Training for baseball doesn't stop after the season is over. The best time to get ready for the next season is during the off season, not training camps, and not a few weeks before the opening game. It takes time to build muscle strength, coordination and skill. Many of these things can be done at home and even indoors. Here are 5 tips for what you should be doing during your baseball off season this year. Tips To Start Your Off-Season * Strength Training - The key to being able to hit a home run comes not only from coordination and skill but from the right muscle build. While it is important to keep in shape it is also important to weight train. Get in a cardio workout but also getting in some...
Styles of Baseball Pitching
There are even more styles of pitching than there are for baseball hitting and that's due in part to the specialization of pitchers at the Major League level. You cannot simply be a "pitcher" anymore. You can be a starting pitcher, a closer, a middle reliever, a left handed specialist, or any number of other pitchers... but not just "pitcher". You can try to get people out in many different and assorted ways as well. From a young age, athletes participating in baseball training are learning to tailor their programs and techniques to specific styles, hoping to hone in on a specific area of pitching they can excel at. What's your goal in the game? One of the main separators in terms of different...
What Defines Good Sport Shoes For Baseball...
Baseball attire has come a long way from the original gray flannel uniform. And just as the uniform has evolved, so has the baseball shoe. The original cleat was a black shoe with a high top that came up to the ankle bone. By 1910, the cleat was low-quarter height. Even more notable was the change in the 1960s when the Kansas City Athletics began wearing white cleats. Another significant change was the development of the training shoe. The original cleat was worn during the game and during training. But the training shoe was designed specifically for baseball training and baseball drills. A good training shoe can enhance performance during training. Qualities to look for in a training shoe are...
Baseball Training – Technology Enhances...
Baseball Training – Technology Enhances Equipment Baseball training has made tremendous strides in recent years due to the technological advances of baseball softball training equipment. As an adjunct to coaching and mentoring, softball baseball training equipment can produce amazing results for hitters and pitchers through repetition and feedback. The Batters Edge™ and the VLM Pitchtracker are the most advanced hitting and pitching products available on the market today. Baseball Training – Repetition Keys Performance Muscle memory and skills training are the two major ingredients in successful performance outcomes. We perform functions daily that have been engrained through repetition...
Many people think in order to become a great baseball hitter they must work with a trainer to get the best results possible. Although if you get the opportunity, take it but many people can only do things on their own. Realizing this there are a few simple things you can do on your own to get the baseball training necessary in becoming an efficient hitter. The most important thing is to be yourself. Seriously, it sounds odd but the next time you go to the batting cages watch all the Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Ichiro Suzuki stances used by others around you. Yes those three are great hitters, but with all do respect the way they bat may not work for you. Effective hitting doesn't mean...
Tips to Practice Good Baseball Pitching and...
Baseball is one game played by every other child as soon as he steps into school. Even better enthusiasm is seen in high school children. However, it is a dire need that one should have a good knowledge about proper baseball training aids and pitching techniques. Many people encounter serious pitching injuries because of limited knowledge about it. Pitching machines are hence a wise idea to select to avoid them. Because pitching requires a great deal of wear and tear, it is better if you ensure that your body is in a proper shape before you even think about pitching. Arm injuries are one of the commonest of injuries faced by the players. It is also important that you should only start throwing...
Remember your teacher from gym class making it mandatory to stretch for five minutes or so before each class? At the time, you may have thought that it was just a way for them to keep the class occupied for a few moments, but they were actually doing you a favor. Whether you are engaging in softball lessons, youth baseball instruction, or any kind of physical activity, it is vitally important to stretch first in order to avoid injury. Baseball lessons always involve stretching because athletes playing the sport use their entire bodies to compete. What you may not know is that it is often suggested for athletes engaged in youth baseball instruction to stretch after competing as well. Stretching...
Youth Baseball Digest - Pitcher Having Control...
You are a youth baseball coach. One of your pitchers is having trouble throwing strikes. When a pitcher is having a bad day on the mound, there has to be a reason. In most cases bad days are caused by simple pitcher delivery flaws. Often times these flaws can be quickly identified and corrected. What are the first three things that a coach should check in the pitchers delivery? Here I discuss the first three things that I always check first. 1) Target Focus and Concentration 2) Front Leg and Landing Foot Action 3) Release Point Consistency. These three elements of a pitcher's delivery are extremely important when it comes to becoming a good pitcher with good control. Target Focus and Concentration...
Youth Baseball Digest - Batting Order Basics...
Little league and youth baseball coaches must know how to make out a batting order. They must know the roles and responsibilities of each batter in the line-up. They must know what are the physical requirements and hitting skills needed to perform the task associated with each spot in a team batting line-up. This article discusses the roles and duties of each player in a baseball batting order. A straight batting order is the most popular and commonly used. There is one #1 batter, one #2 batter, one #3 batter, and the order goes on down the order to the nine spot. The various jobs and responsibilities of each spot are as follows: #1 Batter- Called the lead-off batter, the first batter must get on...
Having players go to the plate and have quality at-bats and productive outs are the keys to offensive success in baseball. We do not like wasted outs. In youth baseball, you team is allowed only to get 18 or 21 depending on your leagues rules. The last thing we want to see as coaches is "wasted" outs that achieve absolutely nothing for your team. We want every at-bat to be productive. However, the situation a batter is batting in always determines how we perceive an at-bat and the results at the plate. I want to give insight in how youth coaches should evaluate an at-bat to be good or bad, productive or nonproductive. What is considered a productive at-bat? Many times we as coaches consider...
Youth Baseball Digest - 5 Safety Rules That...
Player and coach safety must be the concern of every Little League Baseball Coach. All youth baseball coaches must establish certain team rules to insure the safety of both the players and the coaches. There are 5 basic safety rules that help protect players are coaches. This article outlines each of those 5 safety rules. 1. Players must have permission to swing a bat. The most dangerous action that takes place on a baseball field is the swing of a bat. Many injuries occur every year when a player walks into a swing zone when another player is swinging the bat. Players must understand the dangers involved if every player can swing a bat any time they want. They must understand that the only time...
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...
Youth Baseball Digest - Free Baseball Batting...
Many coaches use the batting tee to practice proper baseball swing mechanics. The batting tee is a great batter training tool. It offers batting practice repetition and is easy to use. Most coaches use it in drills to practice hitting the low, medium, and high fast ball locations. The batting tee can also be used to practice hitting a curve ball. One of the most difficult pitches to learn to hit is the curve ball on the outer edge of the plate. This article explains how the tee can be used to teach young players the proper mechanics and timing to hit that type curve ball. Curve Ball Batting Tee Drill Many coaches would say that the batting tee is not a useful tool in teaching a player to hit a curve...
The 4 Most Important Rules that all New Little League Baseball Coaches Should Follow Coaching Little league is a great way for baseball and softball players to give back to your community. Every baseball player remembers his first t-ball coach, coach pitch coach, little league coach, and high school coach. Baseball coaches have a profound effect on the lives of the players they coach. Being or becoming a great youth baseball coach requires a high level of commitment and dedication. There are 3 important rules that every new little league coach must always follow. Those rules are: 1. You must be a student of the game. To be a good youth baseball coach, you must have a good knowledge of how the game...
Individual and team batting averages are one of the best indicators of how effective your practice drills and game preparation is. Batting average is a simple 3 digit number that expresses how often a batter has gotten a hit for the total number of at-bats. There is a simple formula used to determine your batting average. This articles clearly explains how it is calculated. Youth Baseball Digest: Calculating your Batting Average There is a simple formula used to determine your batting average: H ÷ AB = BA What the formula is saying is that you divide the total number of hits by the total number of at bats and the resulting number is your average. If you need it to be broken down into clearly...
The Earned Run Average (ERA) In Baseball -...
Now that baseball season is well under way, many of you might be wondering how that statistic called the earned run average (era) is computed. You might know that this stat reflects a pitcher's allowed, or earned, runs per nine innings. But did you know that this stat is nothing more than a complex fraction in mathematics and can be calculated with a nice little trick? The earned run average can be a pitcher's best friend or worst nightmare. Regardless of how this stat is actually calculated, the lower the number the better for the pitcher. Indeed a pitcher that can end the season with an ERA of under 2, would be very pleased, provided the pitcher threw at least 50 or more innings. A pitcher with...
Baseball Prospectus 2010 is for al fans of baseball. it is exactly not a betting book because it has no serious chapters dedicated to the tricks of betting in baseball . But it actually teaches you the dynamics of the game which gives you so much knowledge and information that it becomes easy for you to play the game and also predict who can be the possible winners. Baseball Prospectus 2010 has amazing collection of scores of different teams and players depending upon PECOTA. They give you a mini history of the game and the outcome. not only this they have a well written players profile in the back section. Statistical data and information about players can help you win a bet that you might have...
Watch Baseball Playoffs Online - Watch Baseball...
If your reading this article your probably looking to watch baseball playoffs online and you're in luck because I am doing this from my computer right now as I write this article and I am not just watching some re runs I watch baseball playoffs live online. I am a huge baseball fan particularly major league baseball and I have been watching it regularly since I was a little kid but about a year ago I had some changes in my work schedule at the office and was working most of my shifts while the games were on. It was getting near the playoffs and I couldn't afford to miss any more games so I asked my friend to tape the games for me but he would either forget or tell me who won before I could watch it...
Many times I have opened my email to find inquiries about a system for baseball handicapping to determine good baseball bets. And is it necessary to find a system to win. The reality is that bettors who utilize a system to make regular bets tend to have a better win rate than those who don't. I adopted an online sports gambling system for NBA and MLB because I was tired of losing my own bets day in and day out. The result is I can win more than before with less headache. So, of course, I recommend a baseball picks system. Recently, though, there has been professional level of baseball handicapping to purchase for the average bettor. When I heard of this I was naturally inclined to check it out and...
Red Sox fans have already bought more than two million tickets for the upcoming 2006 home schedule at "America's Most Beloved Ballpark", Fenway Park, and Boston is well on its way to break last year's record-setting ticket sales. There are many other examples of rising ticket sales in baseball, and now, with the advent of the World Baseball Classic, baseball ticket sales should see another rise in popularity. Red Sox reportedly sold 2,135,540 tickets through the 28-29 January weekend, when tickets for most single games went on sale. Through the same dates in 2005, 2,079,909 tickets were sold out. The club hopes to sell more than 2.8 million tickets in 2006, which means several hundred thousand...
Baseball ticket seating charts help you view seat locations before you purchase a ticket. They carry a wide range of seating options so that you can choose a seat to suit your needs and budget. Seating options usually include dugout box, bullpen box, club box, field box, terrace box, terrace reserved, upper deck box, upper deck reserved, and bleachers. Club box offices and ticket selling agencies supply baseball ticket seating charts along with tickets. A variety of seat categories are usually available in a baseball stadium. VIP seats, lawn seats, club level seats, and wheelchair-accessible seats are available. First-come, first-served priority is generally followed in allocating seats. First...
Earlier I wrote an article about unwritten rules in baseball. You won’t find these rules in any rulebook, but still most baseball players abide by them. And if they don’t, they will lose respect by anyone affiliated with Major League Baseball. Here are a few examples of those unwritten rules. 1. Never lay down a bunt to break up a no-hitter. Now personally I don’t really understand this rule. Imagine this. You and your team have been completely dominated all game long by a pitcher who has his best stuff. You are struggling to get anyone on base and try to score some runs. But just because this pitcher is pitching so well, you can’t use one of the basic methods of getting on...
Bata Baseball Pitching Machines
Bata Baseball Pitching Machines Bata baseball pitching machines have steadily become recognized as the best baseball pitching machine in the world. Used by San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners. There are five important factors to consider when evaluating a baseball pitching machine. 1. The type of construction. Bata baseball pitching machines are made of solid steel. There are no sand-castings or plastic on the frames or stand. 2. The motor and electronics. Bata uses only high-quality US made permanent magnet motors and solid state electronic control. 3. The wheels. As explained below, Bata uses...
Baseball rules clearly state that you can NOT block a base without the baseball. So much for the rules. Many players don't just bend this rule but completely break this rule. If you're not going to enforce a rule, why do we still have it in the rule book? Catchers do it on almost every close play at the plate and get away with it 100% of the time. Infielders get away with it 99.9% of the time. They say the hand is quicker than the eye but in this case, quite often the knee is quicker than the eye. What the infielders will do is block the base a fraction of a second before they receive the throw. It happens so fast that they get away with it. The runner often gets to the base beforehand but has no...
Have you ever thought about how many ways a batter can safely reach first base? I have pondered the question and I have come up with 10 different ways for a batter to safely reach first base. The ways that I thought of include the following: 1) Base Hit - Batter swings the bat and hits a base hit. In baseball statistics a base hit is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory. 2) Walk or Base on Balls - A base on balls or walk is credited to a batter when the batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. The walk can be intentional or not intentional. 3) Error - A batter reaches on an error when, in the judgment of the...
Dr. Stat's 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit:...
It might be January, but it's not too early to start thinking about fantasy baseball and Dr. Stat is here to prepare you for draft day. Every week, I'll be posting one or two new sections of my 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit until I've covered every position. Here are my early 2009 top 25 players at the 2B position. I posted my 1B/DH Rankings earlier this week. Statistical Key: Batting Average/Home Runs/Runs Batted In/Runs Scored/Steals Note: Assumes Standard 12-team Head-to-Head or Roto League Settings 1. Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies He may have turned 30 last month and is coming off of hip surgery, but Utley remains the epitome of what you want from the second base position. While his...
A Little About The World Series Baseball Rings
When I say baseball rings, I refer to the rings given to each individual player of the winning World Series game. These rings, cost the baseball teams thousands of dollars to make for the winning team, and are often sought just as much as the World Series trophy itself! Baseball rings can fetch quite a high price, due to their over the top decoration of diamonds, gold and other expensive materials. Changing each year, baseball ring designs have seen some of the best craftsmanship, and some of the worst... The most expensive baseball ring to date, is the 2003 ring given to the Florida Marlins after winning the 2003 Major League Baseball World Series. The ring is so big it has the name, number and...
In my eighteen years of coaching youth baseball, I am always looking for the most efficient practice methods for every aspect of baseball. It took me only a few years to realize that most youth baseball coaches and myself were running batting practice, not incorrectly, but not efficiently. From what I have seen with the typical batting practice, a coach will pitch a predetermined number of balls for each batter with the fielders fielding the hit balls and throwing them to first base. Usually the coach will yell something like "run the last one out", and the batter does just that. If the ball is an infield hit, they try to throw him out at first. If it is hit into the outfield, he usually runs...
Independent Minor League Baseball Jobs
If you have always loved professional baseball, then it is possible for you to become involved with the industry in one way or another. One avenue to pursue is employment with a team or league in the independent baseball league section of the pro baseball industry. Independent baseball leagues and teams are not affiliated with any specific Major League Baseball organization, and their ultimate goal is to become a profitable enterprise. Front office and league personnel have more flexibility in hiring people to help them reach that aim. The question then becomes, "In what other way can I work in the professional baseball industry without being a player, manager, coach, or owner?" Here are...
Independent Baseball Teams - What They Are
You may have recently heard about an independent baseball team near where you live, or near where you were traveling. If so, you may have wondered what makes a team "independent" and if it is worth your money to go watch that team. An independent professional baseball team is a team which plays in a professional baseball league that is not affiliated with any Major League organization or the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which is now named (officially) Minor League Baseball. These teams have complete control over the players they sign, the personnel they hire, and their players can be signed by any "affiliated" team in Minor League Baseball. Occasionally, an independent...
All Time Records of Some Baseball Teams
Some Great Teams and Some Not So Great Teams This posting was compiled after the the 2005 Season ended. From 1919 to 1964 The New York Yankees had a winning season every year except 1925. Their two best years were 1939 of DiMaggio and Dickey when they were 106-45, a 702 winning percentage. Even better the Yankees of 1927 had a 714 winning percentage. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig had something to do with that. The Yankees have scored 79,003 runs since they have been a major league team. They have surrendered 68,192 runs. The highest all time winning percentages teams. The Yankees are first at 567% followed by The Giants at 540% The Dodgers at 524%. Then there is the Cardinals at 517 followed by The Red...
"Make the present good, and the past will take care of itself." -- Knute Rockne High School Players with a dream of playing baseball at the next level must realize they only get one chance. One go around at your four years in high school. They will pass very quickly. You might dread getting up early every morning to go to school, wishing it was over, but you will wake up one day and wonder how time passed so quickly. The place you wanted to leave and wish was over, now is. The only problem is most don't realize how quickly it passes until it actually does. Live in the moment, and strive to push as hard as you can each day. The best reward you can give yourself is to look in the mirror at the end...
The baseball season for children in towns throughout the country is starting to get into full swing now that Spring has arrived. It can be a wonderful time of the year for the kids and for the parents. However, many kids struggle at baseball because they are terrified of being hit by the ball when they are in the field or when they are batting. I get a lot of calls at this time of the year from parents who want their kids to become less scared, more comfortable and more confident when they step on the baseball field. Here are a few tips to help your son or daughter if they are demonstrating a significant fear of being hit by the ball: 1. It is normal to have some fear of a moving object moving...
If you are a high school baseball player and you are trying to get recruited to play college division 1 baseball, this article can help you reach your goal. This article will give you three powerful steps that can take immediately that will set you apart from your competition. Step 1 - Develop Your Athletic Resume First of all, you need to develop a great athletic resume. Your resume has to do the same thing a resume does when you are looking for a job. It has to generate more interest in you from the coaches and cause them to want to learn more about you. In order to get the interest of college division 1 baseball coaches, your resume should all key contact information for you and for your current...
Simple Tips For Playing Baseball
Playing Baseball Baseball is a game of skill and for that reason the best athlete is not always the best player. Baseball involves thrilling, pitching, catching, baserunning, fielding, and hitting. If you want to improve in all of these areas and skills then you must practice regularly using drills. Practicing must be fast and include jumping from one drill to the other. A good baseball player must always focus on making the most out of every drill session instead of just going through the motions which can often lead to bad habits. If you want to improve your baseball game focus on top form in as many drill opportunities as you can. Here's some information to help you while work on improving your...
Baseball Rules - Who Made Them?
This issue of who started baseball or who made the first rules for the game is just so much malarkey. Just like it took Einstein to tell us the truth of which came first the "chicken or the egg". Must have been a tie because there has never been a declared winner. I'll tell you one thing the age old nursery rhyme of "Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall" then when he fell all the kings men and horses could not put him back together again. Folks that little ditty was well before "duck tape". Seriously the issue of who and when is really a part of the chicken and the egg and humpty dumpty question, it just happened. Growing up, playing baseball by playground rules, I never saw a rule book and I know of no one...
Can You Name the 5 Most Common Kinds of Baseball Interference? If you coach, play or watch baseball, you should be familiar with the term "baseball interference". Baseball interference is described as any infraction or action by a person that illegally alters the course of baseball play. The five types of interference are covered by the rules and different rules are applied in each type of interference. The 5 kinds of interference can be committed either by an offensive player, a player off the bench, a catcher, an umpire, and a spectator. This article describes and explains the 5 most common kinds of interference called by umpires. The 5 most frequently kinds of baseball interference that occur are...
Baseball Rules Say You Can't Block A Base...
Baseball rules clearly state that you can NOT block a base without the baseball. So much for the rules. Many players don't just bend this rule but completely break it. If you're not going to enforce a rule, why is it in the rule book? Catchers do it on almost every close play at the plate and get away with it 100% of the time. Infielders get away with it very close to 100% of the time. They say the hand is quicker than the eye but in this case, quite often the knee is quicker than the eye. What the infielders will do is block the base a fraction of a second before they receive the throw. It happens so fast that they get away with it. The runner often gets to the base before the throw but has no...
How To Have A Super Youth Baseball Tryout In 90...
Happy New Year! While there is no great way to see exactly what a particular player is capable of (short of inviting) 18 candidate players & staging a pick-up scrimmage game), Try this system with the goal of getting the players (& their parents) ready to go home within an hour & a half: Sign up 20 candidates (or less) per time slot & ask them to show up 30 minutes early to warm up. Make sure an official from the team or league is there to greet them and get them warmed up. Have at least league V.P. along with 2-3 young men (high school players if possible) (NOT team coaches) to assist. Each candidate is to hit two ground balls at the shortstop position. The candidate fields them...
Do you or someone you know play the game of baseball? If yes, I hope the kind of baseball shoes being used has been taken into account, because it can make a big difference in the final outcome of a game, a practice or a try-out. Do you remember when these 'games' were fun? Not that baseball isn't fun anymore; don't get me wrong, of course it is. However, the level of competition is absolutely fierce at all levels of sports anymore these days, and baseball is certainly no exception. If you want to advance, whether it be from the bench to the field, from the 'weak link' to the MVP, if you want to get selected for the travel baseball team, or make it on to your high school, college, Triple-A or Major...
Baseball Pitching and Warming-Up Properly
Many baseball players warm-up the wrong way before they start playing catch. They tend to throw to warm-up and not to warm-up before they throw. Warming up the wrong way can cause injury to your throwing arm or any part of your body. Many injuries occur during spring training games or just before big super league tournaments when multiple consecutive games are played. Players often think they already warmed up enough from a previous game earlier in the day and they aren't as loose as they think. Before a pitcher or any position player begins to play catch they need to warm up their entire body. Why? Players with good mechanics understand that you don't just throw with you arm, you throw with your...
Baseball Tryouts - Enjoy Next Season by Asking...
It is that time of year again. This is the time of the year when select baseball seasons are ending and the players are jockeying for positions for next season. If the player had a good season and if the team did well overall, there can be very little shakeup on the team and most of the players will return. If your team suffered and you want to be on a contender or if you felt that you did not get to play enough it is time to get serious about tryouts for another team. Here are a few items for you to consider as you think about what type of team might be good for you and your family to consider. Home Field Location. Where a team plays can make a big difference to your next season in a handful of...
Baseball Pitching Mechanics - How Long is Your...
How long should my stride be? That is a question that I get from many coaches, parents and pitchers. Many experts give their opinion of how long a stride should be; some say as long as you are tall, some say longer and some say 75% of your height. The answer is as far as your body will allow you to while maintaining proper pitching mechanics. You don't want to jump to foot strike (loosing balance and posture) just so you can add a foot to your stride. You want to push off the ball of your pivot foot while maintaining a closed posture to foot strike. Don't jeopardize your pitching mechanics at the expense of gaining distance. There is a way to do it right. Why is a long stride important...
Growing up I was instructed by some of the best pitching coaches in the world. I was always told to "pitch in to win." I think we have all heard it before, but most coaches never teach this important technique. The fact is, great pitcher's find success throwing on the inside part of the plate. I think throwing inside gives the pitcher more of an advantage simply because of the psychological game we play with hitters. We show them we are not afraid to come inside to set ourselves up for our strikeout pitch. It is important for a pitcher to control the strike zone to be effective. If a pitcher doesn't utilize the inside part of the plate, the hitter has that much more of an advantage to get on base...
When you pitch, it is imperative that you have great balance and direction. Without proper balance, you will have a difficult time finding the plate. Just as important, when all of your energy isn't going in the right direction (toward home plate) you will find it difficult to throw strikes. There are five basic rules to find perfect balance and posture when you pitch from the stretch and the windup. I will explain these simple guidelines to you from the stretch position. Step #1 Start with your feet in a closed posture. Place both feet together, put the groove in your left shoe into your right shoe, like a puzzle piece. Then spread your feet shoulder width apart. Step #2 Slightly bend your knees...
I want to focus on Self-talk using positive affirmations because I feel it is just as important to have these attributes and skills as it is to have outstanding pitching mechanics. In my opinion, what separates some minor league pitchers and major league pitchers is their attitude. These positive affirmations aren't the answer to everything a pitcher needs, but, in my mind, a vital part to success. What are our athletes saying to themselves on the mound during the game? How are they mentally preparing themselves before they step on the mound? I know if the following principles are applied effectively, that you will improve your pitching performance drastically. The following is an example that I...
Baseball Pitching - Smart Pitchers Set Goals
You may have read my previous article, "Reaching a Higher Level of Success." If so, you saw that pitching tip #2 was setting goals. Many athletes don't know how to set and achieve goals. The following are a few simple steps to ensure your goals are met. Remember, no professional athlete gets where they are without having both a clearly defined goal, and a clear plan of action to accomplish it. Setting goals should be a big part of every pitcher's priorities. Without goals, you lack focus and direction. As a result, you can sometimes forget what you want to achieve or lose sight of the big picture of what your objectives are. Before you set a goal, you have to understand what it is you want. You must...
Baseball Pitching Techniques - Which One is...
There is a battle going on in the baseball world today. No, I am not going to discuss the steroid issues in professional baseball. This is a different battle and it has been going on for years. The battle is about which pitching techniques are best for all pitchers. To answer this quickly: there is no specific technique that is great for all pitchers. Every pitcher is unique and we shouldn't clone certain throwing techniques to certain types of pitchers. In fact, many of the coaches are "cloning" their pitchers and making their movements robotic like so there is no natural movement toward the plate. This ruins their natural ability to throw the ball. Every pitcher has their own unique ability to...
First and foremost, don't ever put an umpire on display by letting everybody in attendance at the ball park know that you think he may have missed a strike call. Don't glare at them for several seconds or stomp around the mound between pitches. Umpires are regular people like we are and none of us like to be shown up. You will not get any close calls during the rest of the game if you show them up and put them on display. Even worse yet, you may not get the calls that you should be getting! As a baseball pitcher, showing up an umpire is not in your best interest. There are going to be several pitches that can be called "either way" and you increase your chances of getting those close calls if you...
Teaching Kids Baseball Pitching Mechanics
It is fun to watch youth baseball games. I enjoy watching the kid on the team with the least amount of talent "accidentally" catch a fly ball that was hit right to him. Those kids will always remember that time in their life when they were a hero; at least they felt that way for that moment in time. That is what youth baseball is all about. I will always remember (in great detail) hitting my first homerun over the fence in Little League. I was 10; 23 years ago. I remember where I hit the ball, how far I hit it, how the ball almost hit a green car when it finally landed, who the first base coach was, what he said to me when I reached first base, how the sun was setting just above the mountains, the...
Baseball Pitching Tips - Which Side of the...
I'll gladly give you my input about pitching from different sides of the rubber but ultimately YOU will have to decide what works best for YOU and where YOU are comfortable. There are many baseball theories on this but ultimately you will have the final say because you are doing the pitching. Usually, but not always, a right-hander stands on the third base side of the rubber and a left-hander on the first base side. Many believe this method gives you a better angle to the hitter. Let's use a right-handed batter against a right-handed pitcher as an example. The righty pitcher who is starting from the third base side of the rubber will create the effect that the pitch is coming toward the righty...