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Showing posts from April 19, 2008

Reading the pitch

Third base is a reaction position. Balls are hit so hard to third base that quick reflexes are of major importance. In addition, learn how to read pitches. Get the sign from the shortstop and learn how hitters hit certain pitches from your pitching staff. This will give you an anticipating reflex that will allow you to react even quicker.

Know the nuances

One of the great things about baseball is that you can see something different every single game. The only way to know all the rules is to be an observer. Watch games and pick up on the nuances of the game. Whether you watch a professional game on television or attend an amateur event, you can learn something new about the rules or situations each and every time!

Weighted Bats

A great way to develop bat speed is to swing a weighted bat. Not just for the on deck circle, weighted bats are a fantastic training tool. Try to take fifty to one hundred swings a day!

Think a step ahead

As you progress in skill level you will understand more how baseball is a mental game. Those who are most prepared and can think a step ahead of the opponent will be the most successful.

Coaching Attitude

When coaching, follow every negative comment with a positive one shortly down the road. Players will respect you if you criticize them when need be, but also praise them at every opportunity.

Get Sideways

When moving to field a fly ball, remember the words ´Get Sideways.´ By doing a drop step and remaining sideways on your approach, you will have a much better chance to field the ball cleanly. ´Getting Sideways´ helps you avoid backpedalling, which often gets you in the most trouble.

The Exchange

Work on a quick exchange from glove to throwing hand. Even while warming up your arm you can work on this skill. Try to make a crisp, clean exchange that puts you in the best position to throw.

General tip for tryouts

Baseball tryouts can often be pressure packed. Most tryouts consist of many players with little time to show what you can do. But, one thing that will set you apart is hustle. Run out to your position, sprint down the base path, and hustle on every play.

Muscle Memory

Playing baseball is neurological...it is muscle memory. By doing the proper drills, you will condition your body to react properly in a game. Consult a professional to learn drills that will reinforce proper mechanics.

The Field General

The catcher needs to exert him or herself as the field general. Communication on the baseball field is necessary and a good catcher will take control. The catcher has the view of the entire field and can make the proper call for throws to each base.

Regimen

One of the simplest tips for hitting is to develop a regimen. Do the same pattern as you step up to the plate. Getting into a pre-at bat ritual will help to keep things constant and get you in a groove.

Conditioning

Most young pitchers do not realize the importance of both strong legs and stamina. Long distance running is a mainstay for professional pitchers. You should add long distance running to your regimen if you are truly serious about pitching (run 3-5 times a week!)

Sprints

When you break it down, base running is simply a series of sprints. Add wind sprints to your off-season regimen. Work on staying low at the start and exploding in your first several steps.

The best training tool

The best training tool for hitting is the wood bat. It instantly rewards you if your swing is a good one. By feeling the solid connection, you know you had a sound swing. It also penalizes you for a poor swing with a cracked bat or buzzing hands after poor contact.

Know your strengths

Know your stengths and weaknesses as a hitter. Try to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. If you make a conscious effort to eliminate a weakness in practice, you can make that translate into the game.

Hustle

It doesn´t take any talent to hustle. Run on and off the field. Run out all ground balls and pop-ups. Hustle will set a player apart.

Back Eye Shut

Great drill for those who are pulling their head out on the swing (excellent for young players). Take batting practice with the back eye closed or covered. This forces the hitter to follow the ball all the way in with the front eye. Thus, they tend to keep their head down throughout the swing.

Thinking properly

While in the field, always have the thought process of, "What should I do if the ball is hit to me on the ground or in the air." If you are always thinking this, you will always know where to throw the ball.

Different GIs?

Glycemic Index shows how fast a food influences your blood glucose levels. The faster the influence the worse for your body, so you should eat foods with lower GI. Glycemic load is the amount of carb grams appearing in your blood after you ate a certain amount of a certain food. This is of course a better technique but also a much more complicated since you have to not only know your foods but also watch grams of them.

GI and Diet

GI stands for glycemic index. It is a ranking system for carbohydrates, based on their effect on blood sugar. The more quickly a carbohydrate breaks down, the higher its glycemic index. Foods are rated on a scale of 0 to 100. Foods with a GI of less than 55 break down slowly. Foods with a GI between 56 and 69 break down at a moderate rate. Foods with a GI of greater than 70 break down very quickly. A glycemic index diet or Glycemic Impact diet stresses your intake of foods with lower GIs.

How To Improve Insulin, Glycemic, and Satiety Indexes

When a certain food is being consumed, the carbohydrate component of it causes the body to produce certain amount of insulin. A study conducted in Australia tested 38 foods (all in equal calorie portions) and showed that the insulin index method is a better and more practical technique than the Glycemic Index method, which instruct to select foods that influence blood sugar more slowly. For one thing, insulin index of foods rich in fat and refined carbohydrate resulted in very high insulin index while these same foods' glycemic index could be disproportionately low. The best way is choosing foods with a low glycemic index and low insulin index, which is especially important for people with insulin resistance. The journal Appetite published an article concluding that foods or meals with higher insulin indexes had lower satiety indexes. One simple way to improve all three indexes -- satiety, glycemic, and insulin -- is adding dietary fibers to foods or meals, an article by researcher...

The Glycemic Impact Diet

The Glycemic Impact diet guide focuses on the consumption of low Glycemic Index foods. The idea is that low Glycemic Index foods leave you feeling fuller, longer because the body takes longer to break them down. In this way, you are prevented from overeating. Foods with low Glycemic Indexes have added benefits such as lowering cholesterol.

Hypoglycemia and Diet

Hypoglycemia is a medical condition in which people have unstable blood sugar levels that at times can become too low. People who suffer from hypoglycemia should be ready to have a high GI food fast at any time. The Glycemic index diet relies on foods that keep blood sugar levels stable but low GI foods are not helpful duirng blood glucose level falls.

Low Glycemic Impact Diet

A low glycemic diet centers around foods with low glycemic index. The Glycemic Impact Diet is based on low GI foods. The idea behind GI dieting is to choose carbohydrates that are more difficult for the body to digest. This causes an increase in metabolic rate, which increases the number of calories burned. It also makes you feel fuller, longer, making it easier to reduce calories. Lastly, a GI diet often involves foods high in fiber which helps to reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the body.

Glycemic Diet and Diabetes

People who follow low glycemic diets and adhere to glycemic tips tend to have lower and more stable blood sugar levels. The GI diet tends to be high in fiber, which helps to slow down digestion. This helps to prevent spikes in blood sugar that can be dangerous for diabetics. In general, low GI foods help to regulate blood sugar levels because they are digested slowly.

Low Glycemic Diet and Atkins Diet

The Glycemic diet and the Atkins diet are often erroneously compared. While the Atkins diet focuses on reducing the number of carbohydrates ingested, the GI diet focuses on ingesting foods with low GIs, no matter what their carbohydrate content. GI dieters actually end up ingesting more carbohydrates, as they focus their eating on fruits, vegetables, and high fiber foods.

Determining Glycemic Index

The Glycemic Index for a specific food is determined by several factors. Foods that are high in fiber, fat, and protein are digested slowly, which gives them a low GI score. Glycemic Index is also affected by the cooking techniques. Food that is heavily processed or heavily cooked will have a higher GI score because it is already somewhat broken down.

Fiber and the Glycemic Diet

Fiber plays an important role in the low Glycemic Index diet. Foods that are high in fiber are more difficult for the body to digest. This gives high fiber foods low GI scores. High fiber foods help to reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the body. In this way, high fiber foods provide calories with excellent GI scores and also reduce the rate of fat absorption.

Slim-Fast Optima Diet Offers More Options

The latest addition to the Slim-Fast family of weight loss aids is the Slim-Fast Optima Diet. Unilever, the parent company that owns Slim-Fast, claims that the new Optima plan will help keep you satisfied so that you are more likely to stick to your diet and lose weight. The four elements to ensure weight-loss success on the Optima plan are as follows: A personalized, balanced meal plan that combines Slim-Fast products with foods that you prepare yourself. Regular physical activity (although Slim-Fast isn’t too specific about how much exercise or what type). Expert support and weight loss advice. The Slim-Fast website and online diet plan materials offer a variety of dieting tips and advice similar to the advice found on other dieting support sites. The plan claims to adhere to healthy eating principles endorsed by the American Heart Association, American Dietetic Association, and the National Institutes of Health, with an emphasis on healthy fats, lean proteins, and complex carbs. Too...

Don’t Like To Cook? Let Jenny Craig Do The Work

If you don’t like to grocery shop, cook, or spend much time planning meals, prepared meal diets may be the way to meet your weight loss goals. The Jenny Craig Diet is one of several diet plans in this prepared meals category. Among Jenny Craig’s claims to fame is to take credit for celebrity Kirstie Alley’s repeated dramatic weight losses (the most recent being 75 pounds). Whether Kirstie can maintain her current weight loss, and whether she does so by continuing to follow the Jenny Craig Diet, remains to be seen. Once you sign up for one of the Jenny Craig diet plans you have access to a database with hundreds of meal choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You don't have to think about the calories or proportions of proteins and carbs--it's done for you. The newest plan, Jenny Craig YourStyle, claims to take dieting history, eating patterns, activity level, and goals into account to help you design a more personalized weight management plan that works best for you. In addit...

Nutrisystem Diet Controls Carbs But Doesn’t Demonize Them

If you think you can commit to a month’s worth of prepared meals as part of your weight loss plan, the Nutrisystem Diet may be a good short-term option for you. The Nutrisystem Diet is not low-carb in the traditional way, but it is based on the glycemic index of foods. The glycemic index is a way to assess the “quality” of carbohydrates and whether they cause your blood sugar to spike or remain stable. The nature of the glycemic index and whether it really matters if you’re trying to lose weight remains uncertain, but the diet’s emphasis on healthy, complex carbs is sound. The bottom line is that the Nutrisystem foods do focus on healthy, complex carbs, such as whole grains, that will promote stable blood sugar levels and feelings of fullness. Once you sign up for the Nutrisystem Diet, you peruse the menu options and place your order by phone or online. Once you have made your choices, a 28-day supply of food arrives at your door with a Welcome kit and a planning calendar that outlines...

Victoria Beckham's Strawberry Diet: A Word of Warning

The formerly known worldwide as "Posh" Spice Girl, after giving birth to her third son Cruz in 2005, switched from her meat-and-salad diet to the "one meal a day" plan consisting only of strawberries. Her nutritionist's opinion is that Victoria can become very weak though nothing is wrong with the idea of a two-day detox diet of fruit and vegetables. The editor of "Mother and Baby" said that celebrities' diets put "immense and unwelcome" pressure on ordinary new mothers to be thin. "Strict diets don't make for happy motherhood. Mums will feel exhausted, snap at everyone around them and run the risk of spoiling those first precious months with their new baby," she added. Medical experts concluded that Victoria's Body Mass Index, which is 17, means that she is underweight and in need of gaining at least 7 pounds to avoid health complications and even an eating disorder.

Sleeping Beauty: Penelope Cruz's Secrets of Staying Naturally Thin

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Penelope Cruz Doesn't seem to have body weight problems but she decided to start a healthier life style so she quit smocking, started exercising, meditating, and paying more attention to sleep quality. Penelope claims that sleeping 12 hours a day helps her to remain naturally thin. Can it be true? The Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that getting enough sleep may help reduce weight gain while sleep deprivation alters important hormone levels resulting in increased appetite. The journal published results of clinical study showing that during sleep restriction, there was an 18% decrease in the appetite-reducing hormone leptin, 24% increase in hunger, and 23% increase in appetite. "This is a new and very exciting area of research which raises the possibility that lack of sleep may be an unrecognized and potentially modifiable risk factor for obesity," explained Jean-Philippe Chaput of Laval University in Quebec, Canada. Sleep seems to be as important as nutrition and exe...