Best Training Equipment, Aids, Tools, Programs, & 15 Books On Youth Hitting Coaching Strategy For Fixing Baseball And Softball Swing
Discover where to find the best training equipment, hitting aids, tools, online programs, and 15 books on youth hitting coaching strategies for fixing the baseball or softball swing…
Baseball Equipment Training for Hitters: Never Suffer from Paralysis by Analysis Again
This is a shortlist of the thousands of dollars I’ve spent on educating myself about how the human body moves…
I often get asked about baseball equipment, books, and other resources to use, from coaches about hitting.
From hitting aids…to hitting programs…to hitting books.
There’s a potential for exponential growth in this information age, for coaches. There’s no excuse not to succeed nowadays. As Tony Robbins says,
“Where focus goes, energy flows.”
I wanted to share a list of equipment, books, and other resources that have helped in my own baseball training equipment for hitters journey.
I do a ton of research and study to find only the best. The key is, does the information or hitting aid hold up to the modern human sciences?
At the end of this post, I’d like to hear from you. What baseball training equipment for hitters (or for coaches) did I leave out?
By the way, this “guide” has as much to do with softball, as it does for baseball.
Think of this post as the definitive guide to baseball training equipment for hitters…
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
Baseball Training for Hitters: Books
Anatomy Trains, by Thomas Myers
- Anatomy Trains
, by Thomas Myers – this book changed my hitting world. Probably the best book for understanding the way humans move and how to optimize it. - Dynamic Body Exploring Form, Expanding Function, by Dr. Erik Dalton et al. – a collaborative of distinguished movement author experts. Even if you read a couple of the articles in there, you’ll be farther along than the conventional coach.
- The Spinal Engine, by Dr. Serge Gracovetsky – he cuts to the heart of the main engine in the swing. I want to warn you though, the information is jargon thick.
- Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance…, by Dr. Kelly Starrett and Glen Cordoza – this book is a beast. The Golden Rule for hitters? You have to train like an athlete first, THEN a baseball or softball player.
- The Golfing Machine, by Homer Kelly – Kelly was an aeronautical engineer for Boeing during the Great Depression. He fell in love with golf and began applying engineering principles to the Golf swing.
- Make It Stick, by Peter C. Brown – the science of successful learning. This book changed how I train hitting forever.
- The Science Of Hitting, by Ted Williams – need I say more?
- Disciple of a Master: How to Hit a Baseball to Your Potential, by Stephen J. Ferroli – written in 1986 as an answer to the Ted Williams book The Making Of A Hitter. Ferroli was a bio-mechanical expert who gave more detail to Williams’s study. It’s an easy book to digest. When I was reading it, it was interesting how eerily similar our approaches were because of science.
- The Making Of A Hitter, by Jim Lefebvre – particularly the part when he talks about the swing being a combination of Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces.
- Positional Hitting: The Modern Approach to Analyzing and Training Your Baseball Swing, by Jaime Cevallos – his observations are great, but applying the information via his drills prove to be a challenge.
- Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson & Ken Ravizza – one of the best books on the mental side of hitting.
- Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way Of Baseball, by Sadaharu Oh & David Falkner – from the Japanese baseball career home-run leader (he hit 868 homers!!).
- The Captain: The Journey Of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Conner – great example of hard work and dedication paying off. Not to mention one of the better human examples of ethics and morals.
- One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season, by Tony La Russa – great insight into the game within the game, and great how-to example for coaches from a man who didn’t amount to much as a player in the game.
- Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, by John Wooden – I actually haven’t read this one yet, but have read through quite a bit of Coach Wooden’s stuff. My college baseball Coach Bob Bennett used a lot of his coaching principles. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t include one of Coach Wooden’s books as a resource for coaches. By the way, this is the best rated on Amazon.com.
, by Thomas Myers – this book changed my hitting world. Probably the best book for understanding the way humans move and how to optimize it.
Baseball Training for Hitters: Hitting Aids
TheStartingLineupStore.com
In March of 2011, I put together an online store selecting the best 9 hitting aids on the planet. It’s called TheStartingLineupStore.com. I won’t go into all of them here, but I wanted to highlight my top-4 sellers:
- Rotex Motion – helping hitters move better, so they can move better.
- The Kinetic Arm – protective shoulder and elbow sleeve that reduces compression in the UCL (Ulner Collateral Ligament) and shoulder.
- “Don’t Let Good Enough Be Good Enough” T-Shirt – one of many cool hitting themed t-shirts.
- “Goliath” end-loaded heavy wooden bat – get benefit of swinging end loaded heavy bat AND wood, so you’re hitters can get stronger and control the barrel better.
Top-4 essential baseball training equipment for hitters…
- Zepp Baseball App (Zepp doesn’t make this anymore, so check out SwingTracker or BlastMotion) – the Zepp device attaches to the knob of the bat, and registers bat speed, ball exit speed, hand speed, swing path, attack angle, etc. to the coordinating app on your phone. It carries a hefty price tag at $150, but for coaches serious about running swing experiments, it’s a MUST!! CLICK HERE for an experiment I did using it.
- Coaches Eye App OR HudlTech – slow motion analysis for your phone. Both apps are compatible with both the iphone and android. I have the CoachesEye. Both are free I believe.
- Powerchalk – web based motion analysis. You don’t have to download any software to your computer. The free membership comes with: 1) The ability to upload ten separate videos to your own Video Locker, 2) Two-minutes of recording time per analysis, 3) 10-slot video locker, and 4) Upload and share video content.
If you digest the baseball training equipment for hitters book suggestions alone, you’ll put yourself in the top 1% of hitting coaches, instructors, and trainers. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:
“The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”
And don’t just stop there. Read player biographies and auto-biographies of past players like Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, etc. That being said…
I Want to Hear Your Baseball Training Equipment for Hitters Thoughts…
What baseball training equipment for hitters (or for coaches) did I leave out that should be included in the definitive guide? Please comment in the “Leave a Reply” section below…
With 28,000+ online bat speed program sales, my methods have transformed coaches, instructors, and parents just like you. I'm affiliated with esteemed organizations like ABCA, IYCA, and SABR, advocating for positive coaching. With 15+ years in corrective fitness and a Division One baseball background, my knowledge is unmatched.
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Franklin MLB Homerun Training Ball
G Tee (much like the Tanner Tee) is very good, very durable.
Rod Carew’s book “Hit to Win”. My second favorite hitting book next to Ted Williams’. Primarily for the mental side of hitting. His life story is an inspiration for over achievers and his preparation and approach at the plate was very insightful. Unlike most books written by former MLB players, Carew actually teaches a swing that is practical and not how he “thought” was the way he swung during his career.
Schutt multi-holed tee with homepage and a square in front (don’t know the trade name)
That’s home plate with a square in front
The Rebel’s Rack from the folks at Baseball Rebellion is a great tool for removing the hands and arms from the swing and I believe it helps with bat drag among other things.
Thanks for the input guys!
two best books I’ve read that can be applied to training and coaching anything are
When the game stands tall (not the movie rendition)
How good do you want to be – nick saban