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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!
Showing posts with label hitting a baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hitting a baseball. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Batting Lessons Are Not Cheap - Are You Listening Mom and Dad?


Batting Lessons Are Not Cheap - Are You Listening Mom and Dad?
By Tom Read

Is It Time For Hitting Lessons?

Your son is starting to play competitive baseball. Or he is now done with tee ball and coaches pitch and moving up to kid pitch. Or maybe he has played a few years of kid pitch and now the pitchers are throwing a little harder. Whatever your situation, you know it is time for some hitting lessons.

How Much Do They Cost?

Everything has a cost associated with it. Around where I live the going rate for individual lessons is $50 for a half hour. A package of seven lessons is $300. A group rate for 5 players together is $250 an hour. And these instructors are busy. Most kids only need a few lessons to understand the batting techniques the instructors are teaching. But kids have short memories, and the only way to get better is to practice with the proper batting mechanics. This means continuous lessons, and continuous cost.

Will The Coach Of The Team Help?

Maybe you are thinking the coaches on the team will work with your son. Most little league teams have between eleven to fifteen players. They practice two or three times a week. Not alot of individual time for each player. And these practices are usually for fielding and base running. Maybe the team goes to the batting cages on Saturday morning. Again, how much time does one player out of fifteen get at these practices.

Who Is The Best Instructor For My Son?

You are the best teacher for your son. You can work with him every night or every weekend. You can watch and remember his every at bat during a game. To you he is the most important player on the team, and the one you watch most closely. You already have the high cost of bats, gloves, uniforms, the team, and more. Why not save a lot of money and learn some hitting tips and get your son out in the back yard. Or take him to the cages where he will get one on one training from you. When he gets that big hit to win the game, you will feel even more proud, and you will have more money in your pocket.

But I Know Little About Hitting Techniques
That is ok. All of us know the game of baseball, the rules and basic strategies, but few of us know the finer details of hitting, fielding or pitching. But many of the experts will share their tips. The internet is a great place to find all the information you need. Information that you learn and then teach to your son. You are going to save a lot of money, and you will get to spend some real quality time with your son. Get started.

One of the websites I recommend is http://hittingsystem.info

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


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Thursday, March 4, 2010

Little League Digest - Proper Baseball Swing Mechanics and the "Belly Button" Rule of Hip Turn


Little League Digest - Proper Baseball Swing Mechanics and the "Belly Button" Rule of Hip Turn
By Nick Dixon

Little league Digest: Baseball Batting Coaching Tips: Teaching Hip Turn Mechanics and Using the "Belly Button" Rule to Improve Baseball Swing Quality

The hips play an important part in the baseball swing process. The turn of the hips helps to generate power and bat speed. There are several important coaching points about the involvement of the hips in the swing. The "B B" rule is one good way to teach young players the degree of hip turn on various pitch locations. This article presents several coaching points and explains the "B B" rule.

Here are 10 Coaching Points related to Hip Movement Mechanics:

1. The degree of hip movement is determined by the location of the pitch.

2. The hips must turn more when hitting an inside pitch.

3. The hips will turn less when hitting a pitch away.

4. The hips should not move before the hands and bat.

5. To free the hips, the back foot must spin, rotate or turn onto the toe.

6. The hips follow the barrel. The hips should open behind the barrel, not before it.

7. Premature front side or hip movement will cause a batter to pull the head and to pull of pitches.

8. The correct hip movement is a spin. Lunging or sliding the hips forward is not acceptable.

9. The hip movement should be a thrust or fast rotation. The faster the rotation of the hips, the faster the bats speed.

10. The degree of hip rotation can be taught by teaching the "Belly Button" rule as explained below.

The "Belly Button Rule" is explained as the following:

The Belly Button should follow the barrel of the bat through the baseball swing process. The location of a pitch determines hip turn. The degree of hip turn determines where the belly button is pointing when the batter finishes the baseball swing. The belly button should always finish in a position that points toward the direction in which the baseball was hit.

For example, when a ball is hit to the opposite field, the batters "Button" should point or be directed toward the opposite field when the swing is completed. If a batter pulls an inside pitch, the belly button should follow the ball and point toward the direction in which the ball was hit.

Coaching Point: For right and left handed batters, if the ball is hit through the box, up the middle, the belly button should "shine" or point toward second base when the swing is complete. For right handed batter, is a ball is pulled, the belly button should finish pointing toward third base. If a right handed batter hits the baseball down the right field line, the button should point toward first base when the swing is completed. If a left handed batter pulls the baseball, the hips should turn completely and the button should finish pointing at first base. If a left handed batter hits the ball to left field, the hips should turn less and the belly button should finish the swing pointing the 5-6 hole or between 3rd and 2nd base.

I hope that you found this article to be informative and helpful. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I wish you and your team good luck this season! Have a great day, Nick.

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

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

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Monday, February 1, 2010

Coaching Baseball Beginner Batters - The Batting Grip, the Bat Angle and Proper Hand Positioning


By Nick Dixon

Hitting a baseball is a skill that can be learned and improved with proper coaching and instruction. It may be a difficult task, but with the correct fundamentals and techniques hitting can be one of the most rewarding activities in all of sports. There is nothing that is more satisfying and rewarding than hitting a line-drive in the left-center gap to help your team score the go-ahead run. Many kids experience a great sense of accomplishment while others suffer the embarrassment, disappointment, and despair of striking out time after time. They feel that they let their team down and they often feel that they embarrass their coach and parents. The quickest way to achieving hitting success is to identify bad mechanics and correct them as soon as possible.

I will now give a brief overview of 3 aspects of a proper grip, the correct bat angle in the stance, and the process of getting the hands to the proper launch position.

1. The GRIP - knocking knuckles, (not fighting knuckles) should be aligned. This positions the bat handle in the fingers and out of the palm. This allows maximum wrist quickness and hand speed. Coaching Tip: Have kids check their grip by raising and pointing their index fingers. If they point in the same direction, they are aligned, if the point across each other, the grip is incorrect.

2. The BAT ANGLE at the start position. Keep in mind that the hands will move slightly back and away from the pitcher when the batter loads to the launch position. The bat angle will not change during the loading process. The bat should be at a 45 degree angle over the shoulder. The bat should not be wrapped or tucked behind the head, this slows bat speed. The bat should be no more that 2 to 3 inches off the top of the shoulder.

3. The LOADING PROCESS is a simple and slight movement of the hands away from the pitcher. This is a movement that is so slight that many people do not notice it. The hands are the only things that move. If the batter is noticeably shifting weight, moving feet, and moving other body parts, too much movement is occurring. Most times this movement is no more than 2 to 4 inches. It may be more for larger players. LOADING is getting the hands to the launch position from which the forward swing motion starts. Different players use different loading actions. Some batters simply move the hands straight back and batters move the hands back and up at the same time. The loading process adds power, develops important timing and rhythm, and allows the batter to achieve a comfortable ready position from which to launch swing.

COACHING POINT: Make sure that players do not line their knuckles up when you are looking and then move their hands to an "axe grip" when you walk away. One way to teach the benefits of the "finger grip position" is to have the two batters take several swings from shoulder-to-shoulder very quickly using the two grips. Take two batters of similar ability levels and with similar hand speed and do this demonstration. One player uses the "correct grip" and one uses the "axe or incorrect grip". Have the batters take 10 shoulder-to-shoulder swings. See which batter completes the 10 swings first. This shows the kids how much faster the hands move when the correct grip is used. Note: Make sure to move the batters at a safe distance from each other and from other players when performing this illustration.

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

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A Message to Baseball Parents from Nick Dixon, President of Nedco Sports

Hello,

Thanks for visiting our blog. Your concern for your child's sports success is evident. Your child is fortunate to have a parent that cares so much about their success! I sincerely want your child to experience success, just like you!

Our company is founded upon the principle that every player is a winner when they reach their maximum potential as a player.

If you feel that your child has the potential to be a better hitter, I know that we can help! If you want to give your child every advantage possible when competing with the opposition or with peers for a team position, we can help! Our training equipment and training "Know-how" can help you help your child!

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

How to Turn Good Practice Hitters Into Game Hitters

QuickSwingTrainer.com



One of the most repeated comments from parents of my students was, "They kill the ball in practice, but not in games." There are a lot of "5 o'clock" (batting practice) hitters, as opposed to "7:30 " (game) hitters. This is one of the most perplexing situations of baseball for parents, players and coaches. Hitters, who absolutely pound the ball in batting practice and then fail to hit during games, create much frustration and even drive some to give up playing baseball. There are a number of reasons why hitters hit in batting practice but not in games including the lack of fear or nervousness that may exist in games. Players often tense up in a game, which throws their focus off.

Usually however, there are two main reasons why hitters hit in practice but not in games.

1. Their swing fundamentals are not as good as they appear. Often, it appears to the untrained eye that hitters have great swings but in reality their swings have some fundamental flaws.

2. The hitters are not being challenged enough in practice. Coaches have good intentions in batting practice of building their hitters' confidence by laying the ball in the strike zone at hittable speeds. However, if the batting practice is not game like with different speeds and different pitches, it does not necessarily benefit hitters and they only gain false confidence.

What can be done to help hitters become good game hitters?

1. Coaches should continue to give players hitting drills that address their fundamental, problem areas. Once the season starts, hitters often stop the fundamental drill work that they did in preseason. Tee work and soft toss work keep players focused on contact points and mechanics and should be continues throughout the season. They are essential for hitters to stay sharp.
2. Coaches should have a trained hitting coach observe the struggling hitters and make suggestions how to help their fundamentals. Often, just one little fundamental tip can lead to much more success.
3. Putting hitters in game like situations as often as possible in practice is good. Hitters will begin to develop game confidence and the feeling like they "have been there before" when in actual games.
4. Coaches should challenge hitters in batting practice with game like speeds and with changing speeds (age appropriate, of course). Hitters often adjust on their own, without fundamental help, when they are challenged enough. Coaches should not allow total frustration to appear in hitters by over-challenging them, though.
5. Of course, patience and encouragement with struggling game hitters is always necessary. Coaching statements like "you can do it" and "I believe in you" are great confidence builders and confidence is very important for hitters.

Finally, coaches should not give up on struggling players because "any hitter willing to listen, learn and practice is not beyond hope." I have known many hitters who became very good game hitters after years of struggle because players stayed committed to practice and coaches remained positive and encouraging towards them.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball playing lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his positive parenting advice and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com/
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jack_Perconte
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Baseball Swing - A Couple Fallacies


By Nate Barnett

Do you know why you teach what you teach to your hitters? If I stopped you right now and asked you to tell me a couple advantages of any part of what you're teaching, could you do it? If not, it's time to kick into gear your learning habit and pick up some instructional strategies.

I've picked a couple parts of the baseball swing mechanics I hear taught repeatedly that are incorrect. Don't worry, I'll follow my own advise and explain why. Don't just take my word for it, however, ask around. Get other perspectives. But most of all, build your baseball swing knowledge base. Baseball instruction is a funny thing. You can find information and hitting "experts" everywhere. However, please for your own sake make sure that you are qualifying your sources of information first before you accept it. If you don't, you'll end up spending a lot of money, and changing your philosophy often.

Two Mechanical Fallacies:

1. Keeping your back elbow up is NECESSARY for a proper baseball swing.

I hear this advice mostly in Little League or in some of the younger age leagues. There is no physical advantage or benefit for a hitter to keep his back elbow up (often sometime much above the back shoulder). I'm not quite sure where the idea originated, but I do know it spreads like wildfire. It's like the cure all for a poor baseball swing. When it doubt, it must be the back elbow! And you can be sure you'll sometimes hear from the dugout or the stands, "Keep your back elbow up, Johnny!"

Keeping the back elbow up for younger hitters is often a source of a slow and long swing. When the bat head travels into the zone, the elbow of the top arm on the bat is down and relaxed close to the hitters body (if done correctly). Because of that, it makes little sense for a younger hitter to move his back elbow from a stiff position in the stance to a relax and collapsed position in mid-swing. Extra parts moving during a baseball swing mean less consistency. As a hitter gets older, his preference may be of a back elbow that is raised some. At this point (assuming he understands swing mechanics) he can make the adjustments as necessary.

2. Rolling your wrists as your bat comes through the zone is a must to create bat speed.

I have to bite my tongue (quite hard actually) when I ever hear this advice being offered for baseball instruction. While the back elbow up philosophy can be dismissed somewhat as a youth baseball strategy that does relatively minimal damage, this wrists rolling business can not be ignored in order to create a fundamentally sound baseball swing.

What "Wrist Rollers" can't do:

A. Hit an inside fastball to the pull side (right field as a lefty and left field as a righty).

B. Hit an outside fastball with any consistency to the opposite field (left field as a lefty and right field as a righty).

C. Hit line drives with back spin consistently (you know the kind that get over an outfielders head in a hurry for a double).

Here is why I can make those statements so confidently. In order to roll the wrists through a baseball swing, your arms must be straight at the elbows on contact with the baseball to do so. Youth hitters can get away with this because the velocity of the pitch is not overpowering yet. Add another 10-15 mph to the pitch and those inside pitches cannot be hit (or if they do, it stings) because the bat will be slow to sweep into the hitting zone. Outside pitches will also be difficult because the barrel of the bat will only cover the outer portion of the plate a fraction of the time necessary.

So what to do?

Teach your athletes when hitting a baseball to have their palm facing up on their top hand as they come in contact with the baseball. As the hands stay close to the body through the swing, the hitter will extend his arms after contact is made with the pitch. This proper extension is extremely important for good bat speed and plate coverage.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Learn how to help your game by improving the skill of mental baseball

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

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Monday, December 14, 2009

Hitting Ground Balls? - Turn Them Into Line Drives


By Jack Perconte

Putting the ball in play on the ground is not always a bad thing, but turning ground balls into line drives will definitely help the hitter's batting average and chances of playing baseball at the higher levels. Hitters with good speed can prosper by hitting the ball on the ground, especially in youth baseball, but at some point the ability to drive the ball into the outfield is necessary. Of course, hitting ground balls is better than hitting pop-ups but hitting the ball consistently on the ground is a sign of a faulty fundamental swing.

People generally think that hitting the top of the ball, which results in ground balls, is caused by hitting down on the ball or chopping at it. In my 21 years of coaching baseball, rarely would I come across hitters who actually chopped at the ball. I observed that most ground balls hit were caused by the hitters hands were on an upward path on the initial portion of the swing, usually caused by the lead elbow coming up at the beginning of the swing. This incorrect action is generally known as a chicken-wing, which does not allow hitters to bring their hands to the correct palm-up, palm-down hitting position at contact.

With this in mind, here are the drills which will generally turn ground balls into line drives.

Drill # 1 - To rid the player of the chicken wing problem, have them place their fielder's glove under their lead armpit and take numerous swings this way, allowing the glove to fall out on the follow through.

Drill # 2 - Have the hitter stand belly button away from a net and take swings with the end of the bat just scraping the net as it comes through the hitting zone. This will prevent the hitter from casting the bat out and over the ball which can cause ground ball hitting. This drill and the next on will help players develop the correct hands to the ball and hand position necessary to hit the ball in the air.

Drill # 3 - Place a tee at knee high level and have hitters work on hitting balls at this height until they begin to hit line drives or solid fly balls. Hitters with incorrect swings will continually hit ground balls at this pitch level. Hitters will have to develop the correct hip turn and swing in order to hit solid line drives on the knee high pitch, as stated.

* Hitters can combine these drills and perform all three at the same time. This becomes more difficult but can accelerate the process of developing the correct baseball swing.

For hitters who consistently hit solid ground balls, as opposed to weak or chopped ground balls, a slight adjustment in their stance or hand position may lower the bat position on the ball just enough to hit the lower back portion of the ball instead of the top of the ball. Hitters who widen their stance and bend their knees slightly may see the necessary line drives. Also worth a try is lowering the height of the hitter's hands a couple of inches in their initial set-up position. This may allow the hitter to get to the back of the ball more consistently. Following these few guidelines should turn those ground balls into solid line drives. For photo illustrations of these drills please refer to my book, The Making of a Hitter: A Proven & Practical Step-by-Step Baseball Guide.

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

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

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Baseball Tips on Hitting - Baseball Hitting Tips Highly Recommended For Your Success!


By Larry Cicchiello

Not all baseball tips on hitting are etched in stone but here are several very good guidelines to follow:

A Balanced and Workable Stance

All good athletes are balanced almost all the time. It gives you a solid, comfortable foundation, which is where hitting begins. Some very good hitters find it useful to have a little body movement while in their batting stance. They may rock a little back and forth which they find relaxing. It's almost impossible to have your muscles tighten and tense up when your muscles are moving. You can then be quicker and shift your weight much better than someone who is just standing there like a statue. It's identical to a goalie in hockey. If he stands up straight like a statue, what chance will he have to move freely to make a save on a slap shot that's traveling close to 100 mile per hour? What chance will a tennis player have waiting for a serve in excess of 100 miles per hour? None of them will have a good chance and neither will a baseball hitter.

Striding With the Front Toes Slightly Closed

If your toes are slightly closed, it encourages you to keep your front hip and front shoulder closed as well. In other words, instead of having the toes pointing straight out away from your body when you take your stride turn them an inch or two inward, back toward your body. If you point the front toes out toward the pitcher, it will encourage you to open your front side too early which will create many baseball hitting problems.

Have the Bat Fully Loaded When the Stride Foot Touches the Ground

All good hitters have the bat in the "launching position" when their front foot completes the stride. You stride and then you swing. They are two separate movements that should happen very quickly and smoothly but they are separate movements.

Making an Aggressive Motion Toward The Pitcher

A lot of hitters do NOT do this but all the great hitters do. That is where the ball is coming from and that's where you should be going. Real good hitters go into the ball to hit it. It's a common baseball hitting problem to NOT go toward the pitcher when swinging. The reason it's such a common baseball hitting problem is because it is simply not natural to move your body toward a baseball that someone is throwing in your direction.

Having a Tension Free Swing

"Tension is a hitter's worst enemy," is a quote that's been around for decades and is still one of the best baseball tips on hitting. Tension destroys a fluid, graceful swing that's necessary for hitting the ball properly. Don't squeeze the bat too tightly and don't tighten up your muscles. Like mentioned above, many very good hitters have a slight waggle to help them relax.

Head Behind the Swing

The real good hitters actually see the ball a little longer than the weaker hitters. They literally lower and turn their heads when making contact. You simply can not keep your head facing the pitcher and look at the baseball out of the corners of your eyes when trying to make contact.

Hitting to All Fields

Rarely will you find a hitter with a high batting average who limits himself to hitting the ball to only one part of the field. Pay attention to the old expression, "hit it where it's pitched." In the long run, you will be much better off.

Hitting Through the Ball

Hitting through the ball is necessary to successful hitting. You should pretend that you are trying to hit three or four baseballs that are tied closely together with a piece of string, instead of hitting only one baseball. This will help you keep the bat in the hitting zone longer.

All of the above mentioned are definitely good rules of thumb to be followed.

Larry is the president of Larwenty Online Enterprises Inc. and also the author of "Excellent Baseball Coaching: 30 Seconds Away." If you are a baseball player or are involved in baseball coaching at any level of play or a parent who wants to help your child improve, you will be fully equipped! His baseball website offers several FREE baseball tips from his very informative and very fairly priced eBooks.

Larry's baseball website is http://www.larrybaseball.com/

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

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The Categories they have are: Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!