#theYouth SportsLab Baseball Services
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Skill Development
Youth sports skill development content includes teaching the fundamentals and techniques of the game. We at #theYouthSportsLab believe ensuring our athletes have a basic understanding of the drill, as well as the visual video to refer back to At theYouthSportsLab, we break down complex skills into smaller, more manageable components. This helps players build a strong foundation for future success.
We offer virtual lessons and instruction as well as Individual workouts in 30 minute or 1 hour blocks.
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Instructional Videos
As part of #thelab, we offer a single location for our members to find specialized content and save to their personalized lab. The Youth Sports Lab is focused on ensuring youth athletes have the ability to not only receive real time feedback from our trainers, but to have video and material they can watch oon demand, to build muscle memory, and to build confidence on the skills they are working to master drills and workouts.
Our mission is to ensure our athletes have a space that they can utilize and store content as they progress on their journey as they build [their] success stories. As part of their growth, having real time feedback and video to refer to outside of our coaching sessions is a fantastic way for them to practice!
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Hitting Instruction
“The hardest thing to do in baseball is hit the ball. Then you have to hit it where none of the other team’s nine players are to catch it.”
Hitting: Getting Started
Take a “game” approach to every swing during cage work. Turn cage work into a series of game day situations in your head. On every swing you take in the cage off the tee, front toss or live bats, you want to visualize and feel like you are competing against the pitcher. See the ball out of his hand, visualize the release point to ensure proper timing, and then take your swing.
Second, the importance of “learning” before and during the game will help you be prepared. Every pitch the opposing pitcher throws, and every at-bat is one you can learn from. Observe the pitcher’s tendencies, release points and the umpire’s strike zone. Notice what pitches are thrown at certain points in the count. If you’re the third batter in the lineup, that means you’ve got three at-bats to learn what’s coming your way. When a hitter steps into the box armed with knowledge, you’ll be the most prepared and confident player and be extremely dangerous.”
Hitting: Mechanics
To teach a young baseball player proper baseball hitting mechanics, you want to start by thinking about “movements and feel. Be an athlete as we have told many hitters!. There are elements of hitting, such as the athlete’s stance, that are purely up to the hitter- again, their feel.. Whether or not they prefer a wide stance or a narrow stance is their choice. What’s consistent across all hitters, are movements that allow a hitter to get into a strong position, especially the “Load-to-Launch” phase to teach hitters to be athletic at the plate.
Pre-Pitch – The setup is a pre-pitch routine that you perform consistently the same way every time you come to the plate. I like my players to do something before each pitch to get themselves mentally ready to hit the baseball by taking a practice swing or taking a deep breath. Having a consistent routine is like hitting the ‘reset’ button, and keeps the mind nice and clear.
Loading – At this point, you’re getting down into your legs and core by using the biggest and strongest muscles of your body to get your power loaded, or coil. When a hitter gets down into their legs, their shoulders and head can’t rise, meaning you’re less likely to “pull” your shoulder or take your eyes off the ball due to excessive movement. Getting both feet connected to the ground prior to launch is the key; ensuring a strong stable base is crucial. You want to teach an athlete to load their legs on every pitch.
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Launch – The pitch is on the way and it’s yours. You’re going to take a swing at it. What’s next? The stride toward the ball. As you stride, you are down into your legs and ready to deliver a controlled and powerful swing. Do not over stride and get out in front of the ball and have a powerful swing. The rotation of your hips is sending power to your shoulders and hands is important here.
Contact – The point where you hit the ball is going to vary depending on pitch location and pitch speed. The trick is to get the barrel of the bat on the same path as the pitch early. All that visualizing the athlete has been doing at the batting cage should be helpful here. Letting the ball travel as well will ensure not getting out in front and rolling over the ball.
Extension – Athletes and great hitters should drive through the ball when you make contact. Hitters who don’t extend roll over a lot and create ground ball outs. They wind up losing momentum, and do not make great contact
Finish – The athlete’s goal at the end of the swing is to make a full 180-degree turn. With a hitter who has an effective finish, the number should be visible in the opposite batters box..
Pitching Instruction
“The best pitchers have a short term memory and a bullet proof confidence.”
Pitching: Getting Started
IAs a pitcher gets started learning how to pitch, the most important thing for young pitchers to focus on is proper mechanics. They need to learn the proper way to throw that will put the least amount of stress on their arm and to stay healthy. Throwing strikes will become easier with proper, repeatable mechanics. Once proper mechanics becomes muscle memory, then you can work on more pitches, and lastly velocity. Just trying to throw hard will cause long term damage to the arm and quicker fatigue. In addition to mechanics, proper stretching is a must!
Pitching: Mechanics
Starting Stance The pitcher should stand on the pitching rubber with the toe of his pivot foot extending over the rubber and his free foot shoulder’s width away. Stand facing the catcher with your shoulders square. The pitcher’s hands should be at the belt or held mid-chest. This starting position should be comfortable and effortless.
Wind Up The pitcher then begins his wind up and pivot. The pivot is where you transfer your weight back to your pivot foot, placing it in front of and parallel to the pitching rubber. (Your foot must be touching the pitching rubber, or you will be called for a balk.)
Leg Lift After weight has shifted back to the pivot foot, the pitcher is ready to lift his leg. Always lift with the knee, and not kick the leg, as this will cause the pitcher to lose balance. The pitcher should lift his leg to an almost 90 degree angle. Body weight should remain centered over the pivot foot until the knee has reached its maximum height. After that, the pitcher strides forward and downward.
Stride The stride is where you make the majority of your velocity.
The stride forward to the plate should begin at the exact moment when the knee reaches its maximum height and begins to come back down. The most important aspect of the stride is remembering to lead with the front hip. The pitcher should make an L shape as the front leg comes back down toward the catcher.
Your stride foot should land flat on the ground with the toe pointed toward your target. When your stride foot hits the ground, the pitcher’s head and body should generally be in between his two feet. .
Arm At the point your stride foot hits the ground, the throwing arm should be behind the head, elbow leading, with the forearm nearly parallel to the ground. The ball should be behind the ear. The glove arm should be opposite of the throwing arm, hanging it in line with the bill of the hat. As the throwing arm goes forward, the non-throwing arm goes backward and is squeezed similar to holding a football..
Arm Acceleration The elbow is leading toward the plate and the hand and ball quickly follow, creating rapid acceleration. The throwing elbow pivots forward like a catapult, creating acceleration and velocity.
Release When the ball passes the head, the fingers should be behind and slightly on top of the ball. When the ball is released, the arms and hand will naturally pronate.
After the ball has been released, the shoulder muscles exert great force slowing the arm down. The energy is also dissipated through the major muscles of the trunk and legs.
Good mechanics and proper follow through can reduce sore muscles..
Follow Through Proper follow through is critical to reducing injuries. The majority of the shoulder muscles used in pitching are activated during follow through. After the pitching motion is complete, the glove hand should be brought back up to the fielding position as quickly as possible, both because the pitcher is a defender, and to protect him from hard hit line drives.