You Can Teach Hitting

There is no shortage of baseball hitting books out there. This is definitely the best that I have seen in terms of teaching kids to hit. Dusty sets out the key elements of a successful baseball swing and provides drills to help your kids work on their weak areas.I would also highly recommend the companion CD which provide video clips of the key elements and drills. No youth baseball coach should be without these resources.

My boys needed some help with their hitting, and I decided I would try to help them. Since it was almost 30 years since I played baseball (and I really wasn't very good), I decided I needed some help. I bought a number of baseball instruction books, including You Can Teach Hitting. What a magnificent book!Baker breaks the swing into components, clearly describes the reason for each part of the swing, and provides appropriate drills for T-ballers through the pros.The benefits of the book can be immediate. After reading the first couple chapters, I found out I had been taught to grip the bat incorrectly, and, not surprisingly, I passed the misinformation on to my boys. After one or two swings with the proper grip, each of my boys had clearly improved their bat speed. Given that success, they were will to try other changes, and in just one week, they became noticeably better hitters.This book is clearly written, interesting, and all key points are fully illustrated. I am glad that I can now help my boys with hitting, being confident that I am teaching them properly, and not just passing on mistakes I learned when I played ball.

I have coached for 5 years and read books by Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn. I found this book to be the most complete guide to a good swing than the rest. Ted was a dead pull hitter and Tony was an opposite field hitter. Their styles are hard to duplicate. Dusty Baker brings it all to life in this book in a way that every Dad can understand . If you think your kids coach is going to know how to coach hitting think again. It's worth the money to see the extra hits!

The genius of Dusty Baker's book is that the swing is broken into components, each with a mnemonic phrase, which makes understanding and remembering the key concepts easy for the youngest player. The kids that I have coached who have lost form on their swing, can get their groove back by a single suggestion of, "Ike to Mike" or "Inward Turn." This book is not only for the very young hitter, there are sections on pitch recognition, offensive strategies, and the mental aspects of hitting. I highly recommend this book for dads or youth baseball coaches so they can teach their players proper, and easy to learn hitting technique, and have them remember, and use, the knowledge.

This book is the best I've seen for developing proper fundementals for hitters at an early age. The drills depending on age group will give a coach a working program to follow. Repetition of proper fundementals is critical knowledge for any coach. The book has been endorsed by many proven hitters. It is a great reference book also for problem solving drills depending on the swing flaw. Thanks Dusty, even though I grew up as an AL fan watching G.Brett in KC. PS. Pitching - see Dick Mills