SwingAway Sports Products – Announces the Signing of Bryce Harper, Major League Baseball’s 2010 No #1 Overall Draft Pick, to an Exclusive Multi-Year Contract

SwingAway Sports Products, Inc. and Professional Baseball’s 18 year old phenom Outfielder Bryce Harper has agreed to an Exclusive 3 Year Contract for Bryce to represent the Baseball Training Aids Company.

Marietta, GA, May 26, 2011 –(PR.com)– “SwingAway is very proud and excited to announce this agreement with Bryce Harper,” boasted John J Flading, President and CEO of SwingAway Sports Products. “What Bryce has accomplished in the beginning stages of his baseball career is not only impressive but unprecedented. Bryce is a very passionate and dedicated young player that constantly challenges himself to become the very best. He has accomplished this by working and training harder than anyone else. Bryce started hitting on the SwingAway and using other SwingAway Training Aids when he was 10 years old. We choose Bryce because Bryce knows what this machine can do because he has used it most of career, what a Dramatic Testimonial.”

“I’m excited to become a part of the SwingAway Family. They have the same strong commitment to helping young and elite baseball players elevate their games by becoming better hitters,” said Bryce Harper. “I am absolutely convinced that every player regardless of their age or ability can benefit training on a SwingAway, because I’ve been hitting on the SwingAway since I was in Little League and still use it today. I am looking forward in working with them to promote the SwingAway machine and assist in the development of additional training aids and training programs to help all players become better hitters.”

SwingAway plans to roll-out an aggressive media campaign featuring Bryce for Point of Purchase, Print, Internet, TV and Radio advertising. All SwingAway Hitting Stations can be found on-line at www.swingaway.com and the Top Sporting Goods and Baseball Websites and is now available in All Sports Authority and limited Modell’s Sporting Goods Stores.

How to Be Consistent in the Game

When a player is “hot,” it is imperative that he not pressure himself to maintain that pace.  If so, he starts trying too hard, thereby switching the mind to the left hemisphere, where trouble is certain.  Solution?  Leave your mind on automatic, and keep positive HEAD GAMES within your control.

Only a positive mind can keep one on the road to success.  Relative to sports, or anything else, the mind must be focused on the present, in order to maximize goals.  When focused on the task at hand, goals are secondary.  Goals, in order to not be detrimental to success, must be kept on the edge of the attention, and not allowed to interfere with the present.  When relaxed and  properly focused, the mind of the athlete shifts to the creative side.  This focus on the present, the action of the moment, is the solution to thinking too much.  Positive testimonials continue to pour in from across the globe with HEAD GAMESsuccess stories.

Learning How to See the Ball Properly

A baseball bat at its widest is three and three quarters inches in diameter.  A ball comes toward the hitter at the speed of 80-90 plus miles per hour.  A 90 MPH fastball reaches the plate in four-tenths of a second.  The hitter has just about one-tenth of a second to pick up the ball.  However good your mechanics may be, you won’t success if I blindfold you.  First things first, see the ball!

Your eyes tell your brain how to react, if your eyes aren’t seeing the ball well, you are not going to be able to react properly to the ball.  Since you only have four-tenths of second to recognize, react and execute the swing on an average fastball, you need to learn how to track the ball.

Learn Hown to Embrace Mental Toughness

A few years ago, I worked with an out of state nine year old racquet ball and basketball player referred by Skip Bertman.   Although this young athlete has been ranked as high as number one in the U.S.A. in racquet ball for his age category,  the fun was no longer there as the pressure had mounted.  He is  now not only excited about his athletic future but life generally.

His parents were also enthused as they  embraced the HEAD GAMES philosophy.  The dad is an attorney and the mom has multiple responsibilities inside and outside the home; they immediately made plans to use what they  learned to make life simpler, more enjoyable, less stressful and more productive. The techniques when developed over thirty years ago were intended  to be holistic and not limited to  sports.  We live in a busy, stressful and complicated era.

The good news is that accolades from across the world attest to the fact that  HEAD GAMES is an effective panacea in not only coping with the demands and complexities of modern society but can also lead to happiness and success.  HEAD GAMES principles include but are not limited to teachings involving POSITIVE THINKING, RELAXATION AND FOCUSING.   Why not add your name to the growing and glowing list of testimonials?  Make a comment on this post and let us know!

Taking The Right Approach to the Ball

It is very important to take a proper and consistent angle to the ball, the lower half of your body is what allows you to take this angle.  If the feet and hips are not working correctly, the hands and arms will not be able to take the proper path to the ball.

Also, mentally the hitter must not be thinking home run or have these types of thoughts in his mind.  These thoughts will throw off the proper swing rhythm and sequence of the swing.  The approach must be fundamentally sound from the ground up or somewhere along the line you will reach your ceiling and improvement will stop.  This is why it is so vital that these mechanics are learned as soon as possible, the more time that lapses, the more difficult it becomes to overcome.

How to Hit the Ball to the Opposite Field

Swing Breakdown – The Hip Slide

Structuring Your Goals

Before continuing, I would like you to distinguish between two important kinds of goals: outcome goals and performance goals.  Outcome goals are the end of products of achievement, such as hitting .300, or making the All-Star team.  Performance goals are explained below.

Performance Goals

Performance goals have to do with specific behaviors you need to master in order to achieve your outcome goals.  Examples of performance goals are hitting the outside pitch to the opposite field, consistently staying focused and alert on every pitch.  Performance goals are the stepping stones to achieving outcome goals.  They are the nuts and bolts of what you need to do in order to achieve the outcome you want.

Hitting with Proper Extension

The follow through should be a personal preference.  While many hitters feel like they have a better swing with a two handed finish; other feel the one handed finish works best for them.  Some hitters use both methods depending on where the pitch is.  For example, many hitter finish with two hands on the inside pitch while releasing their top hand on the ball away, this allows them to stay through the ball better.

All good hitters stay through the ball and keep their head down past contact.  Some hitters, though not all, have problems keeping their head down past contact.  It seems that their back shoulder forces their head off of the ball too soon when they finish their swing with two hands.

There are many hitters that do not work on their follow through and therefore are not consistent with the final aspect of their swing.  In order to be consistent, work to perfect your finish.  Many times solely working on the follow through will still not completely eliminate the problem because problems with a hitter’s follow through occur early in the sequence of the swing.