1. Door knocking knuckles pointing upward during hitting stance.
2. Extend elbows at the moment of contact with ball as a hitter.
3. No tension in hands and wrist when hitting.
4. Nose lined up with back of baseball at point of contact during hitting.
5. Front shoulder slightly down during stride and swing.
6. Back side tall at point of contact of ball as a hitter - back heel should face upward.
7. Belt buckle points toward pitcher as the bat meets the ball.
8. Hitter's lead hand should land like an airplane in front of plate.
9. Hips should turn quickly as bat meets ball.
10. When a hitter hits the ball, his top hand should be facing up and the bottom hand facing down.
11. The hitter should feel that he is throwing the bat at the ball.
12. A hitter's swing should be similar to the action of throwing an ax into a tree.
13. Bat should be eye level when attempting a sacrifice bunt.
14. Top hand should be firm when bunting.
15. Bottom hand should be soft next to bat knob when bunting.
16. Bat should be in front of plate while bunting.
17. Little finger to little finger when fielding a ground ball.
18. Thumb to thumb when catching a fly ball or a thrown ball.
19. Field a ground ball in front of the ball of the cap.
20. Use a crossover step when moving to catch line drive and fly balls.
21. Line the front shoulder and hip with target prior to throw.
22. Infielders should "circle" all ground balls hit straight to them.
23. Cushion the ball softly when fielding short hops and ground balls.
24. Follow through with throwing shoulder toward target.
25. Outfielders should "circle" all high fly balls.
26. Fingertips should spin the ball smoothly when throwing.
27. Arm should be loose and flexible when throwing.
28. Glove foot forward when fielding ground balls.
29. Keep glove wide open and facing the ball when fielding ground balls.
30. Fielder should set throwing-side foot, then glove-side foot and force glove fingers toward the ground just as ground ball enters the glove.
31. When throwing, do net let throwing hand knuckles turn downward behind body prior to arm coming forward.
32. When playing defense, watch the barrel of bat hit the ball in order to get a quick jump on the ball.
33. Infielders and outfielders should be on balls of feet prior to pitch.
34. Bend knees and hips low when fielding ground balls.
35. Knuckles of first two fingers should stay directly behind the ball at point of release, and glove should tuck quickly to side of body.
36. Grip the ball lightly when throwing.
37. Infielders and outfielders should be in a quality ready position prior to each pitch during a game.
38. Pitchers should push with back legs and spin the hip fast when delivering a pitch. Throwing elbow should always lead toward target prior to release.
39. Pitchers' throwing shoulder should be in front of glove knee as ball spins off of fingers.
40. Pitchers should throw from the most comfortable arm slot and angle based on how he throws long tosses.
41. The pitcher's whole glove side (toe, heel, knee, hip and shoulder) should remain closed to the plate while throwing arm drops behind the body. Opening early destroys power in the delivery.
42. A pitcher should finish with a "high V" with back leg prior to setting it down.
43. Hands, wrist and forearms should be relaxed and loose when hitting, fielding, throwing and pitching.
44. 40 rollies a day keep the strike outs away.
45. Daily jump rope program adds flexibility, endurance and increased skill development.
46. Shoulder should lean forward when fielding ground balls and bunting.
47. When executing the stand-up slide, only the hip pockets touch the ground first.
48. Run on the "balls" of the feet and lean shoulder forward when sprinting.
49. Arms should not cross center of body while sprinting.
50. When a player improves his strength and coordination, he will automatically improve his baseball skills.

Help me!!!!! Son 0-7 so far
He's hit the ball hard thrice but right at someone, struck out twice, once looking on a low and away pitch, and got his weight way out front on a change-up and dribbled it to second and his last swing yesterday was what appeared to be a half swing to the third baseman. He plays on a 10-year-old travel squad and last year he hit .395 on a team that hit .340 on the year. He's always been a good hitter, but now, we're seeing a lot more change of speed, including sadly, hooks. Any advice? I think his last swing yesterday showed he is losing confidence and is becoming tentative.

How To Keep The Game Out Of Their Head
It doesn't matter whether a kid is failing math, they all can figure a BA. They all have a preseason goal like "I'm going to hit .400." They start off 0-7 and go home and extrapolate the math and "I've got to hit .575 the rest of the season to hit .400. This season SUCKS!" It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This player hit the ball hard three times! Had they found a hole, he's a happy camper! But because he is concerned with his BA, he is " losing confidence and becoming tentative." Sounds like a SLUMP to me.

Batting Averages are so subjective as to be almost meaningless. If the scorekeepers' son is a pitcher, all balls that are not converted into outs are errors. All balls that get by the catcher are "pass balls" not "wild pitches." Hence Junior's ERA stays low even though he gave up 10. If the scorekeeper's son is a hitter, those boots are all bad hops or "too hot to handle." I once noticed that one high school team had 5 players hitting over .500! Yet, their record was 3-16. Must have been some pretty bad pitching.

I keep stats on my team but I no longer post them in the dugout. I got tired of Dads coming up to me with their interpretation of their son's stats and arguing that I should change an error to a hit. I really don't care what their BA is. I don't need to see their BA to know if they are a productive offensive player or not.

As I have said before, a player must learn that he can only concern himself with those things over which he has control. He can only control:

1. The amount of preparation he has done so that he can expect to have success.
2. The pitch at which he chooses to swing
3. How hard he runs to first.

Baseball is a game of failure. Only failure 2 of 3 times for your career and you will end up in the Hall of Fame. But you failed twice as much as you succeed. More players are driven out of the game not because they can't play, but because they can't handle the failures that come with the game.