The Five Elements of the Major League Little League Baseball Swing

By Nick Dixon

There is nothing more beautiful in sports than when a "major league" swing whether it be at the tee ball, little league, high school, college or Major League Baseball level of play. A "major league" swing is what I consider to be a perfectly executed swing. There is nothing more beautiful in sports than when you see a baseball batter, at any level, executes the perfect swing, and drive a line drive into one of the outfield gaps.

What makes a little league baseball swing become a "major league" swing? What are the 5 elements of the perfect baseball swing? The answer to that question is simple. The batter must have batting skill, good bat speed, a good eye for the baseball, perfect timing and a proper approach to hitting. Here I discuss all five of these basic elements and how each is improved:

The five basic elements of the "Major League" Little League Swing are:

1. Batting Skill - There is only one way to improve batting skill. That is making sure that the batter takes a high number of practice swings daily or at least 3 times a week year round. The younger the batter begins this practice routine, the batter. It is crucial to batting skill development that the batter receives proper instruction as to proper hitting mechanics.

2. Bat Speed - The grip must be perfect with the fingers aligned and the bat handle gripped in the fingers and not deep in the palm. The batter must have adequate strength to get the bat speed generated. The absolute best way to improve hand and arm strength is do finger pushups, weight roll ups with the arms extended and wrist curls with the arms on a bench.

3. Good Eye for the Ball - There are two things involved in having a good batting eye at the plate. First the batter must learn the strike zone and be able to determine quickly whether a pitch is a in the strike zone or out of it. The other thing that makes the eyes of the batter an asset at the plate, is when the batter has the ability to pitch the ball up very quickly as it is released from the hand of the pitcher. The batter must learn to identify pitches, the spin on the ball, the pitchers arm slot, and the pitchers release point. There are many drills that can help a better have a better eye. One such drill is a "tracking" drill in which the batter stands in while a pitcher throws his bull pen. The batter verbally calls out the type of pitch and its location. The batter will call the pitch in this order...strike, fastball, in or ball, curve ball, off the plate away.

4. Proper Timing - Good timing is something that all great hitters possess. They know when to load and when to launch. They are never late on the fastball. They are never early on the off speed pitch. They know exactly when to attack the pitch based on where the pitch is located. The always attack the inside fastball early. They always attack the fastball down the middle when it gets over the plate. And most important of all, they attack the off-speed pitch late when it gets just inside the back foot. One of the best drills to develop timing is the do a front long toss drill. The pitcher should vary locations, speed and pitch types.

5. Proper Approach - Having a good approach at the plate is a process that involves two aspects of mental concentration.

One part of having an approach is to know what your team needs from your at bat.This is known before the batter walks up to the plate. For example, if the team needs a deep fly ball, the batter looks for a pitch up. If the team needs a ball hit behind a runner, the batter will look for a pitch to hit the other way.

The other part of having an approach is the batter executing the perfect timed swing for the pitch thrown. The batter turns on the fastball in or the batter stays back and hits the curve ball to the opposite field.

The best way to develop a good approach at the plate is to have situational batting practice sessions. The batter takes batting practice swings under simulated situations specified by the coach. The batter practices hitting with the coach calling different numbers of out, different base runner locations or different offensive plays be run.

I hope that you found this article to be interesting and informative. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. Have a great day. Nick

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

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

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Teaching Young Batters to Use the No-Stride Technique For a Good Baseball Swing

Batting Cages Direct is the Best Way to Go!

Teaching Young Batters to Use the No-Stride Technique For a Good Baseball Swing
By Nick Dixon

If you watched the College World Series on ESPN SPORTS TV last June, I am sure that you saw, as I did, player after player, use the no-stride technique. The abundance of players using the "No-Stride" technique at the College World Series in Omaha shows how many baseball coaches today teach the "wider stance and no stride approach" to hitting. Here I cover the basics of teaching and coaching the "No-Stride" hitting method.

The "No-stride" technique is simply the process of swinging the baseball bat without taking a big step or stride forward during the swing. The front foot is the stride foot. The back foot is called the pivot foot. The "No-stride" technique allows the batter to swing and keep the head still, the weight back, and the eyes on the ball.

When using the "No-Stride" approach, the batting stance should be wide enough to insure a solid base and wide enough so that the batter can use a "soft or short" stride technique. It is best that the batter simply lifts the front foot up less than an inch and puts in back down in the same place. There is little or no movement forward by the front foot.

A wider base and shorter stride allow the batter to keep the head still and prevents the head from dropping during the swing. When a batter assumes a narrow stance with the feet close together, the batter must take a long stride during the swing. This long stride causes the head and eyes to "fall or drop" during the swing. This is the reason that many coaches teach the no stride technique. Of course, another reason is the fact that when a batters uses a "close stance" and "long stride approach" they often cannot hit the fastball velocity of many pitchers in the game today.

The optimum width of the feet would be slightly wider than shoulder width. The weight should be on the "balls" of the feet and off the heels. The front foot or stride foot should be "placed softly as if it is on a carton of eggs". This softness allows the foot to be lifted and placed back down easily. The back foot or pivot foot is also important during the swing. The back foot should not "move or leak forward" but should turn up "shoe laces to pitcher" when the front foot settles into place during the swing.

COACHING POINT: I recommended an "even toed" stance meaning that the toes of each foot are even when the stance is assumed. A closed stance is one with the back foot farther away from the plate than the front foot. An open stance is one with the front foot farther away from the plate than the back foot.

COACHING POINT: You may actually use a simple demonstration to illustrate how a long stride causes the head to drop and the eyes to move. Have a batter assume a narrow stance. As you face the batter, hold your hand palm down exactly even with the eyes. Have the batter take a long stride while you hold your hand perfectly still at the level where the eyes were when the stride began. A long stride will cause the head to drop and the eyes to drop also. This movement of the head and eyes makes it more difficult for the batter to "see and hit" the ball as it travels through the strike zone.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

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

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The Categories they have are: Baseball Training Equipment, Youth Baseball Training Equipment, Training Bats, Pitching & Throwing Trainers, Defensive Trainers, Batting Cages, Pitching Machines, Jugs Equipment, Game and Practice Baseballs, Protective Practice Screens and Nets, Portable Pitching Mounds, Baseball DVDs & Books, Clearance Items on Sales, BatAction Hitting Machines, Hurricane Hitting Machines, NEDCO Bataction Replacement Parts, SKLZ Hurricane Replacement Parts and Much Much More! Visit Baseball2U.com today!
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Youth Baseball: Six Simple Steps To A Perfect Swing Teaches Young Baseball Beginning Players the 6 basic elements of the perfect baseball swing.

Great material for teaching baseball beginners.


Proper instruction and repetitive practice are vital for young players to learn a perfect swing. The instructing coach or parent should make sure to cover each step adequately before preceding to the next step. The parent or coach should always teach and emphasis the correct desired fundamentals. Consideration should be given to the fact that young players learn at different rates and have varying attention spands. Some young players
learn the proper techniques more rapidly than others. However, with proper instruction, practice and a patience instructor , every child can learn and master the skill of hitting. Every child can reach his potential as a player and experience fun and success! Good Luck and Happy Hitting!

Coach Nick Dixon
Source - Hit2win.com

Simple Little League Baseball Drills to Help Teach Swing Mechanics

Simple Little League Baseball Drills to Help Teach Swing Mechanics
By Joseph Harrison Jr

Hitting a baseball is perhaps the most difficult aspect of any sport. This can be an especially daunting task for the inexperienced little leaguer. Like all things in life, hitting a baseball requires dedication and a lot of practice. Additionally, successful batting requires sound mechanics and body control. That being said let's discuss some of the mechanics of hitting and a few little league baseball drills that will have your child well on their way to becoming a more consistent hitter.

The first and most important thing for your child to remember when attempting to bat a ball is to keep their eye on the ball. I know this sound like common sense but you would be amazed how many kids spin completely around when swinging. If your child can not see the ball, they most assuredly will not hit it.

There is a simple drill used in little league baseball designed to help keep your child's eye on the ball. Have your child stand in the batter's box with their chin on their front shoulder (the shoulder facing the pitcher). Have them practice keeping their head down as they swing through the ball. As their swing reaches completion their chin should end up on their back shoulder (or the shoulder facing the catcher). A batting tee is quite helpful when performing this drill. If you do not have a batting tee, soft toss drills are also quite effective in teaching this skill. This is also a good habit to get into as it teaches the child to keep their head still as well, further increasing chances of contact with a pitch.

Balance is the second piece to hitting successfully, once again, common sense right? Revisit the spinning child mentioned above. Your child must be balanced to successfully hit a baseball. A good rule of thumb to follow to achieve optimum balance is to keep the feet about shoulder width apart. This is not a must, there are a lot of successful ball players out there with unorthodox stances; it all boils down to what feels comfortable to the individual. Try to encourage an orthodox batting stance in your little leaguer, they will benefit in the long run.

In addition to eye-hand coordination and balance, the upper body muscles play an important role in achieving a successful swing. There seems to be a bit of a misconception concerning the importance of the upper body, namely the wrists, when swinging. It is true that a lot of power is generated from the lower body, but bat speed also plays a pivotal role in hitting for power, and bat speed is primarily attributed to, you guessed it, the wrists. There is a delicate balance in the wrists that needs to be achieved to be a consistent hitter. As a hitter the trick is to not necessarily swing hard, but quick. The trick is to shorten the swing, just a bit, and roll the wrists over as the bat strikes the ball.

The other component of the upper body in batting is the hands. Most batters keep their hands somewhere in the mid chest level with the bat held slightly out in front. There are, however, plenty of players that implement unorthodox batting stances and styles that have yielded great results. The most important thing is that your child feels comfortable in the batter's box.

Another important aspect of batting is to remember to never drop the hands prior to a swing. A lot of young players like to drop their hands, meaning they ever so slightly dip the hands from the chest area to the stomach area. Consider that when you have tenths of a second to see the ball, decide if you will swing, and then execute your swing, dropping the hands can speed a pitch up for a batter, meaning the time the batter spent dropping his hands should have been spent moving the hands forward in preparation of striking the ball. Just a tenth of a second shaved off a swing can be the difference between the game winning line drive and foul ball down the first baseline. Often batters that swing late do so because they drop their hands. Soft toss is an excellent little league baseball drill for developing quick wrists and strong hands. Other simple but effective little league baseball drills are squeezing a tennis ball which builds strength in the hands.

The lower body is the last component of hitting. As previously mentioned, first and foremost, good balance is needed to achieve a proper swing. The biggest mistake that young hitters commit that affects their balance when batting is over striding, resulting in an off balance swing. Instead of taking a giant step, the batter should simply lift the front foot, or the foot nearest the pitcher, off of the ground, this is a mechanism used to time ones swing. Instead of taking a giant clumsy step have your little leaguer practice lifting their foot and simply placing it back on the ground almost where they got it from. This helps them to keep their weight back, a crucial element to hitting well.

The other key ingredient involving the lower body is to twist the hips, ideally as the bat contacts the ball, and simultaneously rolling the wrists over. Commonly used little league baseball drills such as a method called "squashing the bug" is fine tools to teach this hip twisting. In this particular drill the batter holds out their left hand (for a right handed batter) and strikes the left hand with the right simulating a baseball swing. The emphasis of the drill should be placed on the feet and hips as the batter should focus on sharply turning the right, or back, ankle as if to squash a bug with the toes.

Well there you have it, a few simple little league baseball drills that work to improve the key components of hitting, eye on the ball, balance, and a delicate timing of the upper and lower body muscle groups. Hitting is no easy task; even for the guys you get paid the big bucks. The only way to get better is to practice good habits and abandon bad ones as soon as they arise, and they will. Hitting is an exercise in muscle memory, the key is consistency.

I am Joseph Harrison, a baseball coach since 20 years ago. I love baseball since I am young, especially the feeling when you know you will absolutely crush the ball. Training your kid to gain interest in baseball will benefit him from both mentally and physically. In with he will gain team spirit, learn how to cope with teammates, and at the same time train up his physical, and concentration (to have good eye and hand coordination and the ability to use both at once). Go through my article and you will know all the benefits of baseball.

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

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