The Joe Mauer Quick Swing Training Blog has free baseball coaching and training tips for baseball players, coaches and parents. Our daily posts provide you with free baseball articles, baseball videos, and baseball batting drills.
Joe Mauer Quickswing PX4 Introduction Uploaded by SKLZvidz
http://sklz.com/
The SKLZ Quickswing Px4 is a 4 in 1 swing trainer that helps players work on their swing. The Px4 includes a rebounder which allows players to hit soft toss, tee style and even work on fielding turn-around double plays. It's no wonder why this is a favorite of coaches.
Defensive Drills For Coaching Youth Baseball Middle Infielders By guest author: Nick Dixon
Drill - DIRT LINES "Ground Ball Drill" Great Drill For Teaching Ground Ball Fundamentals.
This drill is used to teach young players to get their hands and glove out front when fielding a grounder. The young player often gets in the habit of catching grounders close to his or her feet or slightly in front of the toes. As coaches, we want infielders to extend their arms and get the glove out in front so that they can see the ball into it. The player should "lay" the glove on the ground out in front of his body. Each players distance will vary. However, a good rule of thumb is to try and extend the length from the players arm or from the tip of the fingers to the armpit. Another good measuring scale is they should be able to extend the length of the bat they use. This distance is measured on the ground from the back of his heel outward. For this drill we pair two players. The players will roll grounders to each other from about 6 to 8 feet. The coach draws two lines in the dirt about 8 feet apart. The players must catch the ball out in front of this line. The coach will then draw a second line for each player. This is the "feet" line. The feet must stay behind this line. The players roll the ball and catch it while making sure to:
•Get extension by getting the glove out in front. •Keep the elbows off the ribs •Funnel the ball in using the top "bare" hand. •Work their feet as they bring the ball up to the correct "T" throwing position. •Roll the ball back to your partner •Repeat the process. •Players should catch and roll 50 to 100 ground balls each practice. •The distance can be changed to accommodate the speed of the ground ball work.
Drill - Make Believe Infield Drill Great warm-up for certain situations The teams takes perfect infield by allowing every player to make a perfect catch and throw. The way this drill is conducted is the coach does not use a ball. He hits a "make-believe" ball. Each time the player goes through the correct motion of fielding the ball and making a perfect play. Each time the player receiving the throw will pat his glove to simulate a catch. Emphasis is placed on talking, following through, and making everything look perfect. No one will mess up or make a bad mistake. I have used this drill many, many times in practice and before games. It is especially good with young kids to emphasis correct body mechanics. It is also useful if you get to a field for a game and the playing surface is too wet or rough to take a "good" round of infield. Sometimes it is better not to use a real ball in warm-up if there is a risk of the ball taking a terrible bounce. Bad infield and warm-up may bring down "team esteem". I've never had a team take "make believe" infield that was anything less than great! It's always perfect!
Drill - Ground Ball Pair Work Drill for Infielders This drill is actually a method of taking a lot of ground balls with out having your players make any throw. The drill requires 36 baseballs, two buckets and a fungo bat. The coach will be hitting ground balls to at least 3 players. 5 or 6 players can be worked at a time using this drill. The coach will place the two buckets about 45 feet apart. All of the balls are in one of the buckets. This is the bucket that the coach will get his balls from. The players are lined up single file with one behind another, on the end with the empty bucket. The coach hits grounders. The players field each ground ball and get in proper throwing position. They then sprint to the empty bucket, drop the ball in and get in the back of the line. There is no throwing of balls during this drill. When all balls have been hit, fielded and dropped in the bucket, the coach and players swap ends and the drill starts over.
Drill: Cut-off Relays Great drill for building skills, speed, accuracy and confidence This drill is a great skill builder. There will be at least 5 players on a team. They line up about 30 feet apart and stretch about 120 feet across the field. You will have two teams or "lines" competing against each other. Make sure to have you catcher, first baseman, and third baseman on one end. Have an outfielder on the opposite end. Your middle infielder should be in the middle. The drill will start for both lines at the same time. The first team to take the ball to the other end and get it back is the winner. The ball must be caught and thrown by each player in the line. Teams may not skip a man. The catchers should practice catching and tagging a runner. The middle infielders should be taught to properly "round" the ball, make a proper relay catch and quick throw. We often do this drill and the losing team must do 5 or 10 pushups or squat thrust.
The distance between players should be matched to the age of the players working. You may also have the outfielder let the ball go and hit the fence, before he goes retrieves it and makes his throw to the cutoff man. You may also want to make this a "total team" drill with the whole team having to catch and throw the ball to cover a long distance. If you have the room to do this, it is great to have the team work together to beat the clock. They must beat a set time or they "pay". You may also want to have the "line" make more than one trip down and back. It is great to make each "line" take the ball to the other end three times.
Visit the Baseball Coaching Digest Blog for daily post and articles on every aspect of coaching baseball. The Baseball Coaching Digest Blog. Check out the Bat Action Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.
Joe Mauer Quick Swing Baseball Trainer : Baseball Express \ Uploaded by TeamExpress Develop SHORT, QUICK, COMPACT swings! Endorsed by 2006 AL batting champion Joe Mauer, the QuickSwing uses a unique delayed gravity-drop design to help batters develop greater bat speed, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and muscle memory. Now, load your baseballs or softballs and let the new automatic feeder release the ball in 5 second intervals. Can be used alone or with a partner, and is designed for both baseball and softball batting practice. Includes the new clear, see-through end that allows the hitter a split second more time to work on his/her trigger or load before the ball drops down. This portable and durable product also comes with an instructional DVD, with Mauer highlighting the QuickSwing'3-step hitting process, Molitor providing hitting fundamentals, and former USA Olympic coach Mark "Lunch" McKenzie sharing his hitting philosophy. Most appropriate for ages 8 and up.
Available at BaseballExpress.com!
=============================== Thanks to our sponsors:
Youth Baseball Hitting Tips - Drills By guest author: Jeffery A Wise
It's important that youth first learn the basic fundamentals when they begin their baseball playing careers. In a previous article we touched on a lot of these basics, including keeping your head down and eyes on the ball, how to stand in the batter's box and how to have a smooth, consistent swing. We also talked about the importance of hustling and having fun.
In order to learn the sport and become better players, youth should not just know these fundamentals; they also need to practice them in drills. Here is a list of drills that can be used for most age groups during practice.
•Hitting off a tee. This basic but essential hitting drill is used by all age groups. Even Major League Baseball players hit off a tee. Besides using a tee and a ball, you will need protective netting or a solid chain link fence to hit the ball into. Practice hitting off of a tee as often as you like but for each session strive to hit at least 25 balls. Advanced players can move the tee around to mimic different locations of the pitch. This helps for practicing hitting the ball to the opposite field, up the middle or your pull side. •Soft toss. This fun drill was a favorite of mine during my 14 years of baseball. Again, you will either need protective netting or a solid chain link fence. It's better to hit into the protective netting because no balls will bounce back. Have someone kneel in the front and side of the hitter. He will underhand toss the balls to the hitter who will then hit the balls into the netting. The ball can be tossed to the hitter at different locations to make him adjust, wait for the ball and hit it to the appropriate area of the netting. This is a safe drill but if another player is doing the tossing make sure he wears a batting helmet for safety. •Modified broomstick hitting drill. This is also fun because it takes you back to when you simulated games in the backyard with a brother or friend and drilled wiffle balls over the fence. Those were fun times! Find a wooden broomstick and saw it, making it the same length as the bat you use in games. You might want to tape the handle just like you would a normal bat. Then find some plastic golf balls and pitch them to the hitter. This is an excellent drill for hand-eye coordination. •Live batting practice. Live pitches to the batter is a great finishing drill during practice. If at all possible, make sure the pitcher stands behind a protective "L" screen. Each player should get at least 20-25 hittable pitches. If you're taking batting practice alone with just you and your dad, coach or friend then 50 hittable pitches is better. Either way, divide up the pitches and hit some to the opposite field, up the middle and to your pull side as well. Don't forget to lay down a few bunts too.
Drills during practice are essential to improving young players. If time is an issue, try separating the players into groups that move from station to station. Practicing such drills and knowing the basic youth baseball hitting tips will ensure that your team will be the best it can be.
Jeffery A Wise invites you to learn the proven system of youth baseball hitting tips so that you can learn how to hit a baseball better. Start learning today at http://www.baseballhittingtipsonline.com by reading our information, watching our videos and participating in our blog.
