The Art of Hitting .300

Rating:
Summary: The best hitting book I have ever read.
Review: Any player confused by batting cage myths and theories ought to definetely consider reading this masterpiece. It breaks down the 10 Absolutes to good hitting in an easy-to-understand text,features hitter analyses, and is full of pictures to refer back to. Not only does it deal with the actual mechanics(the Absolutes)but it deals with the mental side of hitting including dreaded but inevitable slumps.This book changed my entire hitting "career" and raised my batting average from .132 in '97 to .418 in '98. I am now a freshman in high school(1999)and the starting left fielder on varsity at 5'6",145 and it's not for my defense.I couldn't dream of this 2 years ago until Lau showed me how to get the most out of my body. This is the best hitting book I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: The best book about how to hit a baseball ever written.
Review: I am the author of this book, but I did not write it. Charlie did that. I was blessed with the ability to draw out Charlie's incredible wisdom and to put it into a structure and into words that everyone can understand. I came up with the concept of "The Ten Absolutes of Good Hitting," but only after I looked at what Charlie had said about all successful hitters doing the same things. (Movement in the stance, literally seeing the ball, etc.)

George Brett, one of the sweetest guys you'd ever want to know, posed for many of the pictures. But there are photos and Charlie's analysis of great hitters of the past as well. (We sat in what was Billy Martin's office in the Yankee locker room at the time. I'd pass Charlie a pic of a baseball great, and he would, without a pause, detail the guy's hitting strengths and weaknesses. It was incredible.)

Put it this way: I have written over 50 books and in some circles am considered a computer and Internet/online expert. B! ut at my 25th college reunion, the only book my classmates knew of was this one.

-- Alfred Glossbrenner

[Shameless plug: Amazon carries many of my books, so do an author search. Among other things, you will find a book all about Web search engines from Peachpit Press.]

Rating:
Summary: Charlie was one of the most remarkable people I've ever met.
Review: I had the great privilige of serving as the late Charlie Lau's "voice" in doing this book. Interviewing him in the Yankee locker room, I helped him classify what I suggested should be called the Ten Absolutes of Good Hitting, starting with a natural grip and balanced stance, and continuing through the follow-through. Among other things, Charlie pointed out that all good hitters really do "see" the ball when they hit. The photographic evidence proves it. Charlie was one of the most remarkable people I've ever met, and I am proud to have had a role in passing on his wisdom. -- Alfred Glossbrenner

Rating:
Summary: Zen and the art of Charlie Lau
Review: I read this book while I was in high school, and I must say that this book became an incredible source of enlightenment. Mr. Lau breaks down the basics (mechanics and drills) which are all fundamentally sound. But it is when Mr. Lau presents the mindset of his methods, is where the heart of this book lies. After following his teachings, not only did I have the best year in my high school career, but I am adapting his teaching to my Little League team (rookie coach this year). Of course, everyone will receive their own lessons from his words, as everyone has his or her own style of hitting. But this book is worth reading, as you will find a lot to learn. I bow to Mr. Lau, has he is truly a 'sensei' of the baseball world.

Rating:
Summary: Zen and the art of Charlie Lau
Review: I read this book while I was in high school, and I must say that this book became an incredible source of enlightenment. Mr. Lau breaks down the basics (mechanics and drills) which are all fundamentally sound. But it is when Mr. Lau presents the mindset of his methods, is where the heart of this book lies. After following his teachings, not only did I have the best year in my high school career, but I am adapting his teaching to my Little League team (rookie coach this year). Of course, everyone will receive their own lessons from his words, as everyone has his or her own style of hitting. But this book is worth reading, as you will find a lot to learn. I bow to Mr. Lau, has he is truly a 'sensei' of the baseball world.

Rating:
Summary: great hitter's book
Review: I recommend this book for anyone wants to learn (or teach) advanced hitting techniques. Pictures and descriptions clearly explain common hitting problems and show correct swing mechanics. My 15-year old struggled through his first slump before we applied Lau's hitting fundamentals. He added fifty points to his batting average over the next month and hit 0.638 in a national tournament. I believe this book had a lot to do with his improvement.

Rating:
Summary: great hitter's book
Review: I recommend this book for anyone wants to learn (or teach) advanced hitting techniques. Pictures and descriptions clearly explain common hitting problems and show correct swing mechanics. My 15-year old struggled through his first slump before we applied Lau's hitting fundamentals. He added fifty points to his batting average over the next month and hit 0.638 in a national tournament. I believe this book had a lot to do with his improvement.

Rating:
Summary: I owe my self-esteem to this book
Review: I was a scrawny little kid to whom baseball was everything. To my parent's dismay, I judged myself by how I played baseball. But I was scared of the baseball and lost as to how to go about hitting it. My coaches gave me harmful, misguided instructions like, "make sure it's a stike, then swing at it" and "snap those wrists". I was a wreck. Then one winter my Dad (like me, a George Brett/Wade Boggs fan) bought me this book. My Dad had never been able to hit either, but he and I dissected it over the course of a summer.

It was a lot of work, more work than any 12-year-old could could have undertaken without the guidance of an equally determined adult. But my Dad and I realized that hitting was a process, a method that could be learned. Lau taught that everything I had been told -with horrible results- was in fact wrong. You don't judge whether a pitch is a strike and then swing; you start your swing and let your reflexes hold you back. You don't swing hard with your arms; you swing easy and get your power from your whole body.

All spring we worked on it, practicing in the garage, spending literally hundreds of dollars at batting cages working on mechanics. That very next season, I was hitting the ball better, and I only improved from there. By the end of that season, I was a certified leadoff terror. My team won its league title thanks to a game-winning single by yours truly. I even hit a few home runs (by not trying to, as Lau teaches). I was deliriously happy.

Even since then I've been a good hitter. Not a power hitter (I'm much too small), but a solid doubles guy with surprising pop. What I learned from this book kept me in organized baseball through Babe Ruth and high school (simultaneously), college, and semi-professional leagues. I am a hideously slow runner who soon after puberty had to give up dreams of playing professionally, but to this day I can step in front of a pitcher or pitching machine -cold- and drive the ball. This book taught me how. If you really want to hit a baseball, buy it, read it, internalize it, and put your faith in it. It will serve you well.

Rating:
Summary: I owe my self-esteem to this book
Review: I was a scrawny little kid to whom baseball was everything. To my parent's dismay, I judged myself by how I played baseball. But I was scared of the baseball and lost as to how to go about hitting it. My coaches gave me harmful, misguided instructions like, "make sure it's a stike, then swing at it" and "snap those wrists". I was a wreck. Then one winter my Dad (like me, a George Brett/Wade Boggs fan) bought me this book. My Dad had never been able to hit either, but he and I dissected it over the course of a summer.

It was a lot of work, more work than any 12-year-old could could have undertaken without the guidance of an equally determined adult. But my Dad and I realized that hitting was a process, a method that could be learned. Lau taught that everything I had been told -with horrible results- was in fact wrong. You don't judge whether a pitch is a strike and then swing; you start your swing and let your reflexes hold you back. You don't swing hard with your arms; you swing easy and get your power from your whole body.

All spring we worked on it, practicing in the garage, spending literally hundreds of dollars at batting cages working on mechanics. That very next season, I was hitting the ball better, and I only improved from there. By the end of that season, I was a certified leadoff terror. My team won its league title thanks to a game-winning single by yours truly. I even hit a few home runs (by not trying to, as Lau teaches). I was deliriously happy.

Even since then I've been a good hitter. Not a power hitter (I'm much too small), but a solid doubles guy with surprising pop. What I learned from this book kept me in organized baseball through Babe Ruth and high school (simultaneously), college, and semi-professional leagues. I am a hideously slow runner who soon after puberty had to give up dreams of playing professionally, but to this day I can step in front of a pitcher or pitching machine -cold- and drive the ball. This book taught me how. If you really want to hit a baseball, buy it, read it, internalize it, and put your faith in it. It will serve you well.

Rating:
Summary: Hitter's Best Friend
Review: If you want to learn to hit the right way, this might be the best investment you will ever make. Like another reviewer wrote, though, you must be willing to do the work to learn the lessons the book teaches. Also, if you just want to be a home run hitter, this book is not for you; a home run is only a pleasant mistake in the Charlie Lau/George Brett school, which teaches solid line-drive hitting. After studying this book, I became a Top 10 hitter in a highly-competitive Texas league. The Art of Hitting .300 is a baseball treasure.