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Showing posts with label coaching youth baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coaching youth baseball. Show all posts
Don't Forget Your (Batting) Tee Time! By guest author: Olan Suddeth
Most experienced coaches are already quite familiar with the advice I am about to give. In their case, please forgive my restating of what might be obvious, and browse some of the other articles on this site. The new baseball coach, however, would do well to pay attention.
I am about to reveal to you the single most useful tool for improving the hitting skills of your batters. Please, take a seat. I don't want the shock to overcome you. Are you ready?
I present to you: the batting tee!
That's correct. The tee is the single most useful tool for improving the hitting skills of your batters. You may bellieve that your players are too old to benefit from a tee... and you could not be further from the truth. Did you know that major league hitters practice by hitting off of a tee every single day? Are you suggesting that your eight (or ten or twelve) year olds know more about hitting than Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Derek Lee, or other big league stars?
Now that I hopefully have your attention, I will explain why this is. Understand, there is no substitute for live pitching - tee drills cannot help with your batter's sense of timing, or his ability to pick up on or identify pitch location, pitch type, velocity, etc. But unless you have Greg Maddux pitching your batting pracice sessions, there is no way you can hope to put the ball in the same place every time, which allows you to analyze the batter's swing. With a tee, you can really watch what your hitter is doing, make suggestions, and get many, many repititions in in a reltively short period of time. This is the reason that, if you were to take your player to pretty much any professional hitting coach in the country, the first thing the coach would do would be to drag out a tee.
If your player has a hitch in his swing, you can identify it with a tee. If he needs to work on the inside pitch (or the low pitch, or the outside pitch), you can simply move the tee and give him extra repititions. If he has a loop or dip in his swing, you can place a second tee behind the one holding the ball and force him to adapt a correct swing path. With a tee, you can build the all-important muscle memory needed for a good, consistent swing.
I cannot emphasize this enough - very few practices should ever go by without your players hitting off of a tee. This is an absolutely ideal station activity, is easy to place, and if you happen to also own a net, can be done in even the smallest of spaces.
The bottom line: if you do not own a tee, and you coach a youth baseball team, go and drop a few bucks on one today. You will not regret the investment in the best hitting tool ever made.
Olan Suddeth is a little league baseball coach in the Birmingham, Alabama area. His website, Youth Baseball Info (http://www.youthbaseballinfo.com) offers free drills, articles, and tips for youth baseball coches, parents, and fans.
Youth Baseball Digest - 11 Simple Batting Terms Every Tee Ball and Little League Coach Should Know By guest author: Nick Dixon
1. Grip - The first thing every young player must be taught is how to properly grip the bat. The bat is gripped with the "knocking knuckles" on the top and bottom hands aligned perfectly in a straight line with each other. The purpose of this grip is to place the bat handle in the fingers away from the palms of the hands. This grip allows the hands to be move quicker and to have maximum control of the bat. Tension is a batters worst enemy when it comes having a quality swing. Gripping the bat improperly often causes tension throughout the body. A relaxed grip on the bat allows the batter to react with better bat speed and hand quickness. Feeling relaxed at the plate is a key to a batters confidence.
2. Stance - A batters stance is how a batter initially stands in the batter's box to look out at the pitcher. A batter's stance is the position of the hands and feet prior to the start of the swing. The feet should be shoulder width apart with toes pointing toward the plate. The feet should be square to the plate. Square to the plate means that they are an equal distance from the plate. The stance also refers to the position of the hands and the angle of the bat. The hands should be no more that several inches from the shoulder. The stance should comfortable and should allow the batter to look at the pitcher with ease.
3. Stride - The term refers to the batters weight shift or step prior to the swing. The stride should be short and only about three to four inches if the front foot moves. Many batters simply pick the front foot up and replace it without moving it forward. If a step is taken, it should be a little step forward with the toes pointing toward the pitcher. It is important to teach young players that they must stride to get ready to hit. They do not stride to hit, but rather, they should stride to get ready to hit. The batters stride foot should be set before the pitchers front foot lands.
4. Hip Turn - Hip turn refers to the process of a batter generating power by driving the hips through a power rotation. Only pitches over the middle and inside 3rds of the plate allow a batter to get full hip turn. The closer the pitch is to the batter, the more hip turn is needed to properly hit the ball. Pitches on the outer part of the plate require little hip turn to hit. The hitter will rotate his hips open farther on an inside pitch than an outside pitch. The batter should rotate the hips on a level plane. Player should not lean forward over the plate or lean back away from the plate. The batter's back foot must pivot in order to have good hip rotation.
5. Balance - A batter must have good balance to be successful. Balance refers to proper weight distribution prior, during the swing, and at the finish of the swing. Good balance allows the hitter to have more control at the plate. Good balance begins with even weight distribution with a proper stance. The batters ability to control the body during the stride is the key to good balance.
6. Bat Speed - The speed of the bat during a swing. The bat the batter used must be the correct length and weight for a batter to generate optimum bat speed.
7. Squash the Bug - This term refers to the pivot the back foot during the baseball swing. This foot action allows the hips to open up or turn.
8. Shoe Laces to Pitcher - The best back foot action is not a squashing action with downward pressure. The best motion is to turn the back foot with the shoelaces toward the pitcher. This turn should be performed with a "light-weight" pivoting motion with little downward pressure. The batter pushes off from the ball of his rear foot to shift weight to the front side. Putting downward pressure on the ball of the back foot as it pivots and the hips rotate tends to constrict the quickness and power swing.
9. Trigger - Load - Both have the same meaning. Batters must learn to trigger or load to get ready to hit. The loading or triggering process is a batter's final movement of the body and hands to the optimum bat launching position to get ready for the swing. Different batters use different movement as a triggering mechanism. Many batters turn the front knee and should slightly inward. Other batters simply take the hands slightly up and back to what they call their launch position. The loading or triggering action should be a very slight movement.
10. A, B, C Baseball Swing - The "A, B, to C baseball swing" means a baseball swing that is not fundamentally correct. The term describes a swing that is not compact and not direct to the ball. The batter sweeps the bat in a slow long arch.
11. A to C Swing - Used to refer to a sort compact swing that take the bat from the "A" launch position directed to the "C" or contact position. The perfect baseball swing is a short compact "A to C" Swing.
For more articles on coaching baseball visit the Youth Baseball Digest, Little League Digest and the Baseball Coaching Digest.
The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. 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, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.
Little League Tee Ball, Planting Positive Seeds By guest author: 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.
When it Comes to Your Son's Baseball Glove - Dad, Don't Go Cheap - Follow This Dad's Advice to Find the Perfect Glove By Guest Author Mike Ripley
Through the years I have learned about baseball mitts. I know that a youth baseball glove is great for little league, but as your teenager grows, the youth baseball glove just don't cut it. I also know that buying cheap base ball gloves only costs you more money in the long run. I bought a couple cheap baseball gloves when my son was starting out and I only had to go back and get a youth baseball glove that was high quality. I learned my lesson right in the beginning. So always remember: no cheap baseball gloves
My son makes fun of me all the time. He thinks the fact that I say baseball mitts is the funniest thing. I sometimes think he looks forward to baseball season just so he can laugh at me. Of course, he gets very serious when it comes time to purchase a new baseball mitt. You would think he wouldn't need so many baseball mitts, but he is growing really fast and the baseball mitt from last year just doesn't fit the next year.
But back to baseball mitts in general. You need to select a baseball mitt that fits properly. You also need to pick your position and look for baseball mitts that fit that category. There is the catcher's mitt and the first baseman's mitt. I always point out to my son that these are actual baseball mitts. Ha, Ha I say. There are also pitcher's glove, other infielder's gloves, out fielder's gloves, and the unusual switch thrower's glove. Once you decide on these two things, then the sky's the limit.
Now there are many brands of baseball mitts out there. I will tell you about the three that my son and I have come to love. We go back to the Wilson a2000 glove, the Nokona glove, and Rawlings gloves over and over. Wilson is a big sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago. They make equipment for all sorts of sports, but baseball is one of the biggest. Wilson makes gloves for all positions and has three top models. My son tried the Wilson a2000 glove early on in his baseball career. He liked the fit of the Wilson a2000 glove from the minute he tried one on. I liked the Wilson a2000 glove also, but that's because it was a great price.
Next we move on to the Nokona glove. Nokona has been making gloves in Texas since 1934. They know there stuff. They started making baseball gloves to help with costs during the Great Depression. I'm a history buff, so the Nokona glove has a special appeal to me. My son could care less about all that. He likes the Nokona glove because it fits perfectly. He also likes the Nokona glove because while he uses it he plays awesome.
Even though he has his trusty Nokona glove, we have purchased some Rawlings gloves to have as backup. He decided that the Rawlings gloves had a lot to offer. They are after all the official glove supplier of Major League Baseball. If it wasn't for the Nokona glove, the Rawlings gloves would be his favorite.
If you have a child just starting out in baseball, look into the Wilson a2000 glove. Hopefully using this glove in the beginning will lead to a long love of baseball.
Great Hitting Tips - Baseball By Guest Author: Jeffery A Wise
It's common for young baseball players to hear that they need to keep a level swing while hitting. This is good advice for the most part, but players shouldn't take it too literally. I'll provide you with more recommended hitting tips baseball.
Hitting the ball with a completely level swing is unnatural. Doing so would mean your hands would start at your chest and end at your chest. Instead, it is more natural to have a slightly up swing. This swing starts at your chest and finishes high above your head. It has a "U" shape and puts the bat and ball on the same plane during contact.
When practicing this swing, do not dip your shoulder as this will most likely cause the ball to pop up or fly out. The slightly up swing puts your bat on the same level as the pitch. The pitcher's mound is 18 inches higher than the batter's box, not to mention the height of the pitcher and his hand as he releases the ball. So, the pitch flies on a downward plane. The slightly up swing allows you to hit the ball more easily.
Be sure to keep proper hitting mechanics during your at bat. Keep your shoulders parallel to the plate while the ball is being pitched and keep your front shoulder closed and low until contact. If your shoulder leaves and opens up too soon then you are in danger of making a mistake.
During your swing, keep your top hand slightly below the bottom hand on contact. This creates the upward arc of the bat when it meets the ball. If you're watching a Major League Baseball game, study the hitters' swings. You will spot this slightly up swing almost every time. I recently saw a walk-off single by the Cardinals Colby Rasmus and it was a beautiful swing. With runners on first and second, one out and a 1-1 count, he ripped a fastball with that slightly up swing into right field for a line drive single.
Practice the slightly up swing as often as you can so that you perfect it. It should come very naturally. Watch big leaguers to see how they do it. Take batting practice and utilize these hitting tips baseball.
Jeffery A Wise invites you to learn the proven system of hitting tips baseball so that you can learn how to hit a baseball better. Start learning today at http://www.baseballhittingtipsonline.com by reading our information and downloading our free report.
