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!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Baseball Batting Drill - 3 Pitch Location Drill - On the Derek Jeter Hurricane Machine.wmv



Video shows how to practice hitting all three of the basic strike locations. Batters can practice hitting the inside, middle and away strike location. Video shows a college player hitting the Derek Jeter Hurricane Baseball Trainer. For free tips, drills, and coaching articles, visit the Derek Jeter Hurricane Training Blog at http://hurricanebaseballtrainingmachi... For more product information visit http://www.HurricaneMachine.com

===============================

CoachesBest.com
HurricaneTrainer.com
BatAction.com
HandsBackHitter.com
QuickSwingTrainer.com
AdvancedSkillsTee.com
BattingCagesDirect.com
BattingCagesrUs.com

Monday, November 22, 2010

Defensive Outfield Rules and Priorities

Defensive Outfield Rules and Priorities
By guest author: Steven Michael

Defense in baseball is both an individual and team function. Being a good defensive outfielder requires correct fundamentals and focused practice. Playing good defense also requires that the players on the field work together. Each player must know the responsibilities of his position. They must back each other up and communicate clearly. And they must know the priorities to which each team member is subject.

When the ball is hit out to the field of play, each defensive position has responsibilities. The players must know where to position themselves. They must also anticipate the play and re-position themselves correctly.

As defensive teammates, each outfielder needs to "pick each other up" as the saying goes. Backing-up fellow outfielders and infielders is key. Covering for each other, and covering the field well, requires following assigned priorities. To do all of these things mandates clear and unambiguous communication.

The center fielder is the "field general" of the outfield. He is considered the best fielder in the outfield. He is most likely the fastest runner of the three outfielders too. Lastly, he is in the middle of the field and well-positioned to see all parts of the outfield better than the corner outfielders.

If the center fielder and a corner outfielder both go after a hit ball, the center fielder has priority to it. This rule assumes that both outfielders have an equal chance to field the ball! This qualification is important to note.

Unfortunately, I have seen two problems with stating this rule to players, or of not informing outfielders of the rule. The first problem usually happens in youth baseball. One of the corner outfielders takes this rule a little too seriously. This results in the corner outfielder not aggressively pursuing a hit ball because "you told me the center fielder should take everything". And the ball ends up very close to him without any attempt at catching it.

The second problem of not understanding, or even knowing, this rule is player collisions. Both the center fielder and a corner outfielder run after a hit ball and neither gives way to the other. Nothing good can come from this situation.

The center fielder has priority to catch the ball when both he and a corner outfielder have a good chance at it. In these situations, both outfielders should communicate that they will catch it - they both "call" for the ball.

The center fielder should recognize that they have both called for the ball, and he should continue to call for it. When the corner outfielder hears the center fielder call for the ball, he should immediately veer off and back-up the center fielder.

It is important that outfielders understand the nuances of this rule. It does not mean he center fielder should take every ball hit to the outfield. Further, it does not mean that if a corner outfielder calls for the ball first that he has a "right" to the ball. It means only this: if the center fielder calls for the ball, the corner outfielders should give way and back-up the play.

On fly balls, or pop-ups, behind an infielder, the outfielder has priority on the catch. This assumes that both the infielder and outfielder can reach the ball. How do they know if they can reach it? Both the infielder and outfielder should run to the fly ball, and not quit, until they hear the other player call for the ball.

Infielders are taught, or they should be, to go after pop-flies until they hear an outfielder call them off. If they don't hear the outfielder, they continue to run and attempt to catch the ball.

Now outfielders have to be smart on these plays. Just because an outfielder has priority does not mean he must take the ball. There are many instances where the outfielder has to run full stride to make the catch. Meanwhile, the infielder is standing under the ball in perfect position.

Why is this a defensive rule? It's because the outfielder is running forward and the infielder is running backward, or backpedaling. And remember, it's easier and faster to run forward for a catch than to run backward.

Another reason is back-spin, and/or side-back-spin of the ball. Pop-ups near the middle of the diamond have back-spin. This makes the ball move farther away from the infield as it descends. That means it is moving toward the outfielder and away from the infielder. Much easier play for the outfielder.

Maybe you've seen a catcher try to catch a pop-up in foul ground behind the plate. Once in a while a youthful catcher will start to backpedal as the ball is descending. Did he misjudge it? Did he overrun the ball? Yes and yes. But this happened because back-spin is moving the ball toward fair territory. Experienced catchers know this and approach the catch from the infield side of the ball, not the backstop side.

When a pop-up is hit down either foul line, the ball has side-back-spin. This makes the ball move toward center field as it descends. This is a really tough play for first and third basemen. It's a little easier for shortstops and second basemen. And it's very easy for left and right fielders - if they can get to the catch target.

Steven E. Michael played seven years of professional baseball in the Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. He played collegiately at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona earning All-Western Athletic Conference, All-College World Series, and Sporting News All-America honors.

His new book, "How To Play Baseball Outfield: Techniques, Tips, and Drills to Learn the Outfield Position" is available at http://www.stevenemichael.com

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

==============
Thanks to our sponsors:



Joe Mauer Quick Swing Trainer
QuickSwingTrainer.com
How Does the Quick Swing Batting Trainer Work?
Joe Mauer Quick Swing Links
Video Demo of the Joe Mauer Quick Swing Baseball Batting Trainer


Jugs Small Ball Pitching Machine

Friday, November 12, 2010

Teach Kids How To Hit A Baseball


Available at:
Baseball2u.com

BatAction.com
Hit2win.com

Teach Kids How To Hit A Baseball
By guest author: Jeffery A Wise

A baseball player will never forget the person or people who taught him how to play. It's a great opportunity for parents to influence their kids in a good way. My dad taught me how to hit a baseball when I was young and it meant a lot to me.

He wasn't just my personal coach, though. My dad coached Little League teams all through my childhood and he even coached my team when I was 14 years old.

My first coaching experience was one-on-one with a friend's son. I thought it would be a breeze. We were both excited, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be. He had been playing organized baseball for a few years so I just briefly covered the basic fundamentals of how to stand, hold the bat and swing. I was confident his dad and coaches had already covered those areas. I could also tell he wanted to bypass the training and get straight to the hitting.

I started pitching to him and I immediately saw the frustration starting to build. I remembered having the same feelings as a kid. Kids want to be able to hit every single pitch and hit it good or they start to get frustrated. Sometimes that frustration leads to lack in confidence.

There are two important rules you should remember when teaching kids how to hit a baseball.


They don't have to swing at every pitch. Train them to swing only at good pitches.
Teach them to relax, be confident and have fun. We all want to hit well but make sure they are having a good time.

If you see them starting to get frustrated, remind them of these tips and then start throwing to them again. Hopefully you will see a change in their attitudes and their hitting. If you don't, it's probably best to take a break from practice or work on other drills. Be patient when teaching kids to hit a baseball. Don't push them to do anything spectacular or place demands on them. They will learn at their own pace and that's okay.

Jeffery A Wise invites you to learn more about youth baseball and teaching kids to hit a baseball. Start learning today on Twitter as we tweet updates that are perfect for youth batting coaches.

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

================
Thanks to our sponsors:



Joe Mauer Quick Swing Trainer
QuickSwingTrainer.com
How Does the Quick Swing Batting Trainer Work?
Joe Mauer Quick Swing Links
Video Demo of the Joe Mauer Quick Swing Baseball Batting Trainer

Monday, November 8, 2010

How to Hit a Baseball and Stay Back



How to Hit a Baseball and Stay Back
prorespons
http://www.learnbaseballhitting.com/lcp. If youd like me to tell you exactly what to do and how to hit to instantly become a better hitter and increase bat speed, defeat your low hitting production and finally be the most feared baseball coach or player you deserve, than this may be the most important baseball hitting videos course youll ever watch.

===================
Thanks to our sponsors:

=======================================
Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine
=======================================

Derek Jeter Hurricane Machine Training Blog

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, November 3, 2010

Baseball & Softball Swing - Confidence Vs Mechanics

Baseball & Softball Swing - Confidence Vs Mechanics
By guest author: Todd Thomas

I was at a high school level ball game recently. Of the two teams playing, one was filled with a group of very cocky players. They were cocky and CONFIDENT. What's interesting is that the players on this team had some of the worst baseball swings I have ever seen in my life. But they were confident as all get out.

It's an interesting phenomenon to observe that a player can have horrible mechanics but have supreme confidence(cockiness is a good word to describe here) and still be able to hit the baseball successfully. Alex Rodriquez successfully? NO! No, as I watched the game none of these players really scorched the baseball but they did swing confidently at it and put the ball in play often finding holes and blooping hits all the way to a 14 to 2 win.

These players' potential to play at higher levels is limited with bad mechanics. Ultimately, they will reach an end to their success(and subsequently their confidence) as they move to higher and higher levels of baseball. These were high school players. Obviously, they are going to have some success at the high school level. Reaching the collegiate level is probably out for most of them because of their technique, but one or two of them may reach that level. Then that's probably it. I once had a collegiate player over for some training and his mechanics were awful, but he was playing Division I baseball. Why? More than likely he was extremely confident up until this point but now was crashing and burning at the collegiate level. He also had a load of natural ability that had carried him this far too. However, he had reached his peak and I remember telling him that if he has sights on playing professionally he needed to change what he was doing mechanically. And he did have the desire to play pro ball.

However, even if a player works on and gets mechanically sound, I believe that any player(no matter what age) will struggle if they don't learn how to be confident. If they are not confident and their new mechanics aren't "working" for them, then they will blame the mechanics or the teacher or both and will keep searching for that "perfect" way to swing to insure success. When what they really need is confidence training in order to raise the game and to be successful.

So is learning the proper mechanics the "answer" to being a good hitter? I teach the mechanics of the best players in the game and I am supremely confident in what I teach. Let's say however that I took a player from the team of confident hitters with bad mechanics and we started working on fixing his mechanics. IF he is able to sustain his confidence, look out. He should excel in a big way.

What if though(and this probably goes higher the younger the player is) the player starts "thinking too much" about executing the proper swing mechanics? What if he starts over-analyzing his swing and trying to hard to make things happen with his new swing? Questions and doubt may start building within him after a bad(weak) hit or a strike out. He then starts asking himself, "Am I doing it right?" "Am I performing my mechanics correctly?" If the results are not there, then the player will assume that he is not swinging "correctly" and there begins the process of over-thinking, over-analyzing, and confidence shrinking. And I believe the downward spiral of his hitting results and confidence will continue to fall.

What's interesting as I think about the team of cocky confident hitters is that I don't think they realize that they suck. Their mechanics that is. They seem to have no idea how "bad" they are and they play as if not to care. They are just confident. On the contrary, they are pretty good because they THINK they are in spite of what they don't know.

So which is more important? Confidence or mechanics? It seems from my observations that confidence with bad mechanics can still have a degree (albeit limited) of success. YET, good mechanics with zero confidence and playing scared seems to have no chance to succeed.

Hmmm?

Todd Thomas is a Baseball Coach and Professional Hitting Instructor for Mike Epstein Hitting. Coach Todd's personal hitting website is http://www.HitItHere.net. Coach Todd also enthusiastically endorses http://PlayMyBestBaseball.com as a place where baseball and softball hitters can master the Confidence, Composure, Focus and Consistency of their game so they can reach their full potential.


=================
Thanks to our sponsors:

=======================================
Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine
=======================================

Derek Jeter Hurricane Machine Training Blog

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

Monday, November 1, 2010

Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine - 4 Important Tips for Hurricane Machine Owners



Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine - 4 Important Tips for Hurricane Machine Owners
Coach2winVideos
Video shows important tips that every Derek Jeter Hurricane Machine Owner should know and follow. Video features Nick Dixon of Nedco Sports. Dixon is the inventor of the Hurricane and BatAction Machines. Visit the Hurricane Machine Training Blog at http://hurricanebaseballtrainingmachi... for free baseball coaching and training tips, drills and articles. Also visit http://www.HurricaneMachine.com or http://store.baseball2u.com/husotrmaj... for more information on the Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine by SKLZ.