Baseball Training

One of the unique aspects about the sport of baseball is that entirely different forms of movement are required when on offense or on defense. Most sports follow the same basic pattern of play, no matter who is defending, but baseball is a rare exception. The team that is up at bat is the team on offense, and the team in the field is on defense--but the two positions are usually referred to as batting and fielding, respectively.

Motions of Baseball

The most important motion to know when on offense is how to hit the ball. Batting is a relatively simple motion, but the batter must be able to anticipate and compensate for any curve balls the pitcher may throw. The basic batting form involves swinging the bat out horizontally from your shoulders, so that you can get the longest swing before making contact with the ball.

The basic defensive position is catching, but throwing is often more important. Throwing a baseball is a fluid motion that aims at throwing the ball with as much force and accuracy as possible. Before throwing, a player often makes a brief "wind-up" motion, where he pulls his arm behind its normal position, in the interest of putting as much force behind the ball as possible when it is thrown.

Pitching is a variation on throwing, and is also performed by the defending team. All of the motions of pitching, as well as batting and throwing, are simple motions that can always be improved upon. By perfecting stance, posture, and follow through, baseball mechanics can be made more efficient. For more information on how to perfect your mechanics, look into the practice of motion analysis.