By Jim Bain
For the sake of it's not important, I'll not identify the MLB relief pitcher, except to say he's one of the best in the league, who blew a 6 run lead in the 7th inning.
I must admit I was upset to witness, actually I didn't witness it because I turned the channel, the home team have a sure winner snatched away from them. It was devastating for the team and myself, who had been celebrating the end of a horrific 3 game losing streak which had cost them first place.
At times, when I sulk, revelations seem to appear, which puzzle me and on which I'm forced to ponder the meaning. While sitting on the patio and staring up at the stars, wondering why lady luck had so frowned on my team, I experienced one such thought.
If I felt this terrible, and I was a nobody, just another fan, how must the relief pitcher feel? He had let his team mates down, had made a mockery of a manager's decision to use him instead of another pitcher and did it all on national television where millions could watch.
What was he to say to the starting pitcher, who had pitched his guts out for 6 hard innings, or the mate whose home runs were wasted and the player injured giving 110% striving for the win?
How do players live with that sort of failure? An interesting question for which I had to retreat to the memories of my youth, to the days of eternal optimism and willingness to listen to those wiser than myself.
I recollected a particular game which I had attempted to win Worse Player of the Month honors, which left me angry, embarrassed and just plain miserable. I was annoyed, and a little fearful, when the coach came up to me where I was sitting on a parking lot curb.
"Failure breeds Success," he simply said, then walked away. It took me awhile to understand what his words meant, but they have helped me in my life every since. Let me explain.
If you're not failing at something which is new or difficult, you're either not trying or the task is not difficult after all. Learning to hit a round baseball, traveling 95 mph and jumping, with a round bat, with @ .7 seconds to decide whether to swing... well, it breeds a lot of failure.
However, with each hit, the failure decreases ever so slightly as if a one for one swap, until the logistics of mathematics begins enforcing its will. At that point we hit, hopefully, an acceptable failure rate, which ironically becomes an unusually high rate of success, such as a.400 batting average.
Players should never become comfortable with failure, but they need to realize it's a fact of life and will happen. Instead of wrestling with the feeling of failure, embrace the feeling of perseverance, which says I will not fail next time.
That attitude will have you eagerly anticipating the next challenge, a chance to succeed, instead of dreading it, fearing failure. I guess that's what keeps a relief pitcher going after blowing a lead.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth, shares his advice on running baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Unique Baseball Drills
By Jim Bain
While observing an advanced skill level team practice have you ever noticed a metal folding chair setting somewhere around the dugout, bull pen or other area adjacent to the practice field? If you have, you've probably either noticed it, but it didn't register or raise any questions in your mind, or you just figured it was for a coach to sit and take a break.
Did it ever occur to you that you were looking at a very important training tool? You heard me right... a baseball training aid which is utilized for rather unique and skill specific training.
We teach hitting mechanics in a systematic building block process which includes, but is not limited to the legs, core, hips, shoulders, wrists and starting mechanisms. Sometimes a player will develop a problem, or bad habit, with one or more of these elements which must be corrected.
The use of the metal folding chair, or a similar chair devise, as a coaching tool begins here. For instance:
1. If a player develops a bad habit of opening his hips too soon while swinging, he will either hit an excessive amount of foul balls to his left, if a right handed hitter, or to his right if a left handed hitter, or pull off the ball, which shortens his bat length and prevents him from being able to reach a pitch on the outside of the plate.
In order to correct this problem, it is imperative you remove the legs and hips as part of the swinging process. By having the player sit in the chair, with his ankles wrapped around the front legs, you accomplish this goal. The coach will soft toss a ball to the player and the player will swing, attempting to hit the ball solidly, but will only be able to utilize his core, shoulders and arms.
Repetitive use of this drill will retard the impulse of opening the hips too soon, as the muscle memory of the core will over ride, yet work in conjunction with the hips and legs, resulting in a quick bat and power generated from the entire body.
2. On the defensive side of the coin, the chair is utilized for drills which increases hand speed and fielding ability. Obviously the legs are an integral part of fielding just as they are with hitting, but there are times the legs will get a fielder where he wants to go, to the ball, in time, but a bad hop occurs which tests the fielder's ability to quickly adapt with his hands and glove.
The player will sit in the chair slightly bent over in a semi-fielding position. The coach will position himself about 10 foot away, facing the player and throw tennis or rubber balls at him in various ways.
The reason tennis or rubber are used instead of a regular baseball is they bounce better, can be made to bounce and skid erratically and for safety as the player is restricted in his movement.
The fast paced drill requires the fielder to react quickly with only his glove and upper body, which replicates the identical situation presented by a bad hop. Repetitive use of this drill will increase the players' hand speed and agility.
So next time you're at a practice field, don't just look...actually see what's going on. There's no telling what you might learn.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth, shares his advice on hitting baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
While observing an advanced skill level team practice have you ever noticed a metal folding chair setting somewhere around the dugout, bull pen or other area adjacent to the practice field? If you have, you've probably either noticed it, but it didn't register or raise any questions in your mind, or you just figured it was for a coach to sit and take a break.
Did it ever occur to you that you were looking at a very important training tool? You heard me right... a baseball training aid which is utilized for rather unique and skill specific training.
We teach hitting mechanics in a systematic building block process which includes, but is not limited to the legs, core, hips, shoulders, wrists and starting mechanisms. Sometimes a player will develop a problem, or bad habit, with one or more of these elements which must be corrected.
The use of the metal folding chair, or a similar chair devise, as a coaching tool begins here. For instance:
1. If a player develops a bad habit of opening his hips too soon while swinging, he will either hit an excessive amount of foul balls to his left, if a right handed hitter, or to his right if a left handed hitter, or pull off the ball, which shortens his bat length and prevents him from being able to reach a pitch on the outside of the plate.
In order to correct this problem, it is imperative you remove the legs and hips as part of the swinging process. By having the player sit in the chair, with his ankles wrapped around the front legs, you accomplish this goal. The coach will soft toss a ball to the player and the player will swing, attempting to hit the ball solidly, but will only be able to utilize his core, shoulders and arms.
Repetitive use of this drill will retard the impulse of opening the hips too soon, as the muscle memory of the core will over ride, yet work in conjunction with the hips and legs, resulting in a quick bat and power generated from the entire body.
2. On the defensive side of the coin, the chair is utilized for drills which increases hand speed and fielding ability. Obviously the legs are an integral part of fielding just as they are with hitting, but there are times the legs will get a fielder where he wants to go, to the ball, in time, but a bad hop occurs which tests the fielder's ability to quickly adapt with his hands and glove.
The player will sit in the chair slightly bent over in a semi-fielding position. The coach will position himself about 10 foot away, facing the player and throw tennis or rubber balls at him in various ways.
The reason tennis or rubber are used instead of a regular baseball is they bounce better, can be made to bounce and skid erratically and for safety as the player is restricted in his movement.
The fast paced drill requires the fielder to react quickly with only his glove and upper body, which replicates the identical situation presented by a bad hop. Repetitive use of this drill will increase the players' hand speed and agility.
So next time you're at a practice field, don't just look...actually see what's going on. There's no telling what you might learn.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth, shares his advice on hitting baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The Best Way to Stop Your Fear of Being Hit by a Pitch
By Thomas E Wilson
For some young baseball players one of the leading troubles to overcome in baseball is the fear of being hit by a pitch while batting. This fear is the reason behind many technical problems at the plate, the most significant being "stepping in the bucket" where you step away from the plate as you swing. It is basically impossible to be a good hitter if you're afraid of the ball. As former Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski stated, "If you're afraid of being hit, you might as well not bother going up to the plate at all. You can't hit the ball if you're afraid it will hit you." While this may be a big fear to overcome, with a little hard work and effort it can be done.
The very first thing you should do for you to overcome your fear of being hit by a pitch would be to realize why you are scared of it. You're likely scared of being hit by a pitch because you don't want to be harmed or in pain. Well, if you master how to avoid getting injured when a pitch is coming at you, you will most certainly be less scared of the ball hitting you. If you are going to get hit by a pitch, the ideal spot to get hit is on the back or side of your body. So rather than bailing out and exposing the front of your body you should turn towards the backstop in a clockwise direction (if you are right-handed) so that your back is what gets hit. If you get hit in the back or side you will not be in as much pain as you would be in if you got hit in other places.
Now that you realize what to do if a pitch is coming at you, you should repair your confidence in acknowledging that if the pitch does hit you, it's not going to hurt significantly because it will hit your back or side. A terrific drill to perform will be to have somebody kneel ten feet from the hitter and throw rolled up socks for the player to swing at (only if they're strikes). Once in a while throw a rolled up sock at the batter and have him turn away from the pitch the proper way rather than step away from the pitch.
As soon as the player gets the hang of it using socks, progress to tennis balls, and after that soft tee-balls. As soon as the hitter feels safe knowing it does not hurt very much when the ball hits his back and he is not stepping in the bucket even with soft tee-balls, start using normal baseballs. Throw some batting practice as you would normally, but throw a couple of pitches directly at him. If he uses the right technique of turning away from the pitch, he'll soon recognize that it doesn't hurt very much to get hit in the back or side even using a normal baseball. His overall confidence while hitting will improve and he will have the ability to hit the ball better than ever as he will be striding towards the pitch instead of away from it.
It is really depressing that a lot of young baseball players with a lot of potential never succeed and often quit playing just because they're afraid of being hit by a pitch. We all have fears and it's important, whether we are referring to baseball or life in general, to conquer those fears. By working hard and digging deep, you'll be able to get over this fear with no problems and get back to your baseball workouts and doing your best at the game.
In addition, if you are interested in improving your game, check out www.BestBaseballWorkouts.com to find more helpful information as well as baseball workouts and training programs for sale that will take your game to the next level!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_E_Wilson
For some young baseball players one of the leading troubles to overcome in baseball is the fear of being hit by a pitch while batting. This fear is the reason behind many technical problems at the plate, the most significant being "stepping in the bucket" where you step away from the plate as you swing. It is basically impossible to be a good hitter if you're afraid of the ball. As former Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski stated, "If you're afraid of being hit, you might as well not bother going up to the plate at all. You can't hit the ball if you're afraid it will hit you." While this may be a big fear to overcome, with a little hard work and effort it can be done.
The very first thing you should do for you to overcome your fear of being hit by a pitch would be to realize why you are scared of it. You're likely scared of being hit by a pitch because you don't want to be harmed or in pain. Well, if you master how to avoid getting injured when a pitch is coming at you, you will most certainly be less scared of the ball hitting you. If you are going to get hit by a pitch, the ideal spot to get hit is on the back or side of your body. So rather than bailing out and exposing the front of your body you should turn towards the backstop in a clockwise direction (if you are right-handed) so that your back is what gets hit. If you get hit in the back or side you will not be in as much pain as you would be in if you got hit in other places.
Now that you realize what to do if a pitch is coming at you, you should repair your confidence in acknowledging that if the pitch does hit you, it's not going to hurt significantly because it will hit your back or side. A terrific drill to perform will be to have somebody kneel ten feet from the hitter and throw rolled up socks for the player to swing at (only if they're strikes). Once in a while throw a rolled up sock at the batter and have him turn away from the pitch the proper way rather than step away from the pitch.
As soon as the player gets the hang of it using socks, progress to tennis balls, and after that soft tee-balls. As soon as the hitter feels safe knowing it does not hurt very much when the ball hits his back and he is not stepping in the bucket even with soft tee-balls, start using normal baseballs. Throw some batting practice as you would normally, but throw a couple of pitches directly at him. If he uses the right technique of turning away from the pitch, he'll soon recognize that it doesn't hurt very much to get hit in the back or side even using a normal baseball. His overall confidence while hitting will improve and he will have the ability to hit the ball better than ever as he will be striding towards the pitch instead of away from it.
It is really depressing that a lot of young baseball players with a lot of potential never succeed and often quit playing just because they're afraid of being hit by a pitch. We all have fears and it's important, whether we are referring to baseball or life in general, to conquer those fears. By working hard and digging deep, you'll be able to get over this fear with no problems and get back to your baseball workouts and doing your best at the game.
In addition, if you are interested in improving your game, check out www.BestBaseballWorkouts.com to find more helpful information as well as baseball workouts and training programs for sale that will take your game to the next level!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_E_Wilson
Sunday, September 18, 2011
How to Throw a Strike in Baseball
By Jim Bain
How difficult can it be to throw a strike in baseball? I mean, we're not talking painting the corner with a slider or bending an arching curve ball, we're simply throwing a simple fastball for a strike. Let's establish, then examine the facts involved in throwing strikes.
The regulation pitching distance for High School players and older, is 60' 6" and if the pitcher is 5' 11" or taller, after his stride he is @ 55' away from home plate. From that mere distance, he must throw the baseball inside a 17", width of home plate, by 3' to 4' high, depending on the batters size, box.
Those measurements appear to be a very large target to hit from a relatively close distance, not a particularly difficult task to accomplish. If we stopped our investigation at this point we'd most likely have to conclude, throwing a strike in baseball is easy.
However, there is one unanswered question which cast doubt on our conclusion. Why is it, at particular times, a major league baseball pitcher who is paid millions of dollars a year to throw strikes, absolutely can not throw two strikes in a row?
Obviously they have the ability and history of being quite capable of throwing consistent strikes, but if they fail, how can we expect our youngsters to succeed, and what happens when this inability to control their throws occurs.
In my opinion, the first thing a young pitcher needs to learn and continue to improve, is concentration or focus on what he's attempting to do. I believe sometimes, even though they are professionals, major league pitchers lose focus and that is what negatively effects their control.
So how do we retain or learn to focus while pitching? Let's examine the steps in which we can accomplish this.
We take a deep breath, exhaling we totally shut the activities, noise and actions going on around us, out of our mind. Don't mistake this for ignoring the circumstances of the situation you're in. You still must be aware if there are base runners on, strike and ball count, number of outs and who you're pitching to. I'm referring to the buzz of traffic, the voice of a particularly annoying fan or the crying of a baby, these are the distractions we shut out in order to remove clutter and chaos from our mind. Our main purpose at this point, is to regain a calming order in which to begin our refocusing.
As we stand on the pitching rubber, and after receiving the signals, we peer into the catcher's mitt and imagine a quarter being pasted to the pocket of the catcher's mitt. We don't want our thrown ball to hit the mitt, rather we want to hit that quarter.
After establishing our image of that quarter we want to hit, we visually, through imagery, change that quarter to a dime. We have regained focus by visualizing a quarter inside the catcher's mitt, then narrowed our focus to a laser beam by reducing the target to a dime. Visualize the baseball hitting that dime.
Once you begin your wind-up never remove your eyes from that dime. Continue this refocusing on every pitch until you regain your natural pitching motion and pattern, settling back into a normal pitching routine.
As an additional tip, if need be call time out and talk to your catcher and tell him what you want to do. Some catchers will offer a target, then bring it down as they shift weight, then re-establish it. That may be fine if you're not struggling, but until you regain your composure and focus you'll require a steady established target on which to concentrate.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth, shares his advice on running baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
How difficult can it be to throw a strike in baseball? I mean, we're not talking painting the corner with a slider or bending an arching curve ball, we're simply throwing a simple fastball for a strike. Let's establish, then examine the facts involved in throwing strikes.
The regulation pitching distance for High School players and older, is 60' 6" and if the pitcher is 5' 11" or taller, after his stride he is @ 55' away from home plate. From that mere distance, he must throw the baseball inside a 17", width of home plate, by 3' to 4' high, depending on the batters size, box.
Those measurements appear to be a very large target to hit from a relatively close distance, not a particularly difficult task to accomplish. If we stopped our investigation at this point we'd most likely have to conclude, throwing a strike in baseball is easy.
However, there is one unanswered question which cast doubt on our conclusion. Why is it, at particular times, a major league baseball pitcher who is paid millions of dollars a year to throw strikes, absolutely can not throw two strikes in a row?
Obviously they have the ability and history of being quite capable of throwing consistent strikes, but if they fail, how can we expect our youngsters to succeed, and what happens when this inability to control their throws occurs.
In my opinion, the first thing a young pitcher needs to learn and continue to improve, is concentration or focus on what he's attempting to do. I believe sometimes, even though they are professionals, major league pitchers lose focus and that is what negatively effects their control.
So how do we retain or learn to focus while pitching? Let's examine the steps in which we can accomplish this.
We take a deep breath, exhaling we totally shut the activities, noise and actions going on around us, out of our mind. Don't mistake this for ignoring the circumstances of the situation you're in. You still must be aware if there are base runners on, strike and ball count, number of outs and who you're pitching to. I'm referring to the buzz of traffic, the voice of a particularly annoying fan or the crying of a baby, these are the distractions we shut out in order to remove clutter and chaos from our mind. Our main purpose at this point, is to regain a calming order in which to begin our refocusing.
As we stand on the pitching rubber, and after receiving the signals, we peer into the catcher's mitt and imagine a quarter being pasted to the pocket of the catcher's mitt. We don't want our thrown ball to hit the mitt, rather we want to hit that quarter.
After establishing our image of that quarter we want to hit, we visually, through imagery, change that quarter to a dime. We have regained focus by visualizing a quarter inside the catcher's mitt, then narrowed our focus to a laser beam by reducing the target to a dime. Visualize the baseball hitting that dime.
Once you begin your wind-up never remove your eyes from that dime. Continue this refocusing on every pitch until you regain your natural pitching motion and pattern, settling back into a normal pitching routine.
As an additional tip, if need be call time out and talk to your catcher and tell him what you want to do. Some catchers will offer a target, then bring it down as they shift weight, then re-establish it. That may be fine if you're not struggling, but until you regain your composure and focus you'll require a steady established target on which to concentrate.
Jim Bain, former Minor league baseball player, who since retiring has dedicated his life to teaching baseball to youth, shares his advice on running baseball drills on his exciting info packed website: http://www.learn-youth-baseball-coaching.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Bain
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