Youth Baseball Coaching Drill For Timid Hitters

Youth Baseball Coaching Drill For Timid Hitters
By Chip Lemin

I'm sure most of you have worked with batters who constantly bail out of the batters box no matter what. It seems that this player will begin his bail out before he even really knows where the pitch is going. Here is a drill to try that may have some impact; I'm not saying it is a cure for this problem. It will get the hitter to look first at least before they start their getaway.

Start out using tennis balls for this drill. Have the batter get into the box, and throw some pitches behind them. This should get the batter to realize that they can't just blindly back out of the box, because in youth baseball, they will see pitches behind them, only not on purpose! This will give the timid batter some level of comfort by making them feel safer at the plate. This will get the hitter to really focus on the ball, which is what we want them to do anyway. Throw lots pitches to them, this is not a quick fix method but it should begin to help. After some time, the hitter will begin to notice that they don't have to duck away from good pitches. They will stay put and try to hit the ball instead. You can also have the hitter take a bunch of short strides toward whichever side of the field you need them to. Have them over compensate to begin with, because you know when a pitch comes they will most likely start to move back out in to middle which is closer to our goal anyway.

You can also have the batter just stand in the box when you have a pitcher and catcher warming up. Tell them just to follow the ball into the catcher's glove. This will let them relax some with out the stress of having to hit the ball. Learning how to hit a baseball is a difficult skill to master anyway. When your player is afraid of the ball is makes it much harder to learn to hit. Youth baseball players will respond to good teaching techniques when properly applied. Make sure not to embarrass the player, and do not tolerate any other players doing so.

Coaching youth baseball at any level is great privileged, so get all the info you can. Make sure you are kind and patient even if you don't feel like it at the time. I commend anyone would will take the time and responsibility to coach youth baseball, we need more like you.

Thanks Coach Chip Lemin 440 465 3337

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 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. I would like to help you.

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

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How to Play Baseball - Teaching Younger Hitters a Good Baseball Swing

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By Nate Barnett

I love teaching 11 and 12 year olds how to play baseball. They are still at the age (most of them) where they don't know everything there is about the baseball swing. But, one of the best rewards from teaching youth baseball drills is the excitement on their faces when they figure out for themselves how to crush the baseball.

The first step to teaching youth baseball drills is to understand the part of the swing that will produce the greatest and quickest positive results in a hitter. The faster a coach can reach an athlete and instill some confidence in the skill of hitter, the more receptive he will be for future coaching as he learns how to play baseball better. The single most important first skill to teach a young athlete is the ability to properly manage his balance while hitting a baseball.

Here are a few techniques to include when teaching your athletes how to play baseball offensively.

1. Make sure that the stance of the athlete is wide enough. The "shoulders width" suggestion doesn't hold up when one really understands how weight is shifted. The general rule is to position your hitters with their hips inside their knees, and their knees inside their feet. Once a hitter is in this position, and it is difficult to tell if the formula from the previous sentence is in place, he is too narrow at the base and needs to widen his stance.

2. There must be a legitimate transfer of weight onto the back leg as the hitter prepares himself before the baseball is released. Without the ability of a visual here (though I'll have a complete ebook finished on this topic very soon complete with visuals!), make sure the back knee is roughly above the back shoe. If the back knee has moved to the outside of the back shoe, the weight transfer is too great. This whole process of creating a transfer of weight allows a hitter to create power generating from his backside leg and not only his upper body. I cannot emphasize the importance of this point enough.

3. Once the hitter begins his swing, the back leg which is still housing approximately 60% of the body weight will rotate in what is commonly referred to as the pivot. As the rotation occurs, look to see if the weight and the flex of the back leg is still present. One simple way to tell if this has occurred is see if there is an imaginary vertical line running from inside shoulder through the hip, through the back knee upon finish of the swing.

I do realize this is somewhat technical in nature, however, if fully understood it will make all the difference in the world for the consistency of a young athlete. It's worth learning for sure.

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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