Coaching Little League T-Ball - Good Grip Tip

What is the perfect and correct way to grip a baseball bat? Here it is.

The GRIP - knocking knuckles, (not fighting knuckles) should be aligned. This positions the bat's handle in the fingers and out of the palm. This allows maximum wrist quickness and hand speed.
Coaching Tip: Have kids check their grip by raising and pointing their index fingers. If they point in the same direction, they are aligned, if the point across each other, the grip is incorrect.

T-Ball Batting Drills

By Kenny Buford

-ball batting drills teach players how to properly swing the bat and make contact with the ball. There are many t-ball batting drills that players can practice to improve their swinging technique. Young players should practice their batting skills repeatedly in order to get the feel for swinging the bat properly, and also to improve their hand-eye coordination.

Improving a Batter's Swing:

The best way to improve a batter's swing is to practice hitting the ball from the tee into the back stop. Try to pair right-handed coaches with left-handed batters (and left-handed coaches with right-handed batters). Have the coach stand on the opposite side of the tee from the player (as if to mirror the player) in order to show proper stance and swing. This t-ball batting drill gives the batters a good visual reference and the coaches can easily make any necessary corrections.

Batting Techniques:

If necessary, use baking flour to make a batters box in the dirt. Set the tee even with the batter's belly button and have them extend their arms fully. Have the player hold this position with arms extended for a few seconds and explain how hitting the ball on the fat part of the bat makes the ball go further.

Teaching Batters to Keep their Eyes on the Ball:

Draw a large black dot on the ball. Then have the batter concentrate on trying to hit the dot and watching the dot until after their swing is complete. This helps players improve their focus on the ball, and also helps hand-eye coordination.

Blindfold the Batter:

Place a blindfold over the eyes of the batter and line them up properly in the batter's box in front of the tee, making sure that all other players are out of the immediate area. When you are safely out of the way tell the batter to swing away, with the intention of making contact with the ball. This will teach the batter how to develop a level swing and with repetition will produce a natural rhythm and a solid swinging technique.

Move the Tee Around the Batter's Box:

By placing the tee in various positions in the batter's box you will allow the player to practice hitting different types of pitches. This will enable players to be able to make contact with all types of pitches, inside and outside. This drill also allows players to practice making contact and hitting the ball into different areas of the field.

See who gets the Most Hits:

A good batting drill is to have each player try to make as many consecutive hits as possible. Foul balls should not count as hits, and every foul ball should count as an out in order to make the drill run quicker and allow more players to get their turn. The one who can make contact and get the most hits in a row wins.

Raise and Lower the Tee:

By raising and lowering the tee players are able to practice hitting balls that are not thrown at their belly button. This is one of the most effective t-ball batting drills for preparing players to move into game situations with pitchers.

Kenny Buford is a baseball and tee ball coach with over 20 years of experience. You can find more of his t-ball drills and tee ball practice plans on his website:

Free T-Ball Drills

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

Recommended Sites fo Tee Ball Coaches & Players:

The Baseball 2Day Coaching Journal
The Baseball Parent Guide
The Baseball Coaching Digest

Mental Training For Baseball Hitters

By Kenny Buford

Be Prepared for the Good Pitches

The times a batter will have a perfect pitch thrown to them are few and far between. For this reason, a batter must be ready to aggressively go after a ball they believe is perfect for what hit they need and their personal hitting strengths. Aggression is essential in batting because players need to believe that they can successfully hit the ball they are being pitched.

Preparation for the good pitches comes first in practice. Coaches must help develop confidence in their players.

Coaches can help batters prepare for good pitches by building their confidence in practice. If you encourage players to hit the balls they think they can hit, you show them that you trust their judgment. If you congratulate them when they have a good appearance at the plate, you show that you recognize and appreciate their good technique and hard work.

By teaching players when and where to hit a ball, as well as helping build their confidence during practice and in games, you will soon find that your players are ready to jump all over good pitches when they come. Those players with less encouragement and support hesitate more at good pitches and are not prepared to meet the challenge with confidence and the aggression necessary.

Stay Focused in the Box

While in the batter's box, players should be thinking of nothing more than connecting with the ball and doing their job properly. All thoughts of technique and preparation should be gone, because the player has focused on this during practice to the point that all motions come like second nature.

The batter should also keep his focus on the pitcher. Once in place, the batter should look only at the pitcher, so as to better read what pitch is coming and how to hit it. Finding a central focus point like the pitcher also helps batters tune out the noise and other distractions threatening to take the player's focus from the ball.

Kenny Buford is a baseball coach with over 20 years of experience and a founding member of Baseball Inner Circle. Discover the ultimate source for baseball drills, videos, and coaching tips that will immediately improve your players' skills and win more games for your team:

Baseball Inner Circle

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

Baseball Coaching Digest
The Baseball 2Day Coaching Journal
American Baseball Directory
Baseball Parent Guide

Little League Tee Ball, Planting Positive Seeds

By Marty Schupak

Tee Ball is the most popular youth baseball program in Little League, including other youth baseball leagues around the country, and has the most participants. As the 5- and 6-year-olds whom participate in Tee Ball get older, there is a drop off in youth baseball participation each year. Traditionally the largest drop off of players in most youth leagues occurs after players reach their twelfth birthday. Soccer is almost a year round sport and youth lacrosse is growing, which are both in direct competition with youth baseball. Baseball parents, coaches, and leagues are almost compelled to make the first baseball experience for young kids a positive one.

Youth baseball leagues can develop certain positive philosophies that will maximize the chances of retaining baseball players in their leagues. I’ll touch on just few that I feel most appropriate. First of all, Tee Ball leagues should strive to make it as non-competitive as possible. Some overzealous parents who are very competitive will look upon their own child’s first tee ball experience as the Major League World Series. Leagues must set a standard with this non-competition philosophy. Not keeping score is an option leagues try. But, from my experience with my own kids, as much as parents and coaches try, some of the kids themselves will be keeping score and reminding the coach and the other teammates every time a player crosses home plate. This will also lead to the kids keeping track of wins and losses. One option leagues might consider is to mix the teams up every 3rd or 4th game. This option affords tee ball teams to still have a team concept because they will practice with their team, and 75% of their games will be together. One thing they will have to overcome is two sets of different colored uniforms playing on the same side. Maybe one way to overcome this is to have players come to these games in white tee shirts and the leagues supply cheap colored vests. Maybe we call these games “All League Games”, or another positive term that everyone can accept.

The other part of the game that needs to be addressed is that at the age of 5 & 6, the skill level will vary tremendously. Leagues need to treat the tee ball season as a progression type situation. In a 20 or 25 game season, maybe use a larger ball when hitting off the batting tee for the first five games. In practices, coaches should use a larger ball on a tee early in a season. One thing I did when coaching tee ball is to take a bathroom plunger, turn it upside down and place it into the batting tee. Now a coach can rest a beach ball or a kick ball on top of the tee for the kids to hit.

When teaching fielding, coaches need to make the task as achievable as possible. I used to start the season using a Velcro ball and Velcro paddle to catch a fly ball. The kids love this. On ground balls, teach the players to make contact with the ball with their glove, keep it in front of them, and not necessarily catch it.

On throwing, keep the distance short, spreading the players out very liberally and moving them back after every five throws.

These are just a few ideas that leagues should address, keeping in mind that we must start with baby steps and progress as the season goes on.
Parents must realize that they will have their fair share of competition as their kids move up in age. Tee Ball should be a positive experience in every sense of the word. Skills should be the theme of tee ball and less competition. In the world of youth sports, which includes playing time problems, parental sniping, and on the field arguing, youth baseball Tee Ball should be immune to this problems as much as possible.

http://www.YouthSportsClub.com

http://www.VideosForCoaches.com

Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques", “Pitching Drills & Techniques”, and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle with Videos For Coaches and 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

CoachesBest.com
BaseballCoachingDigest.com
BaseballParentGuide.com

How to Warm-up Your Young Athletes

This may be among the most controversial and misunderstood topics within the entire youth development industry.

Warming up for sport or activity is, in essence, preparing the body for the task it is about to do. This includes increasing body temperature and improving the efficiency of the nervous system (which controls movement). Warm-ups can generally be classified into two categories:

General – Incorporates a broad assortment of movements in order to prepare the body as a systemic unit. Arousal of an appropriate ‘mental attitude’ for the upcoming competition or practice is a valuable component of this phase.

Specific – Involves precise actions or exercises relating to the particular sport. This serves as a more accurate neuromuscular preparation for the movements and tasks about to take place in the game or practice.

There are two misleading notions regarding warm-up design that are generally believed to be true by many coaches, trainer and parents:

Aerobic activity is the best choice as a warm-up exercise.

Static stretching must precede all workouts, practices or games in order to reduce the potential for injury.

The ‘aerobic activity’ phenomenon is a wide spread myth to say the least. Soccer, football and baseball coaches often send their athletes on 5 – 10 minute jogs around the field prior to the start of a game. Likewise, Personal Trainers will habitually have their clients ‘warm-up’ on a stationary bike or treadmill prior to a strength-training workout. This type of pre-event warm-up equates to dogmatic practice without any analysis of what the warm-up is meant to supply. Specifically, a warm-up must elevate body/muscle temperature to a certain point, increase both respiration and blood flow as well as enhance nervous system activity thereby heightening coordination and movement aptitude – this must all be done to level at which the athlete is not fatigued but prepared.

With aerobic-based warm-ups, energy reserves may be diminished and the ability to exhibit speed, strength and motor control lessened. This is quite problematic considering most sports and workout programs involve either displaying speed and strength abilities or are designed to enhance speed and strength capacities. More over, if a given training session is geared towards upper body strength exercises, how does running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike prepare the body for the specific neuromuscular demands about to be placed on it?

With static stretching, it must be understood that any type of prolonged, held stretch can actually CAUSE injury. The concept of flexibility as a whole is largely misunderstood in contemporary sport performance (and fitness for that matter). The notion that static flexibility exercises are necessary as a pre-event habit in order to both prevent injury and prepare the body for movement are two primary incorrect ‘facts’.

Firstly, static flexibility exercises can disturb the stability of joints to a point that may actually serve to increase the potential for injury. Acting on nerve transmissions from the brain and spinal cord, muscles serve to move joints through various ranges of motion in order to produce a desired task. Understanding the laws of human motion, their exists a delicate balance between mobility and stability within the context of any movement. A muscle’s job then (in conjunction with both ligaments and tendons), is to produce movement (mobility) while protecting a given joint from ‘over-movement’ (stability). ‘Over-movement’ refers to uncontrolled motion that exceeds the natural limits of a joints capacity - this could result in acute trauma of varying degrees of severity. This mobility-stability interplay can be disrupted if statically held stretches are performed prior to a period of physical exertion.

The other primary factor to consider is that static exercises of any kind cannot be judiciously thought of as precursors to a movement-based activity. All sports and training exercises involve movement in varying extents. Slow and easy-paced multi-directional movements, sudden bursts of speed and maximal strength efforts are all part of either sport participation or training programs. It is only sensible to prime the athlete specifically for what they are about to do – Prepare To Move By Moving To Prepare.

In reality, understanding the concepts of warming-up for sport could be a book unto itself. How to design an efficient and functionally-sound warm-up is based on several factors including –

Type of activity
Duration of activity
Age of Athlete
Injury History
Exercise history
*Adapted from ‘Facts & Fallacies of Fitness’ by Dr. Mel Siff


Here is what a general warm-up may look like for an adolescent athlete (of virtually any sport):

Movements are performed for 20 – 30 feet. Walk back to the starting point and begin again.

Jog X 3
High Knees X 3
Butt Kicks X 3
Carioca X 2 each way
Back Pedal X 3
Lunge Walk X 3
Walking Hip Thrust X 2 each leg
Walking Skips X 2 each
High Skips X 3
Skipping Bounds X 3
Tempo Runs X 3
Movement aptitude is taught and perfected during warm-ups. It is not enough to simply ‘go through’ the motions – coaches and trainers must teach adequate movement habits and force productions skills.

For both lower and upper body strength training days, I will incorporate a specific movement complex prior to the actual lifting exercises:

Lower Body

These exercises are performed with a 45-pound Olympic bar without any other external loading. Each exercise is performed in sequence one after the other.

Good Morning X 5 reps
Overhead Squats X 5 reps
Back Squats X 5 reps
Front Squats X 5 reps
RDL’s X 5 reps

Perform 2-3 sets

These exercises are specific preparations for the movements the athletes are about to perform and elicit a more particular neuromuscular response. Again, impeccable form is both taught and practiced during these movement complexes.

Upper Body

These exercises are performed with 3 – 5 pound dumbbells and are performed in a sequence or circuit type manner.

Rainbow Arc X 5 (start in anatomical position, raise your arms in a rainbow-type motion until the dumbbells touch above your head)
Shoulder Press X 5 (standard)
Forward Arm Circles (standard)
Crisscross X 5 (start with dumbbells held at 90 degrees of shoulder abduction, ensuring that the scapulae are retracted and depressed. Horizontally adduct until the dumbbells reach the sagittal midline of the body. Perform a quick over-under crisscross with the dumbbells and return to the starting position)
Bent Over Fly X 5 (standard)
* Perform 2 – 3 sets


--------------------------

About the Author: Known as 'America's Youth Fitness Coach', Brian Grasso spends all his time training young athletes, children with disabilities and those encumbered with body weight concerns.

He has authored two books on the subject and was recently featured in Newsweek magazine for his work in youth fitness and sports training. He has also been named as one of the 'Top 100 Trainers in America' by Men's Health magazine.

Brian is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and can be contacted through his website - www.DevelopingAthletics.com by hudsco

Baseball Parent - Make Your Kid a Major League MVP

By Nick Dixon

I know that the title got your attention. Everyone knows and respects the Major League Baseball players like Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez. Many parents dream of having their little league player growing up to play college baseball, becoming a college all-American, going to Omaha and play in the College World Series, being drafted in the 1st round of the MLB draft, signing for a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus, being voted to the MLB All-star team, going 3 for 4 in the All-Star Game, having their team win the pennant, wining the league championship, playing in the MLB World Series, leading MLB in RBI, Homeruns, Stolen Bases, Pitching Wins and also being selected as the Cy Young award winner, being named MVP of the MLB World Series, signing a deal with Nike Shoe for 2 million a year to endorse their new line of baseball shoes, and finally getting voted into Cooperstown Hall of Fame on his first vote. That is the ultimate dream of a baseball parent. But, do you know and realize how small the actual percentage is of little league baseball parents that ever see that dream come true? Now, I need to get to the point. Just helping your kid become a solid little league player that loves and enjoys the game of baseball should be the goal of every baseball parent. Here I discuss what I feel are the major requirements for big time baseball success at every level.

Odds are stacked against the little league baseball player and the youth baseball player when it comes to playing college and major league baseball. Less than 1 out every 15 kids playing little league and youth baseball ever make their high school baseball's varsity team. It is a known fact that less than 10.1 percent of all high school varsity baseball players go on to play college baseball. That figure includes both scholarship and walk-on players. Just 1 out of every 936 high school players is drafted to Pro Baseball each year. What all of this adds up to is this statement that says it all. Less than 1 out of every 15,000 little league or youth baseball players ever make a MLB baseball team. In, fact the percentage may be much lower when you consider the fact that less than 20,000 players have played MLB baseball in its 130+ year history. Chances are good, if your child is playing Little League, Dixie Youth, Babe Ruth or Cal Ripkin baseball, you are expecting your child to try out for the high school baseball team one day.
What does it take to make the high school team? The main three things are body build, playing skill, and pure luck.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY BUILD IN BASEBALL

I know that many of you are saying "Body Build" is not very important in baseball. I know and realize that size and height are less important in baseball than basketball and football. You do not have to block or tackle to play baseball. Baseball is not a game played in the rafters of a gym. But, "Body Build" is not all about body size to me. When I talk about "Body build", I mean more than height and size. Body build to me includes all of the results of a player's work and training to build strength, stamina, endurance, power and speed. The players that dominate at each level are the ones that have the dominate bat speed, dominate pitch velocity, and the faster feet.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN BASEBALL

The next important key to becoming a great high school, college or major league baseball player is playing skill development. If you are going to get to the next level, you have got to learn to play the game! Personal instruction by a baseball hitting coach, baseball pitching coach, and great baseball instruction and teaching of baseball fundamentals, early in youth baseball, are so important to baseball skill building. Many advanced players today rely on baseball indoor hitting facilities, year round baseball training and travel baseball that's played all year. These things help, but the main thing is for a player and his parent to take an interest in the game and become students of the game. You have got to do your baseball homework if you are going to maximize baseball skill development. Baseball homework is that extra work you do in the off-season and at home year round. Your baseball homework many include a backyard pitching mound, a backyard batting cage, baseball training equipment, or one-on-one training with a baseball instructor.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LUCK IN BASEBALL

Many people do not believe in luck. They say luck has nothing to do with winning or success. They say luck is made in practice time. Many others have a different opinion, they say that it is better to be lucky than to be good. I have a different attitude toward luck. I know that we are all lucky to get a chance to grow up in such a great country and to play such a great game as baseball, but I am talking about a different kind of luck a player must have to succeed in baseball. A player must be lucky and get top quality coaching early in life! Fate is a better word for what I am talking about. It is good luck that a player gets chosen on a little league team with a coach that takes special interest in a player and dedicates a great amount of time and energy in making that player better. It is good luck for a youth player to have a parent or coach that knows how to motivate and inspire that kid to keep working and practicing to get better. Players are extremely lucky to have the right inspiration and instruction during their childhood playing days. The coach they have may be a streak of good or bad luck depending on the attitude and competence level of the coach. Getting the right coach is a great stroke of luck!

Yes, I believe body build, playing skill and luck are the 3 keys to high school baseball success. Good luck to your child and his or her team. Happy Hitting, Coach Nick.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of BASEBALL HITTING, COACHING and TRAINING DVDs. Check out the Bat Action 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 also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Dixon is widely recognized as an expert in the area of baseball training, practice and skill development. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of several of baseball and softball's most popular training products such as the Original BatAction Hitting Machine, SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, Original Hitting Stick, Hit2win Trainer, SKLZ Target Trainer, SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, Batting Cage Builder, the American Baseball Directory and the Hit2win Baseball Coaches Monthly Newsletter. Dixon has 5 blogs related to baseball training including the BaseballCoachingDigest Blog, CoachesBest Training Blog, Hurricane Machine Training Blog, Batting Cage Buyers Blog, and the Bat Action Training Blog.

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Coach, Why Does My Arm Hurt?

By Chip Lemin

Greetings to all coaches,

Now that the youth baseball season is in full swing, we will hopefully see the results of any pre-season work. If your team worked extra hard on defense, you should see the results. You may also notice a drop off in offensive production, due to the extra time on defense. This is normal and will adjust itself over the course of the season. What you don't want to see is any of your players coming down with sore arms as the result of too much off season throwing.

Many teams want to get started early in the year,often many weeks before the start of the season. Too often these practices include too much throwing without monitoring the amount of throws by the players. Players are also not properly warmed up,or worse yet, not stretched out enough. Often, coaches will have the players throwing too hard, too early.Coaches need to teach players how to properly stretch out and warm up early in their careers. An 8 yr old may not need to warm up as much,but they should be taught. As these players get older,it will become very important. They must have this ingrained into them before that age. This is YOUR responsibility as a youth baseball coach.

These players that came down with sore arms all had some type of growth plate injury. Their parents listened to the players complaints and went to doctors for exams.The good thing is that none of these injuries were very serious yet. They were the result of overuse. It began with too much pre season throwing.I know that none of these coaches did this out of negligence. They are all good veteran coaches from successful programs.

One parent, who is a good friend of mine, stated that the specialist they saw, told them this fact. No player at 12 years old should have ANY ARM PAIN. If they do, shut them down right away. Then consult your doctor.It is not worth the young player's health under any conditions.

There many ways to run pre season workouts without throwing the baseball so much. Speed and agility drills are one. Foot work drills are another. Fielding drills without throwing full speed is another. You want your players to come out of spring training fresh and ready to play, not compensating their throwing form because of a sore arm. Remember, these young players may not want to disappoint the coaches or parents by getting hurt,so they may not tell you. You must pay attention to your players. If you see any change in their form ask them if their arm hurts. The earlier it is noticed the quicker it can be treated. Many times all it will need is rest.

This just a reminder to keep a close eye on your young players. They are giving it all they have most of the time.You must give quality leadership and instruction as a youth baseball coach. Do your best to protect their health on and off the field. Please abide by pitch counts for your age groups. Thanks for your time and I hope you and your team are enjoying a fun season. Thanks

Coach Chip

Chip Lemin has been a promoter of youth baseball since they started using aluminum bats. That's a long time. I have witnessed many good people get into coaching without solid coaching skills and it is not fun for them or the kids.Today's newer coaches are also being shortchanged on sportsmanship, like there is none. Visit my site to sign up for a insightful, informational, free coaching e-course at http://www.baseballecourse.com

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T-Ball University - Batting Drills For Tee Ball Coaches and Parents

Baseball Season is just around the corner, so parents and parent coaches, start digging through the garage for your baseball equipment and begin stretching out those rusty arm and leg muscles. For many communities, children begin their baseball or softball careers playing the lead-up skill called Tee Ball, which is baseball, minus the pitcher. In Tee Ball which is also spelled T-Ball, children learn the fundamentals of batting, fielding and base-running. For the purposes of this article we'll be concentrating on batting. In Tee Ball, batting takes place utilizing a Tee which sits approximately waste high to the hitter. The Tee is a great tool for perfecting a child's swing. When used correctly, a coach can analyze all of the components used in a swing and make subtle or not so subtle adjustments to a child's swing, batting stance, hip rotation and foot work.

It is my opinion after coaching all these seasons that proper footwork is the most important aspect of hitting. If you have the proper footwork, the arms, hips, and head will fall into place with the required timing.

In order to achieve proper footwork, I will place the tee on top of home plate. I will draw a perpendicular line in the dirt with the handle of the player's tee ball bat from the middle 45 degree corner of the tee's base. The line length is approximately 12 inches. Adjust this length accordingly to a comfortable extension of each player's arms with the bat swing. I then will draw a perpendicular line from the first line and parallel to the edge of the tee base going back toward the backstop. Therefore, this line is in the shape of an inverted "L". I will squat down and point with my index finger as to where I want each foot to be placed along the parallel line. Drawing the 12-inch line allows the hitter to extend his or her arms when swinging to comfortably hit the tee-ball with the "sweet" spot of the bat.

I want each child to have a stiff front leg with feet square to the parallel line. The player should be placing their weight on the balls of both of their feet. The square front foot will prevent the front knee from buckling or bending. Imagine a bug underneath the back foot. I want the child to squash that imaginary bug with a pivot of their back foot. Approximately 60% of the player's weight should be on the back foot. This is called the "load" position. This pivot will open the hips toward the pitcher when "squashing the bug". The front foot should remain square and the front knee locked when "squashing the bug" also. The back leg can bend but do not take a large dip with the back leg. (This drill is presented in a short video on our www.tballu.com website, within the "Free Sample Video" section).

Most coaches and parents who played the game when they were young were taught to take a step toward the pitcher with their front foot when swinging the bat. Most coaches and parents remember taking a small step or a large step. I do not want the player to take a step with their front foot when "squashing the bug" since a step will cause the player's head to slightly dip when swinging the bat and therefore, the player's eyes will dip when swinging the bat also. The no-step will prevent an eye dip when attempting to hit a breaking ball (e.g., curve, slider, etc) later in the player's career when he or she advances to high school baseball or softball. Use a series of batting helmets as impediments to prevent the player's front foot from taking a step if they had been previously taught to do so.

Practice "squashing the bug" with a bat situated between the arms and the back's shoulder blades. Have the entire team practice this drill at the same time making sure they are a good distance away from each other. Keep an eye on a stiff front leg and the back foot should pivot on the ball of their back foot. Some players will pivot and raise the heel of the back foot such that the back weight is placed on the toe of the back foot instead of the ball of the back foot. The player's head should stay down while looking in the hitting zone. If the back shoulder does not remain in the hitting zone upon pivot, the head will lift up from the hitting zone and the front foot will automatically lift up as well where the hitter is pivoting on the heel of the front foot. This is called "rolling" the front foot. Repeat this drill 50 times each practice and before each game. The player can also do this drill 50 times daily in front of a full length mirror at home. This will provide the player great muscle memory to ensure a proper swing every time.

After more than ten years coaching youth baseball, it has been my experience that, despite the best efforts of parent-coaches, too many children do not learn the basics of hitting and fielding and develop bad habits from the start. As these children progress to coach-pitch and kid-pitch leagues, this results in coaches spending many hours trying to correct problems, which could have been easily avoided at the Tee Ball or Beginner Baseball level. Coaching children, whether your own or children in your community, is one of the most rewarding experiences you'll have. Watching children learn and successfully apply the skills that you've taught them is tremendously fulfilling. I wish you all the best of luck in your t-ball, baseball or softball seasons.

David Comora
T-Ball University
http://www.teeballuniversity.com

David Comora has coached Tee Ball and Youth Baseball for over 10 years. He and his partners Steve Polansky, Brian Leuthner and David Kalb have developed the T-Ball University system of coaching to help new parent coaches learn to quickly master the skills of coaching. Their program includes video drills, coaching forms, practice plans, lesson notes and more. Free coaching videos are also available at http://www.teeballuniversity.com

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Teaching Baseball Batters to Use Hip Movement and Leg Leverage to Generate Power

By Nick Dixon

When you watch several elite baseball batters hit the ball, you quickly see some common traits. The great high school, college, and pro baseball players all generate incredible power with the lower body, legs, and hips. A good baseball swing incorporates the hips and lower body into the swing. Most of batting power is generated by the hips and the leverage created by the front leg. How many times have you heard the following "That batter swings with all arms, and has no power"?

The amount of hip movement or turn is always determined by the pitch's location. We all know that a hitter that "turns on everything" is setting himself up to be a victim of "soft stuff away". And a batter that cannot turn on pitches and that has problems catching-up with the fast ball will be a victim of pitchers working on the inner half of the plate.

A batter will not use the same amount of hip turn with every swing. Some pitches we hit require more hip turn than other pitch locations. The closer the pitch is to the batter, the more hip turn allowed. How do we teach a young batter to use the hips? How do we teach a young player to vary the amount of hip turn with various pitches? We teach young players to visualize that the belly button has an eye in it. The hips should always turn the required amount to allow the "eye" in the belly-button to see where the ball went when it came off the bat. The batters hips turn completely when an inside pitch is pulled. This full hip turn allows the belly button to "see" the ball go to left field. The hips will turn less when a ball is hit to center field thus allowing the "belly button eye" of the batter to see the ball hit over second base. When the ball is hit to the opposite field, the hip turn is limited to allow the belly-button to see the ball go to the opposite field.

This technique is simple, but effective to teach young players how much hip turn they should have on each pitch location.

COACHING POINT: The proximity of the batter to the plate can cause major problems. If a batter is too far off the plate, the other third will belong to the pitcher. If the batter is too close to the plate and the batter has limited bat speed, the inner third may belong to the pitcher. The general rule is that the batter should tap the bat on the outer black of the plate when stepping into the box to insure that all pitches over the plate can be reached. If a batter has two strikes, the batter needs to move closer to the plate so that the pitch slightly off the plate can be reached. This is especially important if the umpire has shown a tendency to call the pitch slightly off the plate a strike.



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Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, the "Hit2win Company". Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Dixon is widely recognized as an expert in the area of baseball training, practice and skill development. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of several of baseball and softball's most popular training products such as the Original BatAction Hitting Machine, SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, Original Hitting Stick, Hit2win Trainer, SKLZ Target Trainer, SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest.com, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, Batting Cage Builder, the American Baseball Directory and the Hit2win Baseball Coaches Monthly Newsletter. Dixon has 5 blogs related to baseball training including the BaseballCoachingDigest Blog, CoachesBest Training Blog, Hurricane Machine Training Blog, Batting Cage Buyers Blog, and the Bat Action Training Blog.

T Ball Ready Position - Coaching Ready Position in T Ball

By Brian McClure

In coaching t ball probably the first thing to do is teach the Ready position. You cant do nothing if your not ready so..What is the Ready Position?

1. Feet spread a little wider than shoulders
This gives balance and ability to move any direction

2. Balance on the balls of your feet:not the heels.
Sometimes when the kids are getting a little disinterested I may state (loudly of course) On Your Toes! This will wake them up and get them in position

3. Butt Down!
Most important..if your butt is down the knees bend and the hands go down with them. This gives balance.

4. Hands in Front
Two hands(I like to have kids (the first few practices) practice a few ground balls catching them in front without a glove to get them used to catching with two hands and then try it with the glove on.

5.Eyes on the Ball

Cant catch what you cant see. Catch the ball in front with two hands Safety too. If there is a bad hop your hands will move to protect and catch. How do I Coach and teach the ready position? Lets keep it simple.. It would be best to have the kids divided into at least 2 groups. This gives the most repetition and is the most efficient use of time. It will also keep them from getting bored to quickly. Pretty much every drill in t ball should be done in groups for these reasons.

1. READY! Spread your feet a little, get your butt down, hands out in front.

2. Toss a few ground balls without gloves

3. Ground balls with gloves

4. GET IN FRONT OF THE BALL! Now lets get them moving. Remember Eyes on the Ball? Toss a few balls to either side of the player and get them to move in front of the ball. (Some coaches like to use the belly button for this but I still like using the eyes and it has been effective for my coaching)

5. CHARGE! With this command you should toss some slow rollers and get the players moving in to the ball. It will happen I guarantee you.

A Special Note for Parents: I started working with my latest T baller during winter in the house. Showed him relaxed(which was hands on knees) and then Ready. We would practice this just a few times. I would say Relax! and he would go in to the relaxed position..I would say Ready! and hands come up and butt goes down. Then we would catch some tennis balls without a glove..then we would do a few with the glove. You will have to help them a few times with this but if you do this a few times a week...When the weather is nice enough to go outside you can do the above drills. At that first practice when Coach states Everybody Ready! You will be very proud. The Ready Position is the beginning of coaching youth baseball.

Author- Brian McClure
http://www.coaching-youth-baseball.com/

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See our complete list of Topics and articles on youth baseball here
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Coaching Tee Ball: Helping Young Hitters Fix Bad Hitting Habits

Looking At Your Nose
PROBLEM:
The batter does not have the head turned far enough toward the pitcher. This prevents both eyes from picking up the ball and the batter has difficulty seeing the ball. The back eye is blocked from seeing the ball by the batter's nose, thus the batter is "looking at his nose". The batter is basically hitting "one eyed". This is another reason for batter failure.
SOLUTION:
The batter simply turns the head toward the pitcher until the batters face is facing the pitcher and both eyes are seeing the pitcher fully. A good saying often used is "show the pitcher both of your ears". This will always make sure the head is in the correct position.

Poor Grip
PROBLEM:
Improper grip reduces bat speed and bat control. Two simple grip mistakes cause this problem. The batter's hands are slowed by a grip that is too "tense" or too tight or the batter is gripping the bat with the palms rather than the fingers.
SOLUTION:
The batter should strive to stay loose with the hands. Effort should be made to reduce tensions and use a relaxed grip. Slight movement of the fingers may serve to keep the "grip stress" down. The batter should hold the bat in the fingers away from the palms. This grip allows maximum hand speed and bat control.

Improper Stance Width
PROBLEM:
The batter's stance is to wide or too narrow. A stance too wide causes a loss of power and prevents hip involvement during the swing. A stance with the feet too close often causes the batter to stride too far or long. This causes the head and eyes to drop during the stride. This makes the hitters success ratio drop tremendously. It is hard enough to hit with a "quiet" head or with no movement. Overstriding makes it even more difficult to see the ball, identify the speed and type or pitch nand to hit the ball where it is pitched.
SOLUTION:
Have the batter assume a stance with the feet shoulder width apart. Have the batter take a short stride of no more than 6 inches. If the stance is slightly wider than the shoulders, simply picking the front foot straight up only an inch or two and putting it down may be all the stride the batter needs.

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Why the BatAction Hitting Machine is a Great Investment

15 Reasons Why You Need This Machine in Your Own Backyard.


1. Your son or daughter can hit their choice of a moving or still ball every 5 seconds, without having to stop, chase or pick up balls.

2. Your son or daughter can hit both right-handed and left-handed without having to stop, change or adjust the machine. This makes the machine great for team practices because it requires no adjustments or changes when right-handed and left-handed batters workout together.

3. This machine will allow your son or daughter to take 25,000 more practice swings a year without having to leave your backyard.

4. This machine will allow your son, daugther or team to take 300-500 swings or more each hour.

5. This machine is designed to be a year-round workout machine that stays in the backyard 365 days a year (when it is not at a game or practice) so that the player can workout on a regular basis year-round.

6. You do not have to use a net, cage or other ball containment. You can easily and safely hit in your garage or in other indoor locations.

7. The machine comes with everything that you need to practice hitting except your favorite bat. After just 5 minutes of simple and easy setup, the machine is ready to go!

8. This amazing machine has height adjustments and speed adjustments suitable for players of all ages and sizes!

9. This machine is guaranteed to make you better or YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK!

10. This machine works as professional as it looks. It features a heavy-duty construction with a weather-proof finish. This machine is built to last throughout a player's career from T-ball through high school or ever longer! The machine has a 6 year warranty on all metal parts!

11. This machine is portable and transports easily to team practices and games.

12. This machine allows the batter to practice hitting every possible pitch location.

13. This machine has a "horizontal suspension" design that allows the batter to read his contact on every swing. Batter can actually tell whether they just hit a line-drive, fly ball or hard grounder. This great feedback enables hitters to perfect their swing and develop power rapidly!

14. This machine is designed to allow the batter to practice alone or under the watchful eye of a coach or parent. The instructor can concentrate on coaching the batter without having to worry about tossing balls, loading a tee, or dodging hit balls. This is a great coaching tool. It makes coaching safer and easier.

15. This machine will allow your player or team to get twice as much batting practice done in half the time!

This machine offers all of the above advantages plus much, much more and you get it all for less than you have to spend on some bats! The fact is, that this machine will help you make sure that you get your "money's worth of hits"out of that new high priced bat!

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Baseball Hitting - The 3 Basic Elements of the Major League Baseball Swing

The Major League baseball swing is a thing of beauty. The dream of millions of little league baseball players is to become a major league baseball player. Hitting a major league home run is a fantasy baseball dream of every youth baseball player. How do the major league baseball players hit with such power? What makes their swing so powerful, productive, and perfect?

The smoothness, compactness, and timing of the professional baseball swing make it one of the most graceful things to watch in all of sports. Professional players practice and practice the fundamentals of the perfect baseball swing. If you watch it in slow motion, you will see that there are 3 common elements of the swing that that most major league baseball players have in common. Baseball batting practice repetition makes the Major League Baseball Swing consistent with the same 3 basic elements exhibited with every swing of the bat.

Great hitters always have the following swing qualities:

1. Solid and Stiff Front Leg

2. Rotational Swing allowing them to Stay Over Stack

3. Maximum Extension of the Hands and Barrel

Here I will discuss each of these 3 elements of the Major League baseball swing:

1. STIFF FRONT LEG The power hitters in major league baseball use a stiff front leg to give them leverage for their power. When you study their swing, the front leg is firm and at an angle that allows them to stop all body movement forward. The front foot is the anchor that prevents lunging and hip travel forward. Maximum power is generated when the arms are extended and the hips rotate. If the front leg bends power is lost.

Coaching Point: A stiff and firm front leg requires the hitter to have the timing and patience to allow the baseball to get inside the front foot before attacking the baseball. Maximum power is generated when the lower body, hips, and torso spin to generate bat speed. The tendency to lunge at the ball must be avoided.

2. STAYING BALANCED AND OVER STACK This is a term that refers to the spinning motion of a batters body and the process of keeping the head and torso perfect aligned over the back leg during the swing. The head does not move, travel or lunge forward during the swing. The perfect swing is a rotational motion with the body staying back and spinning over the back hip.

Coaching Point: Head travel is a no-no. If the head is moving forward then the batter has too much forward movement. The body must stop all forward movement and spin like a top. This rotational hitting motion generates maximum bat speed and power. A great tool for teaching and training young and advanced hitters this skill is the STAY BACK TEE and HandsBackHitter Trainer by Swing Buster. This innovative tool is a great baseball training aid that forces the batter to keep the correct front leg position during the swing. The STAY BACK BATTING TEE will teach the batter to have a stiff front leg and to stay over stack through the swing.

3. GETTING MAXIMUM EXTENSION THROUGH THE BALL What this means is that when the bat makes contact with the ball, the hitters drive the hands and barrel of the bat through forward as long as they can to prolong the bat to ball contact. They power-drive the moving the hands forward on a level plane as long as possible. This down and through motion of the hands is like the landing of an airplane. The bat travels quickly and compactly to the ball on what is commonly called an A to C swing. But, once contact is made with the ball great hitters have the ability to drive the hands and barrel forward on a level plane to generate and maintain bat barrel to ball contact. The longer the barrel stays in contact with the ball, the more force will be exerted on the ball.

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Baseball Skills Development – Improve Your Swing

What do you think the best hitting training aid is? Do you think it is the funny but cheap looking plastic animals coach’s throw to players. You’ve seen it, they take a plastic horse throw it a a kid and tell them “if you can hit a horse you can hit a baseball”. At the other end of the cost spectrum do you think it is a bat swing speed meter that tells you how fast or slow you really do swing the bat? The truth is you need something a bit more suited for the job than a plastic horse. But it need not be a very expensive investment. In fact you may be surprised at my first pick on baseball swing development.

In my eyes one of the best hitting aids is still the old style-batting tee. Yes, the same one you used when you were 4 years old in T-ball. It’s simple, easy to use alone, and develops the proper swing mechanics to make you a great hitter. The batting tee is inexpensive and should be used by all levels of play. I got one more question for you. What hitting aid is in every major league clubhouse? That’s right it’s the batting tee.

After you hit a few rounds on your batting tee another great training aid is the SwiftStick. It is a plastic stick with a rubber handle that you hit golf sized wiffle balls with. This single handedly increases your hand-eye coordination with every swing you take and every step you take. (Sorry that it sounds like a song from the Police.)

Anyhow imagine how these 2 simple products can increase your skills and take your game to the next level. Even if you only practice with these items once a week for thirty minutes, you will improve your focus and swing mechanics. It’s more important to practice consistently throughout the week than to try to squeeze in hours of practice only once a week.

So you can spend thousands of dollars on a batting cage and pitching machine or spend under $60 on these two great hitting aids. This combination of swiftstick (small bat small ball focus technique) and batting tee (proper swing mechanics) is a sure fire way to improve your swing and batting average and won’t break your budget.


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Youth baseball basics - Fun game - The Baseball Game of 500

This is a simple game that goes back many years. One person bats the ball and the other players spread out in the field. If a person catches a ball before it hits the ground they score 100 points. If they catch it on one bounce they score 50 points. All other grounders are 25 points. No points if the ball rolls to a stop or if the catch is missed. The first to get 500 points then bats.

There are many variations of this game. For example the ball may be thrown instead of batted. Also, to avoid having kids fight over the ball, one could designate each to be caught by a single player. One can also assess negative points for dropped balls.

Source: Youth Baseball Basics ..Continue Reading

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Growing Up a Baseball Player

By Ara Rubyan

As all baseball players and fans know, the sport they love is on its way to becoming a truly global sport like football, golf or cricket. This increase in recognition for the sport brings with it the requirement for skillful baseball players who can draw even more crowds to the stadiums. But how can budding baseball players cultivate their talent enough to play in the big leagues?

As with any other sport, starting early is a key factor. To ensure that they gain a competitive advantage, players should ideally start training while in middle school. An early start to training and a regular program of exercise seasons their playing and gives them the benefit of additional practice over about two years. This also allows them to increase their strength gradually and polish their swings and pitching over time.

Growth by association with better players is also an excellent way to develop natural talent. Sometimes just listening and watching can help young baseball players pick up tips on what to do and what to avoid. Good baseball players, no matter how old they are and how much experience they have, always have room to learn something new -- and they use this to constantly improve their game.

Getting a good coach early on helps as well, by preventing the formation of bad habits, and ensuring that good ones are built in from the beginning. It's more difficult for baseball players who have formed a habit over years of play to correct it, than it is for them to change if it's been caught early.

Despite the fact that a coach can have a wide range of talents, one who is a great pitcher, may not necessarily be the best hitter. Because of that, baseball players will benefit from an open mind and the advice of more than one coach. It may be that one coach's style may suit the player in one area and not in another. The combination of their natural instincts and talent with advice from coaches and their observations of other players is what makes great baseball players successful.

The energy and time commitment that the sport requires of a baseball player is rarely easy on his family, and their support is paramount. It's not always easy to meet the demands of the game, but the success is definitely worth it.

For more info on growing up baseball players, visit Ara Rubyan's Baseball Joy! blog.

Ara Rubyan is like you: a baseball fan who loves to read everything about the sport.

Now, he's put all his research (so far) in one convenient location and he's sharing it with you, no strings attached. Visit his website. You'll find:

Lots of articles on various baseball topics;
Videos;
Latest news on baseball;
Your questions, answers and suggestions.
Go on over to Baseball Joy! and have a look.

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

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BaseballCoachingDigest.com

Coaching Tee Ball: The Proper Batting Stance

Have a "Super Stance"

The batter should always be taught to use a balanced parallel stance with both feet about shouolderwidth apart with his toes even and slightly facing inward. He should assume his stance about 8-10 inches from the plate. The batter should slightly bend his knees with his weight on the balls of his feet. The batter's front shoulder, hip and knee should be slightly turned forward. A proper stance will allow the batter to react to the pitch with speed, quickness and power.

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Coaching Tee Ball: The perfect baseball batting grip.

Using the proper grip allows the batter to achieve as much hand quickness and bat speed as possible. The key to a good grip is positioning the bat in the fingers and not the palms. The bat should be held firmly but not tight that the batter's hand speed is slowed. The batter can assure a great grip every time by lining up the "door knocking knuckles" as shown.

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Baseball2u.com
HurricaneMachine.com
AdvancedSkillsTee.com
QuickSwingTrainer.com

How To Coach T-Ball

By Kenny Buford

T-ball is the most popular youth baseball program in Little League, including other youth baseball leagues around the country, and has the most participants. However, coaching t-ball can be a daunting experience at first. But don't worry too much, there are many strategies about how to coach t-ball and the main objective is always to enjoy the experience.

Get Organized:

Unfortunately, a late start in a sport like tee ball typically means players won't make up the difference until the following season when they can get a better start. If you want to learn how to coach t-ball, then get organized, develop a plan, and prepare to work hard. Learn as much about t-ball and baseball as you can. Prepare to learn enough about baseball to be able to present the material in "kid terms."

Use Analogies Kids Can Understand:

Kids don't know what it means to "take an extra base" or "turn two" until you teach them and show them. Successful coaches know their audience and use analogies and common visual imagery to establish an intellectual and cognitive connection with their players. For t-ball players, these images are best when they are a bit dramatic. For instance: point the belly button toward the part of the field where you want to hit the ball (get your hips rotated), make your arm like an elephant's trunk when throwing (don't launch the ball like a catapult, throw it), and point the button on your cap in the direction the ball came from when fielding a ground ball (keep your head down).

Be Serious:

Whether your league keeps score or not, or whether you have a team that can win games or not, don't ever fail to take your responsibilities as a coach seriously. Being a serious t-ball coach means that you'll try to teach your players something about baseball, basic skills, and sportsmanship. It means that you're attentive to player safety, and it means that while you're asking your players to put their best foot forward, so are you.

Be Patient:

Having been a great player is no assurance that you will be a great coach any more than being a great student necessarily means you will be a great teacher. However, a good coach has to be a good teacher. A coach has to be patient, he has to be confident and decisive, nurturing when his players get hurt or make mistakes, and he has to be able to get as much as he can out of his players without going too far.

Get Help:

T-ball coaches need the assistance of their players' parents. You will be surprised to learn that parents are normally willing to help out if they aren't too busy. The more people you have helping out, the better. Just remember, that you are the coach so don't let them take over your responsibilities.

Administration:

Keep meetings with players and parents brief since young kids get restless quickly and create distractions. To communicate important information such as league rules, game schedules and uniform information, use handouts that the parents can read later. When learning how to coach t-ball, try to have fun and make everyone enjoy the experience.

Kenny Buford is a baseball and t-ball coach with over 20 years of experience. You can make your t-ball coaching life even easier by downloading his t-ball practice plans at the site below:

T-Ball Practice Plans

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

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T-Ball University - Batting Drills For Tee Ball Coaches and Parents

By David Comora
Baseball Season is just around the corner, so parents and parent coaches, start digging through the garage for your baseball equipment and begin stretching out those rusty arm and leg muscles. For many communities, children begin their baseball or softball careers playing the lead-up skill called Tee Ball, which is baseball, minus the pitcher. In Tee Ball which is also spelled T-Ball, children learn the fundamentals of batting, fielding and base-running. For the purposes of this article we'll be concentrating on batting. In Tee Ball, batting takes place utilizing a Tee which sits approximately waste high to the hitter. The Tee is a great tool for perfecting a child's swing. When used correctly, a coach can analyze all of the components used in a swing and make subtle or not so subtle adjustments to a child's swing, batting stance, hip rotation and foot work.

It is my opinion after coaching all these seasons that proper footwork is the most important aspect of hitting. If you have the proper footwork, the arms, hips, and head will fall into place with the required timing.

In order to achieve proper footwork, I will place the tee on top of home plate. I will draw a perpendicular line in the dirt with the handle of the player's tee ball bat from the middle 45 degree corner of the tee's base. The line length is approximately 12 inches. Adjust this length accordingly to a comfortable extension of each player's arms with the bat swing. I then will draw a perpendicular line from the first line and parallel to the edge of the tee base going back toward the backstop. Therefore, this line is in the shape of an inverted "L". I will squat down and point with my index finger as to where I want each foot to be placed along the parallel line. Drawing the 12-inch line allows the hitter to extend his or her arms when swinging to comfortably hit the tee-ball with the "sweet" spot of the bat.

I want each child to have a stiff front leg with feet square to the parallel line. The player should be placing their weight on the balls of both of their feet. The square front foot will prevent the front knee from buckling or bending. Imagine a bug underneath the back foot. I want the child to squash that imaginary bug with a pivot of their back foot. Approximately 60% of the player's weight should be on the back foot. This is called the "load" position. This pivot will open the hips toward the pitcher when "squashing the bug". The front foot should remain square and the front knee locked when "squashing the bug" also. The back leg can bend but do not take a large dip with the back leg. (This drill is presented in a short video on our www.tballu.com website, within the "Free Sample Video" section).

Most coaches and parents who played the game when they were young were taught to take a step toward the pitcher with their front foot when swinging the bat. Most coaches and parents remember taking a small step or a large step. I do not want the player to take a step with their front foot when "squashing the bug" since a step will cause the player's head to slightly dip when swinging the bat and therefore, the player's eyes will dip when swinging the bat also. The no-step will prevent an eye dip when attempting to hit a breaking ball (e.g., curve, slider, etc) later in the player's career when he or she advances to high school baseball or softball. Use a series of batting helmets as impediments to prevent the player's front foot from taking a step if they had been previously taught to do so.

Practice "squashing the bug" with a bat situated between the arms and the back's shoulder blades. Have the entire team practice this drill at the same time making sure they are a good distance away from each other. Keep an eye on a stiff front leg and the back foot should pivot on the ball of their back foot. Some players will pivot and raise the heel of the back foot such that the back weight is placed on the toe of the back foot instead of the ball of the back foot. The player's head should stay down while looking in the hitting zone. If the back shoulder does not remain in the hitting zone upon pivot, the head will lift up from the hitting zone and the front foot will automatically lift up as well where the hitter is pivoting on the heel of the front foot. This is called "rolling" the front foot. Repeat this drill 50 times each practice and before each game. The player can also do this drill 50 times daily in front of a full length mirror at home. This will provide the player great muscle memory to ensure a proper swing every time.

After more than ten years coaching youth baseball, it has been my experience that, despite the best efforts of parent-coaches, too many children do not learn the basics of hitting and fielding and develop bad habits from the start. As these children progress to coach-pitch and kid-pitch leagues, this results in coaches spending many hours trying to correct problems, which could have been easily avoided at the Tee Ball or Beginner Baseball level. Coaching children, whether your own or children in your community, is one of the most rewarding experiences you'll have. Watching children learn and successfully apply the skills that you've taught them is tremendously fulfilling. I wish you all the best of luck in your t-ball, baseball or softball seasons.

David Comora
T-Ball University
http://www.teeballuniversity.com

David Comora has coached Tee Ball and Youth Baseball for over 10 years. He and his partners Steve Polansky, Brian Leuthner and David Kalb have developed the T-Ball University system of coaching to help new parent coaches learn to quickly master the skills of coaching. Their program includes video drills, coaching forms, practice plans, lesson notes and more. Free coaching videos are also available at http://www.teeballuniversity.com.

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

Recommended Baseball Sites:
AmericanBaseballDirectory.com
Baseball 2Day Coaching Journal
BatAction.com
BattingCagesDirect.com
AdvancedSkillsTee.com
Handsbackhitter.com

Baseball Hitting - The 3 Basic Elements of the Major League

Baseball Hitting - The 3 Basic Elements of the Major League
by Nick Dixon

Baseball Swing The "Major League" baseball swing is a thing of beauty. If you watch it in slow motion, you will see that there are 3 common elements of the swing that that most major league baseball players have in common. Baseball batting practice repetition makes the Major League Baseball Swing consistent with the same 3 basic elements exhibited with every swing of the bat. Read this Article