Holiday Gifts for Better Hitting

1. My recommendations for Holiday Gifts to become a better hitter

2. What I'd like for Christmas

3. Past Links

4. Setting Goals for the New Year

Holiday Gift Guide

As a coach for over 30 years I've see a lot of stuff. Some good, some bad. Some expensive and some things you can get don't cost all that much.

So if you're serious about being a better hitter in fast pitch softball or baseball here are the top 4 items I would get.

1) Proper training would be the first item on my list. Get a coach who can train you properly and monitor your progress. Maybe you can arrange a gift certificate for a block of lessons.

If you're near Ventura, CA, you're lucky because you have me. If you and/or your hitter travels to Los Angeles, we're 60 miles away and maybe we can get together while you're here. If either of these work for you, give me a call at 805-642-5827.

Otherwise you will need to do your homework, but it's still the best investment.

You could also get some videos or books for more training ideas.

2) If there was something that a high school coach said "I don't know that if I've ever seen a kid that had one of these that missed making the high school team." would you be interested?

He was talking about a batting cage. Here's where I got mine. This will set you back about $570 when you're done and unless you have a rubber arm, you'll need a pitching machine too, which can run from $300 for a Atec Pitching Streak to $1,400 for one of Jugs' top machines.

But there is another way that you can get the same advantages for approximately $300 - $350 total (cage and machine) and it takes up a lot less room. Some of my hitters use this in their garages or basements. Go here to read all the details then return and buy from this link and I'll throw in a free hitting t-shirt.

To get the pro model that throws curves as well fire off this button

For the HS model that has the 2 year warranty and the faster 2 speed motor

And the third option I don't recommend to anyone unless your hitter is very young and you'd want it to go slower.

3) I think the 3rd thing I would get would be a practice bat that makes you concentrate more. This could be a bat that had a smaller sweet spot, such as a wood bat for baseballers or Worth's SW2 for softball. I can get you the SW2 but they won't arrive before Christmas. Shoot me an e-mail with your interest in that if that's what you'd like. Either option costs around $25.

Another way to do this is use a thin (only an inch thick) bat designed specifically to hit small balls. One such bat is the hitmaster GRO-Bat. You can find it on the same website as above.

Again come back to purchase it from me and get a free t-shirt.

4) Fourthly is a new bat. Traditionally I don't care what bat you use (and I wouldn't have included it in the must haves for gift giving), but the technology of the newer bats is getting so good that it's hard to not notice that kids are getting an extra 30 - 50 feet of distance with these high tech bats. One of these elite bat companies is the Anderson Bat company.

For softball they have the Rocket Tech, which is getting banned from some tournaments (that's how hard the kids are hitting with this bat), but is ASA legal will be useable this season to help your hitter. And on the little league side of things they have the Techzilla. But don't kid yourself, these are in the $200+ range. Here's the link for Anderson Bats.

What I'd like for Christmas

But there are some goals I had for this year that I could use your help in achieving.

1) I need just 18 more newsletter subscribers to push me over my goal for the year, so if each of you could forward this e-zine with a note saying how much you enjoy it and how it might help them and encourage them to sign up, to that one person that could benefit from it the most, I would be really thankful.

2) Then I only have 5 more openings in my private lessons to get me where I wanted to be, so if you're in my area, please give me a call and let me help you become that hitter you want to be. 805-642-5827

3) And finally I really wanted to do a clinic for coaches and players outside my area so I could meet some of you that are in charge of leagues. I've had a few inquiries from a few of you, but it didn't get completed this year, so maybe as a last minute Christmas gift to me, if you have coaches that need training and 50 - 600 girls, give me a call and we'll set something up for early next year.

Links

Also last month I told you about how I designed a hitting shirt so you can always have the hitting steps right on your t-shirt. The 7 steps will be right there ready for you to remember. They are written upside down so you can read them yourself while you're practicing.

To find out how you can get one for your very own, the perfect gift.

Another item from the past that would make a great gift is the writings from Babe Ruth, written around 1928, where he described his beliefs about hitting, pitching and playing the game itself. It's a great read and you can learn a lot. To see about this Babe Ruth info, go here.

The second is the device that's designed to protect your face from line drives and bad hops. It's called Game Face. I have to admit they look a little dorky, but we're talking about protecting the only face (and possible eye sight) we have and we just might be better players and be more aggressive out in the field if we wore one of these.

For the Olympic Girl's hitting statistics they're here.

I included a hitting game on my website, it's a search-a-word game.

Another gift idea is hitting advice from the winningest ASA coach of all time, Phil Bruder, who won another national title this Aug.

I also had a couple of links for people who were interested in websites. To see how I built my website and how it helps me write this newsletter and increase traffic there's this link for Sitesell. Another link goes to a free book describing how to set up an internet business in 30 days or less. Go here, before he removes the website.

If you're still interested in going back to back issues use this.

Hitting Goals for the New Year

The kids that I coach that are the most successful are the ones that set their goals a little higher than they know they can make and work hard enough to reach them.

Don't be afraid to set your sights on hitting your first home run this year or raising your batting average 50 or 100 points or making the all-star team.

Just make sure you give yourself enough time to make it and put in enough practice.

Put a reason why you want (no, "have") to make that goal.

And finally get someone to help you reach it, whether it's a coach, a parent, or another player.

Welcome to you who are new to my hitting e-zine. I know you know this newsletter is international, but we keep adding countries we're making in roads into. This month we're welcoming a reader for Egypt (that hot bed of baseball and softball, just kidding, but welcome just the same.)

Thanks again for all of you who read this newsletter. If you find it of value, could you please pass it on to someone you can think of right now?

Talk to you next time.

Coach Andy