The Tremendous Achievements of Albert Pujols

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Article Title:
The Tremendous Achievements of Albert Pujols
By Scott Maloney

Sports are always a topic of debate, and baseball is no exception. If you are a fan, you will undoubtedly have been asked at sometime if you think that the best hitter you've ever seen is Albert Pujols.

To keep the debate modern and up to date, we shall only compare Pujols with players we are familiar with from the past thirty years. This puts a modern spin on things since it's so hard to compare modern day players to ones who we were never alive to see.

Today's baseball bears little resemblance to the game that was played in past eras, so a comparison between Albert Pujols and Willie Mays for example just doesn't stand up. The game has simply changed too much in order to make a reasonable determination in that regard. Only players from the modern game could be compared.

Would Albert Pujols have been so formidable in a different era? How would Ted Williams have played in today's game? These questions are unanswerable, so let's just look at what Pujols has going for him in the modern game.

His standard of play now is awesome, and the prospect that Pujols could improve even more is mouth watering. Just shy of his 30th birthday, there are seasons ahead for Pujols to keep up his consistent form and establish himself as one of the modern day greats. This should very well happen if history is any sort of an indicator. No one, simply no one, has been as consistently great as Pujols has during the course of his entire career - spanning all the way back to his rookie season in 2002.

Albert Pujols has a career average that is capable of winning a league. His overall average is an amazing.334. His second season brought about the lowest average of.312 and his worst since has been .327. Pujols is an MLB player and has now played 9 seasons in this league. During 5 of those he has hit 40 home runs. The lowest amount he has ever hit in a season is 32; this is an outstanding stat by anyone's standards.

There are many for's in the debate about Pujols being a terrific hitter, and, so far, no against's. Each year his consistency is awesome and it's hard to believe now that anyone can take his place as the best batsman we will have ever seen.

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Baseball Tips on Hitting - Baseball Hitting Tips Highly Recommended For Your Success!

Article Tips: Baseball Tips on Hitting - Baseball Hitting Tips Highly Recommended For Your Success!
By Larry Cicchiello

Not all baseball tips on hitting are etched in stone but here are several very good guidelines to follow:

A Balanced and Workable Stance

All good athletes are balanced almost all the time. It gives you a solid, comfortable foundation, which is where hitting begins. Some very good hitters find it useful to have a little body movement while in their batting stance. They may rock a little back and forth which they find relaxing. It's almost impossible to have your muscles tighten and tense up when your muscles are moving. You can then be quicker and shift your weight much better than someone who is just standing there like a statue. It's identical to a goalie in hockey. If he stands up straight like a statue, what chance will he have to move freely to make a save on a slap shot that's traveling close to 100 mile per hour? What chance will a tennis player have waiting for a serve in excess of 100 miles per hour? None of them will have a good chance and neither will a baseball hitter.

Striding With the Front Toes Slightly Closed

If your toes are slightly closed, it encourages you to keep your front hip and front shoulder closed as well. In other words, instead of having the toes pointing straight out away from your body when you take your stride, turn them an inch or two inward, back toward the catcher. If you point the front toes out toward the pitcher, it will encourage you to open your front side too early which will create many baseball hitting problems.

Have the Bat Fully Loaded When the Stride Foot Touches the Ground

All good hitters have the bat in the "launching position" when their front foot completes the stride. You stride and then you swing. They are two separate movements that should happen very quickly and smoothly but they are separate movements.

Making an Aggressive Motion Toward The Pitcher

A lot of hitters do not do this but all the great hitters do. That is where the ball is coming from and that's where you should be going. Real good hitters go into the ball to hit it. It's a common baseball hitting problem to not go toward the pitcher when swinging. The reason it's such a common baseball hitting problem is because it is simply not natural to move your body toward a baseball that someone is throwing in your direction.

Having a Tension Free Swing

"Tension is a hitter's worst enemy," is a quote that's been around for decades and is still one of the best baseball tips on hitting. Tension destroys a fluid, graceful swing that's necessary for hitting the ball properly. Don't squeeze the bat too tightly and don't tighten up your muscles. Like mentioned above, many very good hitters have a slight waggle to help them relax.

Head Behind the Swing

The real good hitters actually see the ball a little longer than the weaker hitters. They literally lower and turn their heads when making contact. You simply can not keep your head facing the pitcher and look at the baseball out of the corners of your eyes when trying to make contact.

Hitting to All Fields

Rarely will you find a hitter with a high batting average who limits himself to hitting the ball to only one part of the field. Pay attention to the old expression, "hit it where it's pitched." In the long run, you will be much better off.

Hitting Through the Ball

Hitting through the ball is necessary to successful hitting. You should pretend that you are trying to hit three or four baseballs that are tied closely together with a piece of string, instead of hitting only one baseball. This will help you keep the bat in the hitting zone longer.

All of the above mentioned are definitely good rules of thumb to be followed.

Larry Cicchiello is the author of "Excellent Baseball Coaching: 30 Seconds Away." His very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing or coaching excellent baseball. ANY players, coaches or parents who want to help their child improve will be fully equipped! Some FREE tips are available at http://www.LarryBaseball.com/product/all

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Sports Psychology and Baseball Hitting Tips - How and Why to Relax at the Plate

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Article Title: Sports Psychology and Baseball Hitting Tips - How and Why to Relax at the Plate
By Jay Granat

The baseball season is about to begin and I already getting calls from parents, players and coaches who are concerned about hitting slumps.

Anyone who has played baseball for any length of time has experienced the frustration of an extended hitting slump. And there are many causes of these performance valleys.

Some of the causes are physical. A breakdown in mechanics, poor balance, poor technique, a moving head, a tight grip on the bat or an injury can contribute to poor performance by baseball players.

Some of the causes of hitting slumps are mental. A batter who has been hit by a pitch can be scared in the batter's box. A player who has been hitting poorly can lose his confidence. A batter who is worried about impressing his coach, his parents or a scout can become quite anxious. A player who is conflict with teammates may find it hard to hit to his potential. Similarly, a player with stress related to his or her life off the field can have difficulty concentrating when he or she steps up to the plate.

Also, it is important to understand that there are many relationships between the mind and the body where hitting a baseball is concerned. For instance, a nervous player is apt to grip the baseball bat too tightly. Likewise, a tense player is apt have difficulty turning on a pitch.

Interestingly, some people believe that our vision gets worse when we are tense and that it improves when we are relaxed.

There are many ways to relax one's mind and one's body before you get up to bat.

Players can learn relaxation techniques, meditation, visualization or self-hypnosis. Some players benefit from listening to music in the dugout or before a game. Others do some aerobics before they take the field as they find that this helps them to relax when they get up to bat.

Tension will work against you at the plate, so it is important that baseball players learn how to get very comfortable when they face the opposing pitcher.

Jay P. Granat, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and the founder of http://www.stayinthezone.com. He is also the author of 101 Ways To Break A Hitting Slump With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis. http://www.stayinthezone.com/shop-stay-in-the-zone.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=21

Dr. Granat can be reached at 888 580-ZONE.

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