BaseballParentGuide.com - Official Blog

Welcome to the official blog of the Baseball Parent Guide. Our free baseball articles and daily post provide baseball parents with valuable drills and tips to help improve your home, team and backyard baseball practice. Our archive has hundreds of informative and useful articles and posts related to all aspects of baseball training, practice and skill development. Make sure to save this site to your favorites for future visits. Happy Hitting and Good Luck to Your Team!

Friday, October 29, 2010

How to Pitch a Baseball : How to Grip a Baseball on Pitches



How to Pitch a Baseball : How to Grip a Baseball on Pitches
expertvillage Learn how to grip a baseball on pitches using the two seam and four seam grips in this free sports instruction video.

Expert: Mike Lumley
Bio: Mike Lumley is the President and head instructor of Lumley School of Baseball and has a very extensive back ground in baseball and baseball camps; two years Scholarship at Eastern Michigan University,
Filmmaker: Melissa Schenk

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Baseball Tips & Training : Teaching How to Hit a Baseball



Baseball Tips & Training : Teaching How to Hit a Baseball
eHowSports When learning to hit a baseball, practice is important, but it's only effective if the player knows how to swing effectively. Find out how to create good habits in a baseball swing with help from a baseball instructor in this free video on hitting a baseball.

Expert: Jory Jensen
Bio: Jory Jensen pitched for Utah Valley University for four years, and is currently an instructor for Rocky Mountain School of Baseball and Hardball, Incorporated.
Filmmaker: Michael Burton

Series Description: In baseball, success is all about using the right equipment, warming up properly, and practicing a variety of training drills. Find out how to become a better baseball player in this free video series on baseball.

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Monday, October 25, 2010

Customized Sports Wristbands

Customized Sports Wristbands
By guest author: Paul M. Serra

Every day we see many of our favorite athletes wearing sports wristbands. We never think about where they got them from, or how they were made but we think: wow, those are pretty cool. Athletic wristbands are indeed fashionable for sports like the ones listed below.

o Tennis

o Basketball

o Baseball

o Football

o Soccer

o Rugby

o Volleyball

There are many sports other than the one's listed above but this at least give one the idea of how common the sports wristbands. Most athletes have a customized logo on them. The logo is either of their club, number, or something inspiring to them. It's always interesting to see how creative one can get when in the process of designing something that they will wear on national TV.

Professional Wrestling fans - don't worry. We didn't forget that it's a sport. Many of the most famous wrestlers have word sweat wristbands out to the ring. While designing their costumes, sports wristbands are a great thing to have lying around. If they have your logo on it, that is a real plus. This is what I'm going to get into next, this whole idea of how to customized sports wrist bands.

Customization of Sports Wristbands

There are a few different ways to customize sports wristbands. The first, and tough path, is to buy plain sweatbands at the store and take them to your local embroidery shop. They can than put your number or logo on the wristbands. While this may seem ideal or easy - it is not recommended for the best quality.

The best way to customize your bands is to visit someone who specializes in the field of custom embroidered wristbands. Chances are you don't have a shop like this on the corner. So I would advise you to do a simple Google search of "embroidered wristbands". Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of high quality companies that offer this service.

Visit http://www.stbands.com for more information on sports wristbands!

Wristbands for Promo - http://wristbandshq.com/custom-wristbands-outstanding-promotional-product/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_M._Serra

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Baseball Player - Bryce Harper

The Baseball Player - Bryce Harper
By guest author: David Olmst

As a high-school baseball player, Bryce Harper was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 205 lbs, this is huge for a kid his age. However, that doesn't keep Little League players from looking up to him. "He is a great role model," says one Little Leaguer, "he makes me feel like I can do impossible things like he does." With all due respect, why does this young fellow look up to him in awe? Right now, Bryce Harper will be the number one draft pick in the 2010 Major league Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals and be part of the select few who will play professional baseball at the age of 17.

We can't just look at these achievements; he is already hitting home runs that are setting records. On record, he hit an amazing 502 foot home run during the 2009 International Power Showcase at the Tropicana field. He had the honor of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated because of his 570 foot home run. Harper is becoming quite popular with middle and high-school students, even gaining support from some parents of young baseball players. Not many parents would support a decision to drop out of high school to train for a hard earned baseball career, but Bryce's parents did. As per with Major League rules, however, he will be finishing his GED before the draft, probably during the summer of 2009.

Bryce Harper began swinging his baseball bat at the age of three. Little leagues from all over the country were scouting Harper to play for them when he was 8; they even offered to pay for hotels and airfare if he would play for their team. The people, who knew Bryce from his childhood, knew he was going to accomplish the impossible. Harper's natural skill with the sport of baseball is undoubtedly incredible, and could be called a "once in a generation" genetic lottery.

In addition to being a role model based on skills alone, he also possesses a determination and dedication to the sport of baseball that should be admired even by veteran players. A lot of coaches who have watched Harper play baseball, say his dedication is that of the old time baseball players; he wants to play well and do his best for the team he is playing for. The parents of Bryce Harper never did any pushing of baseball throughout his childhood. Ron Harper, Bryce's father, is adamant about this.

"We have to do what's best for him. All he wants to do is play baseball. He always has. The best thing we can do as parents is to do what is right for his future."

It could be said that a lot of Bryce Harper's admirable characteristics come from his supportive family. Every strong baseball player needs a support system, and his family seems to behind all of Bryce's choices all of the time. Besides just playing baseball, Bryce Harper does it all such as play football, snowboard and do anything else he wants to do. Bryce Harper's parents state he is still a normal, average Joe, even though he quit playing football. With his amazing proficiency at baseball, inspirational achievements and determined attitude, it's clear that Bryce Harper has the potential to be a strong role model for other young baseball players.

David Olmst has been writing about Bryce Harper since he hit the news years back. Bryce Harper home run is what got David interest in him. David strongly believes in the baseball player Bryce Harper because of his skills.

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

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Monday, October 11, 2010

How To Run A Youth Baseball All Star Team

How To Run A Youth Baseball All Star Team
By guest author: Marty Schupak

You've just completed an exhausting 20-25 game schedule complete with a few rain make-up games at inopportune times. The season had everything including controversies among other teams, your own parents, league board members, and other headaches. Your reward for coping with all of this, and leading your team to the league championship, is to coach the 11-12 year old All Star team. Think your phone rang a lot during the season? You haven't seen, or heard, anything yet. Your first duty as coach is to inform your spouse that your long awaited vacation will have to be postponed because your league needs you. You also discuss putting off the repair of your washer machine because, with All Stars, the laundry room is now on call 24 hours a day.

Picking your league All Star team can be an incredibly emotional time that may result in hurt feelings that extend beyond the season, and sometimes for years. Some leagues have incorporated having the players vote for part of the All Star team. Many leagues have the coaches decide in a meeting run by the league commissioner (or player agent). The first priority is to decide the number of players to draft on the team. If your league charter defines this number, then this is what you have to follow. Otherwise this decision has to be made at this meeting. Issues need to be discussed, such as: is it required by the league charter to have everyone play; and how much are they required to play? This issue can become a headache, as the substituting of players will sometimes be a distraction for the coach in charge during the game. Usually, prior to this meeting, the head coach has his assistant coaches assigned by the league. This can be a problem because sometimes coaches would rather take their regular season assistants than two other assigned head coaches that they have never worked with before. I would prefer the latter even though you are discussing strategies with two other people you might have learned to detest during the season. During All Stars, the coaches on the bench who were adversaries during the year always seem to get along as long as the team keeps playing.

Once the coaches and team are made, it is imperative that the head coach (or manager) hold a parents meeting. This meeting is even more important then your regular season team parents meeting. The meeting should be a requirement and not last more than 10 or 15 minutes. The key points for the coach to stress to the parents are that because your child is an All Star, he is expected to play any position on the field (except maybe pitcher & catcher). The point of this is that many of the players were their team's shortstops during the season and they are asked to play the outfield. You need to assure parents (and even the players) that it is imperative that all nine positions are equally important. Other points that should be discussed should be about playing time. I always told parents that I won't be popular as a coach at the conclusion of All Stars for every family but that the league entrusted me to use my judgment whether they think it is right or wrong. I always stress that I can only guarantee the minimum required playing time and that you should consider this if you are going to cancel vacation plans for these All Star games.

Practices should be run a couple of ways. You will probably have in your mind the batting order and fielding positions. I would urge all coaches to mix things up in the practices and try players at different positions. There will be some minor unexpected absentees and you should be ready for this as coach.

The All Star games themselves can be some of the highest pressured tension in youth sports. Neighboring leagues will be in attendance and players will have expected nervousness. You can cut your regular warm ups short and take the team in the outfield and play any silly type of game you can think of. I have always used a game where I divide the team in half, and with a hard ball for each team, the teammates must pass the ball to each other using only their neck. This meaningless sounding game helps to relax the players, and for 11 and 12 year olds, this might be the best warm up for them.

All Stars are the highlights for some players and leagues. Aside from all of the potential problems and arguing, if your All Star team ends up going on a nice winning streak, there is nothing like it. Getting far into any tournament will require some luck. If your team gets eliminated, this is where, as a coach, you have to give them the "ultimate" pep talk. Now some teams continue to play in other local tournaments, which is great way to end the season.

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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HurricaneMachine.com - Links

---15 Reasons To Buy a Hurricane Trainer
---6 Questions Often Asked By Customers
---Message to Parents From Coach Nick
---Hurricane Hitting Machine Drills
---20-Minute Hurricane Batting Practice Workout
---Hurricane Hitting Machine Video Demo Clips

Baseball2u.com has a one of the internet's largest selections of baseball coaching and training dvds

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010

Baseball Drills for Youth Teams

Baseball Drills for Youth Teams
By guest author: Kenny Buford

Baseball is a game of skill and power that is unlike any other game today. Baseball has subtly to it that is often lost in other team sports such as basketball and football. So when people come together to play this game they need to be ready for any eventuality no matter how unlikely it maybe. That is why baseball drills are so important. Practicing these different scenarios keeps players from being unprepared for what may happen during a game which is very important. Here are a few drills that teach players both the fundamentals and some of the more important drills that can help teams with their weaknesses.

A good drill for all around practice is ironically called the "All Around" drill. This is an excellent baseball drill to teach kids to stop the ball and how to throw in and out of field. It starts with lining up players in groups of three to four at first base, right field, and third base. Each group has a different job, the first base players try to run from first base to third without being tagged and then must slide into third base. As the player runs a coach throws a ball to the right field players. This gives them an opportunity to practice stopping the ball. Then the right fielder throws the ball low to the third base players. The third base players then need to and tag the player that ran. It's a slightly complicated drill but a good one for those that want to make sure that players are familiar with the basics of field play.

Another good drill is called "The Fence" drill. This is another excellent baseball hitting drill. This drill calls for a player to be standing behind some sort of solid wall; it can be made of chain link, cement, or even brink. The important thing is that the player can tell the difference between when they have touched the wall and when they have not. Have the player make their normal stance and stand about a 1-1 ½ feet in front of the wall. Then have the player practice their hitting style, if they continually hit the wall that means that they must tighten their stance. This will in turn help them with a quicker bat swing. Just remind your players that this drill is not about power but precision that way they won't hurt themselves or the bat when they swing to far back and hit the wall.

Finally, a good creative drill to keep players practicing at home has many names but one can either be called rooftop ball or error depending on what players have heard it called. This is a simple drill that does a good job of practicing both fielding, throwing, and stopping the ball. At home, a player throws a ball down their slanted roof and tries to catch it after it rolls down. There is more than a slight chance of a "gutter ball" but it still does a great job of helping players at home practice in a creative way.

These different baseball drills will help players become much better rounded and in turn that will lead to better games. Baseball is a subtle art but much like an artist if a player has experience behind them it is more likely that they will be successful.

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