Play Better Baseball

This straightforward, easy-to-understand book helps prepare coaches and players to meet the challenges of tough competition. New revised, Play Better Baseball is the state-of-the-art source for baseball fundamentals and mechanics, illustrated with hundreds of photographs and accompanied by helpful new drills. Based on actual team situations drawn from author Bob Cluck's 20-plus years of coaching, this reader-friendly handbook emphasizes the fundamentals that produce winning baseball teams and offers a wealth of advice on: Coaching baseball at all levels

• Developing winning players
• Using videotape and high-speed film
• Using practice time efficiently
• The psychology of coaching

Pitching: the foundation of every team

• Pitching mechanics
• The pitches: Tools to get hitters out
• Setting up hitters: The game within a game
• First-pitch strikes, from Little League to the Majors

Playing the infield

• Using the right glove
• Throwing with strength and accuracy
• The game situation and positioning
• Fielding mechanics for infielders

The catcher: team leader

• The tag at home
• Blocking pitches in the dirt
• Pop-ups, bunts, and cutoffs
• Helping the pitcher get hitters out

Playing the outfield

• Backing up plays
• Throwing from the outfield
• Balls hit in the gaps
• Outfield positioning
• Playing the sun

Baserunning

• The steal and the hit-and-run
• Effective and safe sliding techniques
• Running the bases

Hitting

• Bats and grips
• Stances
• Stride and weight transfer
• Tracking the ball
• Bunting
• Situational hitting

The playbook

• Defensive assignments
• Infield pop flies
• Bunt defenses

The athletic machine

• Weight training for baseball players
• Conditioning for baseball

Bob Cluck is a major league pitching coach and scout and the founder of the San Diego School of Baseball.