Can We Stop Pitchers Being Beaned?

Can We Stop Pitchers Being Beaned?

By Jim Bain

Alex Cobb, Tampa Bay Rays, MLB pitcher is the latest victim of being struck in the head with a ball off the bat of a hitter. Why the sudden increase in this type of injury?

It's hard to fathom today's players hitting the ball harder than home run kings Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron, and other legendary players of the past. However, no different than all other sports, today's Average professional athlete is stronger and faster than yesteryear's superstars.

This can be construed as equating to instead of a pitcher facing 1 or 2 players in the line-up capable of hitting a screamer off the bat, they face 8 or 9 if pitching in the American league.

Basic mathematics, more risk equals more injury.

Injury in sports is an unfortunate element regardless of how many safety factors are implemented, however this type of injury should definitely not only raise a red flag, but wave it violently in regards to amateur baseball.

The nearly 100% usage of composite bats, used in little league through college, is nearly as dangerous as giving players a loaded gun and playing Russian Roulette. The live round will eventually be fired.

The make-up of these composite bats amplify the speed and power of a ball as it leaves the bat, turning an average hitter, into a power hitter. Considering the shorter pitching distances and undeveloped skills to attempt to avoid a ball hit directly back at the pitcher, this creates a severely dangerous situation. I realize manufacturing composite bats is a huge business, but changing the process to making wood bats instead would soften the economic blow. Some people may say who cares about any economic impact on a business when we're discussing our children's' safety, but let's be realistic, it'll be a major objection.

I'll conclude my opinionated article with this 2 cents worth of opinion. We, as coaches advanced coaches have failed miserably in teaching players the basic principles of pitching mechanics.

I'll also add little league coaches have done an outstanding job of teaching in relation to high school, college and professional coaches. Lost my mind? Not hardly.

Remember hearing the pitcher is another infielder after he throws the ball? At one time, finishing their pitching motion in a fielding position was every bit as important as learning how to throw a curveball.

If you're fortunate enough to have access to old baseball cards, check out the pitchers' photos on the card. Chances are the picture will show the pitcher in one of two poses, a windup or finishing in a fielding position.

Somewhere along the line a pitcher or two became dominate throwing with unorthodox or non-traditional pitching mechanics, falling off the mound instead of ending in a fielding position. Not knocking it, but sports is a result driven business and if eliminating the basic ending fielding position of the pitcher results in more strikeouts and wins, so be it.

Basic physics, for every action there is an equal reaction.

Elimination, or non-stressed fielding position, equates to pitchers being in an awkward or totally impossible position to avoid being struck by a hard hit ball, much alone field it.

Pitchers being hit by screamers off the bat is not a new phenomenon, but for whatever reason, the head becoming an ever increasing target, seems to have elevated. Perhaps as an omen?

I'm not suggesting we move the pitching distance to 70 feet, or lower the mound or anything else drastic in order to address this issue. In fact implementing half thought out actions would be the worse thing we could do.

All I'm saying is baseball is America's sport. Let's not make the mistake football did in regards to ignoring concussions. If there is something we can do to reduce this type of injury, then let's do it. If not, then so be it. But let's not ignore it.

Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player and member of "Baseball Coaches of America" shares his advice on baseball coaching baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com

Be sure to check out his 2 books on Amazon, "The Pitch" and "Season of Pain". Great reading about baseball.

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

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Secret Baseball Hitting Drill Adds Power

Visit www.trainbaseball.com for more hitting drills, techniques, and training that helped me take my game from unimpressive to becoming a 1st Team Rawlings All-American in 2008

Young Youth Baseball Player Practicing on the BatAction Baseball Batting Trainer

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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 Categories they have are: BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!