How to Hit a Home Run in Baseball - 3 Tips For Explosive Power

By Rob Bucher

Want to learn how to hit a home run in baseball and add some more pop in your swing?

Most younger players including high school players have poor hitting mechanics which drains their power at the plate. Contact is made and the ball usually limps off the bat instead of rocketing off it in direction of the fence.

Let me reveal three tips you can use to learn how to jack more homers and become a complete hitter.


Most players have been taught to impart back spin on the baseball by hitting the top half of the ball. While this is great in theory, it rarely helps the ball travel. Two things occur when you try to hit the top half of the ball. Either you hit a ground ball or a soft hump back liner. You should be trying to make square contact with the ball for the maximum collision effect. You might of heard announcers on television term it squaring the ball up. In order to hit the ball with power, the plane of your bat must be on the same plane as the pitch so they intersect at a ninety degree angle.
You may have been told to throw the barrel of the bat at the ball. If this sounds familiar then it's one of the reasons you lack power in your swing. The baseball swing is more of a pull than an actual swing. You need to keep your hands inside the path of the baseball and pull the barrel of the bat through the hitting zone with your hips leading your swing.
In order to hit a home run in baseball you need to make contact with the ball at a ninety degree angle with the barrel of the bat. It's produces maximum exit velocity and propels the ball further. The closer you get to the perfect ninety degree angle the further the ball will fly.
If you want to tap into your true potential and hit more home runs, you need to incorporate these tips into your swing mechanics.

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

Build a Batting Cage in Your Backyard

By Brandon Bland


To build a batting cage, there are many different options you have to consider. A batting cage in your backyard can be one of the greatest assets to you or your child's playing career. Therefore, it is a wise investment and one that should be highly considered by every ballplayer and their parents.

The first thing to consider is where you would like to set up your batting cage. There are many various ways in which you can set up a cage, and will all depend on space available, budget, etc. First off, all cages will require various amounts of assembly and construction. If you have an unlimited budget and space available, it will be no problem to purchase a nice high quality cage from a company like Jugs or Atec.

For those of us looking to save a little money (who isn't, right?), there are many other options available. You may buy kits from several companies online that will ship most or all of the parts to you for fairly reasonable prices. Something that you should also consider is that you may purchase many of the parts, including netting, and especially the frame from your local hardware store. This can result in some pretty substantial savings, because you will end up saving on shipping costs.

If you have limited space, you may have to get a little creative on how you rig up your cage. There are however, standard sizes for cages that most nets are made for. Here is a list of some of those sizes.


70' L x 14' W x 12' H
65' L x 11' W x 11' H
10' L x 12' W x 12' H
55' L x 12' W x 12' H
40' L x 12' W x 12' H

The size you choose will depend on how much space you have to play with, how old the ballplayer using it will be, how much you wish to spend, etc. Obviously the larger nets cost more than the smaller ones. Regardless of the age, a wider and higher cage will allow for a little more comfort and room to work with.

Hopefully this will give you some insight into the things you should consider before you build a batting cage. Remember, that it will be a wise investment in you or your child's playing career, so take your time and make sure you will get exactly what you need. You can find more information about equipment and netting here:

http://www.baseball-equipment-review.com/build-a-batting-cage.html

Brandon Bland is the webmaster of Baseball Equipment Review, a site devoted to informing ballplayers of the quality of today's baseball equipment so they can make informed decisions about their purchases.

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

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Baseball Swing - How to Hit Slow Pitching

BatAction Machine - The Backyard Basketball Goal for Hitters

By Nate Barnett

was asked to come work with a youth baseball team recently which was struggling with hitting slow pitching. The coach told me prior to the practice that frustration within his lineup was at an all time high, and confidence was at an all time low. They simply didn't have the necessary tools to approach slower pitching and have success. It was my job in a two hour practice to equip the hitters with some baseball drills and a hitting approach that would improve their chances for success against slower pitching. I've outlined the approach taken below.

1. Modified Stance

The first thing we worked on was understanding what it was about slow pitching that was giving the hitters such trouble with their timing of the baseball swing. We all agreed that slow pitching primarily caused off balanced swings. Logically then we needed to find the solution to what would create improved balance within the baseball swing mechanics. Simple verbal advice of "wait on the baseball" doesn't work in this scenario by the way. Most hitters understand that they must wait on a baseball if they are out in front of the pitch.

One great solution to the off balance problem is to hit with a wider stance and eliminate the stride. We moved the boys from their normal stance position to a stance that was roughly 6 inches wider (depending on the preset width of each individual hitter). This widened stance allowed the boys to keep their weight back without floating up onto their front foot. It's simply easier to feel weight stay back onto the back leg this way. Also, when hitting a baseball with this approach, it's much more difficult physically to let your weight move forward improperly.

2. Eliminate the Pull Side

One of the first things many hitters do when they encounter slower pitching is gear up their muscles and try to crush the baseball. I mean after all it looks so good to hit! This is the wrong approach. I taught the hitters to eliminate the pull side (left field for righties, right field for lefties) from their radar system. By doing this, there was no reason to be early on hitting the pitch since the focus was in hitting a baseball to the opposite field. This is not to say that all balls thrown from a slow pitcher should be hit to the opposite field, as it's plenty fine to pull pitches. It's just that the focus should not be on pulling pitches solely.

Patience is key when battling a slower pitcher. Proper understanding of the baseball swing and baseball swing mechanics is necessary in order to win the fight. Learn to prepare ahead of time and you'll enjoy a greater degree of success in hitting a baseball off slower pitching.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Come download a free ebook on dealing with baseball psychology.

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

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Tips For a Great Batting Practice

www.BattingCagesDirect.com

By Mike Posey

Batting practice is an important ingredient to every practice, but it can also be a time waster. Many players at a young age accomplish little during an ineffective BP session. Here are a few tips to help every coach run a quick paced, exciting, BP session.

Batting Practices that Rock!


Stay in Small Groups.
Divide your team into groups of 4 or 5. One group can hit BP, one can be in the field shagging balls, and one group can be with another coach in the batting cages working on tee drills or toss drills.

Good Batting Practice Pitchers Throw Strikes.
A good BP pitcher must throw a lot of strikes and keep the pace moving. We also use a hack-attack pitching machine twice a week to supplement our pitching. Use coaches to throw BP when possible and let the players throw in scrimmages.

Take Quick Short Rounds
Hit in quick short rounds of no more than eight (8) swings. Keep the hitters moving in and out. Usually hit 3-5 rounds.

Have a Goal for Each Round
Each round must have a purpose. First round can be to the opposite field, second round can be hit and run, third round can be moving runners over from second, etc.

Use a Lightning Round at the End.
Lightning rounds can be fun as the last round. The concept of a lightning round is every hitter gets one pitch, if he hits a line drive then he gets a second pitch. Every line drive will result in another chance. If they miss, then the next player jumps in. Keep them moving in and out.

Use a Roll On Batting Tunnel
A portable roll on tunnel will help BP move much faster. Every league should invest in a good roll on to use every day at practice.

Hustle
make sure everyone is busy and hustles when changing groups. Group in the field can rotate to the cages, the cage group rotates to the field BP, and the BP hitters go to the field. Use a stop watch or field timer if needed (you can even use an air horn when its time to change groups, train them to hustle)

Running the Bases
If you have enough players for a fourth group, then add a base running group. If not, you can have groups of four or five, with two base runners while the others hit. But plan to practice base running at times during BP.

Take Ground Balls
If possible, have fielders rotate into short and second. A coach (or volunteer) can hit fungo ground balls in between BP pitches.

Situational Hitting
Some BP sessions can include a round of situational hitting. The coach calls out the situation for the hitter to execute (if you have runners on base, put them in a situation). For example, runners on third with no outs. (hit a ground ball in the infield or outfield fly ball) Runner at second base with no outs (hit behind the runner to move him up to third base)

Batting practice should be fun. Keep them moving and throw strikes.

Mike Posey "CP"
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Posey




Baseball2u.com and CoachesBest.com is your online super store for baseball batting cages, pitching machines and protective screens and nets. This fully licensed company has a full time staff to help you from 8:00 to 5:00 CST. You may order securely online or by phone, toll free, at 1-877-431-4487.
Check out these categories that are featured at Baseball2u.com.
Jugs Complete Packages
Batting Cages
60' Portable Batting Cage
55' Portable Batting Cage
70' Portable Batting Cage
Extender Batting Cage 30'
Jugs Pitching Machines
Iron Mike Pitching Machines
BATA Pitching Machines
Heater Pitching Machines
Granada Pitching Machines
Phantom Pitching Machines
…and if you are looking for Youth Training Equipment, Advanced Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, and Pitching & Throwing Trainers, or Portable Mounds, they have those too!
Plus, they have one the internet's largest selections of Baseball Training and Coaching DVDs and Books. Make sure to chweck our their CLEARANCE DEPARTMENT for rock bottom prices on top quality equipment.

Baseball Tips on Hitting - Being Ahead in the Count is Where You Want to Be!

Joe Mauer Quick Swing baseball Trainer

By Larry Cicchiello

The ability of a hitter to get the count in his favor will very often determine how much success he has as a hitter.

There isn't any such thing as a mediocre swing, late swing, weak swing or check swing at a pitch when the count is in the hitter's favor.

He should have the buttons on his uniform shirt popping off because the swing should be aggressive or he should not be swinging at all and should take the pitch!

You will definitely see many better pitches to hit when ahead in the count.

You can be much more selective and decide if it's the type of pitch that YOU want to hit and it's located where YOU want it to be located or simply take the pitch.

If a hitter's favorite pitch to hit is a fastball that's belt high and out over the plate and the count is 2-0 or 3-1, if he doesn't get the fastball out over the plate and belt high he simply takes the pitch.

If you are a "pull hitter," you can look for a certain pitch that's over the middle of the plate or a little bit inside, where you like it.

If you are an opposite field hitter, you can look for a pitch that's over the middle of the plate or slightly away, where you like it.

You can also position yourself in the batters box to hit a ball in a certain part of the strike zone, because that's the only pitch you are going to swing at anyway.

Most people agree that on average, you get one real good pitch per at bat to hit.

There is a MUCH BETTER chance that you will see that one real good pitch if you are ahead in the count and not even or behind in the count.

The main point here is that when you are ahead in the count you should only swing at one type of pitch that's located where you like it located.

You can afford to be very selective and you are in the driver's seat and not the pitcher!

Although 2-0 and 3-1 are both very good hitter's counts, the best of the two is the 2-0 count.

At 3-1, if a hitter take strike two, he's one pitch away from a walk but is also one pitch away from strike three.

At 2-0, even if the hitter takes strike two, the count is still favorable for the hitter at 2-1 and he still has plenty of breathing room.

Larry Cicchiello is the author of "Excellent Baseball Coaching: 30 Seconds Away." His site offers many FREE baseball tips on hitting, baseball pitching tips, baseball coaching drills, etc. You will be FULLY EQUIPPED!

You can visit his website at http://www.larrybaseball.com/

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

The 4 Best Batting Tees in Baseball:
Advanced Skills Tee
Stay Back Tee
Hands Back Hitter
5 Position Batting Tee

Plate Discipline

www.HurricaneMachine.com

By Todd Thomas

How important is it to have a good eye at the plate? That is to have an acute ability to know a ball from a strike and to offer mostly at strikes and much fewer times at pitches out of the strike zone. Unless you are Vladimir Guerrero, it can most certainly have an effect on your overall success in hitting. Okay, it affects Vlad too, but to a much lesser extent. The previous statement is a major league understatement. :-)

There's a statistic in baseball called O-Swing%(outside swing percentage). This statistic measures the percentage of pitches a batter swings at outside of the strike zone. It's significance is important because when a batter swings at a pitch thrown outside the strike zone, the chances of success are severely decreased. A hitters O-Swing% is a good measure of true plate discipline.

On the flip side is a Pitcher's O-Swing%. A high O-Swing% is good for a pitcher because it shows how adept a pitcher is at tricking batters into swinging at pitches outside the strike zone.

Major League hitters average O-Swing% changes slightly from year to year, but generally is in the 23-25% range. For example, the average major league hitter who sees 4 pitches outside the strike zone will swing at 1 of those 4 on average.

Texas Ranger fans are painfully familiar with the struggles of Josh Hamilton had this season. Prior to August 2nd, Josh's O-Swing% was nearly 44%. Swinging at this high of a percentage of pitches outside the strikezone points in the direction of why Hamilton struggled so much in 2009. Most people wondered what's wrong with Josh's swing. No doubt the Rangers have been working with Josh for an extended period of time on minor swing adjustments, but a quick look at this number would indicate a problem of more of a mental nature than physical.

In Josh's most recent hot streak, his O-Swing% dropped near the Major League average of 23%. And AMAZINGLY, his swing has "returned". My assertion is that Hamilton's swing never really deserted him. It was his approach at the plate that was the major culprit not a mechanical issue. Since he improved his O-Swing%, Josh hit nearly .500 with multiple extra base hits.

Sometimes you have to look deeper into your struggles at the plate than just to say I must be doing something mechanically wrong so I should go get a lesson. Having a professional hitting instructor work with you and look at your swing is never a bad idea, but if that's all you look at for solving hitting problems and you never consider what may be ailing you in your mental game(or lack thereof), then frustration may follow you when your instructor says your swing looks good.

Do you have a plan going to the plate? Get one. Do you have a solid pre-pitch routine that you follow before every pitch to help you be focused, relaxed, composed, and confident? Develop one. Having a solid mental approach is a huge advantage and can lift any given player closer to his/her true potential. BUT you must have the desire to win at the mental game. Most don't. Do You?

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

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

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The 4 Best Batting Tees in Baseball:
Advanced Skills Tee
Stay Back Tee
Hands Back Hitter
5 Position Batting Tee