Baseball Coaching and Training Equipment Blog

Welcome to the Coachesbest.com official baseball coaching and training blog. Our free baseball coaching articles, drills and tips will help your improve your baseball training and baseball practice. Our daily posts and archives provide you with tips to help you plan your baseball practices and baseball workouts. Make sure to save or bookmark this site to your favorites for future visits. Good luck to your team!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Baseball Hitting Mechanics 101

Baseball Hitting Mechanics 101
By guest author: Jeffery A Wise


The first thing any baseball player should learn is the proper baseball hitting mechanics. The earlier a player learns these mechanics, the better they will do when they step up to bat. It's not necessary for new players to learn complicated advanced hitting techniques. That will come in time, so they should just focus on the basics until they feel completely comfortable to move on. There are several simple steps you should know for the basic hitting mechanics.


How to stand in the batter's box
Where to look and the best way to position your head
How to position the rest of your body
How to hold the bat
How to swing the bat
When to swing the bat
What to do after you hit the ball

Anyone who loves playing baseball has a desire to be the best they can be, even at an early age. When I was young I asked my parents to buy me several baseball hitting books so I could learn how to be the best. I couldn't wait to crack them open and learn everything possible to improve my hitting.

If you are a parent of a young player, be willing to help your child advance and learn as much as the desire. Take it one step at a time, though, and don't rush them into anything. Some kids will ask a lot of questions, though, so be ready to move fast if necessary. Be prepared to answer any questions they have and help them both on and off the field.

It would be a good idea if you as the parent start studying before they even begin playing. Play to cover one hitting tip with them each week. Be sure they are comfortable before moving on to the next tip.

There are several tools you'll need to start helping a child learn the basic hitting mechanics. You'll need a bat, ball, helmet, tee and a field to practice on. You may want to also keep a notebook handy so you can document the progress of kids you're assisting, whether it's your child or a team of ballplayers.

If you stick to the basics of hitting, children will learn the proper steps necessary to hit a baseball. They must get plenty of practice and their skills are sure to develop. They will be excited as they seem self improvement. Even if a child seems to pick up the basics pretty quickly, they should never stop practicing these hitting mechanics. Even professional baseball players practice them on a regular basis.

Remember that the reason to practice baseball hitting mechanics is to give you skills and talent to become the baseball player you want to be. Download free hitting videos with tips and instructions you need to get started quickly by visiting Baseball Hitting and learn how to hit the baseball better.

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Friday, April 15, 2011

Little League Digest - Instantly Make Yourself a Better Little Coach With This Quick Self Evaluation

Little League Digest - Instantly Make Yourself a Better Little Coach With This Quick Self Evaluation
By guest author: Nick Dixon


Little League Digest: You Can Make Yourself a Better Little Coach Instantly with this Quick Preseason Evaluation

The quality of a Little League Team's play depends greatly on the quality of coaching the kids receive. Coaches spend most of their team assessing and trying to improve player skills and performance. The theory is simple, improve your player's talent and you improve your team. I have a different approach. I say, improve your coaching skills and your Little League team will definitely play better baseball. How do you improve your coaching skills? I have a simple evaluation that will help you become a better coach instantly.

Ask yourself these the three simple questions listed below. Depending on your answer, chose the recommended approach and set your standards for this coming season.

Question #1 - "Coach, are you a good a planner and organizer when it comes to Little League Baseball Practice?"

If you answered YES...Congratulations! Your planning and organizational skills should help your team have high quality practices in the coming season. Move on to question #2.

If you answered NO....Make a commitment now that you will spend at least 20 minutes pre-planning every practice and write your practice plan on paper. Carefully plan each drill and activity with specific start times and end times. Make sure that drills are short with time periods restricted to 10 minutes are less. Make a commitment to make a copy to give to each assistant coach that you have helping you.

Question # 2 - "Coach, do you value time and punctuality as much as you should?'

If you answered YES...Congratulations! You are a coach that knows the value of time and punctuality. Your players are lucky to have such a coach. Move on to question #3.

If you answered NO....Make a commitment now that you will be the first person on sight at every practice and game. It is bad policy for Little League coaches to arrive late at a practice or game. If you expect your players to always be at practice on time, you should set a good example and be the first person arriving each day. Make it your personal goal to not be late for a single practice or game. Always plan and give yourself extra time to arrive at practice.

Question # 3 - "Coach, do you really know enough about the baseball fundamentals and the rules of baseball to adequately teach your players?"

If you answered YES...Congratulations! Your knowledge of baseball is commended. You are a coach knows baseball fundamentals and knows how to teach them. Your baseball knowledge will definitely give your team an advantage in the coming season. Congratulations! You have completed this coaching self-evaluation.

If you answered NO....Make a commitment now to commit time and effort to improving your knowledge of the rules of the game of baseball and the fundamentals of baseball that your players must be taught and master. The internet is a valuable resource for finding free baseball coaching articles and drill videos. Three great sites for free articles are the Baseball Coaching Digest, the Youth Baseball Digest, and the Little League Digest.

Every Little League Coach has a responsibility to put effort in learning more than they know. How can we expect players to improve their knowledge of the game if we refuse to? Not knowing baseball is not the ultimate sin of a baseball coach. Refusing to become a student of the game is the ultimate sin. If you knowledge is limited and you do not wish to increase your knowledge, you might be doing your team a favor to offer your time and effort as a Little League volunteer in another capacity other than coaching.

How did you score?

One Yes Answer - You are definitely an honest person and honesty is a strong virtue of a good Little League Baseball Coach. You now know what two areas you in which you need to improve. You are commended for taking the first crucial steps toward improving your qualities as a Little League Coach. Improvement will come with the right commitment and continued effort.

Two Yes Answers - You should be proud that you only have one area where improvement is required. You are close to being a top notch Little League Coach. You should focus all of your effort into eliminating the weakness that you have identified. Set your goal now to improve your qualities as a coach in that particular area.

Three Yes Answers - Congratulations! You are a top quality Little League Coach. With your skills and talent, you should be able to help every player on your team improve and become a better player. You team should have a great.

I hope that this evaluation helps you improve as a coach. Enthusiasm is one trait this quick evaluation did not address. Along with the qualities evaluated here, you must possess and display a high level of excitement and enthusiasm for the great game of baseball. Thanks for taking the time to read this article. Good luck in the coming season! Have a great day, Nick.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the Joe Mauer Quick Swing batting practice machine.

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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Articles from the Coaching Fastpitch Softball Hitters Blog
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The Fastpitch Softball Training Equipment Blog

Monday, April 4, 2011

Discover Top Baseball Training Fundamentals

Discover Top Baseball Training Fundamentals
By guest author: Matt Dimock


Baseball is one of America's favorite sports. Millions of men have been interested in playing it either as a weekend pastime or semi-professionally. It is understandable that only a handful would go to the pro leagues but nevertheless, baseball has won the hearts of many. You are probably one of them that's why you are interested in this article. Baseball is more than just picking up a bat and hitting the ball or the other way around, picking up a ball and throwing it. So if you want to get better in this sports, there are some fundamentals you should learn first.

It is important for any person who wants to play baseball to first undergo baseball training to help prepare his mind and body for the game. We can't ignore the fact that there will always be people who have natural talent for this sport and that understanding how the game is played and how it should be played will be very easy for them. Nevertheless knowing the basics is still essential as it is the first stepping stone toward being a great baseball athlete.

So here are some baseball training tips that you should follow to help you improve your game. Remember to keep everything in moderation and to never rush your training as it can lead to serious injury.

Just like with any other sports, warming up is the key to avoiding any injury. Stretching is a vital part of this. While some professional trainers will provide you with specific warm up and stretching instructions, in my opinion, any of the typical warm ups will do. Especially those that involve the arms and the legs as you will be doing a lot of swinging and throwing the ball during the game. Just jog in place or for a few meters and you will be good to go.

Most people forget to have a good posture when they are playing the game when in fact standing correctly has a great impact in utilizing your skills. Always stand straight and always make sure that your whole body weight is distributed equally to both of your feet. Your feet should align to the length of your shoulders. As a batter this normal position will give you the stability you need to make that powerful swing.

How should you be gripping a baseball bat? Quite naturally, you should pick up the bat using your strongest hand. Your other hand will be there just to support it. And do not strangle the bat. When you hold a bat very tightly you are releasing unneeded tension which will result to a weaker hitting power. Just let your grip loosen up a bit, allowing for your fingers to move easily. With less tension on your part, you will have greater power to hit that ball.

There are other fundamentals that you probably need to know but for starters the ones listed here will be good enough. Always remember to not overwork yourself and to simply enjoy baseball. That's why it's called a game in the first place.

Like To Know How To Get Better In The Game Through The Help Of Baseball Training? Find All The Techniques At: www.baseball-training.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Dimock




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