Baseball Drills - The Hitting Tee and a Cup of Coffee

Baseball Drills - The Hitting Tee and a Cup of Coffee
By guest author: Nate Barnett

I remember giving my players a choice of what baseball drills to begin with during batting practice a few years back. The options were: front toss, short toss in the batting cage, live batting practice, and tee work. Guess which one of the baseball drills was chosen last. That's right. The exciting tee drill (yes, that was sarcasm).

I would like to offer up the comparison of coffee to the basic hitting tee for your learning enjoyment. You'll find both are an acquired taste to be sure. But, the rewards are so enjoyable! Of course, you'll permit me to explain my analogy.

Similarities between the hitting tee and coffee:

* Both coffee and the hitting tee take some time to get used to.

* Once you have "acquired the taste", you'll find it hard to quit.

* There are so many "specialty" brands on the market today, but the basic version is just fine.

* Imagine the world without either, how would we be able to function? (Again, a bit dramatic, but you get the point)

So now that you fully understand that the hitting tee should be an integral part of your baseball drills, here is how to spice it up a bit in practice.

1. Make sure it's in the right position. If you place the hitting in the middle of the plate, make sure that the ball on the tee is across from the inside of the front thigh as a hitter sets up. Having the tee back in the zone will force the hitter to keep his weight back while he swings. Placing the tee too far out in front (unless you're working on the inside pitch of course) will allow the hitter to get away with a sloppy swing by having his hips slide toward the pitcher during the swing.

2. Set up some games to play. While working on hitting the inside and outside pitches off of a tee, put a couple screens out on the right and left side gaps and have the hitter try to hit the screens. The more correct swings are done on the tee (measured by hitting the screens), the more swings they earn in the live batting practice station.

Have fun, now go make yourself a cup of coffee.

Nate Barnett helps improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Improve your pitching today.

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

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Great Baseball Hitting Drills - Using Release Zones, Picking Up Pitcher Release

Great Baseball Hitting Drills - Using Release Zones, Picking Up Pitcher Release
By guest author: Joe Brockoff

Coaches frequently ask how do we improve a player's ability to pick up the ball immediately at release point. To better understand how to do this, we first need to understand release zones. There are three pitching release zones:


1.Three-quarter release (most common): right hander-10 o'clock, lefthander-2 o'clock.
2.Overhand release: right hander-11 o'clock, left hander-1 o'clock.
3.Side arm release: right-hander-9 o'clock, left hander-3 o'clock.

After release, the ball enters trajectory, which is diagonally down. It is at this time that the hitter is completing his stride and deciding the projected location of the pitch in contact. When he is striding, he is deciding. Therefore, we need to separate the time of release from the time of trajectory, in order to give this the batter's full concentration.

Try these proven drills (we call "skull sessions") to improve a hitter's ability to pick up the ball at release point:

Needed: pitcher, batter, and netting.


1.Pitcher stands three feet in front of a net (could be the net of a batting cage).
2.Batter is on the other side of the net facing the pitcher, as if in his stance at home plate.
3.He will not take a swing.
4.Several batters can observe at the same time.

Drill:


1.Pitcher winds up and pitches the ball.
2.Ball will hit the net immediately.
3.Batter, protected by the net, concentrating solely on release, draws an imaginary circle around the release zone, and expects the ball to come out of that zone each time (zone is different for each type of pitcher).

Pitcher throws the following:


1.10 fast balls. - Batter observes release zone. - Ball will dive down after release.
2.10 breaking balls. - Batter observes release zone. - Balls will have a little hump after release.
3.10 mix of both fastballs and breaking balls. - Batter identifies each from release.

After the pitcher throws from three feet, he can vary the distance up to six feet.

Hitters will be amazed at how much better they will see release with just one session. Do this drill frequently to continue to emphasize this process, and with a variety of different pitchers.

Coach Joe Brockoff, a Division I Head Baseball Coach for Tulane University for more than 19 years, and former minor league player for the New York Yankees, has sent 45 baseball players to the pros and coached thousands of college level and youth players using his proven Super 8 Baseball Hitting System. Coach Brockoff's unique drills, tips, and techniques have increased many players' batting average by more than 200 points.

As a coach committed to continuous improvement, Coach shares his proven baseball drills, tips, and techniques here so that you will, in turn, inspire and motivate young players to improve their game. To learn more about Coach's techniques, and to watch his free instructional videos, visit the Super 8 Baseball Hitting System at http://www.learnbaseballhitting.com or check out some of his videos at http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Learn-Rotational-Hitting-323080216

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

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Baseball Drills to Increase Bat Speed and Hitting Power

Baseball Drills to Increase Bat Speed and Hitting Power
By guest author: Dustin Peek

Baseball drills that create head-turning power at the plate are something that every baseball player can benefit from. Sure, good hitters are known for making consistent contact with the baseball, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the harder the ball is hit, the more likely it is to find a hole or a gap. This power at the plate is the difference in being a good hitter and a great hitter, and great hitters get noticed. Just one single extra base hit for every ten at-bats can mean the difference in a 0.200 batting average and a 0.300 batting average, and that little extra "pop" on the ball is the easiest way to get those extra hits. Power is everything, and it is well known that hitting power is created with bat speed. Luckily, there are some great hitting drills and techniques that can be used to harness this power in any player. There are two specific baseball drills that are very good at increasing bat speed and hitting power.

Before discussing these specific hitting drills, it is first important to understand how a hitter creates power. A hitter creates power through bat speed, and a hitter's bat speed is created through the efficient transfer of energy from the batter's body to the bat. Many people believe that this energy is created with the batter's arms, but in fact, this energy is created through efficiently transferring a hitter's body weight from his back foot to his front foot during the swing. The important term to remember is "efficient." Every batter that swings a baseball bat shifts his weight when swinging, but power hitters have strong cores and excellent balance. This keeps their bodies compact so that almost all of the energy created though the weight-shift is transferred directly to the bat. So the two keys to increasing bat speed and hitting power are balance and having a compact swing.

Hitting Power and Bat Speed Drill #1

This first hitting drill addresses one of the biggest problems that many hitters have when trying to hit for power. They simply do not have a compact swing. What do I mean? Weak hitters do not keep their elbows close to their bodies, and they over-stride when stepping toward the ball. This "flailing" of limbs results in a very weak swing because so much energy is being lost in the additional motion instead of being transferred directly to the bat. To transfer the maximum amount of energy to the bat, a hitter must keep his elbows close to his body and he must take a short, balanced stride. This allows the energy from the weight-shift to be efficiently transferred from the legs, up through the core, and finally to the arms. This creates the greatest amount of bat speed and hitting power.

An excellent drill for keeping a compact swing is to place small objects under the hitter's arms and between his knees while practicing hitting from a tee or during soft-toss. The objects under the arms can be anything small and soft that the hitter can hold against his body with his elbows while not interrupting his swing. Rags or towels rolled up into tubes and taped work great for this drill. The object between the knees should be a light and soft spherical-shaped object. For older players, a volleyball works great. For younger players, you might need to find some other small ball-shaped object. The idea is for the player to hold these objects under his arms and between his knees during soft-toss or while hitting from a tee to practice keeping his limbs close to his body. This drill forces the batter to have a compact swing and an efficient transfer of energy from his body to the bat.

Hitting Power and Bat Speed Drill #2

The second baseball drill to improve hitting power at the plate addresses a hitter's balance. Similar to having a compact swing, balance is critical because having bad balance also causes a batter to have poor energy transfer to the bat during the swing. We've all seen the young batter that tries to swing too hard and actually loses his balance while stepping back away from the plate. While this is a very common problem for young hitters as they try to hit the ball farther, this poor-balance approach actually prevents the batter from hitting the baseball as far as he could.

A great drill for practicing good balance is to have the hitter stand on a flat 2 x 12 inch board while hitting from a tee or while taking soft toss. This board should be about six feet in length and can be purchased at any lumber yard or most home improvement stores. The idea is for the hitter to stride directly forward toward the ball without falling off the board. Over time, this baseball drill teaches the hitter to have good balance, and it prevents stepping backward. This improved balance will absolutely improve a hitter's bad speed and hitting power.

To summarize, to improve a hitter's bat speed and hitting power, one must focus on having a compact swing and good balance. The above two baseball drills focus on these two factors, and over time, they will ultimately help a hitter improve his power. However, this only scratches the surface of improving bat speed and creating power at the plate. If you are interested in further improvements, I encourage you to keep learning about this incredibly important baseball skill!

Do You Want To Learn Even More About Baseball Drills To Increase Bat Speed And Hitting Power? Whether You Are A Player, A Coach, Or A Parent, You Can Learn Exactly How To Start Crushing The Baseball Today Without Any Expensive Equipment Or Hitting Camps. Click On The Following Link To Discover The Most Effective Program Ever Created To Increase Your Hitting Power!
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dustin_Peek

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The Physical Demands of Baseball

The Physical Demands of Baseball
By guest author: Dana Cavalea

As we spend time analyzing sports, every sport has its own set of physical, mental, and skill demands. For years and years now, football has been the gold standard when comparisons start taking place in regards to overall athleticism need to play, as well as the overall physical demand. For this very reason there are so many young athletes, as well as older athletes that are integrating football lifting techniques, as well as conditioning techniques into sports such as baseball.

In the past when I would hear and see this taking place, the excessive grunting, yelling, and weight handling I would cringe. But, after taking a deeper look at what is actually going on, it turns out that there is a lot of hard work and internal drive and personal limit pushing taking place. Putting exercise selection and form aside, this type of increased intensity training is achieving a quality that is often times overlooked, fitness.

Because baseball is a sport that has very low metabolic and physical demands, athletes learn to adapt to their sport. Some athletes even play baseball because it has such low physical demand. Over time, this will lead to athletes that become very proficient and sport-specific skills, such as hitting and throwing, but often health and fitness levels are severely lacking. When these fitness levels start to lack, injuries often result due to the high velocities and torques that are needed to execute the sport-specific skills. Throwing a baseball is one of the most explosive, total body actions in all of sports, yet many pitchers are overweight and inherently lazy.

If as coaches and athletes we really stop and analyze this situation, can you say that you and your team are honestly doing enough in regards to stay lean? Over the years I have heard about Coaches running their athletes with excessive distance running, and again I would get sick to my stomach. Although distance running isn't a specific protocol to baseball, it will without a doubt work to increase caloric burn, which will lead to the shedding of excessive body mass. I still wouldn't recommend excessive running everyday, but I would require some type of conditioning everyday. I would also recommend that these circuits are primarily cardiovascular based rather than being strictly weight lifting oriented. These circuits could include medicine balls, body weight training, form running, jump rope, plyometrics, band work, core work, etc.

The great advantage to a circuit is that they work great for teams. Circuit training allows you to create multiple stations, each station containing a different exercise, and accommodates multiple athletes, as well as providing a good amount of variety. Circuits can be done for reps, or for time. After that athlete achieves the specified reps, or the allotted time, he would then move to the next station. When choosing stations, just like when designing and overall program, you must have a goal. If your goal is strength, then your circuit would be primarily weight training oriented. If your goal is cardiovascular fitness/ endurance and strength, you would select a variety of exercises that contain either cardio fitness, strength, or both.

I have become a huge advocate of circuits in-season because they are time efficient, will work to maintain and hopefully increase work-capacity of the body, and are fun.

Although the physical demands of baseball are extremely low, athletes that spend time increasing their work capacity are at a tremendous advantage in regards to recovery time, as well as a decreased time on the disabled list. Increasing work capacity will allow pitchers to pitch deeper into games, while keeping position players strong throughout the rigors of playing everyday. The gold standard of workouts in the Major Leagues has been Roger Clemens and his legendary SEAL Program. This program is basically one giant circuit. This program is not extremely focused on weigh training in the circuit, but on increasing conditioning levels. This program is a combo of distance and sprint work, as well as lateral work with baseballs.

Take a lesson from the Rocket, don't be a typical lazy baseball player that just gets by because of the low demand of the sport, but learn to out-work the demands of the sport and you will be rewarded by health, efficiency, and most importantly increased performance.

Dana Cavalea is a Sports Performance Consultant specializing in baseball performance training. In addition he works with many professional sports teams, athletes, and colleges' educating on the importance of training, nutrition, and lifestyle for sport.In addition he is the owner of Major League Strength, http://www.mlstrength.com, a sports performance consulting company designed to educate and create awareness on advancements in the field of sports performance training for coaches and athletes.

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

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Nedco Sports Baseball Softball Training Equipment - Baseball Batting Machines

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