Baseball strength drills 3d4life to the XLR8 Speedbat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv79bBkPIFA&hl=en
Free Baseball Drills
Brush up on throwing and catching
For many, the arrival of spring, only one thing: baseball season means with baseball fever often thrilling those who play or coach the game. In the winter, baseball players tap their bats and oil their stiff, new gloves in anticipation of the warm weather, so that they can hit the diamond to refresh their skills.
Throwing and catching is by far the most universal abilities in the game, since every position on theField must be able to do it all she could do almost as well in sleep. This year, add some variety to the baseball practice by some of the following free baseball exercises on improving your players' throwing and catching skills.
Go Long!
The first of the free baseball drills for outfielders in particular. The Long Toss drill is an excellent way to throw players extended distances andPlayers build arm strength, especially those who throw with a pushing motion. To begin the drill, divide your team partners are facing each other at a distance of approximately 30 feet. Wherever possible, partner throw together players with similar intervals.
Have the partner throw and catch each other. When they do successfully every 5 throws and catches without a single one, each player must return by 5 meters, or the length of a giant step. Follow up players are notmake more in a position to throw the hitch.
The next reward of free baseball drills players with quick reflexes. The Quick Hands Drill is set up similarly to the aforementioned Long Toss Drill: Relationship with players from facing each other and stand about 30 yards apart. The drill starts with a horn at the whistle and partners are to throw the ball back and forth between each other as fast as they can.
As they begin to be able to have the players to shoutthe number of catches is. Regardless of what the couple can take catches in a 30-second period, which is marked by another blow on the whistle is the winner. If both players missed a catch, their numbers back to zero. If your team improves, they begin are farther apart. This drill is great for encouraging a little healthy competition among your team.
Running Wild
Finally, we have the base drill that teaches the player to throw properly and tagging ThrowPractice in a rundown in the second base. To set up the drill, place a fielder in the first and second base. Divide the remaining players into two groups, setting one group behind the first base and the other behind seconds.
The drill begins with the sound of the whistle, and all players except the outfield, starting wildly between the first and second base. During this drilling is the outfield to day as many players as possible. Once a player has, the output of the field. The Outfield players get a minute to get as many players as possible a day. This drill forces your outfield players to think on their feet and react quickly in a high-pressure situation.
About the Author
Kenny Buford has almost every level of baseball coach in a career of several decades. You can get instant access to his championship baseball practice plans, and free baseball practice drills by clicking on his website:
http://www.> Baseball-Practice-Plans.com /
For a limited time, when all the coaches who Kenny site visit will also get a free copy of his special report: "The 7 biggest mistakes Baseball Coaches". Go get your free copy today!
Outfielders - Charge the Ball
Recently, baseball friend of mine who coaches high school baseball told me he learned something new about outfield play, and it was the concept of charging the ball. He went on to say that his outfielders had thrown out more base runners than ever before in his 20-plus years of coaching after emphasizing this fundamental.
It's not surprising that my experienced friend did not know about his aspect of outfield play. After all, he was an infielder when he played competitively. Also, most coaches are primarily concerned with teaching baseball outfielders to merely catch, or at least stop, the ball. Unfortunately, this angle of coaching is a glass half empty approach. What I mean is it relieves the player from being aggressive in the outfield. The outfielder's mindset is to let the ball play him, not the other way around.
Outfielders have a lot of ground to cover. They have 360 degrees of field they must roam to catch a myriad of batted ball possibilities. But when balls are hit directly, or nearly directly, at them, they may be timid and wait for the ball to come to them. This puts the player in a "defensive" frame of mind -- and usually results in a missed chance. I say this because if the outfielder lets the ball come to him, most times he will not get a good hop. Most times he gets an in-between hop that is very difficult to glove.
By charging the ball, the outfielder does two very important things for himself and his team. Firstly, he can position himself, and time the catch, much better. Good fielders are taught to catch a ground ball after the ball has reached its apex -- as the ball is descending back to the ground. As one of my old coaches told me, "There are no bad hops in the air." Even if the ball is not bouncing very high off the ground, the outfielder can still time the catch while the ball is in the air, and as it comes down from its high point.
Secondly (and no less important), the outfielder cuts down the distance the ball travels. By reducing this distance, the outfielder also trims the distance of his ensuing throw. Now if the ball is bobbled or missed, the throw is much shorter to a base or cutoff man. Base coaches have two indicators they evaluate when deciding to stop a base runner, or wave him through the base. This especially pertains to third base coaches and their decision to send runners home. Base coaches first look at the distance the outfielder is away from the throwing target, then they look for the catch. If the outfielder catches the ball but has not charged it and is farther away, the coach will send the runner. But if the outfielder catches the ball and is much closer to the throwing target, they will probably hold the runner. And here's a bonus: if the outfielder aggressively charges the ball, the base coach may hold the runner anyway! We have all seen plays where the runner is stopped, but the outfielder bobbles the ball. By the time the coach and runner realize this, the outfielder has recovered the ball and has made the throw.
So by outfielders charging the ball, they go on the "offensive". By being aggressive and charging the ball, the outfielder greatly increases their chance of catching the ground ball (after the apex), and of throwing runners out -- and preventing runners from even trying to advance. In my playing career, I threw out a lot of base runners. But, I stopped many more from even attempting to score by closing the distance of my throw by charging the ground ball. This puts grave doubt in the minds of base coaches. Coaches: teach your outfielders to be aggressive, not timid. Coach them from an offensive standpoint, not a defensive one. Thanks for reading!
Steven E. Michael played seven years of professional baseball in the Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. He played collegiately at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona earning All-Western Athletic Conference, All-College World Series, and Sporting News All-America honors.
His new book, "How To Play Baseball Outfield: Techniques, Tips, and Drills to Learn the Outfield Position" is available at http://www.stevenemichael.com
Phillies Baseball - The Turnaround
The Philadelphia Phillies are in the World Series. Finally!!! Before they were in the Series, there was a long drought of disappointment for Phillie players and fans. The Phillies were stuck in the same rut year after year. The same pattern.
Years ago the Phillies would start out the baseball season winning.They would win the first couple of games, lose the next couple of games, and towards the end, try to play catch - up at the end of the season to try and MAKE the play-offs. This went on and on for a couple of years, much to the disappointment of the Phillies fans. During those seemingly long hard years, it seemed like the fans were the only ones hurting. But unknown to us, the Phillies organization itself was going through change.
Former Phillies manager Larry Bowa did a great job in 2001, giving the Phillies their first winning season in eight years. But by 2005, he was replaced by Charlie Manuel and general manager Ed Wade was replaced by Pat Gillick. Pat Gillick ruffled some of the Phillies fans feathers by trading some of those stars' from the winning seasons baseball the Phillies DID have, away to other teams. In return Gillick got a chance to develop some of the younger players he had his eye on. While the core of the team developed, in 2007 the Phillies earned the notorious distinction of losing the most games of any Major League Baseball team.
That same year the Phillies won the National League East Pennant but lost the division series to the Colorado Rockies. This year the Phillies responded by winning their second straight division title and defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in the division series. This win started a landslide of records that baseball the first post-season win for the Phillies since their 1993 season.
And now here we are, awaiting the resumption of Game 5 of the World Series. A mere three and a half innings left to give the Phillies fans what they have been waiting for, and asking for since the 1993 loss in that World Series. I predict that the Phillies WILL win, and the Phillies fans will finally be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Kenneth White is a BIG hometown sports fan. Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Soul, the Flyers and the Nittany Lions. If you want to read more please visit my blog at : http://philliesjersey.blogspot.com
2008 Fantasy Baseball Review - Jacque Jones
The following is a review of the 2008 season of former Detroit Tigers outfield Jacque Jones.
What I said then: "A power decline was not shocking for Jones last season considering his extreme groundball rate, but what we saw last season was a bit excessive.The move to Comerica Park hardly helps his cause.The good news is that he joins possibly the best lineup baseball the game, meaning more plate appearances even though he will be at the baseball of the batting order.Jones sacrificed power for contact last season, but even so, this is a little soon for a power breakdown of this sort.A good buy-low here."
Disaster. Jones was guaranteed at-bats on the primary side of a platoon with Marcus Thames, and Gary Sheffield seemed long in the tooth. His career average was near .280 coming into the year, and he had hit more than 20 homers in the three seasons prior to 2007, so he was surely a buy-low option. Dead wrong! Jones struggled with the bat early in the season, and he was eventually released and scooped by the Marlins. He was no better with the Marlins and finished the season in free agency. It is unclear where the veteran outfielder goes from here, but he will only be age 33 on Opening Day and still does have outfield range. It is rare for a player of Jones' caliber to simply cease as a major leaguer like he did in his early-30s, but it is also not unprecedented. Unless his status changes, he is not a fantasy option in 2009.
For more fantasy baseball info or to play fantasy basketball drafts, visit Hotboxsports.com
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