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.68mm Hitting by the Internet Hitting Coach
September 26, 2008
Hi

.68mm Hitting - Say What?

Today we're going to hit by the numbers, .68mm hitting, hitting along 99, et al.

From all your reading of my newsletters has any of them had a more confusing title?

It's like what is this guy talking about? I've never heard of either .68mm hitting or hitting along 99.

Actually the first one is an exciting discovery I made while browsing in the 99 cent store (so is that what hitting along 99 means? No, you'll have to keep reading for that one).

Guess what I found there?

They had 3 different packets of brightly colored balls that were soft foam, re-usable paint gun pellets. I thought, hmmm, maybe I could use these for hitting. Apparently they traditionally are for target practice for paintballers that don't want to use their 1 shot pellets for practice. And these pellets are .68mm, hence the name .68mm hitting!

What a great thing I discovered. Now golf ball whiffles are way too big to use to force your hitters to concentrate :) They actually are heavier and fly more acurately than the whiffles for pitching them and seeing them go.

Great for toss, or having the coaches or kids get on one knee and "pitch" them to them, or you might even be able to underhand them for the softballers.

And because they come in different colors I invented drills, like tossing them without seeing what color was coming and they have to take the pitch on green (for example) or bunt the orange one. I also take all the colors and drop them from head high and make them catch the color I call out before they hit the ground. Great for getting very specific in what they're concentrating on. Another coach I know works with kids 8 and under and uses them to practice catching, since they'll pop out of their gloves unless you really concentrate.

You can see if your local 99 cent store has any of these or go to any sporting goods store or paintball only store to see if they have practice paintballs. I know I've also found them online as well, but they're not one buck, but you spend more than that on golf ball whiffles don't you?

So what about hitting along the 99?

What is Hitting Along 99?

If you live near Highway 99 from Bakersfield to Sacramento (Elk Grove specifically) your team could get me to give them a hitting clinic as I will be coming up and down that stretch of road Friday, Saturday or Sunday (possibly Monday if you needed me to).

Normally I do larger clinics, but because I'll already be in your town, I can stop by for a couple of hours for as few as 8 - 12 kids (or grown ups on a slo-pitch team).

Here's what we'll do.
* - I can work with you and your other coaches on determining which swing you'd like to use and what to recognize if a player comes in with a different one.
* - I'll teach your hitters the best way to hit the way you've chosen for them.
* - I'll analyze each of your hitter's swings, work with them individually a little bit and give them some drills and techniques to help them get better.
* - I'll even throw in a free copy of my hitting CD (selling for $40).

This can all be done for $50 per player!

In fact, I have 3 extra sets of my .68mm hitting balls to the first 3 coaches to sign up, call me right now 805-642-5827.

I would call now, then tell your players about it, so you don't miss me coming through your town.

Do you Twitter?

I get so busy with my regular lessons, working with my son, life in general, I go a whole month before you hear from me again because it takes some effort to get thoughts together that you'd find helpful.

Many times I get cool insights about working with hitters like the .68mm hitting balls, but you don't get to hear about them because they might be small and I'll forget about them, but if there was a way to jot a quick note that you could see, I could do that.

Well there is now a service that does that on Twitter.com And so I've got an account there and if you'd like to hear my short thoughts on hitting throughout the weeks and months you can "follow" me when you login. If you don't have logon now, you can sign up for free right on my twitter page. - http://twitter.com/CoachAndy


Again, if you have any questions or comments you can write to me via e-mail.

To see other hitting tips in past newsletters, go to the past issues of my hitting newsletter page.


Welcome to you who are new to my hitting e-zine.

Thanks for reading and talk to you next time.

Coach Andy

6801 Dove St. Ventura, CA 93003

805-642-5827

Coach Andy Collins has been helping players achieve their goals in softball and baseball for over 30 years. He's an advisor to national teams and can help you be a better hitter. He offers free information on his website www.theInternetHittingCoach.com and through free e-mail hitting lessons and has just introduced a new hitting video discussing and demonstrating how to hit great with either the rotational or linear hitting methods. https://www.theinternethittingcoach.com/hitting-video.html

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