squares around to bunt again as the pitcher gets into the set position. The batter bunts (strikes only) the ball to the third base side of the diamond.
Why?
Because the third baseman will be staying close to the bag in the event there is a play there. The first baseman will be charging as soon as the batter squares to bunt. Bunting the ball down the first base side is not recommended.
And that's it. No top secret baseball instruction, baseball drills, or decoy signs. It's straight up. If the bunter executes a proper bunt, the sacrifice will be a success.
Nate Barnett helps improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Learn how to help your game by improving your pitching mechanics
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1204160
===========================
Thanks to our Sponsors:
Baseball2u.com - The Ultimate Baseball Training Store
Hit2win.com - Free Tips, Drils, and Articles for Teaching Baseball
AdvancedSkillsTee.com - The Best Batting Tee in Baseball!
Coaching Little League Baseball - A Guide to Keeping Young Players Focused
Thanks to our sponsor: 
Coaching Youth Baseball - How to Keep Youth Baseball Players Focused
By Guest Author: Jack Perconte
Keeping young players focused is a challenge in any sport but can be especially challenging in baseball because of the amount of time players stand around. There is not constant action or as much physical exertion in baseball as there are in other sports. Because of the amount of time in between pitches and the amount of pitches that are not put in play, it is easy for players' minds to wander. Coaching little league is a constant process of reminding young players to "keep their heads in the game." This is easier said than done, of course. Some young players have great sports instincts and are very focused and others are not mentally in the game at all. Most little league players are somewhere in between, where their focus comes and goes.
This is the reason why coaching little league baseball can be more challenging than coaching any other youth sport. Because of the lack of good little league coaching, many of the good athletes gravitate to other sports after playing little league baseball. It is a shame when good athletes choose another sport because coaches do not know positive coaching practices that will help young players stay focused. Following are good positive coaching practices that will help players remain focused during games.
First though, good coaches run fast moving practices with lots of attention given to each player and to the fundamentals of the game. Good little league coaches do not miss opportunities to teach game strategy during practice, as well as in games.
For keeping hitters focused, coaches should:
1. Never teach mechanics during a game at-bat.
2. Simply remind hitters to "see' the ball.
3. Teach the mentality to expect every pitch to be their pitch unless they see otherwise - with this in mind little league coaches should use a take sign sparingly, if at all.
4. Remind hitters they can only control one thing when hitting - talking good swings at good pitches.
5. Never get upset when players are aggressive and swing at bad pitches, just remind them to learn from that the next time.
For keeping fielders focused, coaches should:
1. Teach little league players how to get into ready position as the ball is being pitched.
2. Teach players to think two things before each pitch: what am I going to do with the ball if it is hit to me and what am I going to do if the ball is hit somewhere else. Of course, practice time is where players are taught the responsibilities at the various positions.
3. Teach pitchers to get in a quick rhythm, this will keep fielders on their toes and not allow minds to wander in between pitches.
4. Get in the habit of asking players, "Who wants the ball hit to them?" This mentality is slightly different than expecting the ball to be hit to them. I want players to want the ball hit to them.
5. Practice communication methods so players can remain aggressive, but safe, when going for batted balls.
For keeping pitchers focused, coaches should:
1. Explain to pitchers the importance of working quickly. After receiving the ball from catcher and taking a deep breath, pitchers should pitch the next ball. (Have pitchers watch Chicago White Sox pitcher, Mark Buerhle, to get the idea.)
2. Teach pitchers to focus on the glove and not the batter.
3. Teach pitchers what poise is about - the ability to stay in the moment and only worry about the things they can control - the next pitch.
4. Remind pitchers that they are a fielder after releasing the ball. Good fielding pitchers can help win games.
For keeping base runners focused, coaches should:
1. Remind players to be attentive to the scoreboard at all times - the score of the game, the count on the hitter and, most important, the number of outs in the inning.
2. Allow base runners to make their own decisions during games. This will force them to focus on the situation more, knowing they cannot rely on the coach to make decisions for them.
3. Work-on game-situation base running, rounding and leadoff technique as often as possible in practice.
Finally, it is always a good idea for coaches, before and after practices, to give players in-game scenarios and ask players what they would do in those situations. Players will begin to draw up the scenarios in their heads and will be more focused and prepared for those situations when they happen in games. This type visualization-challenge process is a good first step for players to focus their mind on baseball even when away from practice.
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.baseballcoachingtips.net and at http://jackperconte.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Perconte
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4731512
==============================
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By Guest Author: Jack Perconte
Keeping young players focused is a challenge in any sport but can be especially challenging in baseball because of the amount of time players stand around. There is not constant action or as much physical exertion in baseball as there are in other sports. Because of the amount of time in between pitches and the amount of pitches that are not put in play, it is easy for players' minds to wander. Coaching little league is a constant process of reminding young players to "keep their heads in the game." This is easier said than done, of course. Some young players have great sports instincts and are very focused and others are not mentally in the game at all. Most little league players are somewhere in between, where their focus comes and goes.
This is the reason why coaching little league baseball can be more challenging than coaching any other youth sport. Because of the lack of good little league coaching, many of the good athletes gravitate to other sports after playing little league baseball. It is a shame when good athletes choose another sport because coaches do not know positive coaching practices that will help young players stay focused. Following are good positive coaching practices that will help players remain focused during games.
First though, good coaches run fast moving practices with lots of attention given to each player and to the fundamentals of the game. Good little league coaches do not miss opportunities to teach game strategy during practice, as well as in games.
For keeping hitters focused, coaches should:
1. Never teach mechanics during a game at-bat.
2. Simply remind hitters to "see' the ball.
3. Teach the mentality to expect every pitch to be their pitch unless they see otherwise - with this in mind little league coaches should use a take sign sparingly, if at all.
4. Remind hitters they can only control one thing when hitting - talking good swings at good pitches.
5. Never get upset when players are aggressive and swing at bad pitches, just remind them to learn from that the next time.
For keeping fielders focused, coaches should:
1. Teach little league players how to get into ready position as the ball is being pitched.
2. Teach players to think two things before each pitch: what am I going to do with the ball if it is hit to me and what am I going to do if the ball is hit somewhere else. Of course, practice time is where players are taught the responsibilities at the various positions.
3. Teach pitchers to get in a quick rhythm, this will keep fielders on their toes and not allow minds to wander in between pitches.
4. Get in the habit of asking players, "Who wants the ball hit to them?" This mentality is slightly different than expecting the ball to be hit to them. I want players to want the ball hit to them.
5. Practice communication methods so players can remain aggressive, but safe, when going for batted balls.
For keeping pitchers focused, coaches should:
1. Explain to pitchers the importance of working quickly. After receiving the ball from catcher and taking a deep breath, pitchers should pitch the next ball. (Have pitchers watch Chicago White Sox pitcher, Mark Buerhle, to get the idea.)
2. Teach pitchers to focus on the glove and not the batter.
3. Teach pitchers what poise is about - the ability to stay in the moment and only worry about the things they can control - the next pitch.
4. Remind pitchers that they are a fielder after releasing the ball. Good fielding pitchers can help win games.
For keeping base runners focused, coaches should:
1. Remind players to be attentive to the scoreboard at all times - the score of the game, the count on the hitter and, most important, the number of outs in the inning.
2. Allow base runners to make their own decisions during games. This will force them to focus on the situation more, knowing they cannot rely on the coach to make decisions for them.
3. Work-on game-situation base running, rounding and leadoff technique as often as possible in practice.
Finally, it is always a good idea for coaches, before and after practices, to give players in-game scenarios and ask players what they would do in those situations. Players will begin to draw up the scenarios in their heads and will be more focused and prepared for those situations when they happen in games. This type visualization-challenge process is a good first step for players to focus their mind on baseball even when away from practice.
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.baseballcoachingtips.net and at http://jackperconte.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Perconte
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4731512
==============================
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Baseball2u.com - The Ultimate Baseball Training Store
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Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Top 10 Ways Baseball Coaches Ruin Their Players
By Guest Author: Jake Bryan
Coaches are always looking for new ways to help their players become better, when the fact is that often times they're ignoring the ways they're actually ruining their players. Below are ten ways that Baseball Brains has seen coaches ruin players.
1. Use Negative Directives
This is one of the worst things a coach can do, luckily it's also one of the easiest to fix if a coach makes a dedicated effort to do so. This refers to a coach telling a player "Don't swing at the high pitch!" Another example would be "Whatever you do, just don't throw it down the middle." These are negative directives, and they should be avoided at all costs. Always remember to tell a player what you DO WANT him to do, not what you DON'T WANT him to do. When you tell him not to strike out, the thing that sticks in his head, every single time, are the words strike out. It introduces failure and diminishes the players confidence.
"Don't swing at a high pitch" becomes "Swing only at pitches that are in the strike zone". This simple change makes the directive to the player much more affirmative and positive, much more like what we're looking for. "Don't throw it down the middle of the plate" becomes "Focus on working the edges of the plate". Simple changes that will make a huge difference in the mind of your athletes. It's more positive, it sounds like success, it breeds a greater confidence, and it will result in what you want far more often than what you don't.
2. Change Their Swing
Many coaches just simply cannot resist the temptation to teach a whole team an entirely new way to swing the bat. Every hitter needs to hit the same way, and the coach has the perfect way. This is a very complex issue as hitting is a very complex mechanic, however this approach to coaching hitting is almost always wrong. Hitting should not be over coached no matter the age level of the players. Of course very young players need to learn how to swing effectively, and players throughout baseball need drills and reminders of the small fundamentals of good hitting. However, coaching a swing to the team as a whole and demanding conformity to a new style is wrong, and will often have terrible results.
It takes thousands of swings to change a swing from a player's natural form and mechanics to some "perfect" form. That's just a fact. Numerous studies have shown that it takes at least three thousand repetitions to break a physical habit. Even if a coach had time in a season to force thousands of swings from each hitter on his team, the whole season would be lost to an ever changing swing in search of a new style which was never fully achieved. Two batters rarely look identical to each other, and this is a good thing.
This doesn't mean that hitting mechanics and fundamentals can't be coached, it simply means that one size fits all hitting systems never work. They result in season long inconsistency, frequent slumps, a drop in confidence, and often times a player will end up worse at hitting than before he received the coaching. There simply isn't enough time in a traditional amateur season to change a team's swing, stick to the mental approach to hitting and largely allow the players' natural swing to remain.
3. Try To Change Mechanics During a Game
This happens all the time, and it'll ruin a player in the game. Most of the time this occurs with pitchers. A coach will notice that the pitcher isn't striding fully and he'll go to the mound to tell him to stride better. This is a dangerous practice. First of all, if a pitcher's mechanics have gone away from him, it almost always means he's fatigued and should probably come out of the game. The second thing this does, is it gets him out of his "focus zone" and causes him to focus on some specific physical action. He'll go into the next pitches thinking "stride more fully", and the result will be lackluster performance in most other mechanics while he strives to achieve the one he's concentrating on. It'll also cause his mind to be on his legs rather than his job. As coaches, this isn't even close to what we want the pitcher to be thinking about. It'll lower his confidence, cause the other mechanics of the motion to break down, and take his focus off of the hitter and the job he needs to do to get him out.
This goes for all players on the field, and hitters also. The important thing for a player to do during the game, is focus on the moment and perform the best he can in that moment. Know the situation, know his role, do everything he can right then and there to help the team win. A pitcher needs to be thinking "What's the best pitch to throw here" far more than "Stride further". One will help the team win and the other will ruin your player. Keep coaching the mental side of baseball during the game, if the players are performing their duties incorrectly, such as not striding far enough out, work on it in practice where it belongs.
4. Don't Respect Them
Coach's believe sometimes that respect should be given to them by their players unconditionally. This never happens in real life, and it doesn't happen on the baseball field. Respect is earned, and the best way to earn respect from your players is to show some for them. Understand they will make mistakes, reward them for hard work, give them opportunities to win and succeed in practice.
There's tons of ways to show your players that you respect them. Another great thing that coaches can do is to do some of the conditioning drills with them. Get out there and run with them, let them see that you know that what they're doing is difficult and that you're willing to try some of it with them. Let them earn things in practice, and call them over now and then when nobody is watching and tell them thanks. It's amazing what a little "Thank you for the effort, you're a good ballplayer and I really appreciate and respect your attitude out here", can do. That literally can be the difference between a good and bad season for some players, never underestimate a compliment.
5. Don't listen To Them
This goes along with the one above, but it happens enough and it's important enough to warrant its' own number. Coaches believe often times that if they allow their players to have influence on the team or if they are allowed to make suggestions, then he loses his power over them. This couldn't be further from the truth. Now, we're not advocating turning a whole practice over to the players, although doing that a few times a year never hurt either. The goal here is to make the players feel like they have an investment and some influence in their own development.
It doesn't take a whole lot for a player to feel like he has some responsibility and ownership, just a couple simple things now and then. Ask the player what he thinks he should work on, what he thinks his weaknesses are, let him do the drills that he wants to do for a practice. Let the players decide what team drills they should do for an entire practice. Don't get this wrong, players need discipline and they need structure, but allowing input now and then is a great thing. It'll cause the players to feel like they have some skin in the game, some power in their play, and it'll make you seem more humble and, dare we say, respectable to them.
6. Give Them Unrealistic Goals
This list is about ways to ruin players and this will certainly do it. The fastest way to ruin a player is to destroy his confidence, and one of the best ways to do that is to cause him to repeatedly fail. Coaches often times won't even notice that this is happening, unfortunately this is true with a lot of the mental game which is why we put lists like this together in the first place. Since goals should be hard, they will sometimes be failed. This is not a bad thing in itself. The problem is that when they're too hard, they are failed too often.
Baseball Brains believes very strongly that goal setting is an extremely valuable tool and we advocate the use of goals throughout every practice during the entire season. However, they must be done correctly, and monitored closely. That second part is very important, they must be monitored constantly to make sure players are not becoming frustrated by losing or failing too many times in practice. Don't be afraid to modify goals if they aren't quite working out like you thought they would. Hard enough to make succeeding meaningful, but achievable enough so that failure doesn't become the norm.
7. Expect Them To Do Things You Haven't Taught Them How To Do
Never assume that a player knows how to do something if you haven't taught him how to do it. Now it goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway) that most of your players should know how to throw and catch and perform the basic skills of baseball. This is referring more to things like cutoff procedure from the outfield, double play turning at second base, hips closed mechanics for hitting to the opposite field, and things like that. Things which are not overly complicated, but things that not all players will always know, and this applies to almost all age groups.
There will almost always be players, even if it's only a few, which don't know how to do something that you think they should know how to do. If a coach berates or disciplines or becomes angry with a player for not doing something that has never been taught to them, that player will become resentful and frustrated. It's one thing to do something wrong when you know you did it wrong, it's a whole different ballgame to be punished for not being taught something. Again, this goes to the psychology (there's that word again) of the player. It isn't necessarily something the coach will see, but the drop in morale and the frustration toward the coach will be very real, and very detrimental to the player's performance. If you haven't showed them how to do it, don't expect them to do it right.
8. Be a Bad Sportsman
The job of a coach is to keep his players focused and intensely concentrated on the moment they are performing in. One of the greatest ways to destroy that and ruin your player, is to start yelling at umpires and displaying a bad attitude toward the other team. Sometimes in MLB a manager will get thrown out for the sole purpose of firing up his team and increasing their passion for the game. Needless to say, some things don't translate from MLB to lower levels of baseball, and this is one of them. It should be a constant reminder that you're giving your players to be good sportsmen, to respect the game and thus respect the other players, coaches and umpires. Bad calls, bad attitudes on the other team, opposing coach's who are behaving badly, these are all distractions which can take away from your players' focus on their job. Your job to is to remove as many distractions as possible, not become one.
9. Abandon You Own Methods
For a player in any sport to effectively learn and become good at a system, he first has to 'buy-in'. Once the player does this, he believes in it and he's willing to dedicate himself to it. Too many things go into getting a player to 'buy-in' to a system to discuss them all here, but one of the best ways to get players to believe in your approach and dedicate themselves to it, is to do those things yourself. Players will start out wanting to believe, wanting to believe that you're right and that they should follow you. However, they won't do it without skepticism. They'll watch you, and they'll gauge your conviction for it. Why should they be passionate and faithful if the guy teaching it doesn't even believe in it?
Coaches often do this without even realizing it. They'll preach things in practice and then panic when something isn't working in the game and change their approach. They'll receive attitude or resistance from a player or two and change how they coach. This is different that changing 'what' you coach, that's just fine most the time to evolve the areas of baseball that you cover throughout the season. However, if you change 'how' you coach and cave on your principles, the players will not give you anywhere near the dedication and effort you're looking for. Pick the right approach, be firm in your principles, be flexible if you're wrong, and fully dedicate yourself to your system. Your players will do the same.
10. React Emotionally
A lot of this list is related, and this one can be put in to a bunch of the categories above. What we'll talk briefly about here though, is coaches who react out of frustration and anger and issue bold proclamations. We've seen it in coaches in all sports, baseball perhaps the most. A player will talk back or do something the coach hates, and the coach's anger will boil up and you'll hear "That's it! You're on the bench for the rest of the tournament!". Then a game or two later the player is back in the lineup because the coach never meant that, he never wanted the player to sit out the last four games just for mouthing off a little.
Reacting emotionally can take many forms, but most of the time it causes the coach to say things that he doesn't mean, he won't live up to, and he wishes he could take back. The result is a coach that looks immature, spineless, reactionary, and unapproachable. Whenever a coach acts this way, he diminishes his players' confidence in him, and causes them to take his ultimatums and decrees much less seriously. Obviously these are not desired outcomes, unless your goal is to ruin your team.
Jake Bryan is a lead author in the Baseball Brains training system. There are numerous resources available at the website, including the full training manual for the system, drills, links and videos, and a Baseball Brains blog.
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Coaches are always looking for new ways to help their players become better, when the fact is that often times they're ignoring the ways they're actually ruining their players. Below are ten ways that Baseball Brains has seen coaches ruin players.
1. Use Negative Directives
This is one of the worst things a coach can do, luckily it's also one of the easiest to fix if a coach makes a dedicated effort to do so. This refers to a coach telling a player "Don't swing at the high pitch!" Another example would be "Whatever you do, just don't throw it down the middle." These are negative directives, and they should be avoided at all costs. Always remember to tell a player what you DO WANT him to do, not what you DON'T WANT him to do. When you tell him not to strike out, the thing that sticks in his head, every single time, are the words strike out. It introduces failure and diminishes the players confidence.
"Don't swing at a high pitch" becomes "Swing only at pitches that are in the strike zone". This simple change makes the directive to the player much more affirmative and positive, much more like what we're looking for. "Don't throw it down the middle of the plate" becomes "Focus on working the edges of the plate". Simple changes that will make a huge difference in the mind of your athletes. It's more positive, it sounds like success, it breeds a greater confidence, and it will result in what you want far more often than what you don't.
2. Change Their Swing
Many coaches just simply cannot resist the temptation to teach a whole team an entirely new way to swing the bat. Every hitter needs to hit the same way, and the coach has the perfect way. This is a very complex issue as hitting is a very complex mechanic, however this approach to coaching hitting is almost always wrong. Hitting should not be over coached no matter the age level of the players. Of course very young players need to learn how to swing effectively, and players throughout baseball need drills and reminders of the small fundamentals of good hitting. However, coaching a swing to the team as a whole and demanding conformity to a new style is wrong, and will often have terrible results.
It takes thousands of swings to change a swing from a player's natural form and mechanics to some "perfect" form. That's just a fact. Numerous studies have shown that it takes at least three thousand repetitions to break a physical habit. Even if a coach had time in a season to force thousands of swings from each hitter on his team, the whole season would be lost to an ever changing swing in search of a new style which was never fully achieved. Two batters rarely look identical to each other, and this is a good thing.
This doesn't mean that hitting mechanics and fundamentals can't be coached, it simply means that one size fits all hitting systems never work. They result in season long inconsistency, frequent slumps, a drop in confidence, and often times a player will end up worse at hitting than before he received the coaching. There simply isn't enough time in a traditional amateur season to change a team's swing, stick to the mental approach to hitting and largely allow the players' natural swing to remain.
3. Try To Change Mechanics During a Game
This happens all the time, and it'll ruin a player in the game. Most of the time this occurs with pitchers. A coach will notice that the pitcher isn't striding fully and he'll go to the mound to tell him to stride better. This is a dangerous practice. First of all, if a pitcher's mechanics have gone away from him, it almost always means he's fatigued and should probably come out of the game. The second thing this does, is it gets him out of his "focus zone" and causes him to focus on some specific physical action. He'll go into the next pitches thinking "stride more fully", and the result will be lackluster performance in most other mechanics while he strives to achieve the one he's concentrating on. It'll also cause his mind to be on his legs rather than his job. As coaches, this isn't even close to what we want the pitcher to be thinking about. It'll lower his confidence, cause the other mechanics of the motion to break down, and take his focus off of the hitter and the job he needs to do to get him out.
This goes for all players on the field, and hitters also. The important thing for a player to do during the game, is focus on the moment and perform the best he can in that moment. Know the situation, know his role, do everything he can right then and there to help the team win. A pitcher needs to be thinking "What's the best pitch to throw here" far more than "Stride further". One will help the team win and the other will ruin your player. Keep coaching the mental side of baseball during the game, if the players are performing their duties incorrectly, such as not striding far enough out, work on it in practice where it belongs.
4. Don't Respect Them
Coach's believe sometimes that respect should be given to them by their players unconditionally. This never happens in real life, and it doesn't happen on the baseball field. Respect is earned, and the best way to earn respect from your players is to show some for them. Understand they will make mistakes, reward them for hard work, give them opportunities to win and succeed in practice.
There's tons of ways to show your players that you respect them. Another great thing that coaches can do is to do some of the conditioning drills with them. Get out there and run with them, let them see that you know that what they're doing is difficult and that you're willing to try some of it with them. Let them earn things in practice, and call them over now and then when nobody is watching and tell them thanks. It's amazing what a little "Thank you for the effort, you're a good ballplayer and I really appreciate and respect your attitude out here", can do. That literally can be the difference between a good and bad season for some players, never underestimate a compliment.
5. Don't listen To Them
This goes along with the one above, but it happens enough and it's important enough to warrant its' own number. Coaches believe often times that if they allow their players to have influence on the team or if they are allowed to make suggestions, then he loses his power over them. This couldn't be further from the truth. Now, we're not advocating turning a whole practice over to the players, although doing that a few times a year never hurt either. The goal here is to make the players feel like they have an investment and some influence in their own development.
It doesn't take a whole lot for a player to feel like he has some responsibility and ownership, just a couple simple things now and then. Ask the player what he thinks he should work on, what he thinks his weaknesses are, let him do the drills that he wants to do for a practice. Let the players decide what team drills they should do for an entire practice. Don't get this wrong, players need discipline and they need structure, but allowing input now and then is a great thing. It'll cause the players to feel like they have some skin in the game, some power in their play, and it'll make you seem more humble and, dare we say, respectable to them.
6. Give Them Unrealistic Goals
This list is about ways to ruin players and this will certainly do it. The fastest way to ruin a player is to destroy his confidence, and one of the best ways to do that is to cause him to repeatedly fail. Coaches often times won't even notice that this is happening, unfortunately this is true with a lot of the mental game which is why we put lists like this together in the first place. Since goals should be hard, they will sometimes be failed. This is not a bad thing in itself. The problem is that when they're too hard, they are failed too often.
Baseball Brains believes very strongly that goal setting is an extremely valuable tool and we advocate the use of goals throughout every practice during the entire season. However, they must be done correctly, and monitored closely. That second part is very important, they must be monitored constantly to make sure players are not becoming frustrated by losing or failing too many times in practice. Don't be afraid to modify goals if they aren't quite working out like you thought they would. Hard enough to make succeeding meaningful, but achievable enough so that failure doesn't become the norm.
7. Expect Them To Do Things You Haven't Taught Them How To Do
Never assume that a player knows how to do something if you haven't taught him how to do it. Now it goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway) that most of your players should know how to throw and catch and perform the basic skills of baseball. This is referring more to things like cutoff procedure from the outfield, double play turning at second base, hips closed mechanics for hitting to the opposite field, and things like that. Things which are not overly complicated, but things that not all players will always know, and this applies to almost all age groups.
There will almost always be players, even if it's only a few, which don't know how to do something that you think they should know how to do. If a coach berates or disciplines or becomes angry with a player for not doing something that has never been taught to them, that player will become resentful and frustrated. It's one thing to do something wrong when you know you did it wrong, it's a whole different ballgame to be punished for not being taught something. Again, this goes to the psychology (there's that word again) of the player. It isn't necessarily something the coach will see, but the drop in morale and the frustration toward the coach will be very real, and very detrimental to the player's performance. If you haven't showed them how to do it, don't expect them to do it right.
8. Be a Bad Sportsman
The job of a coach is to keep his players focused and intensely concentrated on the moment they are performing in. One of the greatest ways to destroy that and ruin your player, is to start yelling at umpires and displaying a bad attitude toward the other team. Sometimes in MLB a manager will get thrown out for the sole purpose of firing up his team and increasing their passion for the game. Needless to say, some things don't translate from MLB to lower levels of baseball, and this is one of them. It should be a constant reminder that you're giving your players to be good sportsmen, to respect the game and thus respect the other players, coaches and umpires. Bad calls, bad attitudes on the other team, opposing coach's who are behaving badly, these are all distractions which can take away from your players' focus on their job. Your job to is to remove as many distractions as possible, not become one.
9. Abandon You Own Methods
For a player in any sport to effectively learn and become good at a system, he first has to 'buy-in'. Once the player does this, he believes in it and he's willing to dedicate himself to it. Too many things go into getting a player to 'buy-in' to a system to discuss them all here, but one of the best ways to get players to believe in your approach and dedicate themselves to it, is to do those things yourself. Players will start out wanting to believe, wanting to believe that you're right and that they should follow you. However, they won't do it without skepticism. They'll watch you, and they'll gauge your conviction for it. Why should they be passionate and faithful if the guy teaching it doesn't even believe in it?
Coaches often do this without even realizing it. They'll preach things in practice and then panic when something isn't working in the game and change their approach. They'll receive attitude or resistance from a player or two and change how they coach. This is different that changing 'what' you coach, that's just fine most the time to evolve the areas of baseball that you cover throughout the season. However, if you change 'how' you coach and cave on your principles, the players will not give you anywhere near the dedication and effort you're looking for. Pick the right approach, be firm in your principles, be flexible if you're wrong, and fully dedicate yourself to your system. Your players will do the same.
10. React Emotionally
A lot of this list is related, and this one can be put in to a bunch of the categories above. What we'll talk briefly about here though, is coaches who react out of frustration and anger and issue bold proclamations. We've seen it in coaches in all sports, baseball perhaps the most. A player will talk back or do something the coach hates, and the coach's anger will boil up and you'll hear "That's it! You're on the bench for the rest of the tournament!". Then a game or two later the player is back in the lineup because the coach never meant that, he never wanted the player to sit out the last four games just for mouthing off a little.
Reacting emotionally can take many forms, but most of the time it causes the coach to say things that he doesn't mean, he won't live up to, and he wishes he could take back. The result is a coach that looks immature, spineless, reactionary, and unapproachable. Whenever a coach acts this way, he diminishes his players' confidence in him, and causes them to take his ultimatums and decrees much less seriously. Obviously these are not desired outcomes, unless your goal is to ruin your team.
Jake Bryan is a lead author in the Baseball Brains training system. There are numerous resources available at the website, including the full training manual for the system, drills, links and videos, and a Baseball Brains blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jake_Bryan
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6876750
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Friday, July 26, 2013
Youth Baseball Clinic - Baseball Tips on Hitting - The Most Common Hitting Problems at Any Level of Play!
Baseball Tips: Correcting the Most Common Hitting Problems at Any Level of Play!
By Guest Author: Larry Cicchiello
If you have what is referred to as a "quick hip," please forgive my bluntness but you will have no chance of being a successful baseball hitter. Only on an inside pitch, can you get away with opening the front hip a little bit early. A "quick hip" is when the front hip opens a fraction of a second early. It is a common hitting problem and a very serious one for many hitters at all levels of play. One of the most important baseball tips on hitting is to remember that the swing itself should force the front hip open. If the hip is a fraction of a second too quick, it forces your front side to open too early and this is a recipe for disaster for a baseball player at any level of play.
Three Major Problems Occur if You Have A Quick Hip:
1. You will not see the ball well. Your head will go along for the ride with your "quick hip" and you will be looking at the ball out of the corner of your eyes when the moment of truth arrives and you attempt to actually hit the ball.
2. Your power will be lost. You will be leaning toward third base if you are a right-handed hitter or toward first base if you are a left-handed hitter. That is not where the hitting is taking place. The hitting is taking place in front of you, not to the left or right of you.
3. Your plate coverage will be poor. The only pitch you'll be able to hit with any success at all is the inside pitch and low and away pitches will cause many baseball hitting problems for you.
I wonder how much young players who are struggling at the plate would improve considerably if they made this fairly simple adjustment at the plate.
Keeping the front hip and the entire front of your body closed is one of the most important baseball tips on hitting. How common is the baseball hitting problem of having a "quick hip"? You can check it out for yourself. When watching a game live in person or on TV at any level of play, observe the weaker hitters. (The ones who are batting .220, .230 or .240.) Keep an eye on their front hip. In almost all cases, it will be opening too early.
On the other side of the coin, you can also check out the better hitters. They will be keeping their front hip closed!
Larry is the successful author of several very user friendly eBooks and CD's covering 320 topics on playing or coaching excellent baseball. ANY player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Check out some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips at LarryBaseball.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Cicchiello
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3186147
-------------------------
Baseball2u.com - Hit2win.com - Advanced Skills Tee
By Guest Author: Larry Cicchiello
If you have what is referred to as a "quick hip," please forgive my bluntness but you will have no chance of being a successful baseball hitter. Only on an inside pitch, can you get away with opening the front hip a little bit early. A "quick hip" is when the front hip opens a fraction of a second early. It is a common hitting problem and a very serious one for many hitters at all levels of play. One of the most important baseball tips on hitting is to remember that the swing itself should force the front hip open. If the hip is a fraction of a second too quick, it forces your front side to open too early and this is a recipe for disaster for a baseball player at any level of play.
Three Major Problems Occur if You Have A Quick Hip:
1. You will not see the ball well. Your head will go along for the ride with your "quick hip" and you will be looking at the ball out of the corner of your eyes when the moment of truth arrives and you attempt to actually hit the ball.
2. Your power will be lost. You will be leaning toward third base if you are a right-handed hitter or toward first base if you are a left-handed hitter. That is not where the hitting is taking place. The hitting is taking place in front of you, not to the left or right of you.
3. Your plate coverage will be poor. The only pitch you'll be able to hit with any success at all is the inside pitch and low and away pitches will cause many baseball hitting problems for you.
I wonder how much young players who are struggling at the plate would improve considerably if they made this fairly simple adjustment at the plate.
Keeping the front hip and the entire front of your body closed is one of the most important baseball tips on hitting. How common is the baseball hitting problem of having a "quick hip"? You can check it out for yourself. When watching a game live in person or on TV at any level of play, observe the weaker hitters. (The ones who are batting .220, .230 or .240.) Keep an eye on their front hip. In almost all cases, it will be opening too early.
On the other side of the coin, you can also check out the better hitters. They will be keeping their front hip closed!
Larry is the successful author of several very user friendly eBooks and CD's covering 320 topics on playing or coaching excellent baseball. ANY player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Check out some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips at LarryBaseball.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Cicchiello
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3186147
-------------------------
Baseball2u.com - Hit2win.com - Advanced Skills Tee
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Youth Baseball Mental Training
Youth Baseball Coaching
By Guest Author: Miles A Noland
The game of baseball cannot begin without the action of one position.
In basketball there is a lot of focus on the point guard. In football there is a lot of focus on the quarterback.
These are important positions, but there is no position that is more important than a pitcher in baseball.
There is so much responsibility that involves a pitcher. From throwing different pitches, knowing the various hitters, fielding their position, pickoff moves, to controlling the running game, to dealing with adversity, mental focus, and dealing with fatigue, a pitcher has a lot to deal with. If one of these important parts of pitching is missing, you do not have a complete pitcher. Missing one of these components negatively affects all of the other components. Most pitchers are not advanced to be good in all of these areas, however, when you realize what areas a pitcher is weak in you can begin to attack it and improve. The mental game in pitching is so important, oftentimes more important than the physical part. Andy Pettitte, great guy who I hung out with in the Dominican
You must teach your pitchers to think one pitch at a time. It is very easy to think about the past or future, and this inhibits your ability to be best the possible in the present. Cues such as get to the top of the baseball, or take a deep breath and focus on executing the pitch, create movement at release are great for creating the right type of focus. Attempting to throw harder in times of struggle or getting mad at infielders or the umpire are typical things that make a pitchers struggle even worse. Teach your pitchers how to coach themselves and watch them develop right under your eyes.
P.S. One pitch at a time, one pitch at a time. Oftentimes a mound visit is very effective in calming a pitcher down. Tell him to step off the mound and focus on dominating the things he can control. What can he control?
1. His focus
2. Executing each pitch
3. Attacking the strike zone
4. Taking deep breaths
5. His body language
Things he can't control?
1. Where the ball is hit
2. What the umpire calls
3. If his fielders catch the ball
4. The mound conditions
5. Bad luck
Get your pitchers to focus on the controllables and they will deal with failure and adverse conditions much better.
Coach it up,
Miles
http://www.iybca.org/gift
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Miles_A_Noland
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7177830
===========================
Baseball Parent Guide
Baseball Coaching Digest
Hit2win.com
Baseball2u.com
AdvancedSkillsTee.com
HurricaneMachineParts.com
By Guest Author: Miles A Noland
The game of baseball cannot begin without the action of one position.
In basketball there is a lot of focus on the point guard. In football there is a lot of focus on the quarterback.
These are important positions, but there is no position that is more important than a pitcher in baseball.
There is so much responsibility that involves a pitcher. From throwing different pitches, knowing the various hitters, fielding their position, pickoff moves, to controlling the running game, to dealing with adversity, mental focus, and dealing with fatigue, a pitcher has a lot to deal with. If one of these important parts of pitching is missing, you do not have a complete pitcher. Missing one of these components negatively affects all of the other components. Most pitchers are not advanced to be good in all of these areas, however, when you realize what areas a pitcher is weak in you can begin to attack it and improve. The mental game in pitching is so important, oftentimes more important than the physical part. Andy Pettitte, great guy who I hung out with in the Dominican
You must teach your pitchers to think one pitch at a time. It is very easy to think about the past or future, and this inhibits your ability to be best the possible in the present. Cues such as get to the top of the baseball, or take a deep breath and focus on executing the pitch, create movement at release are great for creating the right type of focus. Attempting to throw harder in times of struggle or getting mad at infielders or the umpire are typical things that make a pitchers struggle even worse. Teach your pitchers how to coach themselves and watch them develop right under your eyes.
P.S. One pitch at a time, one pitch at a time. Oftentimes a mound visit is very effective in calming a pitcher down. Tell him to step off the mound and focus on dominating the things he can control. What can he control?
1. His focus
2. Executing each pitch
3. Attacking the strike zone
4. Taking deep breaths
5. His body language
Things he can't control?
1. Where the ball is hit
2. What the umpire calls
3. If his fielders catch the ball
4. The mound conditions
5. Bad luck
Get your pitchers to focus on the controllables and they will deal with failure and adverse conditions much better.
Coach it up,
Miles
http://www.iybca.org/gift
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Miles_A_Noland
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7177830
===========================
Baseball Parent Guide
Baseball Coaching Digest
Hit2win.com
Baseball2u.com
AdvancedSkillsTee.com
HurricaneMachineParts.com
Monday, July 15, 2013
Teaching Youth Baseball
Teaching youth baseball is a rewarding experience for both parents and coaches alike. While parents have an obvious investment in the teaching of the fundamentals of the sport of baseball to their children, coaches, make a significant investment of their own in time, effort and emotion. From a personal perspective, one of the greatest rewards is indeveloping relationships with and positively affecting the lives of individual youth baseball players. The lessons of sports such as in baseball are positive and well documented. For coaches, there are also the internal rewards they get from seeing each player develop and from watching a youth baseball team improve as a group and learn to play together under their coaching tutelage.
Astute coaches improve the performance of the team as a whole by employing youth baseball drills to improve the individual performances of team players and there interactions together. There are three main categories in which youth baseball drills will have an immense effect on the performance levels of players.
• Youth Batting Drills – one of the most important of the youth baseball drills. The vast majority of youth baseball players have the most fun when they hit. The better they are able to hit, the more fun that they will have, and the greater their interest in the sport of baseball. Coaches and parents who teach baseball drills in batting must stress the importance of a well-balanced stance that is comfortable for the individual player, picking the ball up as it leaves the pitcher's hand, and keeping the body weight back until the pitch is delivered.
• Youth Fielding Drills – an integral part of teaching the defensive position. Of course, there are sets of baseball fielding drills that are unique to each of the nine fielding positions in the game of baseball. However, there are baseball drills common to all fielding positions. One of the key youth baseball drills in catching ground balls is to keep the fingers of the fielding glove on the ground for ground balls, and raising the glove to catch the ball on the bounce, instead of lowering the glove. Another one of the instructional keys to fielding is to catch the thrown or batted ball with the wrist in an upward position for balls at or above the waist, and to turn the wrist upside down to catch balls below the waist. There are many ways to take a single drill and apply it so the whole team can practice at once.
• Youth Throwing Drills – the most basic of all youth baseball drills, and many instructors feel that it is the most important fundamental of all. It is vital for parents to make sure that their children develop proper throwing techniques from the time they can throw a baseball, around the age of eight or so. The importance of throwing a baseball with proper grip can not be overestimated. Youth throwing drills must emphasize four important elements: Throw the ball by gripping it with the index finger and middle finger on the ball; point your shoulder opposite from your throwing hand in the direction of your target; step in the direction of your target when you release the ball; and follow through after you release the ball with your back leg so that both legs are parallel upon the completion of the throw.
You can find many youth baseball drills on the Internet covering hitting, fielding and throwing. Some drills are free and some require subscription or for you to order a DVD. Free baseball drills allow you greater flexibility in trying a variety and see what works best for you as the coach and your youth baseball team. Always remember that drills should be age appropriate. The right fielding drill for a 14 year-old boy will not suit and 8-year old and vice versa.
There are many baseball coaching resources and communities like Weplay available to help with any questions you might have. Don't underestimate the passion of the community around you. We are all here to help the kids.
Trevor Sumner
By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a youth baseball community dedicated to providing parents, coaches and athletes the tools and information they need to celebrate the love of the game. Weplay has one of the most comprehensive baseball drill libraries in its active baseball community.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/trevor-sumner/128940
Astute coaches improve the performance of the team as a whole by employing youth baseball drills to improve the individual performances of team players and there interactions together. There are three main categories in which youth baseball drills will have an immense effect on the performance levels of players.
• Youth Batting Drills – one of the most important of the youth baseball drills. The vast majority of youth baseball players have the most fun when they hit. The better they are able to hit, the more fun that they will have, and the greater their interest in the sport of baseball. Coaches and parents who teach baseball drills in batting must stress the importance of a well-balanced stance that is comfortable for the individual player, picking the ball up as it leaves the pitcher's hand, and keeping the body weight back until the pitch is delivered.
• Youth Fielding Drills – an integral part of teaching the defensive position. Of course, there are sets of baseball fielding drills that are unique to each of the nine fielding positions in the game of baseball. However, there are baseball drills common to all fielding positions. One of the key youth baseball drills in catching ground balls is to keep the fingers of the fielding glove on the ground for ground balls, and raising the glove to catch the ball on the bounce, instead of lowering the glove. Another one of the instructional keys to fielding is to catch the thrown or batted ball with the wrist in an upward position for balls at or above the waist, and to turn the wrist upside down to catch balls below the waist. There are many ways to take a single drill and apply it so the whole team can practice at once.
• Youth Throwing Drills – the most basic of all youth baseball drills, and many instructors feel that it is the most important fundamental of all. It is vital for parents to make sure that their children develop proper throwing techniques from the time they can throw a baseball, around the age of eight or so. The importance of throwing a baseball with proper grip can not be overestimated. Youth throwing drills must emphasize four important elements: Throw the ball by gripping it with the index finger and middle finger on the ball; point your shoulder opposite from your throwing hand in the direction of your target; step in the direction of your target when you release the ball; and follow through after you release the ball with your back leg so that both legs are parallel upon the completion of the throw.
You can find many youth baseball drills on the Internet covering hitting, fielding and throwing. Some drills are free and some require subscription or for you to order a DVD. Free baseball drills allow you greater flexibility in trying a variety and see what works best for you as the coach and your youth baseball team. Always remember that drills should be age appropriate. The right fielding drill for a 14 year-old boy will not suit and 8-year old and vice versa.
There are many baseball coaching resources and communities like Weplay available to help with any questions you might have. Don't underestimate the passion of the community around you. We are all here to help the kids.
Trevor Sumner
By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a youth baseball community dedicated to providing parents, coaches and athletes the tools and information they need to celebrate the love of the game. Weplay has one of the most comprehensive baseball drill libraries in its active baseball community.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/trevor-sumner/128940
Monday, July 8, 2013
Youth Baseball Clinic: Explosive Rotational Hitting for Beginners thru High School
Explosive Rotational Hitting for Beginners thru High School
for more info buy "Beginners, thru Little League, Explosive Rotational Hitting dvd" $10.00 + sh www.sportstechnique.com
Using the rotational power of the hips, exerpts from this 60 minute dvd, show 4 drills and help parents and athletes undertstand powerful hitting in easy to follow terms. For baseball and fastpitch
Sunday, July 7, 2013
A Baseball Coach's Responsibility
A Baseball Coach's Responsibility
By Jim Bain
The headline " A Coach's Responsibility " is very ambiguous as it could, or should, compose a list of at least 200 items, which increases as his players' age and skill level increases. I'm going to exam 1 responsibility that very few coaches actually perform, but it's mainly due to unawareness, not shirking the duty.
I have always been a blue collar worker so I'm relying on my white collar friends to have given me the straight scoop on the procedure of getting raises.
The job performance evaluation an employee periodically endures is intended to give the person a non-bias and honest evaluation of how others perceive they perform their job. It should offer assessments of tasks the employee excels at, lacks achievement and suggestions to improve.
A coach has the responsibility, much as the employer, to have an honest face to face evaluation meeting with each player in order to let the player know how they are performing.
This evaluation process must not be entered into lightly as there are huge ramifications should a coach not do it right.
(1) The first decision is at what age do you begin these meetings? This is an individual decision as some may feel 10 years old is too early, when others coaching an elite travel team may think it's too late. Analyze your players' and their parents' maturity before implementing anything. You're intentions are to improve the players, not create a mass rebellion from thin skinned parents.
(2) When to do it? I suggest mid-season and then again at the end of the season. This will give you 3 benchmarks on which to evaluate the player, the beginning of the season, midway and final.
(3) Decide on a set goal you want to address and maintain that goal for every player. In other words, restrict the evaluation to baseball which only the player has control over. Suggest the player throw more, but don't get into the parents always bringing the player late to practices. The player has no control over the parents.
(4) Write down the comments and suggestions for each player. Unless you have a written guide it becomes too easy to wander off subject and that's not the goal. Also, keep these individual written guides in order to show any irate or inquisitive parent this was not a witch hunt and you weren't singling their kid out. Some coaches will give a copy of the evaluation to the player.
(5) Examples of a player's evaluation sheet.
Player One:
(a.) Great hustle... never gives up.
(b.) Need to work on improving bunting skills.
(c.) Good range to ball.
(d.) Get better lead off first base.
Player Two:
(a.) Excellent attitude... always trying to get better.
(b.) Very coach able... listens.
(c.) Could work on hitting the curveball.
Presentation is a key to these evaluations. Always let the player know how proud you are of him and his progress. They say Corrective criticism doesn't hurt, but it does.
"With your speed I need to get you a bigger leadoff at first so I can have you steal more."
"You cost us a game because your leadoff was too short."
Whole different approach.
I know coaches have their plates full and time is a premium asset, but consider this suggestion of holding evaluation meetings. They don't have to be long and they can be very enlightening for both the player and coach. You may learn the player refuses to get a good leadoff because his father told him he'd better never get picked off first base.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player and member of "Baseball Coaches of America" shares his advice on baseball coaching baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Be sure to check out his 2 books on Amazon, "The Pitch" and "Season of Pain". Great reading about baseball.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7815372
By Jim Bain
The headline " A Coach's Responsibility " is very ambiguous as it could, or should, compose a list of at least 200 items, which increases as his players' age and skill level increases. I'm going to exam 1 responsibility that very few coaches actually perform, but it's mainly due to unawareness, not shirking the duty.
I have always been a blue collar worker so I'm relying on my white collar friends to have given me the straight scoop on the procedure of getting raises.
The job performance evaluation an employee periodically endures is intended to give the person a non-bias and honest evaluation of how others perceive they perform their job. It should offer assessments of tasks the employee excels at, lacks achievement and suggestions to improve.
A coach has the responsibility, much as the employer, to have an honest face to face evaluation meeting with each player in order to let the player know how they are performing.
This evaluation process must not be entered into lightly as there are huge ramifications should a coach not do it right.
(1) The first decision is at what age do you begin these meetings? This is an individual decision as some may feel 10 years old is too early, when others coaching an elite travel team may think it's too late. Analyze your players' and their parents' maturity before implementing anything. You're intentions are to improve the players, not create a mass rebellion from thin skinned parents.
(2) When to do it? I suggest mid-season and then again at the end of the season. This will give you 3 benchmarks on which to evaluate the player, the beginning of the season, midway and final.
(3) Decide on a set goal you want to address and maintain that goal for every player. In other words, restrict the evaluation to baseball which only the player has control over. Suggest the player throw more, but don't get into the parents always bringing the player late to practices. The player has no control over the parents.
(4) Write down the comments and suggestions for each player. Unless you have a written guide it becomes too easy to wander off subject and that's not the goal. Also, keep these individual written guides in order to show any irate or inquisitive parent this was not a witch hunt and you weren't singling their kid out. Some coaches will give a copy of the evaluation to the player.
(5) Examples of a player's evaluation sheet.
Player One:
(a.) Great hustle... never gives up.
(b.) Need to work on improving bunting skills.
(c.) Good range to ball.
(d.) Get better lead off first base.
Player Two:
(a.) Excellent attitude... always trying to get better.
(b.) Very coach able... listens.
(c.) Could work on hitting the curveball.
Presentation is a key to these evaluations. Always let the player know how proud you are of him and his progress. They say Corrective criticism doesn't hurt, but it does.
"With your speed I need to get you a bigger leadoff at first so I can have you steal more."
"You cost us a game because your leadoff was too short."
Whole different approach.
I know coaches have their plates full and time is a premium asset, but consider this suggestion of holding evaluation meetings. They don't have to be long and they can be very enlightening for both the player and coach. You may learn the player refuses to get a good leadoff because his father told him he'd better never get picked off first base.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player and member of "Baseball Coaches of America" shares his advice on baseball coaching baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Be sure to check out his 2 books on Amazon, "The Pitch" and "Season of Pain". Great reading about baseball.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7815372
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Youth Baseball Bats - How Do I Choose the Right One?
Youth Baseball Bats - How Do I Choose the Right One?
By guest author: Jeff Heitz
When purchasing a youth baseball bat, there are a number of important things that need to be taken into consideration. The bat's weight, length and barrel width are very important and must be selected based on your league requirements. Some leagues will only allow a 2 ¼" barrel and this will change how you choose the proper bat verses leagues that allow 2 ¾" barrels. Wood bats are still available and make an excellent choice for all of your cage work as it helps to develop a proper swing and gain an understanding of the sweet spots on wood verses aluminum or alloy bats.
The most popular choice for youth baseball bats are aluminum or alloy. The technological advancements in these bats have come a long way and they keep improving from year to year. A basic rule for selecting the right bat is to choose the lightest bat for its length in order to fully maximize your swing power. In a lot of cases, lighter youth baseball bats are just as costly as some of the heavier ones, but with so many quality suppliers, you are sure to find one that will satisfy your budget.
When choosing a longer bat, you are insuring more plate coverage; but it might cause the bat to be too heavy and slow down or alter the mechanics of the proper swing. Not a good idea! Shorter, lighter bats will cause the player to crowd the plate a little more but will definitely create more bat speed. Bat speed is essential and choosing the right bat is very important. It would be best to have a bat that is a little too light than to choose one that is too heavy.
Barrel size has become the talk of the dugout. A larger barrel will produce more power and have a bigger sweet spot allowing the hitter to drive balls that would otherwise be harmless outs. Choosing the proper youth baseball bat is an imperfect science. If you are playing in a league that will allow 2 ¾" barrels, I would always recommend choosing bat speed over any other factor. Players come in all shapes and sizes and all have different strength levels...this complicates the process when choosing. Before purchasing, you might talk to your coach or a youth baseball bat representative and get information based on your players age and size and what the general trend is.
The rules for Little League Baseball differ from most all other youth organizations on their bat requirements. A 2 ¼" barrel and a maximum length of 33 inches is all that is allowed. Little League bats are required to have a taped handle up to 10 inches. Youth bats are measured in inches for the length and ounces for the weight. Negative or minus numbers are used to determine the bats weight. For example if a bat is 29" long and has a -10 rating the bat will weigh 19 ounces. The bat would be referred as a minus ten negative ten or a drop ten bat. The higher the negative number the lighter the bat is for its length.
For more detailed information on choosing the right baseball or softball bat visit http://youthbaseballbats.ws
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Heitz
=======================
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By guest author: Jeff Heitz
When purchasing a youth baseball bat, there are a number of important things that need to be taken into consideration. The bat's weight, length and barrel width are very important and must be selected based on your league requirements. Some leagues will only allow a 2 ¼" barrel and this will change how you choose the proper bat verses leagues that allow 2 ¾" barrels. Wood bats are still available and make an excellent choice for all of your cage work as it helps to develop a proper swing and gain an understanding of the sweet spots on wood verses aluminum or alloy bats.
The most popular choice for youth baseball bats are aluminum or alloy. The technological advancements in these bats have come a long way and they keep improving from year to year. A basic rule for selecting the right bat is to choose the lightest bat for its length in order to fully maximize your swing power. In a lot of cases, lighter youth baseball bats are just as costly as some of the heavier ones, but with so many quality suppliers, you are sure to find one that will satisfy your budget.
When choosing a longer bat, you are insuring more plate coverage; but it might cause the bat to be too heavy and slow down or alter the mechanics of the proper swing. Not a good idea! Shorter, lighter bats will cause the player to crowd the plate a little more but will definitely create more bat speed. Bat speed is essential and choosing the right bat is very important. It would be best to have a bat that is a little too light than to choose one that is too heavy.
Barrel size has become the talk of the dugout. A larger barrel will produce more power and have a bigger sweet spot allowing the hitter to drive balls that would otherwise be harmless outs. Choosing the proper youth baseball bat is an imperfect science. If you are playing in a league that will allow 2 ¾" barrels, I would always recommend choosing bat speed over any other factor. Players come in all shapes and sizes and all have different strength levels...this complicates the process when choosing. Before purchasing, you might talk to your coach or a youth baseball bat representative and get information based on your players age and size and what the general trend is.
The rules for Little League Baseball differ from most all other youth organizations on their bat requirements. A 2 ¼" barrel and a maximum length of 33 inches is all that is allowed. Little League bats are required to have a taped handle up to 10 inches. Youth bats are measured in inches for the length and ounces for the weight. Negative or minus numbers are used to determine the bats weight. For example if a bat is 29" long and has a -10 rating the bat will weigh 19 ounces. The bat would be referred as a minus ten negative ten or a drop ten bat. The higher the negative number the lighter the bat is for its length.
For more detailed information on choosing the right baseball or softball bat visit http://youthbaseballbats.ws
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Heitz
=======================
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
3 Drills to Improve Your Ability to Catch Fly Balls
3 Drills to Improve Your Ability to Catch Fly Balls
By guest author: Jim Bain
Just like any other position in baseball, playing the outfield is not nearly as easy as it appears, and just like any other position, there are drills which are intended to teach players how to properly execute their responsibilities. We'll briefly look at three drills which will increase your skills to catch a fly ball.
When someone says "The outfielder caught the fly ball," we normally visualize a player standing in one place, moving slightly to the flight of the ball, and easily catching the ball above their head with two hands. This type of play happens 1000s of times a day through out the youth ball parks of America, however just as many 1000s of times a day the player has to go get the ball, and those are the situations we'll review.
*** Whether a fly ball will be caught for an out or not is often determined in the initial reaction of the outfielder, his determination of what he must do before he even begins to move from his position, and should he determine wrong, well... he'd better hope he's extremely fleet a foot.
The Which Way to Turn Drill at first glance may appear rather odd, but the disciplines taught by this drill are extremely serious. Ever see a player going back on a fly ball only to realize the ball is on the wrong side of his body in order for him to catch it, then attempt to turn, tangling his feet and falling. That mistake was created by turning the wrong way when he initially began giving chase to the ball.
For this drill the coach will hit fungos, (fly balls) to the outfielders, but with a twist to the normal fielding exercise. The outfielder will be instructed to look down at the ground instead of at the coach or flight of the ball, until the coach yells "Now!" At that instant the player is to locate the ball, determine which way to turn, then attempt to field the fly ball.
The intent of this drill is two fold, forcing the fielder into instantly deciding on the proper way to turn and quickly reacting to give chase, which is a real plus when the ball is lost in the sun or lights, then relocated.
*** TheFootball Drill is a takeoff from the "Turn Drill" as the fielder will be running after the ball, as if choosing the correct direction to turn, and will catch the ball over his shoulder similar to a football receiver.
In order to correctly utilize this drill, unless the coach is very accurate with his hitting of fly balls where intended, it's better to loft the balls by hand. The intent is to familiarize the player with catching the fly ball while running sideways looking back, not to chase balls hit well beyond his reach.
*** The third drill is Turn and Go Drill. This drill is intended to teach players to anticipate the flight of the ball, run to an anticipated spot, then relocate the ball and catch it.
Let's assume the player is stationed in left field, the coach will indicate to the fielder he's going to hit the ball to left center field. Once the coach hits the ball, the player is to quickly analyze where he thinks the ball will land, run to that spot, then turn, locate, readjust and catch the ball.
These are extremely difficult drills intended for higher skilled players, but just another stepping stone in the long baseball education.
Jim Bain - Former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth. Visit his exciting info packed website: http://www.Learn-Youth-Baseball-Coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
=========================
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The 4 Best Batting Tees in Baseball:
Advanced Skills Tee
Stay Back Tee
Hands Back Hitter
5 Position Batting Tee
By guest author: Jim Bain
Just like any other position in baseball, playing the outfield is not nearly as easy as it appears, and just like any other position, there are drills which are intended to teach players how to properly execute their responsibilities. We'll briefly look at three drills which will increase your skills to catch a fly ball.
When someone says "The outfielder caught the fly ball," we normally visualize a player standing in one place, moving slightly to the flight of the ball, and easily catching the ball above their head with two hands. This type of play happens 1000s of times a day through out the youth ball parks of America, however just as many 1000s of times a day the player has to go get the ball, and those are the situations we'll review.
*** Whether a fly ball will be caught for an out or not is often determined in the initial reaction of the outfielder, his determination of what he must do before he even begins to move from his position, and should he determine wrong, well... he'd better hope he's extremely fleet a foot.
The Which Way to Turn Drill at first glance may appear rather odd, but the disciplines taught by this drill are extremely serious. Ever see a player going back on a fly ball only to realize the ball is on the wrong side of his body in order for him to catch it, then attempt to turn, tangling his feet and falling. That mistake was created by turning the wrong way when he initially began giving chase to the ball.
For this drill the coach will hit fungos, (fly balls) to the outfielders, but with a twist to the normal fielding exercise. The outfielder will be instructed to look down at the ground instead of at the coach or flight of the ball, until the coach yells "Now!" At that instant the player is to locate the ball, determine which way to turn, then attempt to field the fly ball.
The intent of this drill is two fold, forcing the fielder into instantly deciding on the proper way to turn and quickly reacting to give chase, which is a real plus when the ball is lost in the sun or lights, then relocated.
*** TheFootball Drill is a takeoff from the "Turn Drill" as the fielder will be running after the ball, as if choosing the correct direction to turn, and will catch the ball over his shoulder similar to a football receiver.
In order to correctly utilize this drill, unless the coach is very accurate with his hitting of fly balls where intended, it's better to loft the balls by hand. The intent is to familiarize the player with catching the fly ball while running sideways looking back, not to chase balls hit well beyond his reach.
*** The third drill is Turn and Go Drill. This drill is intended to teach players to anticipate the flight of the ball, run to an anticipated spot, then relocate the ball and catch it.
Let's assume the player is stationed in left field, the coach will indicate to the fielder he's going to hit the ball to left center field. Once the coach hits the ball, the player is to quickly analyze where he thinks the ball will land, run to that spot, then turn, locate, readjust and catch the ball.
These are extremely difficult drills intended for higher skilled players, but just another stepping stone in the long baseball education.
Jim Bain - Former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth. Visit his exciting info packed website: http://www.Learn-Youth-Baseball-Coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
=========================
Thanks to our sponsors:
The 4 Best Batting Tees in Baseball:
Advanced Skills Tee
Stay Back Tee
Hands Back Hitter
5 Position Batting Tee
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Correct Batting Practice Methods For Little League Baseball Teams
Correct Batting Practice Methods For Little League Baseball Teams
By guest author: Marty Schupak
In my eighteen years of coaching youth baseball, I am always looking for the most efficient practice methods for every aspect of baseball. It took me only a few years to realize that most youth baseball coaches and myself were running batting practice, not incorrectly, but not efficiently. From what I have seen with the typical batting practice, a coach will pitch a predetermined number of balls for each batter with the fielders fielding the hit balls and throwing them to first base. Usually the coach will yell something like "run the last one out", and the batter does just that. If the ball is an infield hit, they try to throw him out at first. If it is hit into the outfield, he usually runs until he is thrown out. This is all well and good intentioned, but it is wasting valuable time when a coach wants to run an efficient practice.
Here is the most efficient way of running a batting practice that I've come up with. First of all, let me say this. Batting practice is just what it is, batting practice. Batting practice is not fielding practice or base running practice. So all youth coaches and parents should really define what a youth batting practice is and what they want to get out of it.
Most of my youth practices do not run more than one hour. Every minute of wasted time will affect all other aspects and time of any other drills or techniques I want to accomplish. The first thing a coach needs to have is an over abundance of baseballs. The league will provide baseballs but I always make sure I purchase a few dozen extras. I try to work with three-dozen and keep an extra dozen in my trunk. And don't think I'm not frugal accounting for every baseball at the end of practice. I try to make sure we find each one, and after practice, we comb the field to make sure we got them all. Usually we find extras and end up with more than what we started with.
Now, here is the actual logistics and set up that I do about 95% of the time I run batting practice. I'm a big proponent of bunting. I set up two cones on the third base line, about six feet apart, approximately where the bunt is suppose to go. I set up two empty buckets, one about three feet behind second base and the other one at the far base of the mound toward second. I have another bucket with the baseballs on the mound easily accessible to me. Now, this is a key. As a youth coach who wants a well-run practice and a lot of repetitions for the kids, I move up almost to the front base of the mound to pitch. I do this mainly so I can throw strikes consistently. For safety purposes, an "L" screen would be required from a shorter distance for safety. If your league doesn't have any, make them get them.
I have the first person up at bat with the 2nd and 3rd player ready to go. I have the 3rd hitter (or double on deck hitter) on the outside of the screen hitting balls on a batting tee using pickle balls (plastic) or wiffle balls with another parent feeding the balls on the tee. I always have the number 2, or on deck hitter, ready to hit.
The batter bunts the first to pitches. For each successful bunt, the player receives an extra swing. I usually give a player five swings besides his two bunts. So if a player lays one bunt between the cones, he get six regular swings. If he lays both bunts between the cones, he gets seven swings (the maximum per hitter). Now, there are certain things that have to happen to make this work. Remember there are two buckets strategically located. After the bunts, when the hitter swings away, wherever the ball is hit, the fielder tosses it into the bucket closet to him. If it is hit to the outfield, he will throw the ball as close to the bucket behind second base. If he hits it to the infield, the fielder will toss it to the bucket behind the pitcher's mound. Reinforce to the players that they must toss to the bucket on one or two bounces or they will tend to play basketball with the baseball and bucket.
Now the point here is that the fielders do not make a play to first and the hitter does not run the last one out. We get more repetitions in a short period of time. The players are always facing the hitter. One might ask, isn't this boring for most of the players in the field? Well, not really. Because of the amount of balls hit in a short period of time, the ball is usually hit all over the place. And the coach throwing batting practice will keep one or two extra balls in his glove and is ready to pitch the next ball right away. When out of baseballs, have the players in the infield hustle to gather up the balls, combine buckets, and we're ready to go again. This works great!
Batting practice is a favorite of any baseball player at almost every level. Do not deny batting practice at any practice. And always look for the most efficient, safest procedure to help enhance your whole practice.
http://www.YouthSportsClub.com
http://www.VideosForCoaches.com
Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques" and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle for Videos For Coaches and is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marty_Schupak
==========================
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www.BatAction.com
---BatAction Machine at CoachesBest.com
---BatActionMachine on Ebay.com
---BatAction Machine Video Clips
---BatAction Trainer - 15 Reasons Why You Must Own This Machine
---Message to Parents From Coach Nick
---If you are looking for BatAction Replacement Balls or Power Bands Click Here
By guest author: Marty Schupak
In my eighteen years of coaching youth baseball, I am always looking for the most efficient practice methods for every aspect of baseball. It took me only a few years to realize that most youth baseball coaches and myself were running batting practice, not incorrectly, but not efficiently. From what I have seen with the typical batting practice, a coach will pitch a predetermined number of balls for each batter with the fielders fielding the hit balls and throwing them to first base. Usually the coach will yell something like "run the last one out", and the batter does just that. If the ball is an infield hit, they try to throw him out at first. If it is hit into the outfield, he usually runs until he is thrown out. This is all well and good intentioned, but it is wasting valuable time when a coach wants to run an efficient practice.
Here is the most efficient way of running a batting practice that I've come up with. First of all, let me say this. Batting practice is just what it is, batting practice. Batting practice is not fielding practice or base running practice. So all youth coaches and parents should really define what a youth batting practice is and what they want to get out of it.
Most of my youth practices do not run more than one hour. Every minute of wasted time will affect all other aspects and time of any other drills or techniques I want to accomplish. The first thing a coach needs to have is an over abundance of baseballs. The league will provide baseballs but I always make sure I purchase a few dozen extras. I try to work with three-dozen and keep an extra dozen in my trunk. And don't think I'm not frugal accounting for every baseball at the end of practice. I try to make sure we find each one, and after practice, we comb the field to make sure we got them all. Usually we find extras and end up with more than what we started with.
Now, here is the actual logistics and set up that I do about 95% of the time I run batting practice. I'm a big proponent of bunting. I set up two cones on the third base line, about six feet apart, approximately where the bunt is suppose to go. I set up two empty buckets, one about three feet behind second base and the other one at the far base of the mound toward second. I have another bucket with the baseballs on the mound easily accessible to me. Now, this is a key. As a youth coach who wants a well-run practice and a lot of repetitions for the kids, I move up almost to the front base of the mound to pitch. I do this mainly so I can throw strikes consistently. For safety purposes, an "L" screen would be required from a shorter distance for safety. If your league doesn't have any, make them get them.
I have the first person up at bat with the 2nd and 3rd player ready to go. I have the 3rd hitter (or double on deck hitter) on the outside of the screen hitting balls on a batting tee using pickle balls (plastic) or wiffle balls with another parent feeding the balls on the tee. I always have the number 2, or on deck hitter, ready to hit.
The batter bunts the first to pitches. For each successful bunt, the player receives an extra swing. I usually give a player five swings besides his two bunts. So if a player lays one bunt between the cones, he get six regular swings. If he lays both bunts between the cones, he gets seven swings (the maximum per hitter). Now, there are certain things that have to happen to make this work. Remember there are two buckets strategically located. After the bunts, when the hitter swings away, wherever the ball is hit, the fielder tosses it into the bucket closet to him. If it is hit to the outfield, he will throw the ball as close to the bucket behind second base. If he hits it to the infield, the fielder will toss it to the bucket behind the pitcher's mound. Reinforce to the players that they must toss to the bucket on one or two bounces or they will tend to play basketball with the baseball and bucket.
Now the point here is that the fielders do not make a play to first and the hitter does not run the last one out. We get more repetitions in a short period of time. The players are always facing the hitter. One might ask, isn't this boring for most of the players in the field? Well, not really. Because of the amount of balls hit in a short period of time, the ball is usually hit all over the place. And the coach throwing batting practice will keep one or two extra balls in his glove and is ready to pitch the next ball right away. When out of baseballs, have the players in the infield hustle to gather up the balls, combine buckets, and we're ready to go again. This works great!
Batting practice is a favorite of any baseball player at almost every level. Do not deny batting practice at any practice. And always look for the most efficient, safest procedure to help enhance your whole practice.
http://www.YouthSportsClub.com
http://www.VideosForCoaches.com
Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques" and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle for Videos For Coaches and is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marty_Schupak
==========================
Thanks to our sponsors:
www.BatAction.com
---BatAction Machine at CoachesBest.com
---BatActionMachine on Ebay.com
---BatAction Machine Video Clips
---BatAction Trainer - 15 Reasons Why You Must Own This Machine
---Message to Parents From Coach Nick
---If you are looking for BatAction Replacement Balls or Power Bands Click Here
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Why Youth Baseball Players Should Get Hitting Instruction
Why Youth Baseball Players Should Get Hitting Instruction
By guest author: Chip Lemin
Happy Spring training to all coaches!
I never gave professional hitting instruction for youth baseball players much thought until my child started playing travel baseball. I then noticed that many teams did indeed use paid instructors to help players learn proper fundamentals. After I attended my first lesson, I realized what I thought I knew didn't amount to much in the big picture.I was giving instruction such as, keep your elbow up,and keep your eye on the ball.I don't think too many kids go up to the plate with their eyes closed. I was completely underwhelmed by my knowledge of hitting instruction.
I remember the instructor talked about the grip first. I didn't know about lining up the middle knuckles on each hand when the bat is gripped. He showed us(me included) how these knuckles will end up in this position as the player swings anyway.It was explained that the bat doesn't have to be held in a death grip.The bat should be held as loosely as the batter can tolerate.This helps keep the hands flexible during the swing. He also showed us how to choose the right length and weight of bat for each player. He discussed what a "long swing" was,and how it hurt the player's bat speed.
The instructor took the players through a couple fun drills to show us what he meant. The players have not even taken a swing at a pitch yet,and I had learned a lot. Some players will not like a different approach to hitting. They are comfortable with their current swing. A good instructor will not blow up a kid's swing in the first lesson. They will a take a small part of the swing,and modify it. Then at the next lesson, something else is introduced to help the hitter.Many players are doing a lot right in their swings to begin with. A smart instructor will take care not to overload, or completely change a player's swing right away. A good instructor should give fun "homework" in the form of drills to help the players develop their swings. This gives you the "coach" something concrete to work with. Be sure to take notes so you can use this great information at practice. This will help you to provide variety at practice. Bored players are much harder to motivate.
So don't hesitate to get professional instruction for your players. Most qualified hitting instructors will charge anywhere from 30-75 dollars per hour. It is worth the money when the players and the coaches use the information during practice.It also takes more than one lesson the make a difference. Plan on a series of lessons with no more than one week in between sessions. The less time off the better to enhance muscle memory. So ask around, or get out the phone book, and get some quotes. Then actually go watch some lessons in person. Don't be afraid to interview the instructor to see if you like their style.Do some homework like any other investment to get the best return on your team's hard earned money. Your coaching ability will grow as you learn more about hitting. You don't have to "know it all" ahead of time. Go soak up all the knowledge you can with professional hitting instruction for youth baseball players.
Thanks
Coach Chip
Chip Lemin has been a promoter of youth baseball since they started using aluminum bats. That's a long time. I have witnessed many good people get into coaching without solid coaching skills and it is not fun for them or the kids.Today's newer coaches are also being shortchanged on sportsmanship, like there is none. Visit my site to sign up for a insightful, informational, free coaching e-course at http://www.baseballecourse.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chip_Lemin
===========================
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By guest author: Chip Lemin
Happy Spring training to all coaches!
I never gave professional hitting instruction for youth baseball players much thought until my child started playing travel baseball. I then noticed that many teams did indeed use paid instructors to help players learn proper fundamentals. After I attended my first lesson, I realized what I thought I knew didn't amount to much in the big picture.I was giving instruction such as, keep your elbow up,and keep your eye on the ball.I don't think too many kids go up to the plate with their eyes closed. I was completely underwhelmed by my knowledge of hitting instruction.
I remember the instructor talked about the grip first. I didn't know about lining up the middle knuckles on each hand when the bat is gripped. He showed us(me included) how these knuckles will end up in this position as the player swings anyway.It was explained that the bat doesn't have to be held in a death grip.The bat should be held as loosely as the batter can tolerate.This helps keep the hands flexible during the swing. He also showed us how to choose the right length and weight of bat for each player. He discussed what a "long swing" was,and how it hurt the player's bat speed.
The instructor took the players through a couple fun drills to show us what he meant. The players have not even taken a swing at a pitch yet,and I had learned a lot. Some players will not like a different approach to hitting. They are comfortable with their current swing. A good instructor will not blow up a kid's swing in the first lesson. They will a take a small part of the swing,and modify it. Then at the next lesson, something else is introduced to help the hitter.Many players are doing a lot right in their swings to begin with. A smart instructor will take care not to overload, or completely change a player's swing right away. A good instructor should give fun "homework" in the form of drills to help the players develop their swings. This gives you the "coach" something concrete to work with. Be sure to take notes so you can use this great information at practice. This will help you to provide variety at practice. Bored players are much harder to motivate.
So don't hesitate to get professional instruction for your players. Most qualified hitting instructors will charge anywhere from 30-75 dollars per hour. It is worth the money when the players and the coaches use the information during practice.It also takes more than one lesson the make a difference. Plan on a series of lessons with no more than one week in between sessions. The less time off the better to enhance muscle memory. So ask around, or get out the phone book, and get some quotes. Then actually go watch some lessons in person. Don't be afraid to interview the instructor to see if you like their style.Do some homework like any other investment to get the best return on your team's hard earned money. Your coaching ability will grow as you learn more about hitting. You don't have to "know it all" ahead of time. Go soak up all the knowledge you can with professional hitting instruction for youth baseball players.
Thanks
Coach Chip
Chip Lemin has been a promoter of youth baseball since they started using aluminum bats. That's a long time. I have witnessed many good people get into coaching without solid coaching skills and it is not fun for them or the kids.Today's newer coaches are also being shortchanged on sportsmanship, like there is none. Visit my site to sign up for a insightful, informational, free coaching e-course at http://www.baseballecourse.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chip_Lemin
===========================
Thanks to our sponsors:
Check us out on Twitter:
Blog4Coaches
Blogs4Coaches.com
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Common Sense Coaching, Teaching Hitting To Little League Baseball Players
Common Sense Coaching, Teaching Hitting To Little League Baseball Players
By guest author: Marty Schupak
One thing I learned in my 21 years coaching youth baseball is that there is no perfect way to coach hitters. I never considered myself an expert at teaching young 7-12 year old ballplayers the most refined hitting techniques. The most success I've had with improving hitters' techniques is when I didn't over coach them. I've attended my share of baseball conventions and hitting clinics.
Sometimes I come away more confused than when I went in. The hitting coaches I enjoy the most are the ones that simplify not just the hitting technique itself, but the explanation so young players will understand it. Most of the speakers at these clinics have incredible knowledge about hitting but I believe many should work on targeting their lessons to younger players. With that said, I would like to share the five biggest mistakes I see young players make year in and year out and what I do to correct them.
Mistake #1 is a batter stepping towards third base with his front foot. For lefty hitters it would be stepping towards first. For young players, this might be the most common hitting mistake I see. Instead of stepping toward the pitcher or even just lifting the front foot and putting it down, many players step toward third.
This can also throw off the whole rhythm of the player's swing and also reduce the amount of power the player can put into the swing. If the batter does make contact and hits the ball fair, the ball usually is a grounder to the right side of the infield. This hitting flaw is easy to recognize. To correct it can take time. What I do is take two pieces of 2X4 wood each about 36" long. Putting them on each side of the player's feet during batting practice will force his front foot from stepping to the side. Very rarely do players actually step into the wood while batting. Coaches should have the batter practice stepping first without even swinging for a few pitches. One session alone will usually not solve the problem but over a period of time this can work more times than not with most young players. You can also use two bats but I prefer wood because the bats can roll.
Mistake #2 is when the batter takes too big a step forward toward the pitcher. Many hitting coaches teach that batters need to limit excessive movement of the head. When a player takes an extra big step, his head can drop a good 4-6" or more. Plus, stepping too far forward can limit the batter's hip rotation and power. To help curb this, I will take a flat piece of wood like a piece of " plywood 4"X36" long. This would have to be cut to size. I put it about 6-8" in front of the player's front foot. He has to avoid stepping on it. Again, the coach or parent must give the player numerous repetitions to reinforce the muscle memory of the act.
Mistake #3 is when players lift their head too soon. Everyone who ever hit a baseball or a softball wants to see the result of their effort. At the youth level, batters will sometimes move their heads prematurely, losing site of the pitched ball. This is almost equivalent to a batter closing his eyes and trying to hit the ball. Young players tend to do the same thing when hitting off a batting tee. First, I have the player hit off the batting tee and he must yell "hit" upon contact. In giving them the extra challenge, this is forcing them to focus more and they will tend to keep their head and eye on the ball. The second technique is to color code a few balls.
I usually use blue painter's tape on some and yellow duct tape on others and keep some unmarked. So we have blue, yellow and white. Coaches and parents, if you do this do not over mark the balls with the tape. One small slice about two inches on each side is sufficient. Then a coach will throw the balls and the batter must track or follow the baseball into the catcher's glove. He will then call out the color once he recognizes it. The next step in this drill is to have the batter bat and yell out the color after swinging and making contact. I've had pretty good results with these two drills.
Mistake #4 is when a player stops his swing. I can't tell you how many young players I've seen who have a tendency to not swing through the baseball. This happens when a player makes contact with the ball. His swing all of a sudden slows down. We all know the importance of the follow through. Again, the batting tee has given me the best results. I stand next to the hitter and just tell him to swing through the ball. This is a process that can take a while. Also having him take numerous practice swings is a good idea.
Mistake #5 is the upper cut. To help solve this, I use the "Chair Drill." I set up a batting tee with a chair just behind it with the set up such that the bat must go past the highest part of the chair first. When swinging and trying to hit the ball off the tee, the batter must avoid hitting the back of the chair. I like to use the term swinging "high to low." The player understands this and knows what he has to do in this drill. I will also take a young batter and pitch batting practice and he has to try and hit only grounders without chopping down on the baseball. This also helps solve the upper cut issue.
For these remedies to work, repetition is the key. With young people, keep it simple. My own "Hitting 101" lesson is the soft toss drill 6-10 feet from a fence or a wall with rag ball (which are rags wrapped in masking tape). I then tell the hitter he must try and hit the ball so it lands at eye level or lower. I have no scientific proof but when the hitter does hit the ball at eye level or lower, it seems the batter is doing more things correct than not.
Hitting instructors are incredibly knowledgeable. They must convey their theories so both the hitter and the layman coach like myself can understand the common nuances of this great skill. And we all have to keep it simple and supplement all instruction with relevant hitting drills.
http://www.YouthSportsClub.com
Marty Schupak, President of the Youth Sports Club, has coached youth sports for 21 years and has run more than 1,500 youth sports practices. He is the creator of 22 sports instructional videos including the best selling video "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice." He is also author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills." For samples of his videos, go to http://www.VideosForCoaches.com. Contact him at YouthSportsClub@aol.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marty_Schupak
====================
Thanks to our sponsors:
SoftballrUs.com/FastpitchSoftballSupply.com is the ultimate online fastpitch softball online store. SoftballrUs.com has Batting Trainers,Pitching Training, Training Bats,Defensive Training Equipment,Coaching DVDs & Books, Softball Pitching Machines, Softball Complete Net & Frame Batting Cage Packages, Batting Cage Nets, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, and BatAction Hitting Machines, and much, much more. Visit Softballrus.com now!
By guest author: Marty Schupak
One thing I learned in my 21 years coaching youth baseball is that there is no perfect way to coach hitters. I never considered myself an expert at teaching young 7-12 year old ballplayers the most refined hitting techniques. The most success I've had with improving hitters' techniques is when I didn't over coach them. I've attended my share of baseball conventions and hitting clinics.
Sometimes I come away more confused than when I went in. The hitting coaches I enjoy the most are the ones that simplify not just the hitting technique itself, but the explanation so young players will understand it. Most of the speakers at these clinics have incredible knowledge about hitting but I believe many should work on targeting their lessons to younger players. With that said, I would like to share the five biggest mistakes I see young players make year in and year out and what I do to correct them.
Mistake #1 is a batter stepping towards third base with his front foot. For lefty hitters it would be stepping towards first. For young players, this might be the most common hitting mistake I see. Instead of stepping toward the pitcher or even just lifting the front foot and putting it down, many players step toward third.
This can also throw off the whole rhythm of the player's swing and also reduce the amount of power the player can put into the swing. If the batter does make contact and hits the ball fair, the ball usually is a grounder to the right side of the infield. This hitting flaw is easy to recognize. To correct it can take time. What I do is take two pieces of 2X4 wood each about 36" long. Putting them on each side of the player's feet during batting practice will force his front foot from stepping to the side. Very rarely do players actually step into the wood while batting. Coaches should have the batter practice stepping first without even swinging for a few pitches. One session alone will usually not solve the problem but over a period of time this can work more times than not with most young players. You can also use two bats but I prefer wood because the bats can roll.
Mistake #2 is when the batter takes too big a step forward toward the pitcher. Many hitting coaches teach that batters need to limit excessive movement of the head. When a player takes an extra big step, his head can drop a good 4-6" or more. Plus, stepping too far forward can limit the batter's hip rotation and power. To help curb this, I will take a flat piece of wood like a piece of " plywood 4"X36" long. This would have to be cut to size. I put it about 6-8" in front of the player's front foot. He has to avoid stepping on it. Again, the coach or parent must give the player numerous repetitions to reinforce the muscle memory of the act.
Mistake #3 is when players lift their head too soon. Everyone who ever hit a baseball or a softball wants to see the result of their effort. At the youth level, batters will sometimes move their heads prematurely, losing site of the pitched ball. This is almost equivalent to a batter closing his eyes and trying to hit the ball. Young players tend to do the same thing when hitting off a batting tee. First, I have the player hit off the batting tee and he must yell "hit" upon contact. In giving them the extra challenge, this is forcing them to focus more and they will tend to keep their head and eye on the ball. The second technique is to color code a few balls.
I usually use blue painter's tape on some and yellow duct tape on others and keep some unmarked. So we have blue, yellow and white. Coaches and parents, if you do this do not over mark the balls with the tape. One small slice about two inches on each side is sufficient. Then a coach will throw the balls and the batter must track or follow the baseball into the catcher's glove. He will then call out the color once he recognizes it. The next step in this drill is to have the batter bat and yell out the color after swinging and making contact. I've had pretty good results with these two drills.
Mistake #4 is when a player stops his swing. I can't tell you how many young players I've seen who have a tendency to not swing through the baseball. This happens when a player makes contact with the ball. His swing all of a sudden slows down. We all know the importance of the follow through. Again, the batting tee has given me the best results. I stand next to the hitter and just tell him to swing through the ball. This is a process that can take a while. Also having him take numerous practice swings is a good idea.
Mistake #5 is the upper cut. To help solve this, I use the "Chair Drill." I set up a batting tee with a chair just behind it with the set up such that the bat must go past the highest part of the chair first. When swinging and trying to hit the ball off the tee, the batter must avoid hitting the back of the chair. I like to use the term swinging "high to low." The player understands this and knows what he has to do in this drill. I will also take a young batter and pitch batting practice and he has to try and hit only grounders without chopping down on the baseball. This also helps solve the upper cut issue.
For these remedies to work, repetition is the key. With young people, keep it simple. My own "Hitting 101" lesson is the soft toss drill 6-10 feet from a fence or a wall with rag ball (which are rags wrapped in masking tape). I then tell the hitter he must try and hit the ball so it lands at eye level or lower. I have no scientific proof but when the hitter does hit the ball at eye level or lower, it seems the batter is doing more things correct than not.
Hitting instructors are incredibly knowledgeable. They must convey their theories so both the hitter and the layman coach like myself can understand the common nuances of this great skill. And we all have to keep it simple and supplement all instruction with relevant hitting drills.
http://www.YouthSportsClub.com
Marty Schupak, President of the Youth Sports Club, has coached youth sports for 21 years and has run more than 1,500 youth sports practices. He is the creator of 22 sports instructional videos including the best selling video "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice." He is also author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills." For samples of his videos, go to http://www.VideosForCoaches.com. Contact him at YouthSportsClub@aol.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marty_Schupak
====================
Thanks to our sponsors:
SoftballrUs.com/FastpitchSoftballSupply.com is the ultimate online fastpitch softball online store. SoftballrUs.com has Batting Trainers,Pitching Training, Training Bats,Defensive Training Equipment,Coaching DVDs & Books, Softball Pitching Machines, Softball Complete Net & Frame Batting Cage Packages, Batting Cage Nets, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, and BatAction Hitting Machines, and much, much more. Visit Softballrus.com now!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Are You a Good Youth Baseball Coach?
Are You a Good Youth Baseball Coach?
By guest author: Chip Lemin
Hello Coaches,
Are you ready for another season of watching your youth baseball team make tons of errors? Well, if your not,check out a few drills you can use winter work outs or spring training. These drills are fun for youth baseball players, along with helping them learn fielding fundamentals lacking many of today's youth baseball players.So print them up for for better results fielding the ball this year.
Outfield Bucket Drill
Place a large garbage can (clean one please) on its side, on home plate so that the opening faces second base
Players make 2 lines in right and left field. Coach is at 2nd base with bucket of balls. * Have the first two players in each line break away from their groups and assume a normal ready fielding position
Throw a soft pop fly into the air for the fielders to catch. * After the catch, they crow hop and throw the ball at cutoff-height to home plate. Instruct them to throw the ball into the bucket with the ball bouncing once or twice prior to home plate. Players rotate after each throw, and then
Change lines after 2 throws. Add grounders to the mix, showing them how to field balls along
With making proper strong throws home.
Throwing skills include aggressively squaring the body to the target, the crow hop; correct arm extension with fingers atop the ball and pointed straight back; grip the ball across the seams; hip roll and follow through.
Emphasize proper fielding techniques. The players should be catching the ball with there
Momentum taking them towards home plate or the base they are throwing to. Show them
How to run to the spot, step back some, and then come in on the ball. Receive the ball above the bill of their hat, slightly toward the throwing shoulder; glove fingers are pointed to the sky (not turned SIDEWAYS.
To improve focus of the players in this drill, make it a contest between 2 or 3 evenly matched groups. Make up scoring rules, and watch the focus improve. This always adds fun to a work
Out as long as the teams are even. Our Advanced course goes into drop steps, crossover steps, fielding grounders on the run, and much more.
Call out the Number Drill
Take 12 to 24 balls and put the number 1 or 2 on each ball, evenly divided as possible. Have players line up at shortstop, 2nd base, 1st base, and home plate with their gloves. Divide them evenly as possible; you can have whole team in on this drill if you want.
The thrower at home plate picks a ball out of the bucket, and rolls a pretty hard grounder to player at short. The player fielding the ball at short will call out the number on the ball, and throws it to 1st or 2nd base.
After ball is thrown to 1st base, that player will then throw ball to second base, where that player will run ball back to a bucket by shortstop. Each time a throw is made, the player must tag that base before the next throw is made. Errant throws must be retrieved and that base tagged before next throw is made. Any of the 3 players can go get the poor throw, but the throw must go back to the right base before the next throw is made.
The players rotate while ball is being put in the bucket (fielder goes to first, first baseman goes to second, and second baseman goes to end of line), or they can go to home plate and be a thrower. Thrower then would go to short to become a fielder.
The drill can be turned into a competition by splitting up into teams and simultaneously conducting the drill (other team starts in between home and first and throw to third for #1 and home for #2) or timing each team on how long it takes them to complete 12-24 balls. Emphasis should be put on setting the feet to throw to the proper base, along with a quick release with out taking an extra step, and that making good throws will avoid lost time chasing after wild throws. As players advance, make sure proper footwork for tagging a base and throwing to the next base is taught. Players should be taught to stay in low crouching position while making quick throws to 2nd base from shortstop
Circle the Bucket Drill
Helps player to use proper footwork (shuffling and rounding of ball) by circling the bucket before fielding ball. This will help them to use footwork that will square them to target, and provide momentum for their throws.
Need bucket of balls along with extra bucket.
Players line up at shortstop with a bucket 5 feet in front of them. The coach sets up at pitcher's mound with bucket of balls.
As the coach rolls slower speed grounders at the bucket, the player circles the bucket from the 3rd base side and fields the ball, keeping his footwork right, and momentum moving toward 1st base.
The speed of the grounders will increase, as players get better at this drill. This drill is about proper form, not how fast we do it. Increase speed only as players do drill correctly. To add more difficulty have players circle ball from first base side.
Have each player do this 5-6 times. You can have players be the rollers also, and then rotate back to fielding line.
I hope you find these drills helpful.The key to a good practice is that the kids have fun while they learn.You really don't have yell and shout if the team doesn't do it just right.Just look first for the effort.
Thanks Coach Chip
Hello My name is Chip Lemin. I'm a long time youth baseball coach who loves to promote this great game of youth baseball. Promoting sportsmanship in this game of youth baseball is something that really needs I feel. I have a free e-course that will give you some solid coaching information along with great help on the inter-personal relationships we must have to be good youth baseball coaches. Things such as parents, travel baseball, getting parents to help out, how to communicate better to parents and players, just to touch on a few. This course will help to organize practices like an elite coach. How to motivate players and other coaches with your positive attitude. It really is not very hard to be a great coach when you know what to do.Best of all you will learn how to have fun with these great kids that you have the privilege of coaching. Do yourself a favor and check it out, it's free,you will get 1 part every couple of days in your e-mail. Coaching can be fun and rewarding if you have a plan in place first, and you have an idea what you are doing.
http://www.baseballecourse.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chip_Lemin
========================
Thanks to our sponsors:
www.BatAction.com
---BatAction Machine at CoachesBest.com
---BatActionMachine on Ebay.com
---BatAction Machine Video Clips
---BatAction Trainer - 15 Reasons Why You Must Own This Machine
---Message to Parents From Coach Nick
---If you are looking for BatAction Replacement Balls or Power Bands Click Here
By guest author: Chip Lemin
Hello Coaches,
Are you ready for another season of watching your youth baseball team make tons of errors? Well, if your not,check out a few drills you can use winter work outs or spring training. These drills are fun for youth baseball players, along with helping them learn fielding fundamentals lacking many of today's youth baseball players.So print them up for for better results fielding the ball this year.
Outfield Bucket Drill
Place a large garbage can (clean one please) on its side, on home plate so that the opening faces second base
Players make 2 lines in right and left field. Coach is at 2nd base with bucket of balls. * Have the first two players in each line break away from their groups and assume a normal ready fielding position
Throw a soft pop fly into the air for the fielders to catch. * After the catch, they crow hop and throw the ball at cutoff-height to home plate. Instruct them to throw the ball into the bucket with the ball bouncing once or twice prior to home plate. Players rotate after each throw, and then
Change lines after 2 throws. Add grounders to the mix, showing them how to field balls along
With making proper strong throws home.
Throwing skills include aggressively squaring the body to the target, the crow hop; correct arm extension with fingers atop the ball and pointed straight back; grip the ball across the seams; hip roll and follow through.
Emphasize proper fielding techniques. The players should be catching the ball with there
Momentum taking them towards home plate or the base they are throwing to. Show them
How to run to the spot, step back some, and then come in on the ball. Receive the ball above the bill of their hat, slightly toward the throwing shoulder; glove fingers are pointed to the sky (not turned SIDEWAYS.
To improve focus of the players in this drill, make it a contest between 2 or 3 evenly matched groups. Make up scoring rules, and watch the focus improve. This always adds fun to a work
Out as long as the teams are even. Our Advanced course goes into drop steps, crossover steps, fielding grounders on the run, and much more.
Call out the Number Drill
Take 12 to 24 balls and put the number 1 or 2 on each ball, evenly divided as possible. Have players line up at shortstop, 2nd base, 1st base, and home plate with their gloves. Divide them evenly as possible; you can have whole team in on this drill if you want.
The thrower at home plate picks a ball out of the bucket, and rolls a pretty hard grounder to player at short. The player fielding the ball at short will call out the number on the ball, and throws it to 1st or 2nd base.
After ball is thrown to 1st base, that player will then throw ball to second base, where that player will run ball back to a bucket by shortstop. Each time a throw is made, the player must tag that base before the next throw is made. Errant throws must be retrieved and that base tagged before next throw is made. Any of the 3 players can go get the poor throw, but the throw must go back to the right base before the next throw is made.
The players rotate while ball is being put in the bucket (fielder goes to first, first baseman goes to second, and second baseman goes to end of line), or they can go to home plate and be a thrower. Thrower then would go to short to become a fielder.
The drill can be turned into a competition by splitting up into teams and simultaneously conducting the drill (other team starts in between home and first and throw to third for #1 and home for #2) or timing each team on how long it takes them to complete 12-24 balls. Emphasis should be put on setting the feet to throw to the proper base, along with a quick release with out taking an extra step, and that making good throws will avoid lost time chasing after wild throws. As players advance, make sure proper footwork for tagging a base and throwing to the next base is taught. Players should be taught to stay in low crouching position while making quick throws to 2nd base from shortstop
Circle the Bucket Drill
Helps player to use proper footwork (shuffling and rounding of ball) by circling the bucket before fielding ball. This will help them to use footwork that will square them to target, and provide momentum for their throws.
Need bucket of balls along with extra bucket.
Players line up at shortstop with a bucket 5 feet in front of them. The coach sets up at pitcher's mound with bucket of balls.
As the coach rolls slower speed grounders at the bucket, the player circles the bucket from the 3rd base side and fields the ball, keeping his footwork right, and momentum moving toward 1st base.
The speed of the grounders will increase, as players get better at this drill. This drill is about proper form, not how fast we do it. Increase speed only as players do drill correctly. To add more difficulty have players circle ball from first base side.
Have each player do this 5-6 times. You can have players be the rollers also, and then rotate back to fielding line.
I hope you find these drills helpful.The key to a good practice is that the kids have fun while they learn.You really don't have yell and shout if the team doesn't do it just right.Just look first for the effort.
Thanks Coach Chip
Hello My name is Chip Lemin. I'm a long time youth baseball coach who loves to promote this great game of youth baseball. Promoting sportsmanship in this game of youth baseball is something that really needs I feel. I have a free e-course that will give you some solid coaching information along with great help on the inter-personal relationships we must have to be good youth baseball coaches. Things such as parents, travel baseball, getting parents to help out, how to communicate better to parents and players, just to touch on a few. This course will help to organize practices like an elite coach. How to motivate players and other coaches with your positive attitude. It really is not very hard to be a great coach when you know what to do.Best of all you will learn how to have fun with these great kids that you have the privilege of coaching. Do yourself a favor and check it out, it's free,you will get 1 part every couple of days in your e-mail. Coaching can be fun and rewarding if you have a plan in place first, and you have an idea what you are doing.
http://www.baseballecourse.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chip_Lemin
========================
Thanks to our sponsors:
www.BatAction.com
---BatAction Machine at CoachesBest.com
---BatActionMachine on Ebay.com
---BatAction Machine Video Clips
---BatAction Trainer - 15 Reasons Why You Must Own This Machine
---Message to Parents From Coach Nick
---If you are looking for BatAction Replacement Balls or Power Bands Click Here
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