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Not having the proper bat weight is an extremely common problem, especially with younger baseball players. You simply have to have the proper bat before addressing other important baseball tips on hitting. Way too often, younger players have the improper bat weight and almost always it’s because the bat is much too heavy! It also happens occasionally with older players also. Many baseball hitters falsely believe that that the heavier the bat, the farther and the harder they will hit the ball.

Guideline to Help Determine the Proper Bat Weight to Use:

1. Grab the bat at the very end, holding just the knob and using all your fingers. Use your right hand if you are a right-handed hitter or left hand if you are a left-handed hitter.

2. While holding the knob only, extend your arm and the bat out in front of you, with your palm facing up.

3. In other words, the distance from your shoulder to the end of the barrel of the bat should be approximately 5 or 6 feet.

4. Hold the bat for about five seconds and if your hand quivers, the bat is probably too heavy. If your hand remains fairly steady, your bat weight is probably okay.

This is just a guideline but your actual swings at the plate should be your truest and most reliable indicator as to proper bat weight. If you’re usually getting the bat around quickly enough on average or slightly above average fastballs, there is a very good chance that you are just fine.

You can also see what weight the rest of your teammates are using. Usually the difference among players on a team is only an ounce or two. So, you should be in the ball park already. No pun intended. So it’s really only fine tuning it by an ounce or so to your personal preference. If you are going to err, make sure you err on the side of the bat weight being too light instead of the being too heavy! Having a little “less bat” than you can handle is a very minor problem and is far superior than having “too much bat” and being constantly late on every pitch, where you will have no chance for a successful at bat.

Some teammates may kid you a little bit if you are using a lighter bat than most of the others. A perfect example for you to exercise “in one ear and out the other.” You are the one doing the hitting and you are the one who has to feel comfortable, not them. One of the most important baseball tips on hitting to remember is that bat speed determines how hard you will hit the baseball. I would rather have a bat that’s an ounce or two lighter but enables me to be quicker to the ball any day!

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

The largest national health crisis that Americans will be facing in the near future is the rising number of obese and morbidly obese people that live in America. The current metric to measure obesity is the Body Mass Index or BMI. A person can determine their BMI looking at a BMI chart with their height and weight. The BMI numbers range in four categories: Underweight =<18.5, Normal weight = 18.5-24.9, Overweight = 25-29.9, and Obesity = 30 or greater.

63% of Americans are overweight with a BMI score over 25. 31% of Americans are obese with a BMI over 30. 3.8 million Americans are over 300 pounds, a large majority of those being male. The average female in the United States weighs 163 pounds, and the average height of a female in the US is 5’3″. These numbers means that the average American female is overweight with a BMI of 28.9. Another disturbing trend in the US is the number of obese children. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past two decades. Medical research has established that being obese increases the chance of Americans contracting cancer, diabetes, having heart attacks and strokes, and many other deadly disorders.

Americans need to lose weight. Yet, the mention of weight loss turns off many people. Why? There are too many people screaming at the average American on television and radio about the new get thin quick miracle that will change their life. Too many times Americans have spent their hard earned money on products and drugs that haven’t lead to weight loss, but many times just increased their depression due to failure and led to increases in their weight. Quick fixes don’t exist when it comes to managing weight. Instead of thinking about a new system or a new weight loss strategy, Americans need to start thinking about a complete change in lifestyles.

The new lifestyles need to include a change in diet, a change in entertainment, a change in preventative health measures, and a change in daily fitness activities. Through these changes the average American will be able to feel better about themselves and will change their attitude toward weight loss. No longer will Americans look at weight management with dread but will actually pick activities that are entertaining as well as healthy.

Adding a sport as a hobby is a quick way of increasing personal fitness. Basketball is a great example of an active sport that will increase cardiovascular exercise. There is an abundance of locations with basketball hoops in the US. Buying a basketball is inexpensive and is the only equipment needed to participate in a game. There is an abundance of different levels of play available to people looking for a good workout from shooting hoops by oneself to competitive tournament based games.

Research has found that many people are more successful at achieving healthy fitness changes when participating in sports over just normal cardiovascular exercise, such as working out on a treadmill. This is due to the development of a skill that can be practiced, and participated with other people. It is hard to participate with other people on a treadmill, but it is very rewarding to demonstrate ones basketball abilities in a pick-up game with friends.

Once a person makes a change in a fitness pattern by adding a sport such as basketball, it is just a simple matter to also make small but effective changes in nutritional patterns. An easy way to increase the effectiveness of a cardiovascular workout that one gains by playing basketball is increasing the protein in ones diet. An increase in protein allows your body to use stored fat cells for fuel, thus increasing the amount of weight one losses when exercising. Your body almost never turns protein into fat, so increasing ones protein intake has many health advantages.

An easy way to increase the protein in your diet is to include a whey protein supplement. Whey protein is the most cost effective supplement with over 90% of the supplement being pure protein. It is also created from dairy so it is very easily digested in a humans system. Isolated whey protein is very low in fats, making whey protein healthier to eat over getting ones protein from eggs and meat. Taking a whey protein supplement after a workout allows your body to build more lean muscle and burn more calories.

Facing the current weight crisis in America is very important. Yet, through a change in lifestyles Americans can lose weight while increasing their happiness. A very simple way to increase ones activity level is to play some basketball. Small changes will produce the best results over time for anyone looking to lose weight.