Information on baseball equipment continued...Best training aids in baseball

As we go through this information on baseball equipment you may find yourself saying: "I wish I would have thought of that one."

Let's take a look at one offensive training aid and one defensive hitting aid.

The Pro Hitter or Direct Protect is a great little tool to help players grip the bat properly. It also does a super job of reducing shock to the batter's hand when he hits the ball.

This is an effective, low cost device that is well worth the money. I used one of these when I played (especially in spring training)until my hands got a little quicker and I did not get jammed so much.

One final note: It may take a short time to get comfortable using the Direct Protect.

Foam pads

Glove inserts

Flat glove

The purpose of these aids is to "soften" the hands when fielding the ball. Players are trained to start with their hands out in front of their body and "give" with the ball as they field it rather than pushing at the ball.

Developing soft hands will make it easier for the ball to stay in the glove.

Another training point in using the soft hands devices is using two hands to field the ball.

The foam pads are a good alternative at about $15 dollars they work very well in training players to have soft hands and use two hands to field.

This glove fits like an ordinary fielder's glove. The only difference is that is does not have a pocket. Without a pocket the player has to develop soft hands as well as using two hands in fielding a ball. This product is around $30.

All three of these training aids are great at developing better fielding techniques.

Here is an example of the flat glove training aid.