Baseball Creativity in Your Own Backyard

By Marty Schupak

The sporting goods industry is a multi-billion dollar business, and the cost of equipment can be ridiculously expensive. Every family cannot afford the latest and greatest products (and gimmicks). But the old saying that 'the best things in life are free' can also hold true in sports. Before you go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a deluxe glove or equipment to help your kids learn a level swing, you should look around your house and see what you can create, cheaply, that will help your kids improve their skills—and still have fun.

When I was a kid growing up, some of my best memories were throwing around the baseball with my older brother in our backyard. Using our imaginations, we used almost every tree and rock in our yard to create fantasy sports and games.

One of our favorite games was something we called 'error' One of us would throw a tennis ball on the roof of our house—within an imaginary twenty foot boundary—and the other would have to catch the ball before it hit the ground. We spent endless hours playing this game. Other then some yelling from my parents (something about too many balls being stuck in the gutter), this game still sticks in my mind as providing some of the most fun in my childhood.

Rushing forward about twenty five years, I found myself with my kids creating some similar games in our backyard (with my own gutter lurking nearby). Most combined fun with affordability. We made use of almost every part of our property.

Instead of spending over a hundred dollars on a hitting net, we put together a comparable apparatus using a 10X14 plastic tarp along with some bicycle hooks, rope and two convenient trees. And we had fun putting it up. The boys would hit balls into the tarp as I did my best impression of a big league hitting coach giving them tips.

Drills such as hitting off the batting tee and soft toss worked out great, too, with the tarp as backstop, but wacky games were also plentiful. We created a game right on the tarp, putting two squares, one inside the other made out of duct tape. This game we called 'toss ball home run derby'. Doing the soft toss drill against the tarp, a ball hit inside the small square would be a home run. A ball hit inside the large square would be a single. Everything else was an out. Three outs a team. This game combined skill building and having fun.

But I'd been inventing games for years. One of the first things I did with both my sons as soon as they were old enough to hold a bat , was to get one of those large red plastic 'whiffle ball' bats. I then bought a bottle of soap bubbles that all kids love. I would blow the bubbles and have my son hit them with the big red bat. We would run up and down the backyard as he chased the bubbles down and tried to break them. I encouraged him to keep both hands on the bat as he swung but if he didn't, so what—he was having fun.

Another game my kids loved when they got a little older was called the 'dive game’.
I would throw ground balls to either their left or right side, and they would have to dive in front of the ball and stop it. I tried teaching them that the goal was to just stop the ball—like a hockey or soccer goalie—and not necessarily catch it. But it was amazing how much effort they put into trying to catch the ball. Aside from explaining the grass stains to their mother, this game was a real hit with them and I even caught them playing it without me a few times which made me feel great.

Another favorite involved a few tennis balls, a tennis racquet and a cinder block. Laying the cinder block flat, we created a simple version of 'Home Run Derby' Standing next to one of my kids as he held the tennis racquet ready to swing it like a bat, I would bounce the ball high off the cinder block. With the ball on the way down, he would time it and hit it as far as he could. Both my kids could not get enough of this game. We were lucky that our backyard was fairly large but some of the tennis balls did travel into our neighbor's yard. The real beauty of this game is that hitting a tennis ball with a tennis racquet almost guarantees success for the fledgling ballplayer.

Families who live in the inner city can also make use of a lot of what's around them. I remember as a child going to visit my grandparents in Brooklyn, New York. My uncle would take my brothers and me to the back of the building and play numerous games off the huge concrete wall. 'Toss ball home run derby' can be played off a wall, as well as a tarp, with the two squares made out of chalk.

Another game which we played, that was made popular just after World War 2, was called 'stoop ball'. In this game we would throw a ball off the stoop (or concrete steps) and see if the other team would catch it before it bounced on the ground. One bounce would be a single, two bounces a double and so on. Inner city kids who have limited room but love sports can still find just enough to play for hours on end.
Baseball need not cost a fortune. And it doesn't have to be all boring instruction, whether it is on a practice field with twelve kids or in your own backyard with just you and your son or daughter. Keep it cheap, if you can, and keep it fun.

http://www.YouthSportsClub.com

Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills" and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He 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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The Bat Action Machine is one of the most popular and best selling baseball training machines ever!

By: Nick Dixon

The BatAction Baseball Training Machine offers 5 great benefits:

1. The BatAction Machine has a large circle of ball movement - This large path of ball movement allows the batter to see, hit and track the ball before and after each swing. The BatAction ball movement closely simulates live pitching!

2. The BatAction Machine allows the batter to read swing contact. The ball is suspended in mid-air without cables, string, or ropes. This unique patented design allows the ball to react to bat contact much like a real ball. The batter receives instant feedback as to the quality and power of every swing. The batter can immediately read the ball after contact to see if the ball hit was a line drive, ground ball or fly ball. This instant feedback is extremely useful and beneficial to rapid skill improvement and bat speed development.

3. Every swing is a challenge - The BatAction Machine features a moving ball with adjustable speeds. Players really love the challenge and fun of seeing and hitting a moving ball. The harder a player hits the ball, the faster it will return. This ball movement keeps the batter challenged and motivated to practice more and more.

4. The BatAction Machine fast moving ball makes every swing a challenge - The BatAction Machine features a moving ball with adjustable speeds. Players really love the challenge and fun of seeing and hitting a moving ball. The harder a player hits the ball, the faster it will return. This ball movement keeps the batter challenged and motivated to practice more and more.

5. The BatAction Machine is a great trainer for planned or impulse training - The BatAction is often used as a hitting station for team training. It is great for these planned activities. But, one of the benefits that makes it one of the most popular home trainers ever, is the fact that it can be set up as a hitting station in the backyard. This makes the BatAction Machine always available to a hitter for fun and recreational use. These impulse workouts can be done alone, even when Dad or Mom is not at home. This is why the Bat Action Machine is often called the Backyard Basketball Goal for baseball and softball players. It is so much fun to hit that kids spend hours and hours of their free time hitting the fast moving ball. These fun workouts are the reason that BatAction Machine owners are some of the most dominate hitters in the game today.


The BatAction Hitting Machine is the Original Rotational Hitting Machine. The BatAction Machine is a great baseball training device for baseball players of all ages and ability levels. The BatAction Machine has an innovative patented design that has a ball suspended horizontally. This simple design makes learning to hit easy, simple and safe. When a player hits the BatAction Ball, the ball is driven forward and around the machine. The machine then stops the ball and returns it to the player. The horizontal patented design of the machine suspends the ball in mid-air allowing the ball to react to bat contact like a real baseball or softball. The player can hit the ball moving or wait until the ball stops. The batter has ample time between swings to reset and prepare for the next swing. The Bat Action Machine allows the batter work at a comfortable speed and pace. There is no need for another person. The batter has to do nothing but swing the bat. The Bat Action Machine does everything else. These are no balls to gather, no balls to chase and no balls to pick up. There are no levers to press, balls to toss, or pedals to step on. The Bat Action is absolutely 100% energy efficient and it is so much fun to hit! It's no wonder; the Bat Action Machine is one of the most popular and best selling baseball training machines ever!


For more BatAction Hitting Machine drills, tips, and coaching information visit the BatAction Training Blog. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

College Baseball Recruiting - Ten Tips to Getting a Scholarship

By Gary V Hawkins

Are you dreaming of playing baseball at the college level? College baseball recruiting is very competitive. If you want to make it to the college level, you will have to compete with thousands of other high school baseball players from around the country to get a scholarship.

To make it to the college level, you need to make sure college coaches know about you and your talents. If you are a blue-chip player, that will happen automatically. Let's face it, a kid throwing a 95 mile per hour fastball doesn't need to make sure coaches know about him. Believe me, they will know his name!

For everyone else, you need to do a little work to make sure your name gets out there among college coaches. Here are ten tips you will want to keep in mind when it comes to college baseball recruiting:

1- Start contacting coaches early (sophomore season)
2- Don't rely on your high school coach to make contact with college coaches
3- Decide what geographic location of colleges you are interested in playing for
4- Develop your athletic resume
5- Attend the best baseball showcase camps
6- Play AAU Baseball and/or Legion Ball
7- Attend games at various division levels (Division I, Division II, etc.) and see what level is right for you
8- Check on colleges that offer "select camps" to get even more exposure
9- Check on the requirements to attend a pro try-out camp
10- Market and Promote yourself the right way to college coaches

All of these tips are certainly important and can help you with your goal of reaching the college level. However, the most critical college baseball recruiting tip is by far tip #10. Why? College coaches at all levels need talented baseball players. Most of these coaches don't have huge recruiting budgets, so they have to rely on other ways of finding talented baseball players. Therefore, marketing and promoting your talents to college baseball coaches is not only good for you, it's a great deal for college coaches.

College baseball recruiting is very competitive, but you can come out on top. If you are not currently being recruited, or if you are receiving just a little recruiting attention, you need to spend some time marketing and promoting yourself to college coaches. It will take some effort on your part, but it will pay off richly by allowing you to play the sport you love at the college level.

Gary Hawkins is a well known recruiting and athletic scholarship expert and the author of a popular 17-page free report titled:

"Five Secrets You Must Know To Get Recruited For Athletic Scholarships"

Head over to http://www.recruitedforscholarships.com/freereport.html to get your FREE copy now!

To learn even more about the recruiting and scholarship process and how you can finally start being noticed by college coaches just visit http://www.recruitedforscholarships.com where we provide all of this and much more!

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



The BatAction Hitting Machine and the Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine are two of the absolute best batting trainers available today. This compact and self-contained hitting machines allow players to take full speed batting practice swings in indoors or outdoors with little space required. The high speed ball movement drills that these machines feature is known for developing incredible batting skill, bat speed and batter confidence.

Baseball Hitting - The Basics to Success

By Chris Moheno
Baseball hitting is a lot more then just swinging a bat around and hoping to get lucky. When it comes to learning how to hit a baseball, you have to remember that there is a lot more skill, technique, and focus needed then meets the eye.

There has to be a lot of practice hours put in or you will never be able to swing the bat like some of the great names in baseball history. By practicing hard and keeping a few simple tips and hints in mind you will be able to swing like a pro in no time at all.

Remember though, besides hard-core technique, there is also a lot of room for the practice of visualization and positive thinking in your baseball training, which has proven to help many people.

If you have been swinging for a while but just want to learn to hit better the first thing you need to do is to avoid any major changes in your stance. Even though this seems a little bit backwards considering you are trying to hit better, it is an important move. Many players, even the not so great ones, naturally develop certain stances in order to make up for something such as a dominant right eye. Before you make any drastic changes make sure that you figure out why it is that you do what you do. If there is no reason for the stance, the grip, or the swing that you have other then laziness or lack of knowledge then it is time to get to work on that.

Time to get ready for the hit. If you do not have a lot of experience with this then make sure that you have a bat you are comfortable with and get up to bat. Get in a proper fitted stance. Keep your chin tucked in along with your front shoulder. Make sure that your head is completely turned so that you are able to clearly see the pitcher. Stay off of the heals of your feet by remaining on the balls of your feet. And most importantly, keep your head still. Even though you may find that over time your stance will change, it is extremely important to keep those simple things in line. Always stay on the balls of your feet and never take one eye off of the pitcher. These are the rules no matter what stance you adopt.

Time to select the right ball to hit. Even though you may be willing to swing at anything that comes at you it is important that you do not. Not every pitch is a good pitch. Be selective and be patient about it. There is no reason to go in overly aggressive. Just make sure that you are concentrating on putting the ball in play and use the entire field to do it. As you are waiting for the ball to come your direction you will want to carefully think through what it is that you are trying to do at the plate.

Imagine and envision yourself striking the bat against the ball. Picture complete batting success before you even have the chance to hit the ball in real life.

The last step would be to take all of the skills you have learned and hit the ball. Make sure that you swing with force and that you follow through with it. Imagine where in the field you are sending the ball and see what happens.

If you feel you need more help with your baseball hitting then you need to seek out some one on one help. Having someone right next to you through your baseball training is always a great thing to have. There are also many DVD's that are being sold in order to perfect your skill. Watching the exact technique played out is a great way to make sure that you are doing everything you should be doing.

Keep practicing and then one day everything will suddenly click and you will be hitting every ball that comes your way.

Chris Moheno has a long time passion for sports in general and for baseball coaching more specifically. His goal is to spread the word about effective non-fluff baseball training techniques for both more experienced and young baseball players, to help them perform better during the game.

Discover more about baseball training secrets on baseballtrainingsecrets.com

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

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A Field of Dreams - Reviving Back Yard Baseball

By Michael Sakowski

When my son David started playing in a youth baseball league, we wanted to get in some extra practice. We live in a rural area far from a park, so we practiced in our large back yard. As batted balls kept rolling into the high grass surrounding our yard, I took action and began mowing the high grass down to minimize the number of balls lost. Mowing led to cutting brush, which led to cutting small trees, which led to installing netting extending 15 feet up to stop hard hit balls. Before we knew it, we had our very own Field of Dreams!

We now had a place where 4 of my kids and myself could play a game of "first base" after supper on just about any summer evening. In the game of "first base", each batter hits the ball, but they only run to first base. They return to home and keep batting until they get 3 outs. Then, the next batter is up. The non-batting kids play first base and outfield. As dad, I am all-time pitcher except for when I am up to bat. Also as dad, I bunt the ball to the pitcher or infield and try to get to first base before being tagged out.

www.BatAction.com


In another game appropriately called 2 bases, suitable for 6 to 8 players, a regular baseball game is played except 2 bases are used instead of 3 due to the small number of players. Sometimes, I will be all-time pitcher for the kids and also serve as umpire to make a final unbiased ruling on disputed plays. My kids love this game and it even beats out their flashy video games, something tough to do in this day and age!

My father-in-law, visiting friends and family, and neighbors have joined in for these backyard baseball games. These games have been a blast! Our new backyard ball field truly has proven to be a "Field of Dreams".

Michael Sakowski works full time and volunteers as an assistant coach for his son's youth league baseball team. He also has researched effective youth baseball methods and has published a website, Youth Baseball Basics that provides helpful information to first time baseball players and first time baseball parents.

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

Who Makes the Best Youth Baseball Bat? Find Out Here

By Brandon Bland

Many parents want to know what the best youth baseball bat is for their child. Although there are many different brands of bats I would recommend, there is one that has particularly stood out to me consistently as I hear parents talk. There was a kid in our local Little League that hit over 20 home runs with this bat this summer. The company is fairly new, and but they are starting to really make a name for themselves, especially in the youth bat market. You don't see or hear as many adult or college ballplayers using these bats, but they are the talk of the town in the youth leagues.

The company's name is called Combat. That's right, Combat. If you've been around the game of baseball for any length of time, you still may not have heard of this brand of bat. I remember back in my Little League days, it seemed that everyone had either had an Easton or a Louisville Slugger TPX bat. Occasionally you might see an old, rusty Worth. But there are so many new bats coming out on the market today, and I have to admit, some of them are giving Easton and Louisville a run for their money. Not that they don't continue to make quality bats today, because they certainly do. But many companies are producing bats that compete with the two legacy bat companies, and Combat is one of them.

Combat uses composite material technology. In fact they are known for being somewhat of the pioneers of the composite bat industry. Composite material consists of a fiberglass material mixed with a resin to bind it together. Composite bats are rivaling the standard aluminum alloy bats that you may have known up to this point in time. Most companies are offering a mixture of aluminum, composite, and some are even making hybrid models consisting of composite handles, and aluminum barrels. Combat is strictly 100% composite material.

I keep hearing stories of kids popping balls up and still hitting them off the outfield walls with these bats. I do get concerned that the performance of modern day's bats are getting a little bit too ridiculous. I'm a firm believer that the game should be decided between the pitcher and hitter, not a piece of equipment. But I cannot deny what I hear about the Combat bats. Kids that use them are getting results. So there you have it. If you want to know what seems to be a consensus about what the best youth baseball bat is, I would have to say it's Combat. Read more about Combat bats here.

Brandon Bland is the webmaster of Baseball Equipment Review, a site devoted to informing ballplayers of the quality of today's baseball equipment so they can make informed decisions about their purchases.

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

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