Coaching Baseball : How to Hit a Home Run

Coaching Baseball : How to Hit a Home Run
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Hitting a home run involves using the "sweet spot" on a baseball bat, proper stance and luck. Make home runs with tips from a baseball coach in this free video about playing baseball.

Expert: Mike Nolan
Bio: Mike Nolan works as a strength coach and baseball instructor for Coastal Athletics in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Filmmaker: Reel Media LLC

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Little League Digest - The KISS Rule of Teaching Youth Baseball Players a Proper Swing

The KISS Rule of Teaching Youth Baseball Players a Proper Swing
By Nick Dixon

Coaching baseball is not rocket science. I believe in the KISS rule of coaching young baseball batters. The KISS or "Keep it Super Simple" rule means that the coach will present the batting instruction in a way that it is easy for young baseball players to understand, visualize and perform. This article explains the 6 simple steps in teaching youth baseball batters using the "KISS" method.

The KISS method of coaching little league batters can be broken down into 5 easy steps:

Step 1 - GRIP & HANDS - The knocking knuckles must be aligned. This grip places the handle in the fingers and away from the palm. A proper grip increase hands speed and power.

Step 2 - STANCE - The feet should be shoulder width part with the insteps of the feet aligned under each arm pit. The toes should point straight toward the plate.

Step 3 - STRIDE - The stride is the step or weight transfer achieved during the swing. The stride may be a simple motion such as simply easing the weight off the front foot and restoring it. The front foot can move but does not have to. The less movement of the front foot forward is better. However, a wide stance is necessary to give the hitter a good lower body foundation and strength.

Step 4 - SEE TARGET - The batter should concentrate on the ball. He should try to see it come out of the pitcher's hand and track it with his eyes as it approaches the plate. The batter will watch the ball all the way to the bat or the catcher's mitt. The batter should keep the head down and the eyes on the ball. The batter should concentrate on hitting the top half of the baseball. Hitting the top half will insure that a fly ball will not be hit. The batter should try to hit a ground ball or a line drive.

Step 5 - SWING - The swing should be level and quick. A short quick motion taking the bat directly to the ball is desirable. A long sweeping motion or upper cut swing is not desirable. A wood chopping swing is not acceptable.

Step 6 - FINISH - The younger batter should finish the swing with two hands. The batter should concentrate on keeping the head down through the finish. Prematurely pulling or jerking the head up to see where the ball is hit, is a batting flaw that should be eliminated immediately.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. Good luck this season! Have a great day, Nick.

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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.

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The Proper Baseball Swing - Swinging on the Pitch Plane

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By Todd Thomas

What should players, baseball and fastpitch alike, be focusing on improving going into a new season? I say it should be on the key element to the proper baseball swing and the proper fastpitch swing which is to match their swing plane with the plane of the pitch. Swing LEVEL...to the ball. The BALL, not to the ground. You know, like the best players in the game do?

If you swing down on the ball, then you are "intersecting" the path of the ball giving yourself a small window of timing for contact. A more productive swing would be to attempt to match the plane of your swing to the plane of the pitch. Having the bat on the same plane as the ball as long as possible opens up your window of timing for making contact. Why would any hitter consistently give themselves the smaller window of contact? It simply makes sense to swing on the pitch plane.

Swinging on plane IS the proper baseball swing. Albert Pujols, one of the games great hitters, has shown he is on plane on many of his swings for up to 5 and 1/2 feet. That's awesome. Being on plane that long gives Albert or any hitter a much larger window to make good contact with the incoming pitch.

Can you be on plane perfectly every time you try? No. That's why you see various types of hits. But attempting to swing level to the ball increases your line drive rate which in turn raises your batting average. Line drives equal a high batting average.

How do you teach players to swing on the pitch plane? You have to understand and show them how to put the bat on the pitch plane. Take a rope and secure one end. Stretch it out and teach players to put the bat on it in their swing and swing along the rope. You should hold the loose end slightly lower than the secured end in order to more closely simulate the high to low path of the ball. Take a 3 to 4 foot piece of PVC pipe and hold it where players can put their bat on it and swing along it. If you are holding the pipe, I don't recommend letting them swing at full speed.:-) It should be a slow practice swing. Get creative and teach your players the proper baseball swing and the proper fastpitch swing by teaching them to swing on the plane of the pitch.

Play Ball!

Todd Thomas is a Baseball Coach and Professional Hitting Instructor for Mike Epstein Hitting. Coach Todd's personal hitting website is http://www.HitItHere.net. Coach Todd also enthusiastically endorses http://PlayMyBestBaseball.com as a place where baseball and softball hitters can master the Confidence, Composure, Focus and Consistency of their game so they can reach their full potential.

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

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Teaching a Balanced Batting Stance

By Andy Pohl

Hitting is a chain reaction of body movements. As with any chain reaction, the end cannot be met without a proper beginning. The purpose of the stance is to get the hitter in a body position that will facilitate a quick and powerful movement towards the baseball.

First of all, hitters need to find a stance that is comfortable and balanced. Their eyes must be focused on the pitcher. Many hitters have their heads tucked under their shoulder or tilted to the side. This consequently impedes their ability to see the ball clearly from the best angle. Make sure the head is upright with the eyes focused directly at the pitcher.

All good hitters get themselves in a good athletic position to start. A good athletic position consists of flex in the knees with the hip sockets back. If a hitter is having a difficult time getting into an athletic position or confused about what this position feels like, have them pretend they are defending someone on the basketball court. They will quickly notice that their knees are flexed, their butt is out, and they are slightly bent over on the balls of their feet. Have them hold that position and put a bat in their hands. This is the proper stance.

The stance is should be relaxing enough to have a calming effect over the body. The bat should be held loosely in the fingers or across the callous line of the hand. Never hold the bat in the palm. The hands and forearms should be relaxed as much as possible. Seeing the veins pop out of a player's arms is a good indication that they are holding gripping the bat too tight. Any tension in the hands and arms slows down the swing, which subsequently reduces power.

In order to relax, hitters should breathing slowly, in with the nose and out with the mouth between pitches. Taking practice check swings while in the box waiting for the pitcher to get set also relaxes the body and gives the hitter a sense of flow. Athletes cannot be successful hitter if their mind and body are not in a relaxed state.

Andy Pohl - Co-Founder, DNA Sports

DNA Sports specializes in personalized baseball and softball skill programs, college recruiting education and preparation, and coaching clinics. Learn more: http://www.dnasportsonline.com

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

Minimizing Head Movement and the Rotational Swing

By Andy Pohl

By minimizing forward linear movement, the hitter is able to keep the upper body still, mainly the head. This allows the hitter to see the pitch better, which in turn, increases his/her ability to make consistent contact. While it is hard enough to hit any moving object, it is much harder to hit that moving object while moving too. Keeping the head still enables the hitter to see the plane of the pitch more accurately. Remember, hitting is sight oriented. No matter how good one's mechanics are, nobody, not even Ted Williams, could hit blindfolded.

The head must stay in the center of body throughout the entire swing. During the load, the head remains in the center of the body, even as the lower body shifts back. Along the same lines, the head stays in the center of the body during the stride, even though weight is shifting back to the front side. During the swing itself, the head remains in the center of the body, even as the player rotates through the baseball. In other words, while the body is moving in a linear and rotational direction, the head remains in the same spot - in the center!

It is essential to understand that from a biomechanical standpoint, maximum power is achieved through rotational movement. In order to achieve maximum power, hitters need to keep their weight back and rotate through the ball, rather than move in a linear motion from the back knee to the front knee and hit the ball off the front foot. With a few exceptions, all of the great hitters today are rotational hitters. At contact point, their head is directly in line with their rear knee. In addition, the belly button is always in front of the chin at contact point, further illustrating the stillness of the head and the rotational approach great hitters take as their hands enter the hitting zone.

Andy Pohl - Co-Founder, DNA Sports

DNA Sports specializes in personalized baseball and softball skill programs, college recruiting education and preparation, and coaching clinics. Learn more: http://www.dnasportsonline.com

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

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Baseball Hitting Mechanics - Don't Settle For Sloppy

By KC Andrus

I Hit The Ball Pretty Well, Why Worry About Mechanics?

Everyone who has ever played baseball, knows that it is a game of failure. They have heard how it is a GOOD sign if you fail 70% of the time. These are just the cold, hard facts, the nature of the game that is our nation's greatest pastime. With so much of the game built on personal defeat, it is easy to get down in the dumps fast. One of the game's most famous quotes, and possibly one of sport's most famous quotes came from Yogi Berra, who said, "Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical."

This is such a true statement that come from one of sport's most unique personalities. Baseball is such a mental game, there is so much thought process that goes into all facets of the game that it makes the game seem almost impossible at times, and the most mental part of the game is most certainly hitting. This is why it is so important to focus on proper hitting mechanics, because then you can focus on the mental aspect of the game and not have to worry about what you're doing with you're swing when you're actually in the batter's box. You can focus on what's really important when the pitcher is staring down at you, HITTING THE BALL!! Okay, so now that we have discovered why baseball mechanics are important, we can get to the good stuff, what the heck are the proper mechanics for hitting a baseball. It all starts with the basics, you have to get the basics down in order for your swing to evolve and become more complex.

What are the Mechanics?

- The Stance - There are many so-called hitting "buffs" that will stress the importance of a normal, balanced stance. There is some truth in this but it is more important to just find a comfort zone, this will allow you to relax in the box.

-The Load - The load is very important, and it is absolutely crucial to the timing of your swing. It is extremely important to get some slight backward movement with your swing before whipping the bat through the zone. Make sure you take a small step, this can be as simple as picking up your foot and putting it down or taking a full stride. When in doubt, my golden rule is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Also get some movement with your hands.

-The Swing - The best advice I can give about the actual swing is to "train your hips." Your hips are VERY important to your swing and are responsible for a lot of power withing your swing. Getting stronger in your "core" helps this tremendously.

- The Finish - I don't like to worry about the finish as much as most. Most people will tell you that you have to finish balanced and "squish the bug" with your back foot. Finishing balanced is a very good sign that your swing is smooth, but it is not essential to success within your swing, and that is what we are all looking for. Did you find these tips useful? Find out much more about these Baseball Hitting Mechanics and learn a lot of secrets that you need to know and I'm betting no one has told you yet: Baseball Hitting Mechanics

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

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Helping Baseball Players Get Out of a Hitting Slump

By Jack Perconte

Helping young players get out of hitting slumps can be difficult. Young baseball players do not have the high-tech video and expert coaches that the major league hitters utilize, and even major league hitters have difficulty breaking out of hitting slumps. Additionally, young ball players don't have long term contracts so a prolonged slump could easily ruin their average, season or worse, give them a nice seat on the bench. Often, kids have many well-wishing people who offer advice on hitting during these times. Soon, however, the "try this/try that" information overwhelms the young hitters and confusion follows. The number one thing coaches can do to help is to keep the players optimistic, letting them know that the hitting slump is temporary and the end of it is near. Some words of advice like the following can help:

1. Do not get yourself out by swinging at bad pitches.
2. You are only one swing away from putting it all together.
3. The results will be there if you stay focused on the fundamentals and timing in practice, and on the ball in games.
4. Your confidence may not be high, but never give up hope.
5. There will be times when no one thinks you will get a hit, but always believe in yourself.
6. Remember the good at-bats and forget the bad ones.
7. No one will remember if you make an out with the game on the line but everyone will remember if you get the game winning hit, so you have nothing to lose.
8. Remember, the pitcher is nervous too.

Of course, these positive words can help for a while but often, the player's mechanics need adjusting. Generally, in-season is not the time to make major swing changes because major changes need a great deal of repetition and time to become habits. Often, some small tweaks to the hitter's stance or setup can make the difference, especially for hitters who are making contact, but not solid contact. The coach and hitter should analyze the results of the hitters' at-bats to see what tendencies have developed. Usually, hitters who are slumping, will be hitting too many ground balls or too many pop ups. After figuring out these tendencies, the following are some quick fixes coaches can try to get the hitter back on track.

For the hitter who is hitting too many ground balls:
1. Lower the hitter's hands an inch or two.
2. Have the hitter widen their stance a few inches and bend knees a little more (Think Carlos Quentin Stance).
3. Place a batting tee at the hitter's knees and right down the middle - hitter hits until they can consistently hit line drives back through the middle. Do not let the hitter settle for ground balls, even if they are solid.
4. Make sure the hitter's rear leg has a good angle at contact - legs form a capital A at contact, not a V.

For hitters who are popping everything up, the opposite "quick fix" solutions can help:
1. Raise the hitter's hands an inch or two
2. Shorten the distance between the feet when the hitter is in their stance so they are standing taller with little knee bend (Think Ken Griffey Jr. Stance)
3. Set a batting tee at the hitters chest or slightly higher - hitter hits until there are no pop ups - ideally, hitting line drives the same height as the ball level.
4. Make sure the hitter is transferring their weight with their heel on their rear foot facing the sky at contact.

Bigger Problems

Obviously, hitters who are not making contact or are only hitting foul balls, have bigger fundamental issues. The first thing to do to help these hitters is to make sure it is not just a timing issue. If the hitter is always swinging late, challenge them with greater speeds in batting practice. Likewise, for hitters who are swinging too early, use slow pitches during batting practice. Generally, the hitters' timing will improve with these speed changes and they will start making consistent contact. If this doesn't help, major swing fundamental changes may be necessary and there is probably nothing to lose by starting those changes immediately.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball hitting lessons advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack Perconte is the author of two books: "The Making of a Hitter" and "Raising an Athlete"

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

Baseball Swing Secrets to Learning the Right Mechanics Quickly!

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Baseball Swing Secrets to Learning the Right Mechanics Quickly!

By Joey Myers

The perfect baseball swing is like poetry in motion...watching Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriquez, or Manny Ramirez hit leaves anyone with an awe that is indescribable. They've taken hundreds of thousands of cuts to create such a beautiful swing with such devastating impact on pitchers.

But, do you really have that kind of time with:


The new season coming up?
A big tournament being a week from now? or maybe you
Have to get ready for a big scouting showcase?

What you need is to SUPER-learn the baseball swing, like, yesterday!

Well, this article will go into what it's going to take to do just that. Doing the following will not make your swing perfect , it never will be, but you'll be able to take the information from the Smart Hitting Tips tab on the navigation bar, do what's prescribed here, and have a helluva showing.

Most of the following tips are hard rooted in research based on state-of-the-art Neuroscience and Exercise Science practice & theory...

This isn't a get hits quick scheme either, and will take A LOT of work, 2,000+ reps a week to be exact, but you'll train your brain and body to harmonize, building to successful baseball swing execution.

Ready?? Hold your horses...First,

You must create a time-line...when do you want to accomplish this? In a week (recommended, at least)? or 2? A month? Decide that first, then move on to the following Steps...

STEP 1: Make Small Circles

Start off slow with one concept, two at most, a day and breakdown each and every movement by going in extremely slow motion. You're brain is like a record...the more you do a movement, the more the needle wears the grooves on the surface of the vinyl... the more reps you do, the deeper and more solid the grooves.

Be careful because it can also work against you, by doing the movement wrong, so start off slow the right way, then speed up.

STEP 2: Balancing Act

Using the Balance & Reach Drill a foot or two off the ground will cause your brain to engage more muscles to stabilize the whole body, and the more you engage the Central Nervous System, the more muscles get recruited, and the faster your body picks up the technique.

Also, doing regular swings on an unstable surface, like on a narrow cushiony weight bench, diving board, exercise bose ball, or with eyes closed, the better off you'll be in record time.

STEP 3: Reps Before Bed

Studies have shown going through the motions before bedtime helps to burn them into your brain better. It has to do with the Four Stages of REM Sleep ...major repairs, both physically and cerebrally, go on in the 3rd and 4th Stages of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. If you don't get to the last two stages, then your body doesn't repair itself, which leads us to the next Step...

STEP 4: Set Alarm for 4.5 Hours

In order to speed up the learning process for developing an effective baseball swing, you have to take advantage of two sets of REM sleep. Do your swing repetitions before bed, set your alarm clock for 4.5 hours, wake up and do more reps, then finish off your sleep or the next REM cycle.

What this does is complete one cycle of REM (all 4 stages), then reset your body (by waking up) for another round, deepening those grooves in the brain. By doing this you're 50% more likely to make "stick" the desired technique.

All this can be possible if you...

STEP 5: Do NOT Eat Carbohydrates Past 6pm

Eating enough Carbs to spike your insulin, anytime past 6pm will keep you from getting to Stage 3 & 4 of REM sleep. Our natural occurring human growth hormones (HGH) get released in those stages of sleep ONLY, to repair the body. To allow that to happen, we have to chill out on the Carbs after hours.

And most importantly for your baseball swing, not only will you not repair and heal, but learning is dampened and your immune system crashes.

Last but not least,

STEP 6: Hyper-Computing for Cadence

Once we get a handle on all of the above baseball swing hyper-learning points, now we can speed up our micro processors. By doing this, we train the Central Nervous system by speeding up our motion to get the proper tempo or cadence.

Key point: do NOT attempt this until you have a solid handle on the proper form and movement first.

Speeding up the process of a particular part of the swing helps to deepen the specific movement groove in the brain, so when you engage the correct tempo, the movement is more natural.

You have to exaggerate a technique (in this case, speeding up the cadence), to get the right motion.

This is also great training for combating fast tempo pitchers, who when you step in the batter's box and look up, the pitch is already on its way.

The bottom line about HYPER-learning the baseball swing?

For these 6 Steps to be effective, you have to take between 1,200 to 2,000 repetitions a week...the RIGHT reps. Remember, wearing grooves in your brain can work for OR against you. Keep in mind, with that amount of swings in a small time-frame, you're going to develop blisters and sore muscles. Try and work through them, but if it comes to the sacrifice of good form, then stop, let them heal, and get back on the horse.

To Hyper-Heal sore muscles, do what the Soviet athletes did in the 80-90's, ice the sore spots for 5 minutes, then plunge into a hot bath or spa for 15 minutes, and repeat the process a couple times. This sequence also helps your body release melatonin, which will aid in putting you to sleep.

For blisters, drain them, but don't cut away the whole dead skin blister layer for a couple days...put antibiotic ointment between the dead and raw skin, and cover with a band-aid & athletic tape. They also have blister spray skin toughener, which you may want to look into...it burns like hell for a moment, but makes it so you can hit again with virtually no pain.

We hope you enjoyed this baseball swing article, remember we're always adding content, so please subscribe to the RSS feed, blog, and/or The Dugout Newsletter to stay up-to-date with the latest baseball hitting information.

My name is Joey Myers, and I played 18 total years of baseball finishing my career after my fourth year of college (2000-2003) as a Fresno State Bulldog (the 2008 College World Series Champions). I'm very grateful for the success I had at Bullard High School, and getting a scholarship to play at a Division I university, Fresno State, where I started 110 out of the 178 games I played, in the outfield. Now I devote most of my life to baseball swing coaching and personal fitness training. My websites are http://www.swing-smarter-baseball-hitting-drills.com/ and http://www.corecreationsonline.com/

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

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