Baseball Training Aids:

Baseball Training Aids have been around since I was a small player, only in much smaller numbers. Not unlike the Old West Snake Oil Hawker (Salesman,) who from one bottle of elixir could cure All your ills, one must first analyze the latest training aid before buying it.The American translation from Roman Latin; “Buyer Beware” still holds true today.

I must say if I had a lot of money, I’d be like a Kid in a Candy Store, as the amount and variations of baseball training aids available over the internet is astounding. Out of curiosity, and in order to provide information on these products to you, I chose a few items to look at.

Strong Arm Trainer

This spiffy little devise turns any door, which it can be attached to, into a miniature gym for strengthening the throwing arm and shoulder. It appears to be a good product for therapy, strengthening a rotor cuff or bicep injury, but I question the total effectiveness of it’s proclaimed purpose.

I’m not saying don’t look into buying it, I’m saying in my opinion it should be used under adult supervision in younger aged players. Younger players may not have the correct basic pitching mechanics mastered, and with the use of this resistance type training could create more harm than good. Poor mechanics could result in injury or bad muscle memory, but it’s worth a look.

Four Colored Baseball

This Softball Sized multi colored ball is designed to be an eye to ball visual aid, which will teach the hitter to intensify his focus on the ball.The ball is not intended to be hit, but rather to teach the ability to recognize the spin and orientation of the ball. The intended drill is to have the batter watch the ball all the way into the catcher’s mitt, and as it crosses the plate yell out the color he sees. There’s actually no way to verify if he chose correctly, but the intent is to focus on the ball, not be tested on correct color calls.

Baseball Training Aids - Weighted Baseballs

The intended purpose of throwing weighted baseballs is exactly the same reason batters swing weighted bats, to make the real baseball feel lighter to throw. Because the player is actually throwing the ball in a strict pitch count regiment, he will also strengthen the arm and shoulder.

More college teams are moving towards the use of their pitchers using weighted balls as part of their training, and are achieving encouraging results. There are Strict Rules to abide by if you want to start using this devise, and Must Be Adhered To or the possibility of injuring the arm increase a hundred fold. The rules are quite simple. The Number of throws per training session is limited. Never throw a ball over 9 ounces, and I question that heavy. This training routine can only be used in the off season, once spring training begins STOP all usage of the weighted balls. Do not use a pitching mound when throwing weighted balls.

Running Chute

This concept of attaching a miniature parachute to a player’s waist, providing wind resistance as he runs wind sprints, is not new. As long as the player has learned proper running technique, adding the chute for resistance can’t hurt. The only drawback is should the chute get tangled or not operate quite correctly, valuable training time is lost readjusting the chute apparatus.

I haven’t seen this in actual operation, but the concept is sound. As with the running chute the miniature parachutes provide wind resistance which will strengthen the muscles associated with increasing bat speed. The devise also provides a safe method of making the bat feel light, without the many negative issues associated with swinging a weighted bat numerous times.

Again, as long as the devise doesn’t continually malfunction by tangling up, the benefits should outweigh the negatives.

Foam Fielding Hands

Any devise or drill which requires the player to improve their fielding abilities without the aid of a glove, is beneficial. The concept is quite simple, if you can learn to catch the ball on a consistent basis with only your hands, the use of a glove will greatly enhance that ability.

Baseball Training Aids - Sliding Mats

This devise is designed to eliminate, what we used to call raspberries, on our hips and thighs, resulting from constantly hitting and sliding along the ground.

I suppose there’s a use for this type of training aid, perhaps for indoor training, but I personally wouldn’t use it for my players. That may sound sadistic, as if I wanted my players to endure the burn of raspberries, not true.

What I want my players to learn is how their slide works on the infield dirt they’ll be playing on all season. I didn’t even like using the outfield grass for sliding practice if the infield was too wet to practice on. A player must be able to learn to gauge when to slide and how far that slide will carry him. It’s impossible to learn that if every time you slide on an artificial devise you slide 15 feet, that’s not realistic. However, like I said it could be useful for indoor practice or to teach the basics of a new slide.

Baseball Training Aids - Six Sided Reaction Ball

This softball sized six sided ball is designed to create Quick reflexes to bad hops. The design of the ball prevents it from taking a smooth or straight path along the ground, which is what makes this aid quite effective.

Your players will be instructed to field the ball when you throw to them along the ground, just like you’d throw any other grounder, but the ball will take crazy hops and erratic bounces as the fielder approaches, forcing him to make quick body and hand movements in reaction to the new direction.

If you can keep from laughing yourself sick while watching your players perform as if they were America’s Funniest Videos, it’s a great training tool.

As you already know, there is No strength in the palms of the hands, only the fingers, along with the forearm, provides strength for a good grip, whether it be on the bat or to throw a specific pitch.

Aids such as squeezing rubber balls or spring devises works very well at developing finger strength, however the fact you’re multi-tasking, strengthening while performing other tasks while utilizing the gloves, allows optimum time management.

Baseball Training Aids - Baseball Training Glove

This infielders’ glove is designed to be the next step in developing sure handed fielding following the foam pad training. The glove is small, 9 ½” inches versus the normal 11” infielders’ glove.

Again the idea is to develop the ability to field sure handed with an undersized glove, when using a standard size glove, the ability to reach, field and grip the ball will be greatly enhanced.

These Training Aids Have Proven Effective, But Are Not All Inclusive.

From Here We'll Exam All Essential Baseball Equipment Bats, Gloves, Sunglasses and Numerous Other Forms of Equipment.

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