Winter Break | What to do?

In this competitive 972 Area Code - baseball is a year round sport - so there is only a short break that comes around for players. One of the breaks coming up is the Winter break. So...what do you do during the Winter break.

REST YOUR ARM
It has been said, "Your arm only has a certain number of throws in it." With young arms and bodies growing - it is during these breaks that you want to give your arm a rest. Playing baseball all year round and throwing all year round - puts a lot of throws in your arm and overuse may stunt the growth and development you will need later. Rest your arm.

If you are worried about arm strength - don't be. This will come - and this will come as you grow older and with the development and conditioning of your legs. Taking a break from throwing will give your arm muscles a chance to grow, bones to set and tendons to rest.

GET YOUR LEGS IN SHAPE
Run, run and do more running. Mix it up with long distance, sprints and jump rope. Your legs are a key component for baseball. You just don't use your legs for running around the bases or tracking down balls. Your legs are used to hit (hit with power)...your legs are used to throw (throw for distance and speed)...your legs get your through the spring season.

Run, sprint, jog, jump rope, ladder drills - get your legs in shape over the winter break - you will be surprised at far you will go in the spring with your legs solidly under you.

WORK YOUR CORE
Along with your legs, your core (abs and back) are critical for baseball - hitting and throwing. Get your abs and back in shape - sit-ups, supermans, bridges, weighted balls, trunk twists. After every running session do some ab and back strengthening drills.

SWING THE BAT
You don't always have to go to the cages to keep your swing in tact. Do some dry cuts - this only takes a small amount of space and while you take dry cuts, you can work your brain with some visualization drills. If you can get to a cage, get some swings in and focus on strong technique, don't worry about power and timing. Get your swing technically correct and when the spring rolls around, you will have your legs and core ready to go to supply the power you need.

Rest the arm, get your legs and core in shape and keep swinging the bat.....have a great winter break and an awesome spring season.

The Care and Feeding of Your New Glove | Do's & Don'ts

To handle the many questions I get about getting gloves, I have built a ‘Do’s & Don’ts’ table. One of the questions not handle in the list is: What time of the year (season) should I get a new glove?

Answer: It is best to get a new glove 3-4 months prior to the season you would like to use that glove. If you want USE a new glove for the spring season (March/April), it is best to get the glove in November or December. This will give you a good amount of time to prepare your new glove, form the glove and break it in, so it is ready to USE in the spring season (March/April).

Most good gloves are built from good top grain leather. They become "truly personal" items to many ball players. If you treat it just like you would any high quality leather item, it will give you longer years of service.

Do	Don’t
Store your glove in room temperature conditions!	Store in garage, attic or car trunk.
Air dry a wet or sweat-soaked glove naturally!	Place on heaters, radiators, in cold garages or automobile window ledges.
Wipe your glove clean using only a damp, (not wet) rag!	Clean by soaking glove or use any household cleaners or oils.
Use small amounts of glove oil inside and out when leather looks dry!	Overuse oils. You can always add more later.
Use glove oil or equivalent only on dry gloves!	Oil a wet glove. Wait until absolutely dry.
Break-in and form the inside of your glove to your fit own hand!	Allow other's hands to reshape your leather, especially when breaking it in.
Shape the pocket into a wider pocket!	Store it flat and closed. It makes the pocket "thin" and unnatural.
Store in an open position with either a ball or two, or inside out, or over your batting helmet in your bat bag, or use something like a glove-former found in a sporting goods store (sometimes at a Wal-Mart or similar)!	Throw a glove in your bat bag in the flat "road-kill" position.
Shape the pocket so that the tip of the thumb closes at the tip of the 4th (ring) finger!	Allow the thumb to close at the 3rd (middle) finger.
Be sure of your break-in method!	Use microwaves or ovens.
Place your name AND phone number on your glove & not in the pocket or web! Black gloves may require a silver or gold permanent ink pen.	Lose your "best friend" without a fighting chance of recovery.
Purchase a youth glove if you are a youth player and a fastpitch glove if you are a fastpitch player!	Buy an adult glove to grow into.
Consider your position(s) when considering size. Good & best leather is designed for particular positions!	Simply buy a big glove.
Have a back-up glove!	Get stuck because you broke a lace.
Buy good quality leather... even if you have to wait to save up a bit more money! It will last longer and serve you better.	Buy cheap gloves from a discount store. They generally sell low-end bats, balls and gloves. Stay with what you have rather than buying junk until you can buy higher quality.

HItting Fundamentals | Three 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 box. Most Major League hitters use a neutral stance. Ken Griffey, Jr., for one. Remember, we are only talking about how you place your feet in the batter’s box. We want to build that solid foundation from the ground up.

The second stance, and also a very popular one with Major League hitters, is theclosed stance. On the closed stance, the foot closest to the pitcher’s mound is placed slightly closer to home plate than the other foot. The key word here is slightly. You can overdo most anything, and getting too closed with your stance will definitely hamper your hitting. The great Tony Gwynn believes this is probably the best stance for most hitters.

The open stance is just the opposite. The foot closest to the mound is pulled away from home plate. Jay Buhner of the Mariners is one of the more notable hitters that uses the open stance. Fewer Major League hitters use this stance, because of the obvious distance it takes you from the hitting zone. An open stance requires you to do more during the time the pitch is on its way to the plate, in order to get in the proper hitting position. More on that later.

So, which stance is right for you? Well, each one has its advantages. Before you choose one though, I’d like you to take a little test. Because it is important to see the ball well, we need to find out which of your eyes is the dominant eye. The dominant eye is the one that does the majority of the work when you look at something. It sends the messages to the brain about where the ball is as it relates to the space around you. Your other eye does the same thing, but your dominant eye sends more precise information. Remember, you want every advantage on your side, not the pitcher’s.

Extend your hand out in front of you with your thumb up as though you are giving a friend the "thumbs up" or "good job, way to go," sign. With both eyes open, pick an object about twenty feet away from you and position your thumb so that the end of it covers that object. Now, close your left eye. Did your thumb seem like it moved over to the left? If it did, your left eye is your dominant eye. If nothing happened and your thumb is still covering the object, close your right eye. Did your thumb seem to have jumped over to the right? If so, your right eye is the dominant eye.

Why is all of this important to you? The answer is simple, you want to make use of your dominant eye when you are hitting. Choosing the proper stance to help put that dominant eye to work is important. Ideally, your dominant eye would be the one closest to the pitcher. The left eye for the right handed batter, the right eye for the left handed batter. Unfortunately, most people are just the opposite. Right handed batters generally are right eye dominant and vice-versa.

Having your dominant eye closer to the pitcher contributes to better tracking of the ball to the hitting zone. This is one of the factors that helps explain why switch hitters hit better from one side or the other. Not having this luxury does not mean you can’t be a good hitter.
What it means is, by knowing which eye sends the more precise messages to the brain, you should position yourself so that you see the ball with that eye.

This is the reason most Major League hitters choose the neutral position as their stance of choice. I doubt, however, that many of them consciously know which of their eyes is dominant. It probably came about from years of trial and error and they finally settled on that position because they felt they saw the ball better. You can wipe out years of trial and error just by knowing which of your eyes sees the ball better! From the neutral stance, you can position your head comfortably enough over your front shoulder to use both eyes to see the ball, bringing your dominant eye into play. This is known as binocular, using both eyes.

Obviously, the open stance gives you an even greater use of both eyes. The reason it is not employed as often by great hitters, is that the trade off for good vision and the increased amount of things you need to do to get in the proper hitting position is simply not worth it. The less complicated your swing is, the more successful you are apt to be. Again, more on this later.

The closed stance has advantages. If you can comfortably position your head over the front shoulder to utilize the vision from both eyes, you can take advantage of the increased plate coverage you get from this stance. Stan Musial, one of the great hitters of all time, used a slightly closed stance. If you were to look at him from the pitcher’s mound during his stance, you might think his neck was made of rubber his head was turned so far over his front shoulder. Needless to say, he saw the ball very well, and he hit the ball very well.

To sum this section up; since we are building a good hitter a little at a time, pick a stance that affords you the best opportunity to see the ball well. Taking into consideration which of your eyes sends the more accurate messages to the brain. You need to give that computer up there the proper information if you want to be successful at one of the more difficult physical acts in sports.