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Fundamental Baseball Skills
The Grip – It Starts with the Hands
The hands are the one and only physical link to the bat. You don’t hold it with your arms, your shoulders, your legs, feet or your mind. The only body part which touches the bat is your hands. You may use those other body parts to swing the bat properly, but your hands are the only physical connection to the bat. It stands to reason then, that if you intend to develop yourself into a good hitter, that you start…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
The Myth about the Elbow
I have heard fathers and coaches yell out commands to their sons and players for quite a few years now. Many times their information is incorrect. One command in particular that stands out in my mind (because I hear it so much) is the one telling the hitter to keep his back elbow up. I’m not sure where this tip first came from, but I can tell you that it is not exactly a “fix.” With the back elbow up…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
The Ready Position
Okay, now that the lower part of your body is squared away and you understand how to stand and the necessity for good balance, let’s put the weapon in your hands and get into the hitting position. Assume the basic stance position with your weight balanced and your knees slightly bent. Now, gripping the bat properly, raise your hands up so that the top hand on the bat is just above and in front of your rear shoulder. The knob…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
The Hitting Stance and Balance
Let’s get you in a good hitting position with your stance. Your feet should be slightly more than shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent and your weight evenly distributed between both feet. You should feel a little more weight toward the balls of your feet and to the inside of your feet. You should feel springy and ready for action, like a quarterback under center. This is a well balanced, athletic stance that will allow you to hit with power…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
The Three Batting Stances and Vision
As it relates to your stance, seeing the ball better means how you initially stand in the batter’s box to look out at the pitcher. There are basically three different types of stance. The neutral stance is one where your feet are square to the plate. This means that they are an equal distance from the plate. A stance like this affords you a good, comfortable look at the pitcher without straining yourself or otherwise becoming uncomfortable in the batter’s…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
Building a Solid Hitting Foundation
When it come to developing a good stance, there are two very important factors that need to be expressed. The purpose of the stance is to afford you the best opportunity to see the ball. Secondly, to have enough balance so that you can take a mighty swing at the ball, giving you the best opportunity to hit the ball hard somewhere. The two actually go hand in hand. That is, if you are in good balance then there will…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
Avoiding The Inside Pitch
More often than not, a young hitter’s lack of success at the plate can be directly attributed to the fear of being hit by a pitched ball. Let’s face it, in the Little League Majors Division, a big 12 year old can throw the ball extremely hard from 46 feet. This can lead to intimidation, a very real fear of being hurt and a lot of weak swings that result in strike outs!! The diminishing confidence that follows continued failure…
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Baseball Hitting Drills
Inside-Outside Tee Hitting Drill
The use of an “inside-outside” tee is invaluable in learning to hit the ball the opposite way and/or pulling the ball. To properly set up this drill, place the ball on the “inside,” approximately 8-10″ in front of the plate and the ball on the “outside,” right on the outside edge of the front corner. The “inside” ball should be about 4-5″ higher than the outside ball. The hitter gets in a fundamentally sound batting stance and begins his “pre-swing,”…
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Baseball Hitting Drills
The Soft-Toss Drill
The soft-toss may be used to work on pulling the ball, it can also be used for hitting the opposite way. The “tosser” must be a safe distance to the rear of the hitter. The hitter must not peak. The “tosser” tosses the ball from the inside of the plate diagonally across to the outside. The hitter picks up the ball with his peripheral vision and “tracks” the ball with both his body and his eyes to the hitting zone.…
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Fun Baseball Articles
Big League Challenge 2002
Practice Day Click, Clack… shuffle, scrape, they eased their way through the tunnel, their metal cleats ringing off the concrete walkway. The blue sky beckoned them at the end of the tunnel, like a bright light to freedom. A soft tug on the cap to shield the eyes from the midday sun and the players made their way out the tunnel to the ball field. The excitement danced in their eyes with the reflection of the green grass, blue sky…
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Mental Approach
Circle of Change
Many years before our time someone looked at a round object and decided to give it a name, the circle. Time changed that circle into wheels, balls, heck we even figured out that the world itself is nothing more than a big circle. A big circle of change. Nothing stays the same for long. So it is in baseball, especially in hitting a baseball. Fortunately, somebody long ago decided to put a circle on the baseball field as well. They…
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Baseball Hitting Drills
Fence Hitting Drill
The next logical drill to reinforce the proper hand action is swinging the bat with both hands. Here is a drill that will help you to get the right feel for the proper path of the bat to the hitting zone. The goal is to achieve a short path “to the ball”. Remember, during these drills all of the essential fundamentals discussed earlier must be adhered to; grip, stance, pre-swing, rhythm, etc. Stand facing a fence, holding your back arm…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
Hitting: a 7 Step Process
During the winter months I am frequently asked to speak at coaching clinics regarding hitting. One of my favorite lectures breaks the mechanical process of hitting into 7 steps. In this article, we will look at how I approach explaining the mechanics of the hitting. I like to look at the mechanics of hitting broken down into 7 steps as follows: Selecting a Bat/Holding the Bat Set-up/Stance Take Away, Back to Go Forward (Power Position) Forward is Stride to Hitting…
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The Process of Hitting
Hitting, without a doubt, is the most difficult baseball skill to learn. It has even been stated that hitting a baseball is the most difficult skill to master in all of sports. The combination of trying to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely, is a very difficult task. Add two competing human beings into the equation, the hitter and pitcher, and the problem intensifies. The pitcher trying to disrupt the timing of the hitter, and the hitter…
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Bio of Rick Down Hitting Coach of the New York Mets
Richard John Down was named the New York Mets hitting coach on November 26, 2004. In 2004, he was the minor league batting instructor with the New York Yankees. Served two separate tours of duty as the Yankees batting coach from 1993-1995 and from 2002-2003. In 2002, the Yankees hit 223 home runs, second most in the American League and second highest single season total in franchise history. The Yankees led the majors in batting average in each of his…
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Fundamental Baseball Skills
Coiling and Uncoiling
Much has been said about Bat Speed and how to develop it. Although it is obvious that the size and strength of the individual swinging the bat has a direct impact on the swing speed, there are certain mechanical factors involved that also have a significant impact. Given two individuals of the same size and strength, it is entirely possible to have two vastly different bat speeds registered simply as a result of how the bats were swung. Even if…
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High School Baseball Showcases
WHAT ARE THEY? In the past few years high school Showcases have become increasingly popular. College and professional scouts are able to attend these showcases and evaluate a number of potential prospects. In years past, they would have to attend several high school games and travel many miles to view the same quality of talent. In addition, they are able to evaluate this quality of talent pitted against one another. This makes a well run Showcase very appealing to high…
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