Baseball Tips - Unruly Parents - Here is a Solution

By Tom Read

You Know This Parent

My wife was a self described bad sport. She had been thrown out of games, argued with the other teams' parents, yelled at the umpires, and embarrassed my son and I. I would talk with her before and after games, reminding her to not get out of control, but it did not help. Someone from the other team would say something, or the umpire would make a questionable call, and she would start in. What was I going to do?

It Can Start At the Beginning

When I was coaching tee ball, I once had to break up a verbal fight between my first base coach and the other team's coach. Another time, I noticed that a dad, who had been to every practice and game, started missing the games. I asked him at a practice if his work was keeping him from the games. He told me no, Johnny was feeling too much pressure with him at the game. This is still tee ball. I guess it was good that the dad at least realized where the pressure was coming from. Most of the time parents do not realize that the things they say can put undue pressure on their kids.

Travel Teams Are the Worst

It seems travel teams have the most vocal parents, good and bad. I have always assumed the reasons for this are either one, they have spent a lot of time and money involved with this team and are expecting a big return, or two, they are on the road and friends and family are not around. But, on the other hand, I've seen travels teams stay home to play and behave just as badly. And I have seen bad behavior at recreational games. So it can happen anywhere.

Solution - Put My Wife in Time Out

Back to my wife; a few hours after the game would be over she would feel bad about her behavior. I thought about asking her to stay away from the games, but she really did enjoy watching our son play. Finally it came to me. I needed to remove her from the home plate area, get her away from the other teams' parents and away from our son when he was batting. We moved down the outfield line; pass the dugouts and about half way towards the outfield fence. Out there we didn't hear the other team, the home plate umpire couldn't hear us, and the game became real enjoyable. Our view wasn't as good, but that was a small trade off. We were having fun again.

It Is Easy to Involve Others

Other parents were asking us why we were sitting so far down the line. My wife did not hesitate to answer that she was in "time out". Like a child, she couldn't be trusted to behave properly when located near a potential bad situation. Soon, others that had the same problem were joining us. A few games into this idea, and half the parents were down the line with us. It became an enjoyable social event. Maybe it even helped a few marriages.

Start Your Own Cheap Seats Section

There are certain situations where adults will act like little children. If you have these types on your team, ask them to take a stroll down the line with you. Everyone, especially their sons, will thank you.

Preaching to the Choir

I know most of the people reading this are not the problem. Parents with bad behavior usually do not seek out advise. But in the right way you can make a difference. To see other baseball tips and stories I have written please visit my website at http://baseballknowledge.info


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5 Expert Tips About Baseball Hand Signs

By Stan E Quin

Giving baseball indicators is a crucial part of the game. Here you'll study extra about signs and performs, catcher and pitching hand indicators as well as followers signs.

If you happen to be the coach of a Little League team, of course crucial factor is for you to ensure that the kids are pleased and doing their best. Once you're dealing with youngsters on a Little League team, things are a lot different. That features baseball signs that are used so that players on a workforce can talk effectively with each other without anyone on the opposing group understanding what they're saying. In any case, the most important thing is that these youngsters are going to have enjoyable and never have to spend the whole sport racking their brains attempting to figure out what their teammates are attempting to say to them.

A baseball sign may discuss with anything from a touch of the hat to a slide of the foot. Greater than something it's important to keep issues simple. Just ensure to keep issues simple because even for youngsters ten and over it may be a battle to memorize a bunch of different indicators particularly in the event that they're quite complex. Start off by maintaining to a minimal of ten perhaps twenty indicators, and follow having only some strikes concerned in each signal at the most so that the youngsters can nonetheless have enjoyable and never be spending the entire game racking their mind on which indicators are which.

You want to ensure that issues are actually basic and that you are not going to be complicated the little ones. You should also have different baseball signs for sure gamers, as this can preserve the opposing team guessing even more. This fashion the opposing group shall be more confused and have much less likelihood of figuring out what indicators it is that you're using. When developing with baseball indicators for your Little League team, know that getting the youngsters to review the completely different signs is so important.

The most effective manner is for youths to take the indicators dwelling in order that they can study them like homework. These youngsters are used to homework, so go over it with them within the locker room on the end of the day. Write the different baseball signs that you really want them to be taught on a chunk of paper, and have the youngsters take this residence and examine them at evening before going to bed. Do pop quiz a number of occasions earlier than games to be sure that the kids are on level and are ready to enter the game.

Chances are you'll discover that there are particular children who are finding it tougher to remember these signs. When you could have effective baseball indicators and the players on the workforce know learn how to use and understand them correctly, you'll start winning games. Little League is plenty of enjoyable and the children are going to be happiest when they're working together efficiently and winning. These are a few great ideas on easy methods to get your workforce coming collectively and learning the indicators that may help them to win games.

There may be a lot more to study baseball catcher signs. Read these suggestions on baseball hand signs for an knowledgeable resolution.

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A Single Baseball Bat Speed Exercise!

By Brandon Richey

It is no secret that in order for you to increase your batting average or hitting power that you must have a smart lifting plan to increase your bat speed. Bat speed is what creates the power you need to knock the cover off of the baseball. This power is generated from the center of your body outward through your core muscles and finally to your extremities. This is how the human design works. In order for you to significantly increase your bat speed and improve your batting you have got to have a strong core.

Strength Training For Baseball Bat Speed!

One exercise that is a personal favorite of mine is the single arm kettlebell Turkish get up. By now you may be somewhat familiar with the ancient kettlebell and realize that this is one strength and conditioning tool with a highly respected reputation among the fitness and strength community. It is no mistake that this ancient device has been around for over three centuries.

The get up is performed with the kettlebell by lying on your back on the ground with the kettlebell lifted up above your head with one arm. From this lying position the object of the lift is for you to maintain the bell above your head with your arm in a constant perpendicular angle to the ground throughout the entire lift while standing up to your feet and returning to the ground. As you do this you are to engage your core to shift and distribute your body weight onto your free hand by using the leg on the same side of your body that you are holding the bell. Starting from the lying position you will want to lift the bell up and start rolling onto the elbow of your free arm. Once you get on your elbow then distribute your weight up onto your hand. Meanwhile, the leg on the same side of your body that you are lifting the bell is bent and you are using that foot to push and redistribute your weight to get you into position.

Once you have distributed your weight up onto your hand then from here you just simply will "get up." Now how you get up is your business, but when you do just make sure that you are comfortable and stable in doing so. Once you have stood up to your feet then simply reverse the entire process until you have returned to the start lying position. You will engage your core muscles and develop superior strength that is essential for your bat speed performance with this single lift. If you haven't already started to include the kettlebell get up into your baseball strength and conditioning program then you are missing out. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the champions train smart!

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com
To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at: http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html. I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

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Little League Bats

By Glenn Downer

With so many little league bats available in the market, do you feel confused over which is the most suitable baseball bat to get for your child? What should you consider when you are buying a little league bat? Below are some tips to help you, as you make your selection.

1. Length, Weight and Barrel Width
I have decided to group these 3 points together because they are kind of related to one another. The bat should not be too long or too heavy or your child will find it hard to swing. This should be considered in respect to your child's build and strength. You might think that getting a longer bat will make it easier for your child to hit the ball, but have you thought about the weight. If it is too heavy, the young player might end up not learning how to swing properly. On the other hand, bats that are shorter and lighter will teach the player to swing with more speed.

In fact, to be on the safe side, you should consult with the league organization on their requirements, as some leagues do not allow more than 2¼ " round, so you do not want to buy something that you can not use.

2. Material
By material, I am referring to the make of the bat. There are coaches who prefer their young students to learn using wooden bats, as it is better for the training of swinging. However, the con is that wooden little league bats might prove to be too heavy for the young ones. That is probably the main reason why aluminum or alloy baseball bats have been created, and they are also very popular among youth baseball players. These bats are lighter and easier to maneuver than the wood bats.

Ultimately, a baseball bat is a very personal tool, so the player must feel comfortable when using it. The feel of the bat as well as the price should also play an important role when you are making your selection of the perfect baseball bat for your child.

For more information please visit Little League Bats.

http://www.littleleaguebats.org


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Reasons to Invest in Backyard Batting Cages

By James M Peterson

At $30 to $40 an hour, renting out a batting cage can really burn a hole in your pocket. Backyard batting cages can help save you hundreds of dollars over time.

With an initial investment of around $200 for high quality cage netting and a steel frame, you can be well on your way towards becoming a better hitter than ever before. If you think about it, $200 is just five hours spent at the local cage, whereas if you have a batting cage in your own backyard, you'll be able to use it whenever you want, for as long as you want to.

A common misconception is that the break strength of the netting is directly related to its life span. This is not necessarily true. Break strength refers to the amount of load tension that may be placed on a strand of material before it breaks. Unless you're already playing in the pros, you probably won't have to invest in higher break strength, and anything over 100lb will work fine.

But what if you don't have a training partner to work with? There are a couple of ways to work around buying a thousand-dollar pitching machine until you develop the need to invest in one as well.

The old, toss-it-up-and-hit-it method may seem rather primitive, but there's no denying that it helps batters develop some of the essential skills required in batting such as hand-eye coordination and quickness.

When its form that you need to develop, an adjustable T ball stand will help you improve your stance, weight distribution, and grip.

Backyard batting cages will help you to do of all this without having to waste valuable training time and effort to go and find the ball after each hit.

Resource Box:

South Padre Island Nets, Inc. (SPI Nets) is a San Benito, Texas-based family-owned company that provides various types of netting products and accessories for sports, marine and industrial applications. Apart from backyard batting cage nets, they also have pro batting cage nets, fish nets, golf nets, soccer nets and more. For more information, visit www.SPINets.net or call 956.276.9598.

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Hitting the Baseball is All About Regular Practice and Technique

By Franklin Watts

If you want to become better at hitting a baseball, you're going to need two things. The first one is practice. The second one is having a great technique. Having a very strong technique is one of the most important things you can do. This article will help you with hitting the baseball as well as improving your overall technique.

One of the most important parts of your techniques that you need to understand is that you should have a good stance when you position yourself at bat. Your stance is the position of your body while you stand at home base waiting for the ball to be pitched. You want your feet to be as wide as your shoulders in distance from each other. Make sure that you keep your waist and your knees a little bit bent.

When gripping the bat make sure you hold it loosely as well as firmly. Position the handle of the bat so that it is close to your back shoulder. And keep the barrel of the bat positioned above your head.

Now when the pitcher finally throws the ball at you, make sure that you keep your eyes on the ball. Don't let anything else distract you. When you make contact with the ball your head should remain still and only your body will move.

Using these tips will get you started with basic baseball swinging. Remember that practice is very important and you need to practice as often as you can. Master the basics first before you move on to more advanced techniques. And you should always remember to try and learn more about batting techniques as you progress.

Click here now to find out more about the best baseball hitting lessons!

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Fundamentals of Throwing a Baseball

By Lou Schneider

I know you are busy. Life is hectic. However, you want to make the most of teaching youth baseball skills to your team, child or youth organization. This article is designed to reduce the amount of time you must invest, to be a more effective coach, teacher, parent or administrator of youth baseball players. The following instruction will provide easy to use methods to teach youth baseball players the proper fundamentals when throwing a baseball.

These baseball throwing fundamentals are designed for parents, managers and coaches to instruct players on properly throwing the baseball to:

1. Improve your throwing accuracy
2. Maximize your throwing speed
3. Improve the speed of the glove to hand exchange
4. Reduce the risk of arm injuries

Holding the baseball

It all starts here! The key to baseball throwing fundamentals starts with holding the ball correctly. The correct way to hold a baseball is using what's called a 4-seam grip. Please note - Pitchers grips can and will vary, as ball movement may be desired to deceive hitters. This grip should be used by all other positions.

I'll take you through the proper way to hold and throw a baseball. I'm constantly amazed at how few players properly hold and throw a baseball. This technique will make your son throw with more velocity, more accurately, and reduced injury risk. You should only use your index and middle fingers and your thumb. Your index and middle fingers should be on top of the ball crossing the widest seams. Your thumb will support the weight of the ball on the bottom of the grip. Don't squeeze the ball, but hold it tight enough so you won't drop it. Leave a little space between the ball and your hand.

Advantages of using this grip:

1. Better accuracy, as the ball is less likely to tail away from your target.
2. Ball will travel further with less effort, as it takes a more direct route to the target.
3. Ball will get to the target faster, as it takes a more direct route.

Releasing the Baseball

The last motion before you release the baseball should be a wrist flicking motion toward your target that creates a backspin on the baseball. Even though it's the last motion in the process, it should be taught and practiced before the rest of the motion as it should be reinforced as the others parts are learned. This motion, combined with the 4-seam grip, will ensure you maximize the above referenced advantages of this technique.

Bringing it all Together with the Proper Upper/Lower Body Movements We'll cover 4 steps in this section to complete the baseball throwing fundamentals technique:

1. Ready Position

Begin by holding the ball in your throwing hand using the 4-seam grip to begin.

Your glove side shoulder and arm should face your target. At this time, your feet should be shoulder width apart and square with your body.

2. Weight Transfer

Your weight should shift to your rear leg (throwing arm side leg). Once your weight has shifted to your back foot, your throwing arm will extend away from your target (4-seam hold, fingers on top, thumb on bottom) while your glove arm extends toward the target. Take a small step toward your target as your arms extend. This will begin the transition of your weight from back to front. Proper weight transition will give you better leverage, thus more power behind your throw. This increases the velocity of your throw.

3. The Throw

Simultaneously:

-Pivot your waist/hips to square with your target
-Pull your glove away from the target
-Move your arm toward the target (elbow will be above the shoulder).

4. Follow Through

Simultaneously release the ball to its target, continue your throwing arm down (towards the ground) and across your body and follow with your throwing arm leg moving forward toward the target.

Lou Schneider
http://youth-baseball-made-easy.com/

Dedicated to providing coaches and parents the tools to teach baseball fundamentals and drills to youth players. Please visit the website for more detailed instruction including illustrations.

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Big Barrel Youth Bats

By Glenn Downer

There are trainers and parents who want their little league players to use big barrel youth bats because it will increase their chances of winning the game. However, with so many models and designs available in the market, it is not surprising that you will get confused. Below are some tips to help you when you are making your choice.

1. Weight
The preferred choice is definitely the lightest bat you can find, in order to maximize your swinging power. To make the barrel bat light, the material used is usually aluminum, mixed with other metals to make it strong at the same time. However, such bats will tend to cost more. The less expensive ones are heavier, and are made of lower grade materials.

2. Length
A big barrel bat is typically heavier than other kinds of bats, so if you are getting the longer ones, you have to ensure that the batter is able to handle the weight. A shorter bat has its advantages since it allows the player to swing it faster and quicker.

The acceptable length of the bat for Little League is 33 inches and shorter. If you are unsure of whether the length will be acceptable, you should check with your Little League Organization.

3. Size
The batter will have a bigger sweet spot if he uses a big barrel bat, and it provides more power. The con is that it will be heavier, so it will be more suitable for the bigger players.

The problem that most buyers face, is that you cannot get your child to try swinging the big barrel youth bats when you are shopping for one at the sports shop! The best you can do is to check out the standard chart to see if the length, weigh and size is appropriate for your son or daughter's build.

Alternatively, you can get your child to hold out the bat at shoulder level, and if he or she cannot hold it for longer than 20 seconds, then it is probably too heavy for your child.

For more information please visit Big Barrel Bats

http://www.bigbarrelyouthbats.com


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Baseball Drills For Youth - Baseball Throwing Drills

By Peter S. Smith

Youth baseball tends to be a serious sport, so the young ones are required to master some basic skills before entering the field. There are quite a lot of baseball drills that parents can teach their kids even when they can hardly keep a ball in their hands. It is known that if any progress and performance is to be expected, the training should start early ( nobody who's ever been any good at baseball started playing in high school).

So, what are the best baseball drills for kids? Well, the first and most important thing is playing catch. Even if this sounds boring, it's a very important step and a proper technique needs to be learned. Batting cages are perfect for practice, no matter if it's throwing or pitching. Let's talk a bit about throwing and pitching.

The proper throwing technique is this: the child should always fully stretch his or her arm when throwing, and the arm should always be warm. When throwing the ball, it's important that the glove shoulders point straight to the target. Also, the child will want to step toward the target when throwing the ball, and always follow trough. The arms should be bent at the elbow and up above the shoulder when throwing the ball.

Playing catch and practicing throwing should be done daily and it's best if you just have a bucket of balls ready and watch your child how he or she throws at the batting cage. This way, you will be able to correct his or hers position. That's it for this first part of baseball drills for youth. In the next part you'll find tips on batting - the proper technique.

More information and more throwing drills and tips are widely available online today, so go online and you'll find plenty more. A good site with information on baseball drills for youth can be found here.

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Baseball Drills For Youth - The Proper Batting Technique

By Peter S. Smith

There are a lot of tips and tricks when it comes to youth baseball. However, no matter how gifted the child is, a proper technique needs to be developed at an early age. Without this, further along the way injuries could occur and this could end a promising career fast.

In the first part of this article we talked about the proper throwing technique. In this part we'll focus on batting. Kids will love this, and playing ball will be a lot more fun for them as they will be able to swing the bat faster and hit the ball harder.

So, what's it all about? Well, first things first, you want to get your kid a bat just right for him or her. The child should be able to keep the bat horizontally for at least 15 seconds - if he/she can't, then you will want a lighter and shorter bat.

Once you have the right bat, the child should develop a right stance. This means that feet should be at shoulder wide distance apart, the foot closer to the child lined up near the front of edge of the home plate and knees and waist slightly bent. The bat should be held firmly but loosely - so don't let the child cut the blood flow to his/her hands while waiting for the ball.

When the ball comes his or hers way, he/she should solely focus on the ball, and when they hit it, their head should remain still while the body moves. Practicing this baseball drills for youth on a daily basis will improve strength, efficiency and accuracy.

More comprehensive information on baseball drills for youth can be found here.

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Baseball Wood Bats

By Glenn Downer

Baseball wood bats are the only type allowed in the professional baseball games. No other materials, for instance cork, are allowed to be mixed with the wood. By doing that the bat would be lighter, and the speed of the swing would increase. There are in fact several different types of wood bats available in the market, and you have to personally swing and make contact with the ball to feel if it is the one suitable for you.

Being inexpensive and light, the white ash bats, which played an important role in the history of baseball games, are still in high demand among the baseball leagues. There are a few different types of ash and white ash that have the largest demand as compared to the other types. Since the manufacturing of baseball bats using the material from the white ash in 1890s, this wood has been playing a major role in the sport of baseball. Although it has been around for many years, some still considered it as the ideal material to make a good baseball bat.

The latest popular choice among the players who prefer the wooden bat, is the hard maple baseball bat. It is more dense and thicker in nature, and these maple bats are harder and thus able to withstand more hits than other white ash bats before they crack or split. However, not all lumber from these maple trees are usable, and only straight grain maple woods are ideal for bats.

After all, they grow in nature, so they are not always growing vertically straight. You have to ensure that the manufacturer you have chosen to buy from is using the right stock to make their bats.

Generally as you may notice, white ash and maple are two of the most commonly used wood to manufacture baseball wood bats. The most obvious two reasons are that they are light in weight, while at the same time being very powerful when hitting the ball.

For more information please visit Baseball Wood Bats

http://www.baseballwoodbats.net


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