Baseball Training Aids - Finding the Best Ones

Baseball Training Aids

By Guest Author: Jack D. Elliott

All baseball players want to have a quicker bat, throw harder, or run faster. Many Baseball Training Aids sell this vision to baseball players tempting them to by their new product. However, the training aids do not always deliver what they promise. This can not only be frustrating to the young baseball players, but it can also be counterproductive. In some cases, it can even hurt the performance of an aspiring ball player. For this reason, to help combat the proliferation of bad products and to promote the good baseball training aids, I have put together this list of things you should review before buying:

Reputation of the Company or Sponsor

If the company is an established company in the baseball world that has been selling products for a number of years, they are far more likely to put out legitimate and solid products. The reason for this is their reputation as a company is dependent on how customers feel about their product offerings. If they have been in the competitive baseball equipment market for a number of years, odds are they have done this the right way. This essentially means you can be more trusting of their products and you should give a more critical review to new companies offering unproven products.

Look at the performance information that is included

Most baseball training aids will include some type of empirical evidence to show why their training aid is such a great product. If the product fails to include this type of information, this is a sign right away that something may be amiss. Another thing you should look at is to think critically over the source and meaning of the information provided. Essentially, you are trying to determine if the study or numbers are valid. Questions you should think about are what other factors might have caused this spike in performance that is unrelated to the product or who is putting their name behind this product. Often times, the best products will be getting a vote of confidence from former baseball players and coaches. Just a general endorsement by some guy in some town is not enough. What you are looking for is "recognized experts" who are giving their approval. Don't settle for anything less.

Does the baseball training aid have a track record?

Do not be fooled into believing the best things are those that are brand new. The best baseball training aids will be those that have been on the market for a few years and have been field tested by plenty of different people. These are the training aids you should seek out because there will be a number of reviews and comments made about them that you can look over to see if it delivers what it promises. In fact, it is almost always best to let others be the guinea pigs for new products. You reap the benefit by letting them deal with poorly performing products and get to use the products that everyone endorses. In this way, you significantly cut down on the risk that you will get a bad product.

Using this advice, will help you find some quality baseball training aids. One of the biggest lessons in life is to be happy with what you have. By being content with established baseball training aids and not always looking out for the next great thing, you increase your odds off having better practices through using quality baseball training aids and reduce the risk of getting either frustrated or picking up bad habits with poor training aids.

For more information on the best Baseball Training Aids, try visiting http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com - it is a website offering solid tips and information on baseball training aids and baseball instruction.

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

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Unique Baseball Drills
By Jim Bain

While observing an advanced skill level team practice have you ever noticed a metal folding chair setting somewhere around the dugout, bull pen or other area adjacent to the practice field? If you have, you've probably either noticed it, but it didn't register or raise any questions in your mind, or you just figured it was for a coach to sit and take a break.

Did it ever occur to you that you were looking at a very important training tool? You heard me right... a baseball training aid which is utilized for rather unique and skill specific training.

We teach hitting mechanics in a systematic building block process which includes, but is not limited to the legs, core, hips, shoulders, wrists and starting mechanisms. Sometimes a player will develop a problem, or bad habit, with one or more of these elements which must be corrected.

The use of the metal folding chair, or a similar chair devise, as a coaching tool begins here. For instance:

1. If a player develops a bad habit of opening his hips too soon while swinging, he will either hit an excessive amount of foul balls to his left, if a right handed hitter, or to his right if a left handed hitter, or pull off the ball, which shortens his bat length and prevents him from being able to reach a pitch on the outside of the plate.

In order to correct this problem, it is imperative you remove the legs and hips as part of the swinging process. By having the player sit in the chair, with his ankles wrapped around the front legs, you accomplish this goal. The coach will soft toss a ball to the player and the player will swing, attempting to hit the ball solidly, but will only be able to utilize his core, shoulders and arms.

Repetitive use of this drill will retard the impulse of opening the hips too soon, as the muscle memory of the core will over ride, yet work in conjunction with the hips and legs, resulting in a quick bat and power generated from the entire body.

2. On the defensive side of the coin, the chair is utilized for drills which increases hand speed and fielding ability. Obviously the legs are an integral part of fielding just as they are with hitting, but there are times the legs will get a fielder where he wants to go, to the ball, in time, but a bad hop occurs which tests the fielder's ability to quickly adapt with his hands and glove.

The player will sit in the chair slightly bent over in a semi-fielding position. The coach will position himself about 10 foot away, facing the player and throw tennis or rubber balls at him in various ways.

The reason tennis or rubber are used instead of a regular baseball is they bounce better, can be made to bounce and skid erratically and for safety as the player is restricted in his movement.

The fast paced drill requires the fielder to react quickly with only his glove and upper body, which replicates the identical situation presented by a bad hop. Repetitive use of this drill will increase the players' hand speed and agility.

So next time you're at a practice field, don't just look...actually see what's going on. There's no telling what you might learn.

Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth, shares his advice on hitting baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com

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


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