in this issue Drill of the Month..... "Bunt Pepper - An offensive and defensive drill." Hitting Tip of the Month..... "When to Go Green. When to Go Red" Coaching Tip of The Month..... "A GREAT SAFETY TIP" Trick Play of The Month..... "Illegal Use of the Courtesy Runner Rule" PARENT TIP OF THE MONTH..... "Essential Homework Required For Success" Coach Nick Discusses Strategy With A Trio Of His Hitters THIS MONTH's SPECIAL OFFER BATACTION WITH A BONUS OFFER!!! Buy a new PRO-360 BatAction Hitting System, a regular $289.95 Value, for just $239.95 and save $50. Special Pricing Now Available. Click here. Satisfaction is 100% Guaranteed with a 100% Money- Back Guarantee. One full year warranty. To take advantage of this offer, you must call our toll free order line, 1-877-431-4487, within 5 days. HIT2WIN TRAINER OFFER: Buy the PRO Baseball or Softball Unit for just $59.95 and SAVE $20 on each item purchased. Regular retail Value $79.95. Sorry our limit is 3 per customer at this special price. COMING IN NEXT MONTH'S ISSUE: SKUNK IN THE OUTFIELD The value of the "FAKE STEAL " A new and exciting announcement from Nedco Sports. Plus, many more tips, drills and other information. Please help spread the word about our monthly newsletter. Please tell your friends, assitant coaches, and players to subscribe. Good Luck & Happy Hitting, Coach Nick Recommended Sites: BASEBALL TODAY Coaching Journal http://www.bb2day.com SOFTBALL TODAY Coaching Journal http://www.sb2day.com HIT2WIN Homework Hotline http://www.hit2win.com BaseballSelect.com http://www.baseballselect.com We encourage you to forward this issue to a friend, coaching colleague, parent, league official or player. Please help us spread the word about our monthly email newsletter. Thanks for being a reader. We appreciate your interest. We welcome any comments, feedback, and suggestions. See how the BASEBALL TODAY Coaching Journal ranks these products. Click Here!

Greetings Friend! This newsletter is being sent to you free because you have subscribed to it, you are a Nedco Sports customer that has asked for monthly updates or someone has subscribed for you. This newsletter is not spam. If you received it by mistake and do not want to receive another copy, please go to the bottom of the page and follow the instructions for removal from our mailing list. Have a great day! Drill of the Month..... "Bunt Pepper - An offensive and defensive drill."    Everybody knows that you must "hit to win"! However, I believe that one of the most often neglected phases of the game is the "short game". Of course we would rather "green light" all hitters. But in reality sooner of later your team's ability to bunt or inability to bunt will affect the outcome of a game. Execution of the bunt takes proper instruction and regular practice. "Bunt Pepper" is a great drill to use as a warmup before practice. The drill is performed with 4 players in a group. Each player bunts 5 and then rotates. Four players field the bunts and throw a stike to the bunter. The drill incorporates many teaching fundamentals. The bunter learns to see the ball, to have bat control, to use correct bat angle, and to use the different types of bunts. The drill would be set up as below: (players)_____a b c d_____ (bunter)________x________ The bunter bunts 5 times and then goes to defense. The last bunt is a drag or push bunt. The bunter then lays the bat down and assumes the position of the "a" player that moves to the "b" spot. The "d" player comes to the bunt spot. This drill is a fast paced drill. We performed it daily for from 5 to 10 minutes. Remember to emphasize the following: 1. The bunter will use the "square", "pivot" and "drag/push" techniques. 2. The ball must be bunted downward. A ball caught in the air by a defender means 10 pushups. 3. The defenders use this drill to perfect their footwork. They are now allowed to throw a pitch to the bunter without first turning their body and feet to the proper throwing position. 4. You may want to incorporate other skills into the drill such as having your middle infeilders use an underhanded "stiff wrist" double play feed as their throwing method. Such changes keep the interest level up and adds valuable repition of basic skills. For more drills and tips click here! Hitting Tip of the Month..... "When to Go Green. When to Go Red"    I love to allow my players to swing the bat. 95% of the time I "trust their judgement" and "turn them loose". However, we all know that there are times when we must "take pitches". I have always used a system by which I make a color call representing our "mind-set" at the plate. "Green" means you hit what you want when you want to. Now I love for my hitters to hit the first pitch. I teach an attitude of patient agression at the plate. However, when the call is "RED" the batter will not swing the bat until he has a called strike. Now there are several reasons I must put on a "RED". Sometimes a pitcher will be so junky that we are becoming frustrated and chasing pitches out of the zone. We must be MORE PATIENT. Another reason is we need a baserunner and "ANY WAY IS A GOOD WAY". Another reason is the pitcher is struggling and needs to prove to me he can throw strikes. Another reason is we "NEED TIME" on the bases to move a runner into scoring position before we swing the bat. We also have a "SMART GREEN" call where the batter looks for and "SITS ON" the fastball. Many players know how to be situational hitters and do not need this system. But for young teams or "early season games" it works well as a reminder to put the "TEAM FIRST"! Read an article at BASEBALL TODAY Coaching Journal on "Coarrecting Common Hitting Flaws". Click Here! Coaching Tip of The Month..... "A GREAT SAFETY TIP"    I am sure that you are always safety minded and aware that prevention is the best way to prevent injury. There is one safety suggestion that I feel absolutely makes practice safer and prevents injury. During batting practice or during "ball roundup", a player never throws a ball to someone without that person asking "how many?" For example, a coach is throwing "BP" and he "calls for balls". He turns and the thirdbaseman has balls to throw in. The coach must first make eye to eye contact and ask the player "how many?". The player responds with "I have three" and he then throws the three balls to the coach. This method prevents two players throwing the ball to someone at the same time. What more on baseball safety and first aid? Click Here! Trick Play of The Month..... "Illegal Use of the Courtesy Runner Rule"    Coaches should always be alert for the oppositon misusing the "courtesy baserunner" rule. There are several ways that coaches do this. The first way that they cheat is that they will use a disignated hitter for the catcher and then use a "courtesy runner" to run for the batter hitting "for the catcher". This "method of cheating" is often used on unsuspecting coaches and inexperienced umpires. The second way coaches cheat is they will make a substition for the catcher and say that the new catcher is going out on defense the next time. The sub bats and gets on base. The coach then uses a fast "courtesy runner" for the "suppose to be catcher". However, the sub is pulled and the starting catcher is reentered into the game. This is a rule violation. This nay also be used for the pitching slot and another pitcher is put into the game. Be alert for this tactic. A good bookkeeper in the dugout prevents such trickery. Comimg in our next two issues, SKUNK IN THE OUTFIELD and SWITCHING BASERUNNERS. ©COPYRIGHTED NICK DIXON 1999-Hit2win.com See more Trickplays click here! Order Coach Nick's Official Trick Play Guidebook Today! PARENT TIP OF THE MONTH..... "Essential Homework Required For Success"    All baseball skills must be learned early. In fact, I feel most skills are learned before the age of 10. Refined skilled development never stops through out a players career. It is important for parents to work with their players at home. This work must continue throughout a players career. This work may be as simple as just throwing year-round or as advanced as the purchase and use of home hitting equipment. Parents often think that "getting picked" will automatically make their kid a player. So they do just enough "homework" to get the player picked and then the "homework" stops. Parents must understand that every minute of time and every penny invested in a players career pays dividends later. You only have a certain number of years and one chance to help your player. And most of all remember it is never too early or too late to start. BONUS TIPS OF THE MONTH - Teaching Young Players Proper Mechanics - "Six Steps To A Perfect Swing" Click Here: http://coachnick0.tripod.com/bb2day/id2.html Contact us today!

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