Rec and Sports

The perception of contact and how to follow through is one of the most analyzed concepts in baseball. Between when, where, and how you should perform these steps, many coaches around the country have developed their own approaches to accomplishing the same task. As a result, there are still many unanswered questions and inexperienced coaches are looking for an explanation with more substance. By the end of this article you are going to feel much more confident on the approach you should take moving forward.

The key to hitting a baseball successfully is not to focus on contact itself. I know it sounds strange not to focus on the one thing that you are trying to do, but I promise it will make more sense by then end of the article. So where shall we begin? Well if you read my other articles on the mechanics of the swing then you know I believe everything begins with the load, specifically pitch recognition. If we misidentify the pitch early on in our swing, we drastically lower our chances of achieving a base hit. So once again, break the plate down in three separate zones, L for left, C for center, and R for right. As players’ progress, I like to break down the height of the pitch into three zones as well, but for now we will just focus on the three.

Now, I am not going to debate, how to load, drive the hips, hands, etc. However, I am going to debate contact points, because quite simply, I think a lot of players and coaches out there have it wrong. Saying that, I want you to envision that you are about to take a round of batting practice as a right handed hitter. Your contact points should be as follows: R pitches should be contacted just off your back side thigh, C pitches should be contact just off the belt buckle, and L pitches should be contacted just in front of the front leg. The theory is, as the ball gets further away from our body, we want to contact the ball deeper in our stance.

Even if these contact points are a little deep for most players, it will help players remain in the mindset of letting the ball travel instead of attacking it out in front of our body. Between confidence issues and talent struggles, I would rather have my players think deep and get beat every once in awhile rather than overextend themselves too early. Saying that, I want my players to swing to these contact points instead of swinging for contact. By swinging through a contact point we eliminate the question of where, and left only with the question of when. The beautiful part about swing through a consistent contact point is that it never changes!

Now, up until this point I am probably consistent with the majority of the theories out there, but here is where I branch off. I don’t believe in contacting just one baseball, in fact, I usually don’t train contact points at all. Of course they are great reference and can help you make adjustments. However, perfect contact comes so and few far between, even at the major league level, it’s almost not even worth training. As a result, I train contact zones!

“Contact zones” are an enlargement of contact point areas. Instead of just contacting one baseball, I have my players picture at least 4 baseballs through any given zone. Put one baseball before “contact”, two after, and now we have a something to work with. As players progress with this concept, we can add a 5th baseball, 6th baseball and so on. The key to this concept is staying long through the zone. As I mentioned earlier, hitting is not about perfect timing or great contact, it is about making up for timing mistakes and managing the zone. If players are able to take the barrel of the bat through 4 ball contact zone they are sure to pick up more base hits and raise their average. I want you to think of these zones like an aircraft carrier pointed to each field. Players land the barrel through contact before taking off for the finish.

If that was a lot to take in all at once, I want you to take the time and read the above paragraph again. If you have done so, you may have picked up that I want my players to enter the zone one baseball before contact. A common misconception that players make, is that they want to drive to contact. Not true, driving straight to contact will cause choppy groundballs, late swings, and quick exits out of the zone. Done get me wrong, I am not implying we want a drag or loop in our swing, I just want players to get ahead of the baseball. Why? To “get on plane” and drive through the zone horizontally, instead of vertically. By allowing the barrel to work through the zone, players are able to apply more force into the baseball on contact, which results in increased power, and higher average.

Unfortunately, what prevents most young players from staying through the zone and getting the most out of their ability is a poor finish or follow through. If you have a player struggling at the plate, one of the issues he is probably having is finishing his swing with the barrel below his shoulder and around his body. This action creates two complications.

When a player finishes below is shoulder and around his body he creates a sweeping motion that pulls his hands away from the field of play. If you look closely when he swings, I would bet his barrel drops behind his body early, and then his hands will be pulling the knob of the bat into foul territory to the dugout behind him. Even if a player wanted to stay inside the baseball, this approach makes it very difficult. This type of approach causes the barrel to exit the zone very quickly and your player will constantly be searching for better timing, and better contact.

If you see this, make a suggestion to finish with the barrel out towards the field he wants to contact the baseball, and high above his front shoulder. You can even break it down and tell him to finish high to left, high to center, and high to right. Usually when players focus on their finish, it helps them to stay through the zone longer. Occasionally it pays work in reverse! Players naturally will rotate around their body, but sometimes it takes an extra focus to finish through the zone.

Because the actual physical steps of the finish are fairly straight forward, I want to kick it up a notch with a concept I call “Post Contact Weight Transition”. I reserve training this step to only players who I feel have the mechanical foundation and understanding fully grasp the idea. Now if you have read my earlier pieces, then you know I believe in combining both linear and rotational styles of hitting. Well, now is where we bring back the “linear style” to the fullest extent.

Well, just after contact, we switch in its entirety to a linear style of hitting. Once a player feels the ball contact the bat he should explode forward off his back foot or leg. In reality, this will not be a separate movement like it sounds. It will feel more like the player drives or rotates down to into the baseball and then works forward releasing his weight forward through contact. If done correctly, it will feel smooth and like his weight rolls off his back side into his front leg. And yes, I do have a drill where I have my players walk through contact to understand this concept better.

During game time, walking through contact becomes more of an idea than a reality. However, it’s the concept that is important. Stay long through the zone, and transfer your weight through the zone to maximize your power and your average. Begin using these concepts in your batting training sessions today and you will be amazed at how quickly your players confidence, average, and power gets taken to the next level!

Get more effective batting lessons from our blog! When you want to improve your baseball batting skills, you can get the complete information you need today!

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If you want to put your own baseball cards on display, you must organize your cards appropriately, put your least valuable baseball cards in binders, place semi-valuable cards inside hard plastic-type sleeves, utilize lucite block or screw-shut cases to save your most valuable cards, and put you collection in the case or table for everyone to see.

If you are a baseball card collector, wouldn’t it be great to place your collection on display for other people to view? Do not just let them sit in job ticket holders as well as storage boxes in the dark. Here’s how you can display your baseball trading cards:

Organize your cards properly

Arrange your baseball cards based on your preference. You can group together cards based on their launch dates, publishers, teams or player. You can also separate them according to their price or value so that you and your guests can simply differentiate the ones which are invaluable and the ones that are less valuable. Whenever collectors group their cards according to their value, they split them into 3 groups. The most costly baseball cards, which are worth hundreds or perhaps thousands, and also the rarest belong in the most precious group. Semi-valuable ones are those cards which are worth one dollar or even more. The rest of the cards that don’t fall under the first two classes signify the least valuable ones.

Put your least precious baseball cards inside binders

Get sufficient vinyl binder sleeves to hold all of your least valuable cards. The sleeves are made of plastic and are transparent to enable a clear display of your own collection. Every sleeve has 3 rows with 3 pockets each, which can accommodate about nine cards in all. Gather all the sleeves, organize them accordingly and then put them together in a binder. Through binding them all together, it will be a lot easier for you to bring all your cards and also display your own collection to fellow card fanatics or friends. Additionally, you could organise your cards whatever you desire and you do not have to worry about choosing your cards one by one from a storage box if you use a binder.

Place semi-valuable cards inside hard plastic-type sleeves

For semi-valuable baseball cards, it is best to use tough plastic sleeves instead of soft binder sleeves. Since they are tougher, you can rest assured that your own cards are protected from folding or perhaps creasing. Nonetheless, you could just contain a single card in each compartment. Moreover, you can include an additional layer of protection to your baseball cards by placing them into smooth plastic-type sleeves prior to placing them in hard plastic-type sleeves.

Make use of lucite block or screw-shut cases to store your most useful cards

A lucite block or screw-shut case is a box composed of two plastic sheets screwed together. It is probably one of the ideal ways to save and also show your most valuable baseball cards. Through sealing the card in between the hard plastics, the card remains secured and safe from dangerous external components.

Place your collection in a case or table for anyone to see

Select a place where you could put your collection on showcase for everyone to see. It could be a long table in one area of your living room or a glass case within the trophy room. Wherever you want it, make sure that your friends and also fellow card enthusiasts could easily view them when they pay a visit to. In addition, make sure that your collection is stored far from humidity and high temperature as they can cause damage to your cards.

Having a big collection of trading baseball cards is actually an achievement. It would be a waste if you only keep them to yourself and did not share them with other people.

Written by Zeta C. Donairee. To learn more about how exactly job ticket holders could be helpful tools for protecting valued collections, pay a visit to http://www.everydayplastics.com/JobTicketHolders.php.

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If you wish to store your baseball cards, you’ll have to separate your own cards, organize them, purchase materials for card storage, position the cards in specific soft plastic-type sleeves, put the least precious cards into specific storage containers, insert semi-valuable cards into hard plastic sleeves and set them in storage boxes, store the most valuable cards in screw-shut cases, and make certain that your cards are well-protected from the elements.

A person’s passion could be a source of fortune. Several card collectors preserve their cards in the greatest condition with the hope that they’ll be worth a lot of money later on. One of the greatest ways to protect your cards from destruction is to put them within individual sleeves. If you want to save cash, go for job ticket holders. Listed below are the methods for storing your precious baseball cards:

Separate your own cards

The first thing you need to do is to separate your own cards based on their value and worth. Separate and set aside the the very least , valuable cards from the reasonably important and also highly valuable ones. To ensure that these types of cards will not get damaged, remember to take extra care in handling them. Put them on clean areas to avoid scratching and do not touch the card’s edges. Slightly destroyed cards are considered less beneficial even though they are rare or worth hundreds when you first acquired them.

Organize them

Arrange your valuable cards the way you could best remember them or according to your preference. You could arrange them by player’s title in alphabetical order, or according to the year released or its publisher.

Get supplies for card storage

You may need a few materials to save your baseball cards. These involve soft and also hard plastic-type sleeves, storage containers and screw shut cases. Before purchasing, count the number of cards you would like to store so that you know how many of these materials you will need.

Put the cards in individual soft plastic material sleeves

Plastic-type sleeves can safeguard your cards from scrapes and could prevent your cards from firmly sticking together. Baseball cards are shiny and often stick together, especially if they are kept in a warm place. Thus, it is best if every card has its own sleeve. Insert each card into soft plastic sleeves properly.

Position the least valuable cards into specific storage boxes

After placing your least valuable cards onto their plastic-type sleeves, insert them in the designated storage boxes. Keep in mind to organize them in whatever you’d like.

Insert semi-valuable cards into tough plastic-type sleeves and place them in storage boxes

Right after covering your semi-valuable cards using soft sleeves, put them directly into hard plastic sleeves for additional protection and then store and arrange them in storage containers. Since hard plastic sleeves are bulky and take up more area, you may want to position them in the boxes diagonally. Ensure that the storage box can be closed properly.

Keep most valuable cards inside screw-shut cases

Numerous baseball and other card collectors prefer utilizing screw downs or screw-shut cases for storing their most precious cards. They’re hard plastic cases that can be screwed on their sides. It offers the most protection against destruction and elements since it keeps the card securely in place.

Be sure that your cards are well-protected from the elements

High temperature, bright light, as well as humidity are some of the elements which could damage your cards. You need to keep your cards in locations which are impenetrable to any of these types of harmful elements.

By placing your cards in protective cases, you ensure that they are protected from damage and harsh external elements.

Written by Zeta C. Donairee. To get more safety cases and also job ticket holders, go to http://www.dominoplastics.com/job-ticket-holders.

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To a lot of people the saying ‘closeout deals’ presents a world of bargains although to a lot of people it really is just a phrase. Closeout savings are something a great deal of men and women aren’t familiar with. A closeout deal occurs when a company sells off its stock at practically fifty percent the amount. This notion relates to any merchandise ranging from clothes to working equipment and every little thing in between. Furthermore, it applies to softball bats.

Many men and women are used to wandering right into a store and buying the latest softball bat from a high end manufacturer. The most effective factor about closeout softball bats is that they too can be found in all of the well-liked makes but at almost half the usual cost. This results in the subsequent natural query, which is ‘the distinction between brand new softball bats and closeout softball bats’. The majority of us aren’t used to the concept of closeout softball bats or come with an flawed concept about them. Some have them mistaken for used softball bats. Although the only distinction between brand new softball bats and closeout softball bats is that there could be a slight, almost minimal harm in the bats sold on closeout deals.

The reason behind the decreased rates of closeout softball bats is really straightforward. A lot of leading brand softball bat producers adhere to strict benchmarks in order to sustain their signature top quality. Any product which deviates even slightly from those requirements is declined. By way of example, if the logo of the brand should be imprinted in the exact center of the bat, any bat where the logo is just a little off center is denied. Such bats find themselves as closeout softball bats. Given that several men and women have closeout softball bats confused with secondhand softball bats, they’re under the impression that closeout softball bats are of substandard quality. Although the appearance of a slight discoloration, smear or scuff won’t have an effect on your bat in anyway. The only downside is that the manufacturer’s warranty doesn’t apply for bats acquired on closeout deals although they are as good as the normal bats.

There are numerous retailers in America which supply closeout deals for softball bats. Most of the time such deals are given out at the finish of a monetary year or throughout the off season for softball. But this does not mean that you can not stock up for the coming season beforehand. Closeout softball bats are also obtainable on the web. The consumer can browse via the store’s collection of closeout bats and order the 1 which they prefer essentially the most.

But shopping on-line for closeout softball bats comes with a specific risk because it’s feasible to wind up with damaged or secondhand softball bats rather than closeout softball bats. For that reason it is best to stick to a common, trustable source when you’re seeking for on the internet closeout deals on softball bats.

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For baseball players, practice can be hard work, but a lot of fun. The most enjoyable portion of practice for many is the baseball hitting drills. During the 14 years that I played, practice always seemed to be in the same order. After warming up, we started with fielding drills, then running drills and then game situations. Finally, we got to the hitting practice and I had the most fun then.

The reason hitting is so fun is because you feel like you’re really accomplishing something. Hitting a baseball is very difficult, so when you actually do it you can feel a great rush of adrenaline. Every player wants to be a good hitter and you can only accomplish that with a lot of practice.

There are a few things to consider about hitting practice, though. Many players swing at everything thrown to them during practice. Instead, it’s a good idea to be selective and only swing at good pitches, just as you should during a game. After all, you’re not only practicing hitting, but also practicing the ability to judge a good pitch from a bad pitch.

If you get enough opportunities during batting practice, consider this strategy. The first two balls you should bunt, one towards first base and the other towards third base. Next, hit five pitches each to the three areas of the field: left, right and center. This will give you plenty of practice in case you need to hit the ball in a certain direction during a game. Also, you should look for pitches to hit into the outfield.

There are more tips for players during batting practice. Make sure you know the strike zone and can recognize when a ball is in that zone. This will prevent a lot of strikes. Also, during practice you must remain confident and focus on your task. Don’t use this time to be lazy or goof off. The more focused you are, the more you will gain from practice.

If you treat baseball hitting practice as a time to really improve your game then you will be a better player. It is good to have fun, especially since hitting is fun, but you should also take your job seriously.

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In all my years of baseball I can’t ever remember hearing two similar theories on driving the hands to the baseball. In fact, this step of the swing is largely over looked and under trained. Consequently, in my younger years, the most that was ever taught to me was, “keep your hands inside the ball” or “drive the knob back at the pitcher”. Although those are two great pieces of advice, they don’t have any real substance to them. For that reason, I am going to give you unique insight and give you some insider tricks on what it really means to drive the hands to the baseball.

For starters, driving the hands begins during the load portion of the swing. If you recall, this is when we recognize the pitch in one of our three zones, L for Left, C for Center, or R for right. Once we locate the zone where the pitch will be contacted, the hips drive to that particular zone, and then the hands follow. Without this recognition, it becomes much more difficult to stay through the zone and maximize force into the baseball.

Driving the hands to ball all begins with an imaginary 45 degree line that runs from the knob or wrists, to the infield in front of the plate. For beginners I use three separate lines, one to L, C, and R. As you might have guessed, players want to drive their hands roughly at this angle in effort to contact the baseball. In reality, the angle isn’t quite that steep, however, it helps players to focus on going down through the hitting zone at all times. If players are focused on driving down and forward, they are less likely have a loop or long drag in their swing.

When players begin to develop an understanding of how to swing the bat and their muscles begin to develop, I add a few advanced batting techniques to help them generate more power. In actuality, players should drive the outside of their bottom hand wrist towards the inside of the baseball. When done correctly, this will cause their wrists to be “cocked back” and allows players to drive their hands along the inside part of the baseball longer. This little technique will increase “wrist snap” and/or generate more “bat whip”. As a result, players will increase their power. This technique also players a major part in the what I call the “Power V”.

If players effectively lead with the wrist or hands, it will create what I call the “Power V”. The “Power V” contains two lines, one that runs down the barrel of the bat to the hands, and one the runs down the top hand forearm to the hands. When maintained correctly, it will form the shape of a V. As players begin to drive their hands, the point of the V will be angled toward the field they want to hit the ball, and open part of the V will be facing out of play towards the backstop. In order for this to happen, the bottom elbow must remain tight to the body and hands must lead the barrel of the bat. As a player approaches contact, they “Power V” will begin to flatten out until it becomes an L just after contact. Reminder, on contact, a player’s hands should still be ahead of the baseball.

When done correctly, a player should feel that they are only driving their hands 2-4 inches away from their body before they contact the baseball. A common misconception and mistake that most players will make will be attacking the ball out in front of their body. This is caused by the common phrase, “see the ball to hit the bat”. In reality, if players can see the ball hit the bat, they are actually causing more harm then good. Why? The further the hands extend away from the body, the lower the bat speed and shorter the extension. This combination will decrease power and average.

When players attack the ball out in front, their confidence may be suffering and/or the are trying to “see the ball hit the baseball bat”. In my opinion, this phrase is one of the worst phrases to tell a young hitter. Not because I don’t want him to keep his head and eyes on the baseball, but because it will cause players to extend their hands and arms to far foreword before contact. If you watch any hitter, their eyes are actually focused approximately 10 to 15 feet out in front of the plate. From their, a player uses their tracking skills to project their contact point. Trying to “see the ball hit the bat” is nearly impossible, and trying to do so will cause players to consistently miss hit pitches and struggle to maintain good timing.

In any batting demonstration that you perform, I caution you to be extremely conservative with your movements. Players react strongly to visual representations of the mechanics of the swing and you want to avoid showing them any bad habits. For instance, do not demonstrate contact with your hands extended and the hands even with the barrel of the bat. Instead, show contact deep in the stance with the hands ahead of barrel.

Now, the real questions is, what catch phrases can help your player with this step of his batting mechanics. I have two powerful batting training phrases that I use exclusively to help players drive their hands properly. One, “pick the ball out of the catchers mitt”, and two, “scrape your knuckles on the inside part of the baseball”. These two combined will help players to position their mind around letting ball get deep on the plate before contact and taking their hands ahead of the baseball. Because player do not typically see themselves hit, I deal directly in concepts to help players make the adjustments they are seeking.

One great drill to bring this concept all together is a drill I call “Chopping Wood”. As with the rest of my training, this drill over-trains this concept and forces players outside of their comfort zone. Players naturally want to remain comfortable with their swing. Unfortunately for most players, being comfortable means failure. As a result, I like to force them outside of their comfort zone to help them make adjustments quicker.

For the “Chopping Wood” Drill you are going to need two tees. Place one tee about 1 ft to 18 inches directly in front of the other tee facing center field. Once aligned, lower the height of the first tee to thigh height and raise the back tee to a height that is just under the rib cage of the player. The front foot of the player should lined up directly with the front tee. Place one ball on the front tee and have players swing.

When done correctly this over trains players keep their hands tight along their body and move them forward instead of pulling off or sweeping around pitches. A long batting swing will inevitably cause a player to contact the back tee and not allow him to continue to the baseball on the front tee. Note, if players swing over the top of the back batting tee they are performing the batting drill wrong and are extending too far out with their hands.

If you want to see some real improvement in your ability to perform the mechanics of the swing correctly, use the “Chopping Wood” batting drill in your next batting training session. After a few rounds performing this drill, you will notice and feel an instant difference your approach and efficiency to the baseball. At the end of the day, better mechanics equal a higher average and more power.

Get more effective batting lessons from our blog! When you want to improve your baseball batting skills, you can get the complete information you need today!

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Once you possess learned the optimal way to bunt, you will need to practice this form and repeat the motions again and again. This will cause you eventually being able to do this essentially without thinking when game time comes. The following drills can help you ensure success bunting while hitting if done as an element of your family baseball workouts schedule.

Bunting Pepper: This drill requires four players. Have one player take his batting stance and also the three other players form an arch around 20 feet from him. Starting with the player in the heart of the arch, get him to softly toss the ball towards the batter whose job is always to bunt the ball to 1 of these two other players who didn’t throw the ball. The player who the hitter bunted to should now throw the ball to the hitter. Continue for some minutes, and after that rotate.

On the Corners: This drill requires two players or one player and also a coach. Place a cone 10-20 feet out of the house plate and 10-20 feet from the third base line and another cone 10-20 feet away from home plate and 10-20 feet from the first base line. Have a coach or any other player pitch towards the hitter. The hitter’s goal is to bunt as many pitches as you possibly can (which are strikes) involving the third base foul line and the third base cone or between your first base foul line as well as the first base cone. The hitter gets 1 point for every time he successfully places the bunt.

Soft Bunts: This drill requires two players a treadmill player along with a coach. Have the hitter stand in the plate and put a bucket directly in front of the plate. Have a coach or some other player pitch to the batter. The goal with the batter is always to make sure he’s absorbing the speed from the pitch therefore softening his bunts so they drop straight into the bucket. This is a crucial skill to understand to ensure that even as the ball player sees faster and faster pitching while he ages, he can still be able to soften his bunts.

Next practice, give these drills a try and see the way your players’ bunting improves next game. Remember, if your player really wants to see better results along with his bunting, make certain he is also these bunts as part of his regular baseball workouts program in the home!

Are you interested in improving your game and becoming the greatest baseball player you can be? If you are, you should visit the website “best baseball workouts” to find more helpful information in addition to baseball workouts that will take your game to the next level!

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The assistances of formation of baseball are an effective manner to learn the qualifications which you must carry out the stardom. They can facilitate the muscular development, coordination of eye of hand, as well as on the maintenance and the instruction on qualifications. But, that are the best taken of assistances of formation of baseball your play on the next level? Here some manners of improving your play.

* Videos of formation – one in the best manners of learning than for knows must employ the videos than they create. Several of the players and the professional trainers are more than wanting to share their experiments about the techniques and of the ends which function. Learn the latter by the observation and the reaction to the videos. The problem with the latter, although, is that you don’t have somebody to observe what you are making and correcting your position or your goal. Thus, observe them with somebody of other and allow them to say to you if you do really what the visual one indicates. It is a tool all-year-round to draw benefit from.

* Training camp – probably the best option to think of the investment east are camps of baseball. While it was punishment with going to far camping in summer, now it doesn’t must be. Camps of baseball are offered for practically all the categories of age according to the your needs and qualifications. Some can equalize too the gathering right with your diamond of local baseball. The advantage here is a on-a-formation which you cannot obtain anywhere elsewhere unless you have a personal trainer, naturally.

* Learn how to balance like for – another tool to be used is a machine of pitching. Now, it is very important that you buy a product of high quality, place it to the top of the right-hand side and employ regularly it if you project to obtain a good quantity of improvement of a piece of equipment. But, if you have the trouble to make the contact with the ball, it is a great manner of doing that just.

* Techniques of pitching – in order to know to launch, you must learn the necessary qualifications. To do this, the most effective manner to make thus is to employ Cd of pitching to help you to learn. It is also an effective help of formation of baseball for the trainers trying to teach.

Other things like gloves of practice, fielding machines can help your infielder, your glove of baseball, your smooth paste and practically never any other person on the team. When it comes being studied, we all can use these tools to have a better play.

The assistances of formation of baseball are an effective manner to learn the qualifications which you must carry out the stardom. But, that are the best taken of assistances of formation of baseball your play on the next level?

If you found this article interesting why don’t you visit and read Leland Polik’s other articles on his website the latest being on Rugby Information, and The Rules of Rugby.

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It seems every season there’s a new bat I fall in love with. Granted, I’m not the one actually swinging it — my son is. Still, my gage is what he tells me about the bat, how the ball sounds coming off the bat, and most importantly, how he performs with it. Last season we played on a 11U Travel Ball team and the Easton 2011 BD11XL Rival XXL (-9) Senior League Bat worked out great for him.

We moved to the Easton Rival after using the ComBat Stealth for a few season. That was a great bat, but I did miss the PING sound that we get from the THT100 alloy Easton Rival versus the THUD from the ComBat composite bat. With a bigger barrel at 2 5/8″ the Easton Rival also provides a larger sweet spot. Mix in an ultra-thin handle with just the right amount of flex and you’ve got a bat that will provide great bat speed and power through the hitting zone.

Even though we know a good swing is based on the hitter not the bat, the Easton Rival is a confidence boost for my son when he’s using it. Just based on what he know he can do with it, this psychological advantage can’t hurt him when he’s at the plate. And the other thing that doesn’t hurt is the sleek graphics and cool look the bat has.

There’s nothing negative about this bat. My son has never complained of stinging in his hands like he has with other bats. And so far over the course of 80 plus games and thousands of swings in batting practice the bat has held up remarkably well.

Perhaps the most telling indicator is how the other players react to the Easton Rival. My son’s Easton Rival was the most popular bat in the dugout and it wasn’t long before there more Easton Rivals on the bat rack. The kids just love to wing it and swear by its power.

The Easton Rival is moderately priced at $179.99, which is great compared to what I’ve paid in the past for bats. For a durable bat that can be used over a few season, there’s great value in that price. It also makes upgrading to the Easton 2011 BD12XL Rival XXL (-5) Senior League Bat this upcoming season a bit easier.

Want the best information for little league tips, advice and product reviews? Checkout DugoutDad.com!

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Baseball hitting is one of the most difficult skills of any sport. It is a great challenge to hit such a small object coming at you at such incredible speeds. For this reason, if you are ever teaching someone how to hit a baseball, you must be very patient. This skill can take many, many practices to develop. It takes even longer to be really good at it.

If you see that your child is getting discouraged, there are a couple things you can do. First, keep practices short so they don’t get too tired, frustrated or bored. Second, try practicing with some fun hitting drills. Such drills will keep them interested and help them enjoy the process of learning how to hit.

The basics of hitting are a must when it comes to developing this talent. Beginners must learn how to stand in the batter’s box, where to look, how to hold the bat and how to swing. You cannot learn the proper way to hit without these instructions. But beginners aren’t the only ones who benefit from practicing the basics. Experienced players also need to freshen up on basic mechanics every now and then.

One excellent drill is to let the player hit off a tee ball. This drill improves their ability to keep their eye on the ball at all times. Since a second person is not needed to practice this drill, players can do it at any time. This allows them to practice the basics as often as they like.

Baseball is a great sport and it should be a lot of fun. If a player isn’t having fun, then they probably shouldn’t be playing. Once kids learn how to hit they have even more fun playing baseball. During the learning phase, just make sure the player is having a good time. Otherwise, they won’t want to continue playing. Baseball hitting will get better the more a player practices.

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