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!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Demarini Baseball Bat Review


AdvancedSkillsTee.com

Demarini Baseball Bat Review
By Rick Cates

Is Demarini the best Baseball Bat on the market? The 2009 line up of baseball bats may well be the best bats Demarini has ever made! Established in 1989 Demarini Bats, a sub-division of Wilson, is making a strong case to take over the baseball bat market. All of the Demarini bats have flexed tuned carbon composite handles which are lighter than alloys and will flex 2 to 4 times more providing more power at contact. Demarini makes 3 collegiate and high school approved bats, each having a different patented end cap. New for 2009 Demarini is touting their new "Pitch Black" composite technology claiming it is stronger than competing technologies.

Here is the line-up for 2009

CF3 Black (or special edition white) is a 100 % composite, two piece bat with double walls and "Pitch Black" technology. This technology touts 22% more carbon fibers than any other bat on the market with no fillers added which should give it a distinct advantage when it comes to power. This enables Demarini to double re-enforce a vertical and horizontal weave. This process provides the strongest and tightest composite weave resulting in more over-all power. The 2009 CF3 comes in collegiate or high school sizes as follows:
- 31/28
- 32/29
- 33/30
- 34/31

For senior league:
- 29/21
- 30/22
- 31/23
- 32/24

The 2009 Demarini Voodoo Black is made with pitch black composite handles combined with the newest SC4 Alloy. The Voodoo is a high quality bat with a proven reputation at a very reasonable price. The Voodoo is a very popular bat with a larger sweet spot that the ball really explodes off of. The line-up of 2009 Demarini Voodoos come in Collegiate and High School sizes as follows:
- 31/28
- 32/29
- 33/30
- 34/31

The 2009 Voodoos come in Senior League sizes as follows:
- 29/20
- 30/21
- 31/22
- 32/23 (-9's)

The Demarini Voodoos also come in minus 10 as follows:
- 29/19
- 30/20
- 31/21
- 32/22

The Demarini Vendetta.

Demarinis slogan for the 2009 Vendetta is "Attack the ball with a vengeance." This bat is completely re-designed using "Rail" technology to completely re-define bat handle technology. The 2009 Vendetta comes with 4 flat composite rails with varying flexes that run through the handle and reduces vibration, increases bat speed and delivers a nice combination of handle to barrel flex. New SC4 Alloy in the barrel rounds out this bat of choice for many Division 1 Programs. The 2009 Demarini Vendetta comes in the following sizes for Collegiate and High School baseball:
- 31/28
- 32/29
- 33/30
- 34/31

For Senior League the following sizes are available:
- 29/20
- 30/21
- 31/22
- 32/23

Last but not least is the 2009 Demarini Vexxum. This bat comes with a 100 % composite handle and exclusive SC4 Alloy comprised with Long Barrel technology giving hitters the longest barrel in baseball providing maximum plate coverage and a larger sweet spot. Even though the Vexxum is on the low end of the range for Demarini, it is still a quality bat. The Demarini Vexxum comes in the following sizes for the Collegiate and High School player:
- 31/28
- 32/29
- 33/30
- 34/31

Senior League bats are available in the following sizes:
- 31/26
- 32/27
- 33/28
- 34/29

Youth and Little League are available in the following sizes:
- 28/19.5
- 29/20.5
- 30/21.5
- 31/22.5
- 32/23.5 (-8's)

Youth and Little League also are available at -10 in the following sizes:
- 27/17
- 28/18
- 29/19
- 30/20
- 31/21
- 32/22 (-10's)

Demarini is a player in the baseball bat industry and provides quality bats in both the high and low price range. You can't go wrong with a Demarini Bat. To see more of my Baseball Equipment reviews visit me at Rick's Bats and Gloves, ETC.

Rick Cates is the editor in chief of http://ricksbatsandglovesetc.com - At Rick's Bats and Gloves, ETC we go over what is new in the Baseball and Softball world. We will review the latest products and equipment to help you in making your purchase of new or used equipment in the Baseball and Softball world.

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


HandsBackHitter.com

Friday, June 12, 2009

Baseball Coaching - 10 Tips For Improving the Quality of Your Baseball Practice Time



Advanced Skills Tee - Advanced Tee for Improving Great Swings!



Baseball Coaching - 10 Tips For Improving the Quality of Your Baseball Practice Time
By Nick Dixon

Today the baseball coaching 4 letter word is T-I-M-E:

Time Spent Must Be Justified

Wasting time is something that baseball coaches should avoid. There is nothing more precious to a player, to parents, or to assistant coaches than time. Time spent at the baseball field must be considered valuable or constructive time. We are coaches because we love the game and we want to help young players grow up to great adults. We help nurture that process by teaching good morals, good values, and good habits. There is no more important thing for a kid to learn than the value of time and the importance of always being punctual. The key to showing that you value time is to have your team practices, meeting, and other activities well planned and organized.

Here are my 10 tips for showing the value of time:

1. Be punctual at all times. If a practice is schedule to start at 3:00. You should start it exactly at 3:00. Not one minute early or one minute late. If the practice is set to end at 5:00, end the practice on time. A coach that constantly runs practice times over is showing little regard for time and family life. You should also set a precedent of doing what you say that you are going to do. Stay on schedule. That includes practice start times and end times.

2. Stop drills when the allotted time is up. Do not run over.

3. Do not waste practice time having coaching conference. Have your coaching meeting after practice or 30 minutes before practice.

4. Have a practice schedule. Have every minute accounted for and planned. Use odd minutes in drills such as 7.5 minutes. This emphasizes the value of time.

5. Have agenda for team meetings. If you have a team meeting without a purpose or agenda, you may be wasting time. If you have a team meeting and ramble on and on talking without direction and focus, then you are wasting valuable time.

6. Have a designated place in the dugout for the belongings of each player and coach. Make sure every player has their name or number clearly visible on their glove, batting glove and bat. This saves valuable time when a players has to find a glove, a bag, or a bat.

7. Do not talk through the fence with a parent or friend during practice. Kids should not do it and coaches should not either. You are showing a definite lack of respect for practice time. Make sure that you make it known that you will not have discussions or conversations with anyone during practice time.

8. Set all training equipment up before practice. Do not waste valuable practice time assembling, locating, or moving practice equipment.

9. Always disassemble and pack the training equipment up after the designated practice time is over. Do not waste valuable practice time packing way equipment.

10. Do not talk all night after a game. Set a time limit to post-game or post-practice meetings. If you cannot say it in 5 minutes, they are not going to remember it anyway. Younger kids have short attention spans. If you have more than 5 minutes of talk, save some of your talk for the beginning of your next practice.

Visit BaseballCoachingDigest.com for a great selection of Baseball Coaching and Training Articles. 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.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, the "Hit2win Company". Dixon is a high school baseball coach and is widely recognized as an expert in the area of baseball training, practice and skill development. Dixon is the inventor of several of baseball and softball's most popular training products including the BatAction Hitting Machine, Hurricane Hitting Machine, Hitting Stick, Hit2win Trainer, SKLZ Target Trainer, and ZipnHit.

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

Hit2win.com - Your source for the best hit trainers in the world!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Product Spotlight: The Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro Baseball Swing Trainer


Zip-N-Hit Pro®Zip-N-Hit Pro acts like a portable batting cage, allowing batters to improve their swing almost anywhere. Players have fun while developing confidence and power.

Fun, simple, and easy to use.
Lightweight and portable to allow
batting practice almost anywhere!

Features & Benefits
* As much fun to "pitch" as it is to bat.
* Improve hitting skills while increasing bat speed.
* Learn "top-half" hitting while reinforcing a level swing.
* Practice hitting pitches of different speeds and movement.
* Comes with an attachment clip and strap, for easy attachment almost anywhere.
* Suitable for Ages 7 and up.
* Effective training device useful for high school and collegiate use.

Nedco Sports Products, Inc.
200 Elizabeth Street
Boaz, AL 35957
Toll Free 877-431-4487

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Attention youth baseball coaches - How do you develop a short, quick, compact swing?


How do you develop a short, quick, compact swing?

There's no better way than with the Mauer's QuickSwing - Joe Mauer Signature Series. Invented by Jake Mauer II for his son, 2006 Batting Champion, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. The Mauer's QuickSwing uses a unique delayed gravity-drop design to help batters develop greater bat speed, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and muscle memory.

The QuickSwing helped develop 2006 A.L. Hitting Champ - Joe Mauer into one of the best hitters in baseball. It all started with a coffee can, cement and PVC pipe and now has grown into one of the hottest training aids on the market.

The Quick Swing is adjustable to different heights, can be folded for easy storage and transport, includes an instructional video with Paul Molitor and Joe Mauer and a proven 12 step hitting process guaranteed to help improve your batting average.

QuickSwingTrainer.com

Friday, June 5, 2009

Baseball Product Spotlight: The Joe Mauer Quick Swing Trainer



QuickSwingTrainer.com


The Quick Swing is adjustable to different heights, can be folded for easy storage and transport, includes an instructional video with Paul Molitor and Joe Mauer and a proven 12 step hitting process guaranteed to help improve your batting average.

..Improve your hitting mechanics
..Endorsed by all-time MLB baseball great and future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor
..Endorsed by Joe Mauer, the number one pick in MLB'S 2001 draft
..Allows a player to take batting practice alone
..Enables a player to improve on the fundamentals of sound hitting
..Improve bat speed, hand-eye coordination, and proper weight distribution
..Train indoors or outdoors
..Increase or decrease the level of difficulty
..Develop a quicker more compact swing
..Improve your baseball hitting technique.
..Improve reflexes, muscle memory and timing
..Replaces both batting tee and soft toss baseball hitting practice
..Allows you to use real baseballs, softballs or plastic balls
..Made of industrial-grade steel tubing and injected-molded plastic
..Can be positioned to drop the ball within any part of the strike zone
..Adjustable to different heights
..Can be folded for easy storage and transport
..Includes an instructional video with Paul Molitor and Joe Mauer
..Proven 12 step hitting process included.

QuickSwingTrainer.com

Thursday, June 4, 2009

A Innovative Baseball Batting Tee - A New Way of Training Off the Tee and Improve Your Hitting 100%


A Innovative Baseball Batting Tee - A New Way of Training Off the Tee and Improve Your Hitting 100%
By Keith Hodges

Do you play baseball and would you like to improve your swing and hitting mechanics so that you can compete at any level of baseball or softball? There is a new way of training baseball and softball players by visually train their eyes to see a baseball coming toward them at 80-95 mile per hour. This training technique allow baseball and softball players to totally concentrate on the ball while at the same time hitting a ball off a batting tee. This technique can be done in-door or out-door day or night and starting as early as 2 years of age continuing to t-ball, high school, college and up to the professional baseball level. By using this training technique you will also eliminate having to set-up or pick-up ball after hitting them off the batting tee.

As the ball move back and forward in and out over the plate strike zone it forces the player eyes to concentrate on the movement of the ball entering the hitting-zone. As the ball enter the hitting-zone the batter recognize the best pitch he or she would like to hit then reacts to the pitch by swing with the bat to make contact with the ball. By using this vision training technique you will train your eyes to see and recognize balls and strikes crossing the plate while at the same time improving swing and baseball hitting mechanics needed to play the game of baseball and softball at the highest level possible.

By using this technique along with the different movements and angles of the ball crossing the plat strike-zone the players will also develop and improve the following:


Plate Patients
Plate Balance
Hand / Eye Coordination
Hitting
Swing
Recognize Balls In Or Out Of The Strike Zone
Eye Tracking
Ball Tracking
Reaction Time To Pitches Entering The Strike Zone


Go To: http://www.twohiddensecrets.com/baseball-batting-tee.html

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

AdvancedSkillsTee.com - Check out the world's Most Advanced batting Tee!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

How to Use the Batting Cage For Better Hitting








How to Use the Batting Cage For Better Hitting
By Jack D. Elliott

Your baseball hitting can be improved by using batting cages and batting practice to develop your timing. One thing to keep in mind while hitting in BP or the cage is to know when you are getting in good hitting. This is important b/c hitting the ball hard is only a starting place for good hitting. One way to improve your hitting is to focus on hitting line drives and hitting the ball on the ground. Over time, this will result in a higher hitting average because there is less of a chance for the ball getting caught in the air.

A technique to help adjust your swing in the batting cages is to score your rounds at BP and batting cage sessions. This is very easy to do as you just need someone to do the scoring while you hit. This can even be done by yourself in your head with a little practice. Here, are a few tips on how to do the scoring:

1. Hit using a three point system. 3 points are given for line drives, 2 points for grounders or low line drives, and 1 point for fly balls.

2. Make three scoring zones. You will need to make some arbitrary zones whether in the BP or the batting cage. The goal should be to make them about even and each zone should be about 6 yards in length. For example, the grounders or low hitting zone would be a horizontal range from the ground to 6 yards up. Line drives would be in the next zone (6 to 12 yards up) and fly balls would be any the final zone for everything 12 yards high up to 18 yards in the air. Anything over this height should not be scored.

3. Use Landmarks at Batting Cages For Zones. If you are hitting in the cages, use any landmarks that exist to help make the zones. For example, you could say the top of the pitching machine begins the middle zone. Bottom line: don't get too caught up in the exactness of the zones. Instead, use the landmarks as a guideline and being scoring your rounds.

4. Score each session. Habitually, score and record each session. This will give you a target to shoot at for your next round and encourage you to out-do your last performance. By making each session a competition, you will get more out of it as you try to get a higher score each time.

5. Scoring Rounds By Yourself. If keeping up with the scoring in your head gets to be too challenging during your hitting. One trick you can do is simply the scoring. By only scoring how many times you hit the ball in the middle range, you can get a pretty good measurement to test your hitting. Once you get your score, you would use this in much the same way as other scoring, you would try to top it on your next round. The focus during all these sessions would be to develop consistency in hitting this middle zone.

Be sure to let your team and coach know about this strategy. If adopted by your team, the whole team could benefit by using it in there regular BP. The scores of each session could even be posted in the locker room to add a little competition and more interesting into your team's batting practice sessions. Just think with a little time your team could be getting more hits and runs by using one simple technique.

Jack Elliott, is a former player and fan of the game. To read more tips and techniques like the ones in this article, please click here: http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com/Baseball-Hitting or Baseball Hitting Tips.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_D._Elliott

Buy your next batting cage and save big at BattingCagesDirect.com.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Killer Tips For Better Baseball Hitting by Jon Boyle

Killer Tips For Better Baseball Hitting by Jon Boyle

Ask ten coaches about hitting and you'll get unquestionably get 10 different answers. It's like the stock market, listen to too many opinions and you'll be left so confused you won't know what to do! Luckily, I'm here to put things in the correct context so you can become a better hitter, which, last time I checked, is why you're reading this article in the first place! Hitting a baseball is considered by many the single most difficult skill in sports. And having played a number of sports, I'm going to have to agree with this statement. Is not on your side when you're trying to hit a round object, moving at high speeds and velocities, with a round ball. Physics proves that. So my first tip is not to make hitting so technical and difficult. I commend those who have dedicated themselves to study the swing in detail. Hitting is a very complex series of events which can be debated for years on end. This is fine in the correct context, but not when simply attempting to provide baseball hitting tips. Have you ever witnessed an overzealous coach trying to explain sub-scapular loading, rotational torque or distal lag to a young (or old) hitter? You can see the glaze develop over their eyes as they look off into the sunset (or warehouse ceiling) as the instructor goes on and on. Is this productive? Of course not. But sadly, this is happening more and more. I'm beginning to question whether the industry of hitting instruction (and of course baseball hitting tips is a big part of that) is about making better hitters or improving the fragile egos who are guilty of this. If your part of the guilty party you know who you are, shame on you. Now get back to helping the kids first. You must make hitting simple. Any other way and the hitter simply doesn't have a chance. Now, you can teach very advanced and technical hitting elements in an easy manner. Just because you're teaching separation and rotational movement, does not mean you have to use big words. This does not mean you're smarter than the next guy. Learn to break the difficult hitting elements down into very simple commands. This will make the baseball hitting tips you're providing the most useful. If a hitter is confused he will not be confident. And we all know when a hitter isn't confident he won't hit well. So you must make hitting simple and instill confidence at the same time. The last thing I'm going to cover today is how effective your baseball hitting tips and drills really are. Can they easily be translated over to the field? Do they resemble game-like conditions? Do they automatically correct bad habits of the hitter that you're working with? And, do they provide instant feedback so the hitter knows if he is doing the drill correctly? If the answer is "no" to any of these questions then you need to re-think what you're teaching. After all, even though some don't want to hear it, the whole point of this thing is to create better, more confident hitters. Not stroke your ego.

Jon Doyle, MA, CSCS is considered the world's foremost authority of effective baseball training. Make sure to visit his website to discover the most effective baseball hitting techniques.
Source:www.isnare.com

Monday, June 1, 2009

Baseball College Recruiting: 10 Facts Baseball Players, Coaches, and Parents Need to Know


By Kenny Buford

Although many of the colleges want you to believe you have to be the top of the top for baseball college recruiting, that isn’t always so. In fact, many times colleges are assuming that they are not looking at the top 5% because those student athletes may already be spoken for.

Some things to remember:

1. Grades count. Sure, athletic ability is important, but do you have the grades to get into the college admissions office and catch their eye even without your sports ability? You should have grades that support you as a well-rounded student, not just an image of a ball player alone.

2. Do you know what a college coach values in a player? Is it the same as a high school coach or a teen-level coach? What do you bring to the coach that is different from the myriad of other players your age and ability that makes you a step above? Can you bring the values to the team that your coach is looking for?

3. What is your motivation? Not just “are you motivated” but what motivates you? Is it fame, money or a passion for the game? Do you work at your game based upon only your motivation? Do you have many motivators for your game? This is important; because parents, students and coaches will need to understand the motivators.

4. Are you motivated? As a verb, do you have it? Do you have what it takes to look into adversity and tough times and still shine? This is going to be important to be able to display to prospective colleges and future coaches as this may be a tie breaker trait.

5. Don’t wait until the last minute. Some students start as early as their freshman year in marketing themselves to colleges. If you are a senior and haven’t started, don’t let that discourage you, but do get moving on that! Market yourself as early as you can as a true athlete, because every moment you are no exposing your abilities, your peers are.

6. Do you, or do you plan to, meet the core requirements of entering college? If you are a great player, it’s important to have pretty good grades and decent SAT scores. There are a myriad of Internet sites that can help you make sure you are not lagging, and your guidance office should be able to help you. Again, it’s never too early to start working on your sports collegiate career.

7. Know the reality. According to statistics, less than 15% of high school baseball players will play college baseball. Just know your realities so if you don’t make the team, you are not devastated. It’s as important to know the realities of the situations as well as how to best get into a situation. Never enter any situation blind to both sides.

8. Look at the bigger picture. You may want to play ball but you may also want to have a certain climate, social life and academic schedule that fits your desires. Look at more than just the team; because you are more than just a ball player.

9. Do you have what it takes? It’s more than just the above. There is also something called “Luck and Timing”. Absolutely realize that you have to have both in addition to all the things you can control. Realize that a little of this is going to be out of your control.

10. Finances: not everyone is going to be playing ball on scholarship, or at least on full scholarship. Decide if the cost is worth the sport participation. If you are reading this, the answer probably is “yes, of course it is” but realize an injury or a sudden lack of passion means you still have the finances to deal with but none of the glory of the sport. Really weigh your financial realities.

All of this is meant to get you thinking – be it a parent or a player. Even a coach reading this needs to understand that you are going to be looking at some kids who have the research down pat and can impress you, but some other youth will be just as impressive deep down, but you may have to scratch the surface a bit. Not everyone knows the ins and outs of impressing a coach and a college but may be an exceptional player, student and person under it all. It’s everyone’s responsibility to learn as much as possible and do what they can to ensure the best options for all involved.

Kenny Buford spent years playing baseball at the college level. Today, he coaches 3 youth development teams and shares his extensive coaching knowledge on his blog, you can visit him here: http://www.baseball-tutorials.com/

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