Baseball Parent Guide - What is the Key to a Youth Baseball Player Becoming a High School Prospect?

As a high school baseball coach, I see players of all sizes, shapes, and ability levels try out for our JV and varsity teams. Baseball is the one sport that will never be ruled totally by size, speed, and power. I am not saying that power, speed and size do not help a player. What I am saying is that having certain physical attributes is not the key to baseball success. There is a place for all body builds to succeed. In this article, I discuss what I feel is the #1 key to a player becoming a prospect to make the high school team.

I think the #1 key to making the high school junior varsity and varsity teams is how much skill building homework a player has done during his youth baseball playing years. The key to becoming a stand-out player is how much practice a player gets year round and between regular team practices during the season.

Time after time, I see proof that the players that excel in baseball are the players that put forth that extra effort in making sure that their bat, glove, and arm are worked enough to help them reach their fullest potential as a player. It is hard for a player to reach their potential if they do not get proper instruction, receive adequate practice time, and workout enough to make their baseball skills stronger and their baseball play instinctive.

Players can not expect to excel if the only times that they ever pick up a, a ball or bat are at team practices during baseball season. Achievements in baseball are just like achievements in life. You get what you deserve. You deserve what you earn. The more time and effort that a player and his parents put into baseball in the early years is crucial to success in high school. In most cases, the outstanding high school prospects are the players that have baseball training equipment in their backyard or that have received baseball batting or pitching instruction from qualified baseball instructors.

To be a big time prospect, you need to throw, hit, and field in workouts on your own as well as with the team. Going above and beyond is the key to becoming a top rated baseball prospect. If you are unwilling to commit the time, put forth the energy, or stay on a regular practice routine, your chances of becoming an accomplished high school player can be reduced.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. You can find more like it at the Baseball Parent Guide, Baseball Coaching Digest, Youth Baseball Digest, and the Little League Digest. Have a great day, Nick.

The CoachesBest and Baseball 2u Baseball Store has a great selection of 1400 Baseball Products. Check out the Hurricane Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, a sports training company established in 1999. Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of the BatAction Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, the SKLZ Target Trainer, the SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and the SKLZ Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Youth Baseball Digest, the Baseball Parent Guide, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, and Blog4Coaches.

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The Easy Buying Guide for Baseballs and Bats

With all the choices out there these days, deciding which baseballs and bats to buy can be an overwhelming task. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about these two very important pieces of baseball equipment.

Baseballs

Ever wonder what's inside a baseball and what makes one baseball better than another? You're not alone. To answer that question, you must become familiar with the four essential parts of a baseball:

Baseball Covers

There two types of baseball covers: leather and synthetic. Leather covers are the "traditional" choice and are used at higher levels of play. They offer a better grip and are generally more expensive. Synthetic covers are made from vinyl and are more resistant to water, dirt, and stains. Baseballs with synthetic covers are less costly than leather baseballs.

Baseball Stitching

There are three main forms of baseball stitching. The first form is raised seams. This type of stitching is prominently raised and can benefit pitchers as the raised seams lead to greater ball movement. The second form is standard seams. This type of stitching is not as pronounced as the raised seams. It is also called "major league stitching" because it is the type of stitching used in the major leagues. The third form is flat seams. Flat seams are used for pitching machines or practices and are rarely used in games.

Baseball Windings

The baseball windings are found under the cover and are made of yarn and thread. The yarn is either made of pure wool or wool blends. Pure wool windings are offer the best compression and shape retention. Wool blend windings are more common. The wool purity and the tightness of the thread determine the quality of the windings.

Baseball Cores

The core of the baseball is found in the middle of the baseball windings. High quality baseballs have cushioned cork cores that consist of cork wrapped in rubber. Lower quality baseball cores are made of solid rubber or a cork and rubber composite.

Bats

Baseball bats are a hitter's tool and must be chosen carefully. There are three primary types of bats to choose from: aluminum or aluminum alloys, composite, and wood.

Aluminum or Aluminum Alloy Bats

Aluminum or aluminum alloy bats have been the primary choice for most youth leagues for many years. Aluminum bats are light and durable. There are many different alloys or combinations of metals that are used in aluminum bats, each having their own unique set of properties. The most common alloy is 7046 but there are others that give the bat more durability and strength, such as CU31/7050, C405/7055, and C555. You can expect to pay slightly more for these stronger alloys.

In addition to the alloy of the aluminum bat, the construction of the bat is also a factor in the durability and performance. Double-layer aluminum bats offer increased power and durability. One type of metal treatment used is cryogenic treating. This method of metal treatment involves freezing then heating the metal to increase strength, power, and reduce vibration. Both of these types of aluminum bats will be more pricy as they offer better overall performance.

Composite Bats

There has been a lot of controversy since the introduction of composite bats. Composite bats are simply bats made of lighter, stronger materials such as graphite or titanium. These materials are usually used as linings on thin walls of aluminum. They can reduce the wall thickness considerably thereby increasing overall bat speed and power. Other advantages are that composite bats typically have a larger "sweet spot" and vibration is reduced considerably from the standard aluminum bat.

Composite bats do have disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that composite bats cannot be used in cold weather or they are at risk of cracking. Also, composite bats typically have a "breaking-in" period whereby they need to be used for a period of time before they reach full performance levels.

Composite bats have been under fire in recent years due to studies that have indicated that the ball-exit-speed-ratio (BESR) for some brands of these bats is beyond the safe limits for use in regulation play. This argument is still being debated and has resulted in banning these types of bats in some organized leagues.

Nevertheless, composite bats are still a very popular choice for many high school and collegiate leagues. Always check the BESR rating for the bat versus your league rules before purchasing, and expect to pay considerably more for the added performance.

Wood Bats

While wood bats were the only choice of baseball bats until the 1970s, the use of these bats in youth leagues has all but vanished. Wood bats these days are typically only used in professional leagues. Nevertheless, they are still a viable choice for anyone that is looking to purchase a bat.

Wood bats have three significant disadvantages. They splinter and break easily, they have a very small sweet spot, and they have much less hitting power than aluminum or composite materials.

When purchasing baseballs and bats, always consider your requirements versus the performance and price of the equipment. Use the above guidelines to help you determine the perfect equipment for your needs.

Dustin Peek is a former player with a life-long love for the game of baseball. He enjoys helping players of all ages learn the skills necessary to be successful on the diamond. Do you want to learn more about buying baseballs and bats? Find this and much more at: http://www.baseballskillscenter.com

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Guide to Babe Ruth's Baseball Memorabilia

Baseball is the number one sport that has captured the hearts of Americans, both young and old. That is the reason why baseball memorabilia is also popular and in-demand in the country. Nearly all the things that baseball athletes use in and out of the field have fetched a considerable amount of money, especially those that have been used by baseball legends like Baseball Hall of Famer Babe Ruth.

For many baseball fanatics, money is not an issue. They are willing to pay a huge amount of money for rare mementos and collectibles like bats, signed pictures and baseballs. Most of their collections are also well guarded and increase in value through time.

Top collectors seek after baseball memorabilia left by Babe Ruth because the man is a legend. Anywhere he was placed, he consistently showed his baseball prowess, both as a pitcher and batter. He made and broke his own homerun and other records several times during the span of his long baseball career. This bambino is considered one of the best, if not the best, baseball player of all time.

Babe Ruth's Rare Baseball Memorabilia

The most expensive baseball bat sold in an auction in the history of the country was the one that Babe Ruth used to score a homerun in the first-ever game played in the Yankee Stadium in New York. The old wooden bat, which was remarkably preserved, was bought by an anonymous collector on December 2, 2006 for almost $1.3 million, approximately half the money spent in building the said Yankee Stadium. According to the representative of the buyer, their party was willing to spend more than $1.3m for the said bat.

Another baseball memento that fetched quite high selling price is an autographed bat that Babe Ruth used in one of his games. This particular bat was acquired in an auction for around $216,000. Antique autographed bats are very expensive because they are very rare. Since bats used before were wooden bats, they were easy to break and smash. Thus, only a number of used wooden bats of popular players are preserved nowadays.

Signed baseball memorabilia are abundant in the market. You can find autographed baseball caps, bats, balls, jersey and many others on the Internet and other auction sites. However, it is more difficult to encounter genuine signed checks, contracts, documents and letters. Signed pictures are also rare. These items will surely increase in value in the future, especially if you are talking about baseball memorabilia of the legendary Babe Ruth.

Affordable Babe Ruth baseball memorabilia

If you are just interested in baseball collectibles but are not really concerned too much on amassing money in the process, then you can opt to collect inexpensive baseball mementos, such as photos, pins, trading cards and framed copy of the Curse of Bambino contract. You will not find it very difficult to find these reasonably priced baseball souvenirs in sports hobby shops and the Internet. There are hundreds of web-based auction houses that you can chose from.

Be wary of fake baseball memorabilia

Since the demand for baseball memorabilia, especially from Babe Ruth, is very high but the supply is very low, many unscrupulous individuals are preying on the inexperienced collectors. In order to prevent being conned, you ought to buy from legitimate dealers, especially if a huge amount of money is at stake. For autographs and signed documents, you should also contract the services of experts to authenticate your baseball memorabilia.

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