Best Batting Practice Techniques When Hitting A Baseball?

Baseball Batting Practice Techniques

By Guest Author: Jacob Bennet

There are some key things to follow when standing at home plate ready to swing away. However, before you start swinging at the very first pitch, its important to understand the following. Your mindset, proper footing, body stance, arm positioning, bat positioning, hip placement, neck and head and swing follow through. This may sound like a lot of batting practice steps to follow and for youngsters to understand, but you'd be surprised at how much they will pay attention, if you can almost guarantee them, they'll hit the ball.

Your batter's mindset is important and further instilled during your prior week's baseball hitting training drills. Unlike practice, they will face some stink-eye from the pitcher and usually a big-mouth degrading comments from the catcher, in hopes to try to confuse your batter. Your batter will need to have a solid understanding of the steps mentioned above (we'll go through each one in more detail), so that their confidence is high, both from the confidence from your voice and encouragement and more importantly from the repetition of successful ball contact during prior batting practice.

When your batter stands up to the home plate, you want to have them initially obtain proper footing and spread their legs, the rear leg behind the plate, and the other covering two-thirds covering home plate. This stance should be about shoulder width and comfortable to your batter, with both feet pointing forward and not towards the pitcher or catcher. This isn't their end stance as will be mentioned in a minute, but for now when they first walk up to the plate to bat, have them stand with their feet spread about shoulder width apart.

Standing at the plate during batting practice, you'll want your batter to bend their knees a few 3-5 times, to make sure they are not stiff, and feel a bit flexible. Bending their knees a few times will also add to helping them feel comfortable and in charge. Their body above the torso should be mostly straight up and down, with an ever-so-slight curve forward over the plate.

If they are right-handed, their left side should be facing the pitcher, with their right grip above the left grip when holding the bat. Likewise, if they are left-handed, they should have their right shoulder facing the pitcher and their left grip above the right, again when holding the bat. As a side note, but extremely important, make sure they follow these steps during both batting practice as well as during each game.

As a right hand batter, their right elbow should be placed almost level with their right shoulder, in other words, as they lift up the bat, their right fist should be level with their right elbow which should be level with their right shoulder. By focusing on forming a level horizontal "V" shape, this will help ensure their elbow is held high and does not droop down.

With the proper elbow placement, the bat (for a right-hand batter) should be angled forward at about a 10:00 o-clock position. Don't let your batter start off batting practice with the bat drooping down or even at a 9:00 angle, rather 10:00 - 10:30 bat positioning is best for the soon to be swing and follow through.

To recap thus far, the feet should be spread apart, toes pointing perpendicular to the pitcher and catcher line-up. Bring the bat back to about ten o'clock with the elbow up and level with their fist and shoulder. Now have them twist back, or "cock" or wind up their hips back away from the pitcher.

Make sure during batting practice that they bring back the forward foot so that it's just a couple of inches from the rear foot, still remaining parallel to each other. And don't let them deviate during game day.

Now have your batter look that pitcher into the eye and be ready to follow their pitching arm letting go of the ball and do not let them take their eye off the ball. And as they stare down the ball coming towards them, have them step out with their forward foot, un-wind their hips and swing their bat as hard as they can and point their forward foot towards the direction they want to hit the ball. Following these above mentioned steps during your weekly or daily batting practice, will help ensure a less timid and more confident team on game day.

Jacob Bennet is a father of 4 boys and loves to coach his son's baseball teams. His reviews of various team sports equipment including various types of batting cages, pitching machines and even likes to share his expertise on batting practice techniques. He is eager to help both players and coaches make good sound decisions when searching for specific baseball supplies and even the less fun, but more important baseball supplies like pitching machines, batting cages along with the best ways to create and experience an effective practice for your team.

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

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Baseball Tips for Rookie Coaches - So You're The New Baseball Coach?

Baseball Tips for Rookie Coaches - So You're The New Baseball Coach?
By guest author: John Peter




So you're the new coach. Ok, now what?

Coaching a team sure seemed like a good idea, maybe even easy...until you started thinking and getting into it deeper. All those players, parents, the draft, practices...and those game decisions...ugh.
Maybe coaching 3rd base might not be so easy...
What were you thinking?

SOLUTIONS:

Rule #1 - Relax, It will work out!

You'll probably even turn out to be good at it.
How do I know? Why would I think this?

Well, first you are searching for information. Websites like ours with articles like this are sure signs you are at the very least trying, instead of sitting on your hands, ducking your head and relying on your Little League experiences from long ago. And because of...

Rule #2 - You will be organized...

And yes, you will have the time to do it. As a matter of fact, there is an article that I strongly urge you to read. It is about how to organize your team and yourself and is titled, "Plan To Succeed."

Please finish this article before you jump there (I'll include the link at the end of this article).

Rule #3 - You will have fun!

Look, the more fun you have, the more fun your kids will have...and yes, the opposite is true.

Personally, I think that some of the best things about youth baseball are the adults! I also think they are some of the worst things about youth baseball. I mean this because as we get older...we tend to forget how to have fun and play games. Life just does that to us. Here we are trying to solve problems on a baseball field like we do at work...UGH!
We get tight, our kids play tight. We say ugly things in the dugout...well, you get the picture...
Let's move on (This lesson either hits the mark or it doesn't).

One final thought (from someone who is privileged to be in baseball for 350 days each year)...
IT'S JUST BASEBALL! BASEBALL IS JUST A GAME!
(It just happens to be the best game ever!) Read more.


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My 14 Best Baseball Tryout Tips

My 14 Best Baseball Tryout Tips
By guest author: Thomas E Wilson

So you have spent many hours training and participating in baseball workouts week after week, and your league's try outs are here. This is an exciting and nerve-racking time. Always be pleased with what all you have done thus far and have a day of relaxation before tryout day. Be confident in yourself and also your skills and most of all, have fun! Here are some helpful tips to help make try out day go smoothly, as well as give you the best odds of making the team.

1. Dress like a baseball player. Decide to wear baseball pants, spikes, and also a hat. Do not ever wear your cap backwards!

2. Be there on time! Make an attempt to be the first person to arrive and also the last one to leave. Coaches will appreciate that you are really serious about improving if they notice you doing exercises and stretching prior to and after the try outs instead of chattering with other players.

3. Introduce yourself to the coach if you do not know him. This action will demonstrate that you are a mature young man and have good self-confidence.

4. Don't forget that try outs aren't a social occasion. Stretch by yourself and take it very seriously. You are there to compete and take another person's spot on the team.

5. Getting loose is not the moment to display your arm strength. Make absolutely sure your arm is totally warmed up so when the coach is in fact wanting to check out your good arm strength, it is not tired from you overexerting it during warm-ups.

6. Hustle! For no reason should you walk during try outs or while on the baseball diamond. When your coach tells everyone to "bring it in" there is no need to race, however a fast jog will do perfectly.

7. Look confident and happy, even in cases where you are not. Hop up in the air one or two times to decrease stress, and seem glad to be there.

8. While waiting around for your turn to bat, focus on the velocity, arm slot, and movements of the pitcher.

9. While entering the batter's box, be confident and act just a bit cocky through your body gestures. Coaches will like the confidence and competitive mindset, just do not go too far or it might backfire.

10. While hitting concentrate on hitting the ball hard up the middle, not hitting home runs.

11. Be ready to learn. If you are pitching and the coach asks you to throw a change-up but you do not know how, politely express to him that you don't know how, however if he would teach you, that you would be more than happy to attempt to throw a few for him.

12. Act like it is the real thing. Pretend that you are in a game. Back up every single play where it is your responsibility. Coaches will take note and will like it.

13. Keep your head up and stay confident. If you swing and miss on three pitches in a row, keep your head up and dig down deep for the confidence you need to hit the next one.

14. Have some fun and relax!

I hope these suggestions help! If you make the team, great! Continue to keep working hard and striving to improve. If you get cut, do not get down on yourself. Some coaches tend to be biased and you might not be on their "list." Sometimes, you might be an excellent player, but simply not what the team requires at the moment. You can not build a baseball team with all pitchers for example. Work harder than everybody else on the team or not, and you will succeed. Ask the coach if you can practice along with the team, as well as train by yourself every day, 365 days per year. Try to remember, baseball is all about having a good time, so work hard, but have fun too.

Are you interested in improving your game and being the best baseball player you can be? If so, check out www.BestBaseballWorkouts.com to find more helpful information as well as baseball workouts and training programs for sale that will take your game to the next level!

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

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Overload / Underload Training: How It Works & Why Ball Players Should Use This Training Method

Overload / Underload Training: How It Works & Why Ball Players Should Use This Training Method
By guest author: Steve Zawrotny


There are some, particularly online, who continue to spread incorrect and misleading information about weighted ball training. Our discussion here will deal with Overload/Underload (OU) training in general, and its application to baseball and softball in particular.

1. OU Training Defined

2. A Brief History of OU Research and Training

3. Other Sports That Use OU Training

4. The Benefits of OU Training

5. Other Baseball Experts Who Are Proponents of OU Training

OU TRAINING DEFINED

Using weight-modified implements that are otherwise identical
to those used during competition

The weights of these modified tools weigh both more and less than the standard competitive weight.

Such tools allow athletes to train more precisely for their sport. Sport-specific strength and power are developed by movements with resistance or assistance that imitate the joint action of the skill - SPECIFIC RESISTANCE TRAINING. What makes this type of training so effective is that the weights of the modified tools used are heavy enough to produce a conditioning effect, yet light enough to not adversely affect the athlete's mechanical skills.

Generally, OU Training is employed to increase an athlete's POWER. Power is defined as the rate at which one can perform work, or the ability to exert muscle force quickly. This ability is related to, but distinct from strength, which is defined as the ability to exert muscle force.

As an example, strength is demonstrated as the ability to pick up a 30 oz. bat. Power is demonstrated by the ability to drive a baseball 400+ feet while swinging that 30 oz. bat.

As long as the tools used are not too heavy, mechanics are not affected, making OU Training what I call "skill-neutral." According to published data (see below) the ideal weight range for conditioning and performance enhancement is up to 20% +/- the weight of the competitive implement. I do NOT recommend using baseballs weighing more than 6 oz., or softballs heavier than 8 oz. There is some data that indicates using much heavier balls can negatively affect throwing mechanics, possibly leading to arm problems. Extra motor-units are recruited while throwing these heavy balls that are then not used when the regular competitive ball is used. As relates to our discussion here, the modified implements ball players can use are weighted baseballs and softballs, and various weights of baseball/softball bats, and/or devices attached to these bats.

Conversely, this type of training would not be useful for training other athletic skill areas, for example, shooting or throwing accuracy. OU training could help a golfer drive their tee shots further, but it wouldn't help eliminate their slice if they have one, or otherwise help them to hit straighter drives. OU training could help a young basketball player who is having trouble hoisting a basketball high enough to make a shot in a 10 foot hoop, but the shot still has to be accurate enough to go in. Accuracy training needed for a specific skill would therefore be performed apart from power work.

If I was working with a pitcher who had control problems, I would not break out the weighted baseballs and expect training of this type to help him throw strikes. I would look at his mechanics and make any needed adjustments, and possibly suggest some drill work to help reinforce the new concepts being taught. Such a player might also be working with weighted baseballs/softballs as part of their overall training regimen, but this would occur at a different time, and for the purposes of developing more power and speed behind his/her throws as well as conditioning the throwing structures of the arm.

A potential side-benefit of OU training is that a player could improve their accuracy by virtue of the increased number of reps or throws they are performing. This would be an artifact of the main goal of improving power, however, and not the main purpose of OU training.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OU RESEARCH AND TRAINING

The first research involving OU training was performed in the 1970s by the Soviet Union and East-European track and field teams. A great deal of this research has been published in prestigious, peer-reviewed journals around the world. Shot-putters, javelin, discus and hammer throwers, and sprinters were the early adopters of this training method.

Research with baseball players dates back to the 1960s. This is just a sampling of studies involving OU Training and baseball. There are dozens more relating to OU Training generally: Read more.

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Speed Training - Push Off Versus Landing Strength

Speed Training - Push Off Versus Landing Strength
By guest author: Thurman Hendrix

When it comes to sprinting, many athletes understand that they must forcefully push into the ground in order to thrust their body forward. Therefore, they work tirelessly in the weight room to improve their push-off (often called concentric) strength. Many use exercises such as squats and leg presses to accomplish this goal, usually focusing on the portion of the exercise in which they push or straighten out their legs. While this type of strength is extremely valuable for sprinting, many athletes often underestimate the type and amount of strength that is required in order to simply absorb their bodyweight and land upon each foot strike (often called eccentric strength).

When sprinting, runners usually hit the ground with force much greater than 4 times their body weight. In other words, a 200 hundred pound athlete will need to decelerate well over 800 pounds of force (landing strength) before they can then explode (push-off strength) back into the ground to move forward. Keep in mind that this force deceleration occurs on every stride they take during the sprint. Think about it, if their muscles were not activated during the landing portion of the stride their body would simply crumble to the ground under the force of gravity.

Many of the athletes that I train, including professionals, often wonder why I teach them landing techniques (eccentric) prior to teaching them jumping or explosive techniques (concentric). I then explain that in order to get full benefit out of doing something explosively (push-off strength), they must first be able to absorb and control all of their forces (landing strength).

Most exercises done in a weight room involve both a concentric and eccentric portion. Therefore, athletes are most likely already training this landing strength component. For example, in the first paragraph, I mentioned that they often use squats and leg presses and focus on the part of the exercise in which they straighten out their legs. This is the concentric (push) part and is usually perceived as the "hard" portion of the exercise. However, the lowering, eccentric part is equally important and should also be emphasized. Rather than just lowering the weight aimlessly, the athlete needs to focus on their form and technique so that they are in a safe and strong position when transitioning into the push-off phase. Again, if the muscles were not activated during the lowering portion of the lift, the athlete's body would get crushed!

Training eccentric (landing) strength can sometimes get complicated and should originally be taught under the guidance of a qualified professional. Exercises, such as depth jumps that involve falling from a distance before jumping may seem easy to understand, but due to the extreme forces involved and the demands that it places on the nervous system, one must respect this type of training and always start out slow.

To learn how to improve your 60 yard dash and baseball specific speed visit: http://www.60yarddash.com

Thurman Hendrix is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and specializes in training athletes. As a former pro baseball player he will help you increase speed in a very short amount of time.

This article may be published on your web sites or other electronic publications assuming it is used in its entirety. The resource box, copyright info, and all references must also be included and all hyperlinks must be HTML clickable.

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